W112: Digitizing Payments: Eliminating Checks and Accelerating Mission-Critical Payments
- Room: 207B
- Session Number:W112
Wednesday, July 22, 2026: 11:20 AM - 12:10 PM
Speaker(s)
Description
Federal agencies have made meaningful strides toward digital disbursements, but the U.S. government still issues 40 million checks annually — a volume that continues to create fraud exposure, slow cycle times and create friction for citizens and vendors. This session connects agency priorities and executive directives on check reduction and fraud mitigation to an actionable, control-first modernization path that accelerates mission-critical payments without sacrificing accessibility, auditability or privacy.
Key Takeaways
• Changes in the payments toolkit, such as expanded digital options and greater recipient choice.
• A control-first blueprint to replace checks with Automated Clearing House and faster options while preserving identity assurance, fraud controls, privacy and a strong audit trail.
• A phased adoption playbook covering technology, integration, customer experience, communications and change management, designed to prevent “campaign fatigue” and sustain conversion.
• A measurement package utilizing key performance indicators and dashboards to track conversion rates, exception reduction, fraud exposure and cycle-time improvements — especially for mission-critical scenarios.
• Practical next steps including a 90-day pilot structure and a 12-month roadmap aligned to U.S. Department of the Treasury and Bureau of the Fiscal Service direction and executive priorities.
Learning Objectives
Identify high-risk, check-heavy payment flows and quantify impacts to fraud exposure, cycle time and cost. Explore a control-aware migration strategy using digital rails, including identity verification, fraud screening, privacy safeguards and auditable end-to-end traceability. Apply citizen- and vendor-centered communications that increase digital adoption while maintaining accessibility and inclusion. Understand an evolutionary adoption plan that integrates technology and operations with customer experience and change management to sustain progress beyond initial gains.