The Treasury Department will stop issuing paper checks for tax refunds, Social Security payments and most other government programs on Sept. 30 as part of an executive order aimed at modernizing the government.

While experts widely agree that electronic payments are faster to process, and less susceptible to fraud and theft than paper checks, advocates who work with the small percentage of those who still receive checks say the change is being rushed out and worry that some beneficiaries won’t learn of it unless their payment doesn’t show up.

More than 5 million people still receive physical checks from the government, a group largely composed of seniors, people with disabilities, immigrants and others without bank accounts - “populations that may be more challenged by having to change t

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