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Efforts Expanding to Get People to Choose Direct
Deposit for Social Security
Treasury and Federal Reserve say Go Direct test was
successful
Aug. 1, 2005 The effort to get more people to
select direct deposit to their bank as the way to get their Social
Security and other government payments will be expanded this fall,
according to an announcement by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and
the Federal Reserve Bank. The program Go Direct proved successful in
its test run in four states.
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Related Story |
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Drop in Direct Deposit Growth Spurs Treasury
Campaign Go Direct
Sept. 14, 2004 Concerned with a sharp decline in
the growth rate of citizens taking advantage of the direct deposit for
government payments, like Social Security, and facing the first wave of
baby boomer retirements, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is
launching a new campaign Go Direct - to educate Americans on the
advantages of the program.
More... 9/14/04*
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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.
Details of the national campaign will be announced
in September.
"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.
Go Direct has established Web sites,
http://www.godirect.org/ (English) and
http://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).
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