The Treasury Department has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (75 Fed. Reg. 34394 (June 17, 2010)) that would affect all those who receive payments from the Social Security Administration.

Those claimants who file an initial application on or after March 1, 2011 would have a choice of direct deposit into their bank account OR the new debit card, the Direct Express card. For all other beneficiaries, paper checks would continue to be available for those beneficiaries who want them, until February 28, 2013.  Beginning on March 1, 2013, paper checks for all beneficiaries would be discontinued, and all beneficiaries would be required to choose either direct deposit OR the Direct Express card.

The proposed Treasury Regulation is annexed here – 75 Fed. Reg. 34394 (June 17, 2010)

You can submit comments until August 16, 2010. The best method is via the internet. Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#home. This proposed rule is identified by docket FISCAL-FMS-2009-0003. Follow the instructions on the website for submitting comments.