The federal government stopped issuing paper checks for most payments on September 30, 2025, and a year later the one stated way around that rule is a request made to Treasury by phone or on a printed form. No federal page read on October 2, 2026 says who qualifies for that exception, which leaves a recipient who still expects a check to ask for it without knowing the standard. The Social Security Administration (SSA) describes the grant of an exception only as something that happens “in extremely rare circumstances.”
An executive order ended checks for most payments
Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service announced the cutoff on a page titled paper checks going away: “Starting September 30, 2025, the federal government will stop issuing paper checks for most federal payments.” The page, last updated February 27, 2026, tells people who already receive benefits or tax refunds electronically that no action is required.
The authority behind the change is Executive Order 14247, “Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account,” which the Fiscal Service names on its avoid-delay options page. That page, updated March 3, 2026, reports that Treasury’s Electronic Payment Solution Center had processed more than 184,000 new electronic enrollments on behalf of benefit agencies since March 2025.
The order does not leave Social Security out. SSA’s direct deposit page states that federal law requires Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments to be made electronically, and that people currently paid by check “must switch to an electronic payment option.”
The waiver lives on a phone line and a printed form
The exception is not new. The Fiscal Service says that “existing electronic payment waiver procedures remain in effect until further notice,” and adds that it is reviewing guidance on waivers and coordinating with agencies before implementing new procedures. The practical consequence is that the waiver in force is the older one, and the rules governing it could still be rewritten.
SSA gives the two ways to ask. A recipient can call Treasury at 1-855-290-1545, or print a waiver form, fill it out and return it to the address printed on the form. SSA’s page does not list phone hours and does not set a deadline for asking.
The wording is the notable part. SSA says that “in extremely rare circumstances, Treasury may grant exceptions to the electronic payment mandate.” Neither SSA’s deposit page nor either Fiscal Service page defines those circumstances. The paper-checks explainer, the page most likely to be read by someone whose check stopped, describes no waiver process at all.
Both routes are described as a call or a mailed form to Treasury itself, and neither page mentions a fee or an intermediary. Because no criteria are published, whether a particular request would be granted cannot be determined from the public record, and no page states how long a decision takes.
What the pages say to do without a waiver
For recipients who would rather be paid electronically than argue an exception, the Fiscal Service names two alternatives. People without a bank account are told to look for one through FDIC.gov/GetBanked or MyCreditUnion.gov. They can also enroll in a Direct Express debit card by contacting the Electronic Payment Solution Center, whose enrollment line, 1-800-333-1795, appears on Treasury’s Direct Express page. That page, updated September 1, 2026, describes the card as carrying “No monthly fees or overdraft fees” and lists the line as open 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday.
The avoid-delay page also directs readers to MyMoney.gov/FederalPayments for enrollment resources. What none of these pages states is what happens to a payment when a recipient neither enrolls nor obtains a waiver. The avoid-delay page itself does not address recipients who fail to enroll, and SSA’s page says only that people paid by check must switch.
That leaves one number in the record for a recipient with a question about a check that has not arrived or about an exception: 1-855-290-1545, with the printed form as the alternative. The Direct Express enrollment line is a different number, and a recipient seeking the waiver is directed to the waiver line, not to card enrollment.
The record on both sides is short. Treasury’s explainer fixes the date, the avoid-delay page keeps the waiver procedures alive “until further notice,” and SSA’s page calls the exception extremely rare. The three statements together are the entire published standard.
When a check does not arrive after the paper cutoff
The paper-check cutoff and its single waiver route leave one costly gap: a recipient who expected a check and received nothing has no published standard for an exception and no stated timeline for being paid another way. The first day or two of a missing payment is when the sequence of calls matters most, and the announcements do not lay that sequence out.
The Social Security Check Protection Kit includes a first-24-hours plan for a late or missing payment and a 2026 payment calendar for checking when deposits are due.
See the first-24-hours plan in The Social Security Check Protection Kit →
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
