I have a post about how to make money from by taking the advantage of sing-up bonuses (click here). However, you will always see “Free checking with direct deposit” or “$100 bonus when you open a new account with direct deposit”. Most of banks require direct deposit if you want to get sign-up bonus. The reason is very simple: banks exactly know the influence of bank account with the rest of your financial life. They hope you can use their other services like mortgages, personal loans, auto loans, student loans and other financial products. They assume that you are too lazy to go to contact your payroll office to have your direct deposit redirected to another bank account. It’s true we don’t want to change our bank account frequently. However, we are not satisfied with merely one bank account. There are so many sing-up bonuses from so many banks. Then an “unofficial payroll office” is a must in order to jump in so many deals. ING and PayPal are most discussed and used direct deposit tools.
According to the definition from electronicpaymnet.org, a direct deposit is simply an electronic transfer of funds to your account. This is usually done by a method known as ACH transfer. Unless a real person is looking at the detail of the ACH transfer, there is no real way to automatically tell if the ACH is a payroll deposit or not. Most of the time a bank will count these non-payroll transfers as a direct deposit, which allows you to avoid service fees and/or collect promotional bonuses based on the use of direct deposit. (For more detailed information please refer to electronicpayment.org.)
After searching on the internet via Google, I summarized some most common banks that count ING or PayPal ACH transfers as direct deposits.
Bank of America (ING, PayPal)
Bank One (ING, PayPal)
Chase (ING)
Citibank (ING, Paypal)
Citizens Bank (ING)
Commerce Bank (ING, Paypal)
Compass Bank (ING)
E-Trade Bank (ING)
HSBC (ING)
PNC Bank (Paypal)
Principal Bank (ING)
SunTrust (ING, PayPal)
USAA (ING)
Wachovia (ING, no PayPal)
Washington Mutual (ING, Paypal)
Wells Fargo (no ING)
You can set direct deposit alert on Chase checking account. If the ACH transfer is counted as direct deposit, they automatically send you an email to confirm that. Of course, the prerequisite is you should set the alert by yourself. Please note that you should never call your bank to verify whether or not ING & PayPal are counted as Direct Deposit.
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December 1st, 2007 at 1:11 am
FYI, HSBC is another option and it’s easy to add an external account through their system
December 1st, 2007 at 10:48 am
Hi Samuel. Thank you very much. Yes. HSBC direct checking account is also a choice.
December 6th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
hi,
this sounds great. i need a little help here.. how to set up a monthly auto Paypal ACH transfer? Thanks a lot
December 6th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Mmmm….I don’t think we can set up monthly auto ACH transfer at PayPal. PayPal doesn’t provide auto monthly transfer service. You’d better write down the date of your first ACH transfer and then you will do it in the following months at the approximately same time.
December 6th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Thanks for the answer. I guess the manual ACH will do.
I found your blog quite informative and check every other few days.
I signed up for the citi credit protector. Hopefully, I will get the digital frame.
Have a nice evening!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:25 am
I contacted chase and asked about an ING ach transfer into a checking account counting as a direct deposit and was assured that is would be. I also asked about how much would be needed to be transfered in order to qualify for the $125 bonus and was told that there was no minimum. I find this hard to believe. Do you know if there is a minimum amount needed in the ach transfer to qualify for the $125. Thanks.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Hi Joe. There is no minimum amount needed to qualify for the $125 bonus. You can set account alert at your online account. Once a direct deposit is done, Chase will send you an email. From my own experience, even a trial deposit from ING Direct is counted as Direct Deposit. But I usually transfer $40 per month to Chase checking account.
June 6th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Yesterday I had conversation at Chase Bank and Chase Bank doesn’t qualify ING as direct deposit.
June 6th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Hi Ainas, when you talk to them, they will not say ING transfer is counted as DD.