WASHINGTON–The Treasury Department is now seeking comment on the executive order out of the White House that the federal government cease sending paper checks to recipients of benefits and move to electronic deposit by Sept. 25, and one CU trade group has particular concerns.
That mandate had the particular attention of the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC), which noted the largest sender of paper checks is the Veterans Administration.
Getting Benefits to Vets
“Obviously, it’s important for us is to ensure that our veterans are getting the benefits they that they need and have earned and part of that is to make sure that they have access to financial institutions to get those direct deposits of benefits,” said Jason Stverak, chief advocacy officer with the DCUC.
Stverak expressed appreciation to NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman for additional clarity he said the agency has provided on the issue so that “credit unions can work with the VA to provide these checking accounts and depository accounts for homeless veterans.”
Efforts Moving Forward
In the lead-up to that Treasury comment deadline, Stverak said the Defense Council will be promoting what all credit unions can do to ensure underserved populations that have not had access to traditional banking services “have access to the same financial rails as the rest of the American economy to ensure that they are not left behind as the government transitions you know from paper to direct deposits.”
