As part of its companywide sustainability effort, giant retailer Walmart is trying to move all of its employees to electronic pay, eliminating the paper that's involved in paying with checks and providing paper pay stubs. Walmart employees can choose between direct deposit and First Data's Money Network Payroll Distribution service, which allows them to access their pay using either a prepaid debit card or self-issued checks.

The biggest challenge in eliminating paper checks and pay stubs came in complying with all the relevant state regulations, says Mike Cook, Walmart assistant treasurer and vice president. "There's such a matrix of different state requirements," Cook says. "There are many states where we can't turn off the delivery of paper pay stubs, even if you're receiving your pay electronically."

Walmart has dealt with that problem by installing terminals in many stores that provide employees with paper pay stubs. Employees can also access that information online, over the telephone, or via pay stub text messaging services.