With less than two months until the March 1, 2013, deadline to pay all federal benefits electronically, the Treasury Department reports that 5 million paper checks continue to be mailed to federal beneficiaries each month. In Washington alone, nearly 56,000 Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks are sent each month.

The Treasury Department is urging Social Security and other federal benefit recipients to not delay and switch now to either direct deposit or the Direct Express Debit MasterCard card. Check recipients can sign up for direct deposit or the Direct Express card by calling toll-free 1-800-333-1795, visiting www.GoDirect.org, or talking to their local federal paying agency office. The process is fast, easy and free.