10 Fast Facts About Direct Deposit

• Direct deposit is significantly safer than checks – in fact, when there’s a problem with a Social Security payment, nine times out of 10 it’s with a paper check, not a direct deposit payment.
• Check fraud and identity theft are growing risks for all Americans, including people who receive federal benefits. In 2006, about 57,000 checks issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury fell prey to endorsement forgeries.
• Currently, about 50 million people receive Social Security payments each month. Social Security recipients are the largest group to receive government payments.
• The government mails more than 150 million benefit checks each year, at a cost of about $120 million more than the cost of direct deposit.
• The government has saved $6 billion since 1986 due to direct deposit.
• Today, about 80 percent of federal benefit payments are made by direct deposit. That means more than 12 million Americans still get their benefit payments through the mail.
• There are about 4.5 million people who receive federal benefit checks who don't have bank or credit union accounts.
• By promoting direct deposit today, the government is planning ahead for the first wave of baby boomers that will become eligible for Social Security retirement benefits in 2008. There are about 77 million baby boomers – individuals born between 1946 and 1964.
• Men and women who began receiving Social Security benefit payments in 2005 at age 65 would be expected to receive benefits for a total of 17 and 19.7 years, respectively, based on life expectancies from actuarial estimates.
• Benefit recipients who use direct deposit can access their payments as soon as their bank or credit union opens on payment day.

Countdown to Retirement is an initiative of the Go Direct® campaign, sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Banks.