The Office of Legislative
and Public Affairs

Fact Sheets

Visibility of Social Security Numbers On Window Envelopes

Updated February 2, 2001

The Financial Management Service (FMS) is pleased to announce that since December 2000, Social Security numbers are no longer visible through the window of Treasury disbursed check envelopes.

FMS strongly believes in the need to protect people's privacy and undertook the process to remove Social Security numbers from Treasury-disbursed check payments in the last few years. Beginning in 1998, the SSN was no longer visible through the window of the envelopes used to mail all Internal Revenue Service tax refund checks. In September 2000, the SSN was no longer visible through window envelopes for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) check payments. Finally, in December 2000, the remaining check payments were changed so that all Treasury disbursed payments no longer had the SSN visible through the window envelope.

FMS' priority has been to ensure that the mission and functions of making payments, making collections, collecting debt and providing government-wide accounting were not disrupted by any Year 2000 computer-related problems. Because of this, Treasury could not invest the considerable amount of time and resources required to remove the SSN from the windows of the envelopes used to mail the checks.

When FMS successfully met the Y2K challenge, we directed resources toward the removal of the SSN from the window of all Treasury check envelopes. This task required changing programs and using alternative methods to identify and remove checks prior to mailing if the payment must be stopped because the recipient has died, a child beneficiary has reached the age of maturity and is no longer eligible for SSA benefits, or for other reasons.

Previously, the SSN was the only means of identifying these checks prior to their mailing date. In fiscal year 1999, FMS pulled more than 1.2 million check payments with a value of more than $850 million, of which $620 million were Social Security payments. Pulling these checks eliminated inconvenience and frustration for the recipient or family of the recipient, as well as avoided a very time-consuming, costly claims process for all involved -- recipients, banks and FMS.

Treasury emphasizes the positive attributes of direct deposit. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is secure, reliable and convenient. EFT payments cannot be lost, stolen or forged. Recipients who receive their federal payments via EFT do not have to visit their financial institution to cash or deposit their checks. Also, EFT will save the taxpayers more than $100 million a year because the cost to issue an EFT payment versus paper check is so much less. Currently, Treasury offers direct deposit to individuals with an account at a financial institution and banks are now offering the low-cost, Treasury-designed Electronic Transfer Account for individuals who receive federal wage, salary, retirement or benefit payments, but do not have a bank account.