What Banks Count As Direct Deposits – 2019 Edition

Here you can find out how to meet the Direct Deposit Requirements to earn bonuses and promotions from new bank accounts.

While there are banks promotions that do not require direct deposit, larger bonuses often require direct deposit.

Banks and Credit Unions use cash bonuses to lure in customers in hopes of keeping them long term. By requiring a direct deposit, which is defined as an “electronic deposit of your paycheck, pension or government benefits (such as Social Security) from your employer or the government“, they hope to keep you locked in.

While it is very simple to meet this requirement by switching an existing direct deposit to the new account, some people do not have the luxury of receiving direct deposit or government benefits.

Thus we compiled a list of alternatives to meet Direct Deposit Requirements.

When you are able to meet the Direct Deposit Requirements, you are on your way to earn bonuses, waive monthly service fees, and earn higher rates.

Best Alternatives To Trigger A Direct Deposit For Bank Accounts

*It is important to know that your experience may end up entirely differently than someone else. In fact, one singular method is NOT guaranteed to work for everyone. Thus we ask that you leave a comment below letting us know about your experience.

• ACH Transfers: Most if not all bank accounts have Automated Clearing House (ACH) Transfers which is a free way to transfer money between financial institutions. You’ll find this method to be the most popular, usually within 2 business days, to do an ACH transfers to meet direct deposit requirement.
• Capital One 360 Online Checking: This Online Checking account allows you to make ACH Transfers and Person2Person payments (a way to send money to anyone using your email – much like Chase Quickpay). This is also a very popular alternative because you are able to manage your money from anywhere and you avoid traditional hassles such as monthly service fees. Furthermore, you can earn up to $1,000 a year referring new members. Find out more about the Capital One 360 Bonus here.
• Paypal: You will find limited success with this method but you simply link your new bank account to your Paypal and transfer the balance requirement from Paypal to the account.

Tips Before You Get Started:

• Because there is no guarantee that no single method will work for you, we recommend trying a combination of the options above.
• If you plan on applying for several promotions, it is best to have all the options set up first.
• There are is no risk for additional fees because you are transferring your own money across multiple banks.

Meeting Direct Deposit Requirements For Specific Banks

Based on the reported experiences of the many consumers online from sites such as FicoForums, Slickdeals, CreditBoards, Flyertalk, etc, we’ll put together the most extensive list of Banks (alphabetically) on alternative method of direct deposit to trigger a bank bonus.

*However, this information is constantly changing, and there is no guarantee these other methods to meet Direct Deposit Requirements will work.

What Banks Count As Direct Deposits

Disclaimer: We make no promise the information below is 100% correct since banks can change what count as direct deposit often.

If a bank/financial institution’s name is listed, that means using ACH through them was reported as successful.