U.S. Department of the Treasury Gives Green Light to National Campaign
to Promote Direct Deposit of Social Security Benefits
Go Direct pilot campaign bolstered rate of conversion
from paper to electronic payments
Washington, D.C. (Aug. 1, 2005) -- Following a successful six-month
grassroots pilot campaign, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, together
with the Federal Reserve Bank, today announced it is expanding the Go
Direct program nationwide to encourage more Americans to select
direct deposit for their federal benefit payments, such as Social Security
and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
The decision to expand the campaign nationwide was made after a comprehensive
evaluation demonstrated that the Go Direct pilot campaign
-- which began in Texas, Illinois, Tennessee and Puerto Rico last fall
and ended March 31, 2005 -- was highly effective in motivating paper check
recipients to switch to direct deposit. According to data from the Treasury,
the six-month pilot campaign convinced tens of thousands of Social Security
and SSI check recipients to convert to direct deposit.
"We are gratified by the success of the Go Direct pilot
and the tremendous demonstration of community-level support from public
and private partners," said Treasury Fiscal Assistant Secretary Don Hammond. "Our
partners are the cornerstone of this effort and the key to spreading the
word to recipients about the benefits of direct deposit.
With the first wave of baby boomers starting to draw from Social Security
in 2008, it's critical that we take action now to increase the use of
direct deposit. In so doing, recipients gain greater security, convenience
and control over their benefit payments, and taxpayers save millions of
dollars."
Currently, the Treasury issues nearly 13.3 million benefit checks each
month -- the majority of which are Social Security payments. If these
were converted to direct deposit, it would save the American taxpayers
about $120 million annually. Despite educational and marketing efforts
to spur the use of electronic payments, growth in direct deposit has slowed
in recent years to less than 1 percent a year. Only 75 percent of newly
eligible Social Security recipients, the largest group to receive government
payments, are signing up for direct deposit. Participation has fallen
from 90 percent in the late 1990s.
The pilot campaign reached out to benefit recipients through organizations
and people they know and trust -- such as financial institutions and community-based
groups -- to educate them about the benefits of direct deposit, and help
them sign up for it. The outreach effort also used media, direct mail,
advertising and Web sites in English and Spanish.
The Go Direct pilot was conducted in 10 markets -- Chicago
and Springfield, Ill.; Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston, Texas;
Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville, Tenn.; and all of Puerto Rico. Grassroots
partnerships with financial institutions and community-based organizations
were integral to the success of the pilot -- about 250 such organizations
joined the Go Direct cause.
"The Go Direct campaign was incredibly helpful in increasing
the use of direct deposit," said Denise McBride, vice president of community
development for SunTrust Bank in Nashville. "We've been a proponent of
direct deposit for many years, but we didn't have a partner to
strengthen our efforts. Go Direct has greatly helped
us in this area by publicizing the benefits of direct deposit and also
simplifying the process not only for our customers but for our tellers."
Jeff Weaver, managing director of Guaranty Bank in Dallas said many
retirees live in fear each month that their check will be lost or stolen. "One
woman literally wouldn't leave her house on the day she was expecting
her check because she wanted to be there when the check came," Weaver
said. "We told her about the benefits of direct deposit and she decided
to make the switch -- she's now thrilled, and for the first time in years
has peace of mind because she knows where her money is."
More than 11,000 bank tellers in the target markets were trained to
help people switch to direct deposit. In addition, 13,000 volunteers participated
in the effort and hundreds of promotional events, called Direct Dialogues,
were used to build awareness and to get people to sign up for direct deposit.
These events ranged from Go Direct bingo games to Meals
on Wheels deliveries to designated Go Direct Weeks and Months
in the pilot markets.
Details of the national campaign will be announced in September.
Go Direct has established Web sites, www.GoDirect.org (English) and www.DirectoASuCuenta.org (Spanish), as well as toll-free
numbers to help people sign up for direct deposit: (800) 333-1795 (English)
and (800) 333-1792 (Spanish).
Contact:
Alvina McHale
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Financial Management Service
(202) 874-6604 |
