With an awareness of the potential for improvement of the payment system, 

 and the attendant economies, and based upon an exchange of co " e8 P°^ en « 

 late In 1972 between the Treasury and the SSA, a joint study was init J a t ed 

 to identify, quantify, and propose solutions to problems associated with 

 payments made by credit to accounts in financial organizations (all or 

 which are now accomplished under the power-of-attorney procedure). It 

 was expected that the results of the study would assist the SSA in 

 determining if it will exercise its option under Treasury regulations of 

 implementing a direct-deposit system. 



The study group has used various approaches in gaining insights into 

 problems experienced under the power-of-attorney procedure by beneficiaries 

 and financial organizations, and the level of interest of both groups in a 

 direct-deposit system. Throughout the study, the group has viewed all 

 problems and other considerations in terms of both their direct-deposit 

 (individual check) impact and their impact on a potential EFT system. 

 In addition to surveys, the group made on-site visits to several SSA faciliti 

 and met with representatives of the various classes of financial organization 



Figure 1.3 depicts the tasks undertaken by the study group. 



Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will be administered by the SSA commencing 

 January 1, 1974, as a separate and distinct program. It is estimated that 

 this program will cover nearly 7 million recipients. Some of these recipient 

 may request that their payments be received by credit to their accounts in 

 financial organizations. Therefore, the study group also considered the 

 direct-deposit system implications for the SSI program. 



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