A lot of bank account sign-up bonuses require a direct deposit, but not all banks have the same view on what counts as a direct deposit. Below I’ll list the best bank sign-up bonuses and what they consider a direct deposit!
What is a Direct Deposit?
Banks typically define direct deposits as electronic deposits of your employer’s paycheck or government benefits to your bank account. However, there are non-traditional methods that also count as a direct deposit when it comes to bank sign-up bonuses.
Some banks are more flexible than others on what counts as a direct deposit. For example, transferring funds from one of your existing bank accounts to your new bank account will work in a number of cases.
The list below shows data points we received from readers on what banks count as a direct deposit simply by transferring money via an electronics funds transfer (EFT) – just be sure you’re making a push transfer and not a pull transfer (more on this below).
Ninja Note: Looking for the best bank account bonuses? See the entire list on this page.
Difference Between a Push and Pull Transfer
You should always do a push transfer and not a pull transfer in order to qualify bank bonuses. What’s the difference between the two?
- Push Transfer: You’re logging on to an existing bank account and transferring money to your new bank account (pushing a deposit).
- Pull Transfer: You’re logging into your new bank account and transferring money to it from another bank account you have (pulling a deposit).
For all other intents and purposes, there really isn’t a difference between the two, but for triggering bank bonuses, banks will only consider push transfers as something that qualifies as a direct deposit.
Final Thoughts on What Counts as a Direct Deposit
If you’re new to bank bonuses, keep in mind banks may change what counts or doesn’t count as a direct deposit at any time. Personally, sometimes I do push transfers from two different banks to increase the chance of success.
Have questions or new data points? Help each other out by commenting on specific bank bonuses on their individual post. Comments here should be more general in nature.
Please note that while this alternative direct deposit method has worked for many, ultimately, the only 100% foolproof way is to do an actual direct deposit of your employer paycheck or government benefits.
List Of Banks (in alphabetical order)
Associated Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with Associated Bank:
- Ally Bank
- Chase Business Checking ($500 welcome bonus)
- DoorDash payouts
- eBay payouts
- Fidelity
- Instacart payouts
- PayPal
- PNC
- TreasuryDirect
- Uber/Uber Eats payouts
Axos Bank
Axos Rewards Checking $500 Bonus
The following counts as a direct deposit with Axos Bank:
- Affinity
- Alliant
- Ally
- Brex payroll
- Capital One
- Chase
- Fidelity
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- SoFi
- USAA
- T-Mobile
- Vanguard
- Wells Fargo
- Data points to be added (please send in personal data points)
Bank of America
The following counts as a direct deposit with Bank of America:
- ACH Transfer
- Ally
- Capital One 360
- Chase
- Discover
- Fidelity
- PenFed
- SoFi ($325 Checking & Savings sign-up bonus)
- TreasuryDirect
- Wise (formerly TransferWise, enter “Payroll” in the payment reference field)
BBVA
The following counts as a direct deposit with BBVA:
- Capital One 360
- Charles Schwab
- Fidelity
- First Tech Credit Union
- Merrill Edge
- PayPal (seems to no longer work as of 2/2020)
- Provident Credit Union
- TD Ameritrade
BMO (formerly BMO Harris)
BMO $400 Checking Account Bonus
The following counts as a direct deposit with BMO:
- Ally
- Charles Schwab
- Chase Business Checking ($500 welcome bonus)
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- Robinhood
- TreasuryDirect
- UFCU
- Wise (formerly TransferWise, enter “Payroll” in the payment reference field)
Capital One 360
The following counts as a direct deposit with Capital One 360:
- Ally
- Charles Schwab
- Chase
- CIT Bank
- Discover Savings
- E*Trade
- Fidelity
- Fifth Third
- First Tennessee
- Goldman Sachs
- Marcus by Goldman Sachs
- Robinhood
- Santander
- SoFi Checking & Savings
- TD Ameritrade
- U.S. Bank
- Wise
- Vanguard
- Venmo
- Zelle
Chase Bank
$600 Checking + Savings Bonus | $300 Checking Bonus |
Ninja Update 6/1/2022: For Chase, most of the transfer methods below have stopped working. If your transfer has the description “PPD ID/ACH Transfer”, most likely that means it’s a valid transfer that will trigger the bonus. Anything with a “P2P” in it will no longer work. The exceptions appears to be TreasuryDirect withdrawals and Novo checking account payments.
The following counts as a direct deposit with Chase Bank:
- Ameritrade
- CBC Federal Credit Union
- Circle Pay
- CIT Bank
- Connexus Federal Credit Union
- Consumers Credit Union
- DoorDash
- Elements Financial
Fidelity Investments(doesn’t seem to be working anymore)- First Technology Credit Union
- Firstrade
- Freshbooks WePay
- Goldman Sachs
- Google Adsense
- Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union
- Gusto
- Keesler Federal
- M1 Finance
- MarketForce Payroll
- Mercari
- M&T Bank
- Northern Bank
- Orion Federal Credit Union
- PenFed
- Provident Credit Union
Robinhood(doesn’t seem to be working anymore)- Santander Bank (mixed reports since 2020)
- SoFi Invest
- SoFi Money
- Stanford Federal Credit Union
- TD Ameritrade
- T-Mobile Money
- Wise (formerly TransferWise)
- Uber
- Uber Eats
- University Federal Credit Union
Vanguard(doesn’t seem to be working anymore)- Wealthfront
- Wisebanyan
Chime
The following counts as a direct deposit with Chime:
- American Express Serve
- American Express Bluebird
- Apple Cash
- Cash App
- Charles Schwab
- Chase
- Chase Business
- Circle Pay
- Coinbase
- Fidelity
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- OnePay
- SoFi Checking & Savings
- TD Bank
- Wells Fargo (business checking)
- Wise
- USAA
- U.S. Bank
Citibank
The following counts as a direct deposit with Citibank:
- ACH
- Alliant
- Ally
- Capital One 360
- Charles Schwab
- Chase
- Coinbase
- Discover
- Fidelity
- Marcus
- PayPal
- Robinhood
- SoFi Checking & Saving
- U.S. Bank
- Wells Fargo
- Venmo
- Zelle
- Data points to be added (please send in personal data points)
Citizens Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with Citizens Bank:
- ACH
- Alliant
- Ally Bank
- Capital One 360
- Charles Schwab
- Chase Bank
- Fidelity Investments
- Santander Bank
- Vanguard
- Venmo transfers
Current.com
The following counts as a direct deposit with Current (previous methods seem to have stopped working completely sometime during Summer 2025:
- Chase Business Checking ACH
- TreasuryDirect
Discover
The following counts as a direct deposit with Discover:
- Amazon Seller Disbursements
- American Express Serve
- Bank of America Business ACH
- Capital One 360
- Fidelity
- Paypal
- TD Ameritrade
Fairwinds Credit Union
The following counts as a direct deposit with Fairwinds:
- American Express Business
- Wealthfront
Fifth Third Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with Fifth Third Bank:
- Ally
- Alliant
- American Express
- Bank of America
- Capital One
- Charles Schwab
- Chase
- Citizens
- Discover
- eTrade
- Huntington
- USAA
- Capital One 360
- Liberty Financial
- Paypal
- PNC
- Serve
- Wise (formerly TransferWise, enter “Payroll” in the payment reference field)
- Wells Fargo
Go2bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with Go2bank:
- Wise (formerly TransferWise, enter “Payroll” in the payment reference field)
HSBC
The following counts as a direct deposit with HSBC:
- Ally
- American Express Bluebird
- Chase
- Discover
- PNC Checking
- Robinhood
- Santander
- SoFi Money
- Wells Fargo
Huntington Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with Huntington Bank:
- Alliant
- Ally
- Amazon Payments
- ACH Transfers
- American Express Bluebird
- American Express Serve
- Capital One
- Chase
- Fidelity
- Kraken (crypto app – $75 welcome bonus)
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- PNC
- SoFi Invest
Juno (formerly OnJuno)
The following counts as a direct deposit with Juno:
- American Express Business checking
- Wise (formerly TransferWise, enter “Payroll” in the payment reference field)
KeyBank
The following counts as a direct deposit with KeyBank:
- ACH
- American Express Serve
- Capital One 360
- Chase (but instant transfers)
- Discover (but not savings)
- E*Trade
- Huntington
- Navy Federal Credit Union
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- Paypal
- Stripe Transfer
- TD Ameritrade
- Wise (formerly TransferWise)
- USAA
- Wells Fargo
- Venmo
MoneyLion
The following counts as a direct deposit with MoneyLion:
- Alliant
- Ally
- Capital One
- Charles Schwab
- Chase
- Discover
- Fidelity
- First Bank
- First Tech
- Marcus
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- PenFed
- PNC
- Robinhood
- SoFi
- TD Bank
- T-Mobile
- US Bank
- Wise (formerly TransferWise)
- Wells Fargo
M&T Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with M&T Bank:
- Alliant
- American Express Bluebird
- American Express Serve
- BBVA
- Cash App ($5 new user bonus)
- Charles Schwab
- Citadel Bank
- Coinbase
- Discover
- E*TRADE
- Fidelity
- Kraken (crypto app – $75 welcome bonus)
- KeyBank
- Laurel Road
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- PenFed
- PNC
- Robinhood
- SoFi Invest
- TD Ameritrade
- USAA
- Wealthfront
- Wise (formerly TransferWise)
- Vanguard
PeoplesBank (MD & PA)
The following counts as a direct deposit with PeoplesBank:
- Alliant
- Ally
- Charles Schwab
- PNC
- Wells Fargo
People’s United Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with People’s United Bank:
- Alliant
- American Express Bluebird
PNC Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with PNC Bank:
- Alliant
- Ally
- American Express
- Bank of America
- Capital One 360
- Chase
- Fidelity
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- PayPal
- PenFed
- Wise (formerly TransferWise)
- Venmo transfers
- Wells Fargo (mixed reports)
Regions Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with Regions Bank:
- ACH
- Alliant
- Ally
- American Express Serve
- Bank of America
- Capital One 360
- Charles Schwab
- Chase
- First Tennessee
- PenFed
Santander Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit with Santander Bank:
- Alliant
- American Express
Capital One 360(mixed reports, I wouldn’t depend on this method alone)- BMO Harris
- Chase
- Charles Schwab
- Fidelity
PayPal(no longer valid)- Wells Fargo
- Venmo transfers
SoFi
The following counts as a direct deposit for SoFi bonus offers:
- Ally
- Altra
- Astra
- Brex
- eBay (managed payments)
- Gig Payouts (DoorDash, Grubhub, Instacart, Lyft, Uber Eats)
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- PNC
- Revolut
- Treasury Direct
- Wise (formerly TransferWise)
SunTrust
The following counts as a direct deposit for SunTrust bonus offers:
- ACH
- Ally
- Alliant
- Adventure Credit
- Capital One 360
- Charles Schwab
- Chase
- Discover
- Fidelity
- Goldman Sachs
- Navy Federal Credit Union
- Vanguard
- Wells Fargo
TD Bank
The following counts as a direct deposit for TD Bank bonus offers:
- ACH
- Ally
- Alliant
- American Express Savings
- Bank of America
- Barclays Savings
- Capital One 360
- Charles Schwab
Chase(doesn’t seem to be working anymore)- E*Trade
- Fidelity
- Marcus
- PNC
- Truist (formerly Suntrust)
- USAA
- Vanguard
- Wells Fargo
Truist
The following counts as a direct deposit for Truist bonus offers:
- Capital One 360
- Charles Schwab
- Chase
- Fidelity
- Public.com
- TD Ameritrade
- Vanguard
- Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
The following counts as a direct deposit for Wells Fargo bonus offers:
- Bank of America
- E*Trade
- Fidelity
- HSBC
- KeyBank
- PayPal
- PNC Bank
- Robinhood
- Santander Bank
- SoFi Money
- USAA
- Venmo transfers
U.S. Bank
$800 Business Checking Account Bonus
The following counts as a direct deposit for U.S. Bank bonus offers:
- ACH
- All America Bank
- Alliant
- Ally Bank
- American Express Serve
- Apple Cash
- Capital One 360
- Cash App
- Charles Schwab
- Chase
- Discover
- DCFU
- Fidelity
- Goldman Sachs
- Marcus
- Novo (business checking account – $40 bonus for new users)
- PayPal
- PNC
- School’s First Credit Union
- Simple
- SoFi Money
- Tech Credit Union
- Unify FCU
- USAA
- Wealthfront
- Wells Fargo
- Western Vista Federal Credit Union
Here’s what they said
😳
I did a push transfer from Wells Fargo to chime and it didn’t work as a direct deposit. I thought it worked to start with but I contacted support and they said this.
The first rule of bank bonuses with unofficial direct deposits is NEVER contact the bank. These are never recognized as a direct deposit per their terms. It’s only for people that’s aware of it…
Wells Fargo does work, but it requires a WF business checking account.
👋🙂 Hey John! Sorry to bug, but CapitalOne360’s website mentions having to “Set up and receive at least 2 qualifying direct deposits” .. but other Banks it’ll just say to “receive deposits” …..
Is there any difference between them due to the “set up” part? I see your list of what counts for CapitalOne360 but wanted to make sure just in case it’s new wording in their print. I appreciate your time! Thank you!
Good question! The answer is no, there isn’t a difference between “set up”, “receive”, or “make” when it comes to bank bonuses. You’re good!
will Uber Driver payouts count as direct deposit for Chase, Bank of America, chime, capital one, etc etc ? On my current bank statement it shows as Raiser EDI paymnt.
We had a few Uber drivers confirm that they payout counted as a Direct Deposit. Raiser EDI is what it comes into your bank as and should work with the bank accounts you’ve mentioned.
Ok thanks 🫡
which one works as DD to get a bonus from Alliant Credit Union?
Does revolut or ally still work for SoFi?
I tried with revolut and i think it didnt work
As of august 2025 I tried to get bonus from chime using two push from my discover savings account for over 200 each and neither coded as direct deposit. Did I do somthing wrong can you advise me on this or am I to assume that discover no longer works. Thanks any info is appreciated
How are you pushing from Discover to Chime? Are you connecting it with a third-party transfer service (Plaid, Stride, etc.)?
I select transfer and then the add external bank account which then uses MX to link the accounts. Should I be doing this diffrently?
Readers have suggested the MX link was causing issues. Not sure if you can make MX “forget” your account and add it in manually. But to do that, go to “Transfers & Payments” and do the following steps:
In the login popup, type garbage, NOT your actual external bank account credentials. This will route it to the traditional route where they will send you two small deposits which you can verify.
If that doesn’t work because of the previous connection already, try one of the other alternatives shown here.
Hi John, do you know if Robinhood still counts as a direct deposit option for BMO?
Hi Jessi – last data point from readers suggests it still works. Please report back on your experience.
Would transfers from an M1 investment account count towards the direct deposit requirement for a Bank of America and a BMO bonus?
M1 probably has a good chance of triggering the bonus as other brokerage transfers appear to be working.
I was wondering how often the list of “What Counts As A Direct Deposit For Bank Bonus es ” is updated? Is there a way to see this just looking at the current list for one of the banks listed? Thanks!
I update it whenever new information comes in. Which bank are you looking at?
Looking at Associated Bank for their $600 bonus & just looking over others for future “ventures”. Thanks for the quick response!
Associated Bank was just updated from reader data points and feedback I’ve personally received. Welcome to the site!
Do you know what counts/is accepted as DD with Synovus Bank? Thank you!
I just applied for Citibank. In their fine print, it states “enhanced direct deposit” and goes on to describe Venmo, PayPal and Zelle counting as enhanced direct deposits. I will be trying this with Venmo.
did it work. pls let me know
Just a note on US Bank. There bonus looks great but I could never apply because I am out of their geographical footprint. By accident I found if I opened a credit card with them I was then allowed to apply for the checking Bonus as an existing customer. So I got $200 from the credit card for spending $1000. Then I got another $450 for transferring $5000 to the checking account.Quickly reduced that balance from $5000 to $100. No Service charge since I am over 65. Best combination from a bank I have seen.$650 while only tying up $100. Calculated ROI 78%.
How did you transfer $5000, did you use some other service rather than employer or payroll. pls let us know
Your saying you made $650, but you had to spend $1,000 for the $200. You got $450 from the checking acct. You still spent $1,000 that has to be paid back, – $650 So, basically you got a $1,000 worth of stuff for $350 not bad I guess.
John
For Citibank I have been successful with Fidelity as a source two times now.
Has anyone used Novo for direct deposit to Chime?
Novo works for Chime.
Hello John,
I am looking for South State Bank DP for the bonus, could you please help me with that
Hello John,
Can you please give the updated list as of Aug 2024
It’s updated. I also created a YouTube video on this that I think will be really helpful to you and others who are looking for information around direct deposits: https://youtu.be/lo85TjxvaaQ?si=ZQjlNgBDvnKVOUdK
How can I tell if my transfer from one account triggered the direct deposit requirement for Chime?
Trying to get the credit card, and have a week till my offer runs out.
Hi Mike – you should see the bonus deposited in your account if it worked correctly. Depending on the promotion, this could be a few days or a few weeks’ time.
So, I have 2 questions… 1) For Chime, is CashApp still working & triggering the bonus when using the push transfer? ($200 Direct Deposit)
2) Does it matter If I link the accounts first? So essentially, should I link my accounts, and then do the push transfer? Or, should I do the push transfer from CashApp to Chime without linking the accounts first?
You don’t have to link the accounts, only “push” it from CashApp to Chime. Recent feedback is that it still works.
Hey John, I read you comment and I need some advice. I opened the Chime account via swagbucks(which pays a good bonus) and was getting ready to do a transfer from my Schwab Individual Brokerage account and see if it will work as a DD. I was trying to do the ”push’ you mentioned above.
I can’t find an other option in the Schwab website to transfer money to an other account. I go to the ”Move money” tab and there is only the option to add the external account or do a wire transfer which is like $15.
So if I go to ”move money”–> external accounts–> link new account and once I fill up the Chime routing num and account num its giving me this
“Let’s verify this account. To make sure you have access to this account, Schwab needs to make two small deposits and a withdrawal of less than $1.00 in the next 2 to 4 business days.
We will email you when the trial deposits have been made. The email will also have instructions on how to verify the deposit amounts so the account can be linked.”
So if I proceed(I did not yet), will these automated micro deposits for linking the accounts cast my Schwab transfer as non DD? Can you guide me on how you did the DD successfully from Schwab? Like which are the steps to do the push?
Thanks much!
Ben
Hi Ben – the micro deposits doesn’t affect the welcome bonuses in most cases. For Chime, I haven’t seen a single feedback that this would cause an issue.
John how do you do this “push” from a Schwab brokerage account or Fidelity account to an other bank like Chime. I can find on their website options to link external accounts or do a costly wire transfer. How do you do that?
I think you answered this in a later post. On Charles Schwab, the process goes ”move money” –> “external accounts” –> “link new account”. Once the account is linked, you use CS to transfer to your other bank accounts, which are considered “push” deposits.
John
The list for Chase indicates Fidelity is no longer valid. I was successful using Fidelity in February of this year
That’s surprising, but great news. Was this for the Chase Total Checking account?
Does US Bank still count a paypal transfer as a direct deposit for their promo? I just called and asked and they said no… but maybe they don’t want me to know that it’ll work haha. thank you!
Banks will never confirm non-standard Direct Deposit options. These are methods that people have found to have worked, but aren’t counted officially as a DD by the banks.
John Axos accepts Fidelity as a valid ACH deposit for their bonus.
I can confirm that. Currently doing their $300 bonus and a push from Fidelity triggered the bonus.
Thanks guys, it’s updated!
A note on Santander. Their Bonus requires you to go into the branch to open. They said Fidelity would not count as a ACH deposit. From past experience and John’s list I opened anyway, used Fidelity and got the bonus.
Correct. Their current $400 bonus can be opened online and a push from Fidelity will get you the bonus.
John I don’t see Citibank listed here Do we know what counts for their deposits? The refer to Enhanced Deposits but don’t know what that is.
I’d 2 Zelle to the account.
And the money cake about 2 weeks after the second Zelle.
But I also did Wells Fargo and Cap 360 just in case. They both showed ACH but the bonus came the next day so I doubt those factored in.
Thanks. I did two ACH items from Fidelity and received the bonus within 5 days.
In the list of institutions that work for Chime, is Apply Pay referring to Apple Pay (or more accurately, Apple Cash) & is that method still working? Isn’t that the same as simple ACH?