Social Security Administration Updates Program Manual on Student Benefits EFT Guidance and Mexico Rep Payee Accounts
The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) announced in a subscription bulletin that it updated two program policy instructions in its Program Operations Manual System (POMS) on October 30, covering electronic payment requirements for student benefits and account titling rules for representative payee accounts created in Mexico.
The first update, on student benefits (RS 00205 TN 69), revises the instructions for clarity and incorporates the Treasury Department's mandate that all federal payments be made through electronic funds transfer (EFT), either by direct deposit or Direct Express, unless the beneficiary meets one of the limited exemptions for a Treasury waiver.
The second, on conservation of benefits (GN 00603 TN 23), responds to an inquiry about international banking and account titling: legal prohibitions in Mexican financial law prevent adherence with SSA's account titling rules for representative payee accounts created in Mexico. SSA said it is working on an exception to its account titling rules for such accounts, and is also updating all of its foreign representative payee instructions with financial laws, per country, based on information received from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C.
A representative payee is a person or organization appointed by SSA to receive and manage benefit payments for a beneficiary who cannot manage them on their own.
(Source: Social Security Administration subscription bulletin; manual updates dated October 30, 2026)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于马里兰州Woodlawn的美国社会保障署总部大楼（素材库 federal-core 固定图）。Coolcaesar 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: U.S. Social Security Administration headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland (federal-core asset pack). Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
