Another EO: Dept Of Treasury To Phase Out Paper Checks; Funds Delivery Electronic Only

[Yvonne Smith]

Supposedly, the Feds were going to phase out paper checks decades ago. But the problems outlined by Nancy are the brick in the door. They simply can't do that in all cases.

Congress failed to keep the Affordable Connectivity Program going so a lot of poorer Seniors lost their Internet access. Shooting down any possibility of their using PayPal or something similar for banking. However, low income people can now get a cell phone with Internet service though the Universal Lifeline Program.

The FCC during the Reagan administration established the Universal Service Fund. A tax on everyone’s phone bill funded the program, which enabled people to receive free or lower cost basic telephone service.

Most internet companies provide an internet service for low income people. The company can choose who is allowed to access the service, so not all of them are the same. The one for Compast/Xfinity is only for families with children, as an example. AT&T has the Access, which is about $10 monthly for low income seniors. You just have to check which companies are available in your area, and see what they provide for low income people.

We had the AT&T Access for several years, and paid the $10 monthly. Then I signed up for the affordable connectivity program, which paid the $10 monthly charge for internet.
When Google Fiber was available, they offered a low income program called Google neighborhood fiber, or something similar to that, so I signed up and it is a little over $20 monthly. This was also paid by the connectivity program until Biden let that expire and didn’t renew it.

Xfinity just sent us an ad for their Internet Essentials, which is their new low income internet program , and it is $15 per month, and it says it is for people who have SNAP, Medicaid, or other similar programs, and the ad didn’t say that it was only for people with kids in school.
So, they have apparently changed the regulations for who they accept on their program, or it does not give all the information in the flyer they sent out.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

Yes, and that begs the question even more... Why are they still issuing paper checks after all this time? They seem to forget that they started the Internet...

My neighbor just got a paper check from the SSA in December and another one in January, when her payments were supposed to go directly to her bank via direct deposit. She said when she was approved, they made her go to the bank and get a form filled out with the specifics about her account, and mailed her the first two checks. It took two months for direct deposit to start working...

They make you wait while you're getting approved for retirement (or whatever) but instead of setting up DD first, they did what they have always done. Mail you a check.

 

[Mary Stetler]

I like checks! I don't do a lot of large or international transactions. I also like cash!