Financial institution regulators will have the challenge of keeping up with the changing business environment and of gauging how well institutions are coping. Regulators will have to recognize institutions that are not making the adjustment or are taking on excessive risk, possibly to compensate for shrinking profitability elsewhere. While Internet access is greatly expanding, it is important that a gap not develop between those who have access to computers and those who don't. E-Commerce At Treasury, we have had significant success using new technologies. In some areas, we are ahead of the private sector.
Individuals can pay their taxes on line.
More than three-quarters of all government benefit payments are now made electronically. So are almost sixty percent of payments to vendors. We also are the world's largest issuer of smart cards. This year we will issue close to a quarter of a million smart cards at U.S. military installations throughout the world. We also are developing or testing a variety of new programs, including digital cash, secure Internet e-mail for the delivery of digital checks to vendors, and ACH debit authorizations over the Internet.