Trump Directs Treasury to Use Electronic Payments, Not Paper Checks

Paper checks impose unnecessary costs and are more subject to fraud, the president says. Another order centralizes payments in the Treasure Dept.

President Donald Trump displays an executive order after signing it during a meeting with U.S. ambassadors in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 25, 2025. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed an executive order March 25 calling for the Treasury Department to use electronic payments instead of paper checks, a step aimed at reducing waste and fraud.

White House staff secretary Will Scharf pointed out some of the shortcomings of paper checks. “Historically, checks issued by the Treasury are, I believe, 14 times more likely to become the subject of fraud than electronic transfer payments,” he said.