§ 3332. Required direct deposit
(a)
(1)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all Federal wage, salary, and retirement payments shall be paid to recipients of such payments by electronic funds transfer, unless another method has been determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be appropriate.
(2)
Each recipient of Federal wage, salary, or retirement payments shall designate one or more financial institutions or other authorized payment agents and provide the payment certifying or authorizing agency information necessary for the recipient to receive electronic funds transfer payments through each institution so designated.
(b)
(c)
(d)
This section shall apply only to recipients of Federal wage or salary payments who begin to receive such payments on or after January 1, 1995, and recipients of Federal retirement payments who begin to receive such payments on or after January 1, 1995.
(e)
(1)
Notwithstanding subsections (a) through (d) of this section, sections
5120
(a) and (d) of title
38, and any other provision of law, all Federal payments to a recipient who becomes eligible for that type of payment after 90 days after the date of the enactment of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 shall be made by electronic funds transfer.
(2)
The head of a Federal agency shall, with respect to Federal payments made or authorized by the agency, waive the application of paragraph (1) to a recipient of those payments upon receipt of written certification from the recipient that the recipient does not have an account with a financial institution or an authorized payment agent.
(f)
(1)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including subsections (a) through (e) of this section and sections
5120
(a) and (d) of title
38), except as provided in paragraph (2) all Federal payments made after January 1, 1999, shall be made by electronic funds transfer.
(g)
Each recipient of Federal payments required to be made by electronic funds transfer shall—
(h)
The crediting of the amount of a payment to the appropriate account on the books of a financial institution or other authorized payment agent designated by a payment recipient under this section shall constitute a full acquittance to the United States for the amount of the payment.
(i)
(1)
The Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe regulations that the Secretary considers necessary to carry out this section.
(j)
For purposes of this section—
(1)
The term “electronic funds transfer” means any transfer of funds, other than a transaction originated by cash, check, or similar paper instrument, that is initiated through an electronic terminal, telephone, computer, or magnetic tape, for the purpose of ordering, instructing, or authorizing a financial institution to debit or credit an account. The term includes Automated Clearing House transfers, Fed Wire transfers, transfers made at automatic teller machines, and point-of-sale terminals.