Paperless pay growing in popularity as a way to ease payroll pain.

If you Google "paperless pay" you'll find entries as far back as 2004. In the HR industry, that's practically the Middle Ages. There are many more entries from the last few months, as business diminished from a steady flow to a trickle in the difficult economy. Companies are now looking for a way to reduce expense, and paperless pay seems a clear answer.

Text messaging has grown too, hand in hand with direct deposit and electronic paystubs. In 2004, text messaging was a costly add-on to most phone plans. I recently caught my 82-year-old mother-in-law responding to a text. "Too much trouble to get up and check email," she grumbled. Without knowing it, she'd put her finger right on the source of the growth in popularity of paperless pay--pain and bother.

The early adopters have all been on direct deposit since the beginning. As soon as online check stubs are available, they'll sign up, knowing that they can print one out if and when they need one. Text notifications of account deposits find them where ever they might be, telling them that their payroll has hit their bank account.

For the rest of the employee population, adoption happens when events dictate a change. Several Directo clients adopted paycard programs because of robberies. Employees who would cash their paychecks were mugged and lost all of their cash. Direct deposit was the obvious solution, but because they couldn't open bank accounts, their managers looked for an alternative that would help workers stay safe. Directo paycards were introduced to the employees, and soon became part of their way of life. They were eager to step away from the role of "potential victim" and with Directo's help joined (or rejoined) the banking mainstream.

Meanwhile, payroll costs are rising, and fraud risk has grown. Employers are looking for any way to cut costs while keeping their data secure. Paperless pay becomes the clear answer. Just as texting is now enjoyed by people of all ages and walks of life, so too will electronic payroll delivery. Don't wait until it hurts.