Now you can sit hitting refresh all day instead of looking out the window every 5 minutes to see if the red flag on the mailbox is down: the White House has ordered the government to switch to direct deposits for all payments to consumers.

So. within a year your Social Security, unemployment insurance, veterans benefits, government benefits and railroad benefits will be electronically deposited into your account. Americans without bank accounts will get paid via prepaid debit card.

Switching to direct deposit will speed payments and save tax-payers an estimated $303 million over the first 5 years, and ~$120 million thereafter.

The program takes effect March 2011, with a few exemptions that will push back implementation in some instances to March 2013.

White House Orders Government to Stop Mailing Paper Checks, Switch to Electronic Transfers [ABC]

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