• Treasury said on Oct. 6, 2026 that fiscal 2026 screening reached more than 1.1 billion federal payments worth about $3.7 trillion.
• About 13,500 payments totaling $175 million that were headed to deceased individuals were returned, per Treasury's release.
• Bank-account ownership verification and Taxpayer Identification Number checks became fully operational on Sept. 30.
• Do Not Pay program access rose from 4% to 99% of federal programs, and records screened rose from 641 million to 2.3 billion.
• By our own calculation, the $175 million is about 0.005% of the $3.7 trillion screened, so the main effect is the control layer, not the amount returned.

Treasury is putting its controls ahead of the payment rather than after it. In an Oct. 6, 2026 release, the department said its fiscal 2026 screening covered more than 1.1 billion federal payments worth about $3.7 trillion, and that it returned about 13,500 payments totaling $175 million that were headed to deceased individuals. The harder question for payments operators is how much of that came from new account-level checks.

What the screening covered

Treasury said its fiscal 2026 screening reached more than 1.1 billion federal payments worth about $3.7 trillion. Of those, about 13,500 payments totaling $175 million were headed to deceased individuals and were returned, according to the Oct. 6 release. The figures are Treasury's own and cover the full fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. The release frames the work as meeting requirements of Executive Order 14249, so the numbers describe compliance activity as much as loss prevention.

Why pre-payment checks matter

The notable change is the order of operations: checks that run before money leaves reduce the need to recover it afterward. Treasury reports that bank-account ownership verification and checks on the presence and format of Taxpayer Identification Numbers, piloted earlier, became fully operational on Sept. 30. Those controls target mismatches between payee and account, which is a control gap rather than a fraud technique. The release does not state error or false-positive rates for these checks.

Do Not Pay coverage expanded sharply

Treasury said access to Do Not Pay grew from 4% of federal programs to 99% by the end of fiscal 2026. Agencies screened 2.3 billion records, up from 641 million, and nine new data sources were added, including company-registration information, select checks against Social Security Numident data, and grantee audit findings. Broader coverage means more payments pass through the same checkpoint before release.

What this means for payments teams

Our calculation puts the $175 million returned at roughly 0.005% of the $3.7 trillion screened, so the story is the control layer, not the headline amount. Banks and payment processors that receive federal disbursements should expect account-ownership and identifier checks to surface mismatches more often, and should confirm that payee names, account details and TINs on file are accurate. Watch for Treasury publishing error and false-positive rates, which would show what the added friction costs legitimate recipients.