Government Benefit Checks Bite the Dust: The Move to Digital Payment

April 2011

Past Event

Government Benefit Checks Bite the Dust: The Move to Digital Payment

Past Event

Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters

April 27, 2011

April 2011

Past Event

1015 15th Street, N.W., 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

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Speakers:

Hanns Kuttner

Hudson Visiting Fellow

Troy Reiners

Director of the Child Support Payment Center in the Nebraska Treasurer’s office

Melissa Koide

Vice President of Policy at the Center for Financial Services Innovation

On May 1, new beneficiaries of government benefits such as social security will be required to receive payments digitally, and by 2013 all current beneficiaries will have made the switch. The paper check is well on its way to becoming an obsolete technology for moving money from government to citizens.

While many have already abandoned paper checks, opting for direct deposit or the newer technology of prepaid debit, nine million Americans still receive a monthly benefit check.

This transition creates new opportunities for financial service arrangements but comes at a time when the future of those services is uncertain. A new paper by Hudson Visiting Fellow Hanns Kuttner provides an overview of the issues and lays out features of potential scenarios for how the transition will unfold.

Further Reading

Hanns Kuttner, The Move to Digital Payment, Hudson Institute, February 2011

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