U.S. Treasury Reports Direct Deposit for Social Security on Upswing in the West

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Just months after the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced it is retiring paper checks for federal benefit payments and going all-electronic by March 1, 2013, the use of direct deposit is on the upswing – including in the Western region of the country where new survey findings suggest safety and other benefits of electronic payments are widely recognized.

"While more than 91 percent of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in the Western region of the country are now being made electronically, up from 88.7 percent nine months ago – senior citizens and others living in the 12 state region still rely on 1.38 million Social Security paper check payments each month," said David A. Lebryk, Commissioner of the Treasury Department's Financial Management Service. "By complying with the new requirement to switch to direct deposit, people can avoid putting their money at possible risk during the holiday season and all year round."

In 2010, more than 540,000 Social Security and SSI paper checks were reported lost or stolen and had to be reissued, while an estimated $93 million worth of Treasury-issued checks were fraudulently endorsed. This holiday season, the Treasury Department is sending information along with regular check payments about how to easily make the switch online or by calling a toll-free helpline. Recipients of the notices include federal benefit recipients in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, among other states.

Safety of direct deposit widely recognized in the West

According to a new Treasury-sponsored survey of federal benefit recipients age 62 and older, safeguarding federal benefit payments is top-of-mind for people living in the 12 Western states. Key findings among federal benefit recipients in the West include:

• Seventy-three percent say cashing and carrying a check or other large sum of cash is risky, and 31 percent say they are concerned about carrying larger-than-normal amounts of cash while doing holiday shopping or traveling.
• Seventy-seven percent say they are concerned about becoming a victim of identity theft, while more than four in 10 say they have been a victim of identity theft or know someone who has.
• Ninety-one percent say direct deposit is the safest way to receive a federal benefit payment.
• Eighty-six percent of direct deposit users say they rely on electronic payments to avoid the risk of lost or stolen checks.

Remaining check recipients putting their money at risk, urged to switch ahead of deadline

The Treasury Department is urging all federal benefit recipients to switch to direct deposit or to the Direct Express® Debit MasterCard® card through the U.S. Treasury Electronic Payment Solution Center online at www.GoDirect.org or toll-free at 1-800-333-1795. Switching to electronic payments is fast, free and easy. An instructional video, available at www.GoDirect.org, outlines information check recipients need to have on-hand to make the switch, including:

• Social Security number or claim number
• 12-digit federal benefit check number
• Amount of most recent federal benefit check

If signing up for direct deposit to an existing financial institution account, individuals will also need:

• Financial institution's routing transit number – often available on a personal check
• Account number and type (checking or savings)

Downloadable video and radio actualities (WAV and MP3 format) are available and feature comments from David A. Lebryk, Commissioner of Treasury's Financial Management Service: http://GoDirect.org/media/release/direct-deposit-social-security-west.

These results are of a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,001 federal benefit recipients, age 62 and over, conducted May 25 – June 3, 2011, by KRC Research. The margin of error for the overall study is +/- 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. The margin of error for the 12-state Western region is +/- 6.6 percent at the 95 percent confidence level, representing 220 individual respondents.

The Go Direct® campaign is sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Banks. The Go Direct® and Direct Express® logos, Go Direct® and Direct Express® are registered service marks of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Financial Management Service (used with permission). The Direct Express® Debit MasterCard® card is issued by Comerica Bank, pursuant to a license by MasterCard International Incorporated. MasterCard® and the MasterCard® Brand Mark are registered trademarks of MasterCard International Incorporated.

SOURCE U.S. Department of the Treasury