All pensioners collecting the State pension will now use a new Social Services Card when collecting the payment, rather than a pension book.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs said the process of transferring people to the new payment method had been under way since February last year.
Approximately 100,000 recipients of the State pension were among the last to switch and started using the new card from today.
The Department said the cards had been sent to a nominated post office for collection before the social welfare and pension recipient was due to collect their first payment under the new system.
It said the process had gone "very smoothly" so far.
The payment can either be made directly at a post office or be paid into a bank account.
Where pensioners have nominated someone else to collect a payment on their behalf, “that the arrangement stands,” according to the Department.
It said the card system is more secure as it does not display the person’s address or the post office where the payment is made in the event it is lost or stolen.