# Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Modernizes Payments to and from America’s Bank Account

Fact Sheets

TLDR

The executive order referenced by this “fact sheet” aims to modernize federal payment systems, mandating a transition from paper checks to electronic payments by September 2025. While presented as reducing fraud and saving costs, the order oversimplifies security benefits, lacks context for claimed savings, may disadvantage unbanked populations, ignores existing electronic systems, downplays digital security risks, provides vague exceptions, sets potentially unrealistic deadlines, presents mail theft statistics without context, fails to compare fraud rates across payment methods, and includes a seemingly defensive statement about not establishing a Central Bank Digital Currency.

While this “fact sheet” presents the executive order in a positive light, there are several points that need to be debunked or clarified.

The claim that digital payments are less vulnerable to fraud is oversimplified. While paper check fraud is a concern, electronic payments are also susceptible to various forms of cybercrime, including identity theft and hacking.

The $657 million figure for maintaining paper-based systems is presented without context. It’s unclear if this accounts for the costs of transitioning to and maintaining a fully electronic system, which could be substantial.

The fact sheet glosses over the significant challenges faced by unbanked and underbanked populations. Approximately 7.1 million U.S. households were unbanked in 2019, and this order could potentially disenfranchise them.

The claim that “government needs to catch up with the technology revolution” ignores the fact that many federal agencies already use electronic payment systems extensively. The order may be overstating the current reliance on paper-based systems.

While the fact sheet highlights the risks of paper checks, it downplays potential security risks associated with electronic payments, such as data breaches and system vulnerabilities.

The fact sheet mentions exceptions but doesn’t provide details on how these will be implemented or their potential impact on vulnerable populations.

The September 30, 2025 deadline may be overly ambitious given the scale of the transition and the need to address various challenges, including technological infrastructure and public education.

The increase in mail theft complaints since 2020 is presented without context, potentially ignoring other factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on postal services and crime patterns.

While check fraud reports have increased, this doesn’t necessarily mean electronic payments are immune to fraud. The fact sheet fails to provide comparative fraud rates for electronic transactions.

The explicit statement that this order does not establish a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) seems defensive and may raise questions about future intentions regarding digital currencies.

While the executive order aims to modernize federal payment systems, the fact sheet presents an overly optimistic view that downplays significant challenges and potential negative impacts on certain populations.

PHASING OUT PAPER CHECKS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to modernize how the government handles money, switching from old-fashioned paper-based payments to fast, secure electronic payments.

  • The Order mandates that, effective September 30, 2025, the Federal government will cease issuing paper checks for all disbursements, including intragovernmental payments, benefits, vendor payments, and tax refunds.
  • All executive departments and agencies must transition to modern, electronic funds transfer (EFT) methods like direct deposit, debit/credit card payments, digital wallets, and real-time transfers.
  • Payments made to the Federal government, such as fees, fines, loans, and taxes, must also be processed electronically where permissible under existing law.
  • Treasury will phase out physical lockbox services and expedite electronic collection of Federal receipts.
  • A comprehensive public awareness campaign will be launched to inform Federal payment recipients of the shift to electronic options and offer guidance on setting up digital payments.
  • Exceptions will be made for people without banking or electronic payment access, certain emergency payments, certain law enforcement activities, and other special cases qualifying for an exception under the Order or other existing law.
  • This Executive Order does not establish a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

DEFENDING AGAINST FINANCIAL FRAUD AND IMPROPER PAYMENTS: President Trump is cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse in government by modernizing outdated paper-based payment systems that impose unnecessary costs, delays, and security risks.

  • Paper-based payments, such as checks and money orders, impose unnecessary costs, delays, and risks of fraud, lost payments, theft, and inefficiencies.
  • Mail theft complaints have increased substantially since 2020.
  • Historically, Treasury checks are 16 times more likely to be reported lost or stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered than an electronic funds transfer.
  • Maintaining the physical infrastructure and specialized technology for digitizing paper records cost the American taxpayer over $657 million in fiscal year 2024 alone.
  • Check fraud is becoming more common, with banks issuing about 680,000 reports of check fraud in 2022 – nearly double the number from 2021.
  • Digital payments are more efficient, less costly, and less vulnerable to fraud.

MODERNIZING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: President Trump is making government work better for the American people.

President Trump has long championed the need for replacing outdated technology, saying “government needs to catch up with the technology revolution.”