Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday that paper stimulus checks had not been issued yet.

Concerns emerged last week when senior administration officials told The Washington Post that President Donald Trump asked that his signature appear on the checks, something that could delay the checks.

Mnuchin said it was his idea for the president's name to appear in the checks' memo line as "a terrific symbol to the American public."

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday that Americans waiting on paper checks for their coronavirus stimulus payment would continue to wait, as they have not been issued yet.

Though payments of up to $1,200 for eligible individuals were directly deposited in bank accounts on file with the IRS last week, Mnuchin said the government was still processing paper checks and hoping that those still waiting for their payment would instead go online to collect it.

"The reason why the checks have not gone out is we're hoping that more people, as I said, will go to IRS.gov," Mnuchin told CNN's Jake Tapper. "It's much safer to send out direct deposits."

In the past month, more than 22 million Americans filed for unemployment as the economy buckled under shockwaves from the coronavirus outbreak. While an estimated 80 million Americans received their stimulus check via direct deposit last week, about 70 million are waiting to receive paper checks.

Paper checks are set to be sent starting Friday, Business Insider's Tanza Loudenback reported. The federal government is using 2019 tax returns — or 2018 returns for people who haven't filed yet, given that the deadline for this year was extended to July 15 — to determine eligibility.

Last week, the Trump administration raised eyebrows when senior officials told The Washington Post that President Donald Trump asked for his signature to be included on the checks.

Mnuchin said on Sunday that Trump "could have been authorized to sign the checks."

"That would have slowed things down," he said. "We didn't want to do that."

Mnuchin said that instead of a signature, the president's name would appear on the checks' memo line.

"That was my idea," Mnuchin told Tapper. "He is the president, and I think it's a terrific symbol to the American public."