By Monica Hayes, public-services reporter covering digital inclusion, Social Security, and consumer banking for 11 years
Last reviewed: July 24, 2026
Smartphone ownership among Americans aged 65 and older reached 78% in the latest Pew Research Center data published in January 2026. That means roughly 22% of older adults still did not own a smartphone, even as benefit programs such as Direct Express increasingly use mobile applications, online registration, electronic transaction histories, and digital alerts.
Direct Express still offers telephone assistance, but the program’s transition to a new financial agent introduces new cards, registration processes, websites, and account systems. New Fifth Third enrollments began in May 2026, while existing cardholders are scheduled to transition later in 2026 or early 2027.
The card is electronic by design. Its audience is not uniformly digital.
What Direct Express is
Direct Express is a Treasury-sponsored prepaid debit-card account used to deliver qualifying federal payments electronically.
The program is especially relevant to people who do not maintain a conventional bank account. Benefit payments are deposited into the card account, after which the recipient can make purchases, obtain cash, check transactions, and use other supported account services.
The financial-agent transition means that different cardholders may temporarily use different apps, account websites, telephone numbers, and registration procedures. New Fifth Third enrollments began in May 2026, while existing Comerica-issued accounts remain on a phased migration schedule.
That operating model assumes cardholders can identify which system applies to them.
For some users, that is routine. For others, it is a substantial barrier.
Smartphone ownership is high but not universal
Pew Research Center’s January 2026 update found that smartphone ownership varied sharply by age:
| Age group | Smartphone ownership |
|---|---|
| Adults under 50 | 97% |
| Ages 50–64 | 90% |
| Age 65 or older | 78% |
Source: Pew Research Center, “Internet Use, Smartphone Ownership and Digital Divides in the U.S.” published January 8, 2026.
The oldest group remains the least connected.
A 78% adoption rate is a majority, but it leaves more than one in five older adults without the device commonly required for app registration, push notifications, biometric login, mobile card controls, or one-time authentication codes.
That difference matters for Direct Express because older adults make up a large share of the Social Security population. A card program can offer an app to nearly everyone while still excluding a significant minority of its core audience from that particular service channel.
Digital availability is not the same as universal accessibility.
The gap has narrowed rapidly
The current divide is smaller than it was a few years ago.
Pew reported that smartphone ownership among adults aged 65 and older stood at 61% in 2021, compared with 96% among adults aged 18 to 29. Internet use among adults 65 and older was 75%, versus 99% among those aged 18 to 29.
By 2026, smartphone ownership among older adults had risen to 78%, a gain of 17 percentage points from the 2021 figure. That calculation uses Pew’s published results from the two survey periods.
The improvement is substantial.
It does not remove the service-design problem. During a bank transition, the people least likely to own a smartphone may also be among those most dependent on reliable Social Security access and least comfortable distinguishing between a legitimate registration notice and a fraudulent message.
The digital divide is becoming narrower, not irrelevant.
Home broadband creates a second divide
Owning a smartphone does not mean having stable home internet.
Pew’s January 2024 report “Americans’ Use of Mobile Technology and Home Broadband” found that:
- 95% of U.S. adults used the internet.
- 90% owned a smartphone.
- 80% subscribed to high-speed internet at home.
That left one in five adults without home broadband under the survey’s measure.
Pew’s November 2025 broadband fact sheet reported that 16% of U.S. adults were smartphone-only internet users, meaning they owned a smartphone but did not subscribe to home broadband.
A smartphone-only household can reach a Direct Express app or website, but the quality of access depends on mobile data, signal coverage, device storage, screen size, and whether the user can complete account tasks without exhausting a limited data plan.
A web portal may technically be available. The experience is different on a low-cost phone using intermittent cellular service than on a desktop computer connected to stable broadband.
Where the “mobile access” headline misleads
A card program can advertise a mobile app and correctly describe the account as digitally accessible.
That claim does not establish that all cardholders can use it.
Digital access requires several things to work together:
- A compatible device
- An active telephone number
- Reliable data or Wi-Fi
- The correct Direct Express application
- Successful registration
- Access to authentication messages
- The ability to read and understand account prompts
- A device that has not been lost, damaged, or replaced
Failure at any step can prevent account access while the underlying card and benefit account remain active.
The phrase “manage your card from anywhere” describes product capability. It does not measure whether the cardholder has the equipment, connectivity, confidence, or accessibility support required to use it.
The bank transition increases digital complexity
SSA announced that new Direct Express enrollments with Fifth Third began in May 2026. Existing cardholders are expected to move later in 2026 or early 2027 after receiving advance notice.
A phased transition reduces the risk of replacing every account simultaneously. It also produces a period when more than one Direct Express system exists.
Cardholders may need to determine:
- Which bank issued the card
- Which app supports the card number
- Whether previous login credentials still work
- Whether registration must be completed again
- Which website is current
- Which customer-service number belongs to the account
A digitally experienced customer can compare the card, app description, and official notice.
A person with limited internet access may depend entirely on a mailed letter or telephone conversation. Someone unfamiliar with app stores may install the wrong application or follow a sponsored search result instead of an official listing.
The transition is therefore also a digital-literacy test.
Telephone service remains essential
Direct Express’s audience includes people who cannot or do not use online banking tools. Telephone balance access and live support remain essential alternatives.
SSA’s direct-deposit page continues to provide telephone enrollment routes, including Treasury’s Go Direct line and SSA’s national service number. It also lists a TTY number for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The presence of telephone service does not remove every barrier.
Users may encounter:
- Long menus
- Difficulty entering information by touch-tone
- Hearing or speech limitations
- Dropped mobile calls
- Limited prepaid telephone minutes
- Confusion between automated and live-agent options
- Language barriers
- Long waits during payment periods
A telephone channel is more inclusive than an app-only system. Its quality depends on whether callers can complete the task without being pushed back toward a website they cannot use.
Disability changes the meaning of accessibility
Direct Express serves Social Security Disability Insurance and SSI recipients, among other federal-benefit populations.
Digital accessibility for this audience involves more than internet adoption. Users may have visual, cognitive, hearing, motor, or speech disabilities that affect how they interact with a website, app, automated phone system, authentication code, or physical card.
The FCC routinely provides alternative document formats such as Braille, large print, electronic files, and audio for people with disabilities. That practice reflects a broader federal accessibility principle: making information available online is not sufficient when some users need another format.
Direct Express does not publish a current public performance table showing app accessibility testing, screen-reader success, telephone relay outcomes, or complaint rates by disability status.
That absence makes the program difficult to evaluate.
Accessibility claims can be checked against technical standards, but cardholder outcomes require data.
Language access adds another layer
SSA states that it is committed to equal access for people with limited English proficiency and publishes quarterly data on spoken-language preferences among disability applicants.
The existence of language-preference datasets shows that federal service populations are linguistically diverse.
Direct Express account communications can involve financial and legal terms such as:
- Pending authorization
- Provisional credit
- Unauthorized transfer
- Replacement card
- Verification code
- Financial agent
- Transaction dispute
- Account restriction
A literal translation may not be enough if the user does not understand the underlying financial process.
The challenge becomes greater during a migration. A notice must explain that the issuing bank is changing without suggesting that the benefit agency, benefit amount, or eligibility decision has changed.
Poorly understood language can turn a legitimate transition message into something that looks like fraud, or make a fraudulent message appear credible.
Broadband affordability remains a barrier
GAO’s report “Affordable Broadband: FCC Could Improve Performance Goals and Measures for Its Program to Support Low-Income Consumers,” GAO-23-105399, said broadband had become critical for everyday life but that cost could prevent consumers from obtaining it.
The distinction between availability and affordability matters for Direct Express.
A neighborhood may have broadband infrastructure, but a low-income benefit recipient may not subscribe because the monthly price competes with food, utilities, housing, and medicine.
The user may instead depend on:
- Public-library internet
- A family member’s device
- Free retail Wi-Fi
- Limited mobile data
- A community-service office
- Telephone-only account access
Each arrangement creates privacy and security concerns. Logging into a prepaid-benefit account on a shared computer or public wireless network exposes risks that do not exist to the same degree on a personal home connection.
The card may be inexpensive. Secure internet access is not automatically included.
Rural users face combined barriers
GAO has described broadband access as a continuing digital-divide problem and noted that federal efforts can struggle to reach communities without adequate service.
More than 60 million Americans, about one-fifth of the U.S. population, live in rural areas, according to GAO’s 2023 discussion of rural service access. GAO also noted that rural residents tend to be older than urban residents.
Those two characteristics can overlap with Direct Express usage:
- Older population
- Longer distances to branches
- Weaker cellular coverage
- Limited broadband choices
- Fewer in-person assistance locations
- Greater dependence on mailed notices and telephone service
The combined burden can be larger than any single barrier.
An older urban user without home broadband may still have public transportation, nearby branches, libraries, and strong cellular coverage. A rural user may lack all four.
National product availability conceals local service inequality.
Digital alerts can help and fail
Deposit notifications, low-balance alerts, and transaction messages can help cardholders detect activity quickly.
The feature assumes the program has the correct telephone number and that the user can receive and recognize the message.
Alerts can fail when:
- The telephone number changed
- The mobile service was disconnected
- The inbox is full
- A carrier filters the message
- The cardholder uses a landline
- The phone belongs to a representative payee
- The user mistakes a legitimate alert for fraud
- A fraudulent text copies the legitimate format
The strongest security practice from the program’s perspective is independent verification through the official app, website, or number on the card.
That advice depends on digital and financial literacy. A person unsure which app is correct may have difficulty performing the recommended verification.
Fraud risk rises during digital transitions
A bank transition creates opportunities for impersonation.
A fraudulent message can plausibly claim that:
- A new card must be activated
- The old login is expiring
- A benefit will be suspended
- A telephone number must be updated
- A verification code is required
- The recipient must move to a new app
Those statements resemble real transition tasks closely enough to confuse even experienced users.
Older adults’ rising smartphone use expands access to legitimate services. It also exposes more people to text-message, app, and link-based fraud.
The analytical tradeoff is clear: the same digital channels that make account management faster also increase the number of ways a criminal can imitate the program.
What better accessibility reporting would show
A useful Direct Express digital-access report would include:
| Performance measure | What it would reveal |
| App use by age group | Whether older users adopt mobile tools |
| Telephone-only account users | Dependence on non-digital channels |
| Failed registration rate | Difficulty entering the correct system |
| Screen-reader testing results | Accessibility for blind users |
| TTY and relay completion rates | Support for deaf and hard-of-hearing users |
| Language-service use | Demand for translated assistance |
| Rural versus urban login success | Connectivity differences |
| Smartphone-only user outcomes | Performance without home broadband |
| Calls caused by app or website failure | Whether digital tools reduce or shift service demand |
| Fraud reports during transition | Security cost of migration communications |
Direct Express publishes product instructions and contact channels.
It does not publish this demographic and accessibility scorecard.
That missing data prevents a clear judgment about whether digital expansion is reducing barriers or moving them from one channel to another.
Where the data conflicts
Pew’s technology figures show major progress. Smartphone ownership reached 90% among adults aged 50 to 64 and 78% among adults 65 and older by 2026.
Broadband data presents a less complete picture. Pew’s 2024 survey found 80% home-broadband adoption across U.S. adults, while its 2025 fact sheet classified 16% as smartphone-only internet users.
Those findings are not contradictory.
A person can own a smartphone and use the internet while lacking a stable home connection. Product designers may see that user as digitally connected, but complex financial tasks remain more difficult on a small mobile screen with limited data.
The headline adoption rate overstates the quality of access.
Data limitations
Pew’s smartphone and broadband findings describe U.S. adults generally, not Direct Express cardholders.
SSA does not publish a Direct Express cardholder table showing device ownership, broadband subscriptions, digital literacy, language preferences, or accessibility needs.
The current Fifth Third transition began in May 2026, so its effect on mobile adoption, call volume, fraud, and failed registration is not yet available in a complete public dataset.
GAO’s broadband reports concern national access and affordability rather than the performance of one federal prepaid-card program.
No official source reviewed provides the share of Direct Express cardholders who manage their account only by telephone.
Frequently asked questions
Do most older adults own smartphones?
Yes. Pew reported 78% smartphone ownership among adults aged 65 and older in January 2026.
Does that mean nearly everyone can use the Direct Express app?
No. About 22% of adults 65 and older lacked a smartphone under the same data, and device ownership does not guarantee connectivity, compatibility, or digital literacy.
How many adults have home broadband?
Pew’s 2024 report found that 80% of U.S. adults subscribed to high-speed internet at home.
What is a smartphone-only internet user?
It is a person who owns a smartphone but does not subscribe to home broadband. Pew reported that 16% of U.S. adults fell into that category in its November 2025 fact sheet.
Why does Direct Express still need telephone service?
Some cardholders lack smartphones, broadband, compatible devices, or the ability to complete financial tasks online. Telephone access is also needed for complex account problems.
Does SSA provide non-online enrollment options?
Yes. SSA lists telephone enrollment through its own service line and Treasury’s Electronic Payment Solution Center, along with TTY support.
Will all existing Direct Express users move immediately?
No. New Fifth Third enrollments began in May 2026, while existing cardholder transitions are scheduled for later in 2026 or early 2027.
Direct Express has become more digital at the same time that its audience remains divided by age, disability, income, language, geography, and connectivity. The program’s accessibility will be determined not by how many digital tools it offers, but by whether a cardholder without the newest phone or reliable broadband can still reach essential federal income.
