I can’t believe that I am writing this article in 2025, but yet, here we are. I recently started a new job through a temporary agency that recruits well-qualified candidates. In my field of work, I am absolutely qualified. That’s why, a few weeks ago, I went to an interview at nine in the morning and then at two, I got the call from my recruiter saying that I was offered the position. Of course I accepted it and when I started a few days later, I was brought into a meeting room with three other people, all from the same agency.
Before I or anyone else could start, we had to wait for our criminal background check and our drug test to come back clean. In my case, I was cleared. Unfortunately, I’m told, another temp who was offered the assignment failed both.
The next following Tuesday, we all started actually working. Owing to hardcore paperwork that I signed and owing to my safety and that of my co-workers, I can’t really say anything that would identify the agency itself or their client, the company that brought me on.
I can’t disclose what I do other than to say it’s a sensitive position that requires complete discretion and secrecy.
But that’s not the point why I’m writing this. The point why I’m writing this is because most intelligent people receive their pay by way of direct deposit, especially when working for an agency whose offices are out of state. It’s only common sense, especially given the somewhat intense winters that we experience here in the general Albany area.
On lunch break, one of my fellow temps lamented the fact that she always has to wait for her paycheck to arrive in the mail, usually several days after payday. She was almost whining, so much so that it was so pathetic that I had to stifle a laugh.
Of course I’d already done all of my onboarding via my online portal, and one of the first things I did was to provide my checking account information so that I could immediately get direct deposit. Indeed it worked. And because my bank is one of many who offers early direct deposit, my first paycheck arrived late Wednesday night whereas others had to wait until Friday morning.
I had to ask her: why would she not have direct deposit, especially on a temp assignment? A long-term assignment, maybe temp to hire if I’m lucky, almost begs for direct deposit to avoid slow mail time and harsh weather that might delay the delivery of paper checks, a form of payment that is still around today as evidenced by the checks I have in my safe.
Her reasoning was quite silly: she’s afraid the government would be able to take her money just because. I had to point out that if she had anything like garnishments, child support or levies, they would take it out of her pay anyway, whether it be a paper check or direct deposit.
Her next excuse was that she didn’t want random people having her bank account information. Well, I pointed out that we can sign up online so that as few people as possible would actually see that information. Given that my agency has thousands of temps around the country and world, no one has time or desire to see her information.
It looked as if she was coming around. I pointed out that if her bank offered early direct deposit, she’d get paid two days early just like me. That seemed to win her over. She was still unsure of how to proceed, so I gave her my personal email address.
Well, one of them. The one I gave her is a throwaway that I don’t care about if it gets exposed online. She asked for my number so I could walk through it with her. Although I don’t give out my personal cell phone number to just anyone, I did it anyway. I mean, hey, I’m her friend now, not her gay friend.
Anyway, I got her through it and on the next payday, she will be paid and paid early.
So what’s all the fuss about direct deposit? I immediately hopped on board with it when I got my first real job in 1997. The two prior jobs weren’t really jobs and both paid by handwritten paper checks.
Some might think that it started in the late 1980’s or even the ’90s. Not so! Direct deposit actually dates back to the early 1970’s and was initially used to pay a few Air Force officers, all of whom decided to be test animals. The Social Security Administration got on board in 1975.
In the early ’70s, the system that we now know as the ACH network (Automated Clearinghouse) was built. It’s the network that, even today, is used to let people receive and make payments through a network that connects every bank and credit union in our country.
Next came private employers. They were seeking a method by which they could pay their employees for as little cost as possible. Preparing and distributing paper checks, especially across multiple locations, proved to be expensive and time-consuming.
Throughout the ’80s and early ’90s, employers urged their employees to sign up. The benefits for the employer or governmental recipient are many. There’s no need to wait for a paper check and then stand in line at the bank.
There’s no need to wait a few days for your bank to release the hold on your funds. It’s safe and convenient.
Anything can happen between corporate payroll and the employee. Inclement weather could delay the USPS, UPS or FedEx. Strikes could do the same. Paychecks need to arrive at the local payroll department and they need to be sorted and then distributed. All of that takes time. With direct deposit, everyone wins.
If you work in retail, you know all too well the need to go to your store and pick up your check, especially if you’re off on payday. With direct deposit, you wake up and your money’s just there. No need to get out of bed if you don’t want to. Pay bills while you’re in bed. What’s not to love about that?
When I was in retail management, I would cut my employees a break. Payday was every other Friday. So, when the closing employees left, I gave them their checks as a courtesy so that they didn’t have to come in just to pick up their check. Plus, even if they rushed to deposit the check in the ATM, it wouldn’t hit the company’s payroll account until at least the next day.
At my store, almost no one was on direct deposit. Myself and the storage manager were the only ones. Everyone else got a paper check and that was of their own choosing. But then again, I had three part-timers, all of whom were in high school.
Back then, you couldn’t have a checking account until you turned 18, meaning that they’d have to go to their parents, a check cashing store or maybe even endorse it over to the parents, who would hopefully then give them the cash. In one case, I had a high school kid who wanted her check in cash. Not 18, no bank account. So, I would cash her check.
My kindness, which I was not forced to show, created a minor headache when it was time to close out. The cash amount would be low, but the check amount would be for the amount of the loss. Back then, though, the software wasn’t smart enough to account for that. It took some force feeding.
Up until the late 1990’s, a lot of employers were still against direct deposit. Back then, you’d have to fill out a form and then provide a blank check. From there, at least back then, it was a headache.
When I signed up for my first direct deposit, it took two pay cycles. On the first cycle, I would get a paper check and at the same time, the payroll provider, ADT, had to send out a test deposit that would confirm that my account is mine and that it is valid.
I then had to wait. Another paycheck was a literal pay check. Finally, on the next payday, my money showed up first thing Friday morning. Early payday was simply not an option. Back then, legally, banks couldn’t release your funds to your account before the date indicated within the information the bank uses to credit direct deposits.
I don’t know how some banks who choose to offer early direct deposit can do it. Perhaps they call the early pay a loan or an advance. No matter the reason, the end result is the same: when you use one of those banks, and there are many, you win. Some of your other co-workers have to wait for the official payday whereas you’re enjoying your funds two days before them.
But that was then. This is now. In most cases, you can submit your payroll information online, whether at work at, say, Walmart, or at home through a special portal. Gone are the days of waiting.
As long as you get your information input in time to process the next payroll, your very first check from that employer would just show up in your account. With my current agency, one of the very first things I did was submit the needed information. My first check showed up and it showed up early!
There is a lot that goes into sending a direct deposit transaction to a bank. The information that is sent includes the recipient or employee’s name, the account number, the amount, the type of transaction and the day that funds are meant to be released.
Basically, the banks retrieve an electronic file from the ACH center. They do this several times a day and basically, each bank and credit union picks up information for every employee or recipient with their specific institution and then processes it. Because banks receive this information several times a day, they can in theory process deposits within an hour or so of the retrieval.
One scary thing is that, even in 2025, those files are in plain text. No encryption and no real protection, other than whatever security measures are in place. Each line is 94 characters and includes all of the information I mentioned.
So, then, my bank retrieves the file from the ACH several times a day. All of the transactions are collected. All of the information from employers and governmental agencies are included in that file. Banks and credit unions pick up the file and on it is deposit information from many different sources.
It makes sense, then, that it takes banks a little bit to process all of those transactions. Most banks hold the funds until the indicated payday, while others, like mine, release those funds within an hour or two of downloading it.
Anyway, my point wasn’t really to get into the technical side of things. If you truly want to learn more, Google is your friend. All I wanted to do here was to point out what many people already know: paper checks bad, direct deposit good.
And speaking of paper checks, they’re almost phased out, but are still in use today. My paper checks may be locked away, but I still use them.
When I make offerings at Mass, I always write a check. Yes, I can donate via debit card online, but if I do, then my parish has transaction fees taken off the top, and they simply shouldn’t have to do that. Yes, I could give in cash form, but that would require a special trip to one of my bank’s ATM.
As an usher, I see people put money itself or envelopes into the basket when I walk around in my assigned territory. I have no way to know whether cash or check is in one, but I am sure that the parish gets a lot of paper checks.
Come to think of it, that’s really the only reason why I use paper checks anymore. I pay my landlord via Venmo and I pay for everything else online. Hell, I use my debit card to pay for sodas and snacks from the vending machines in the cafeteria.
At this stage, anyone who still gets paid by paper checks is pretty much a dinosaur. But then again, good luck finding an employer who, in 2025, still offers paper checks as an option.
Some employers, and governmental agencies such as the SSA, mandate direct deposit. They do recognize that, for some reason that I can’t understand, some people don’t have bank accounts. Seriously…who wouldn’t have a bank account? And I’m talking about a real bank. Chime, Varo and so forth are, in my opinion, not banks.
In the cases where they hire ghetto trash that can’t or won’t get a bank account, they provide a special debit card, either Visa or Mastercard, and it acts like a bank account. The money gets loaded on the card when it’s supposed to and people can then use that card to pay bills, make purchases and even withdraw cash.
There are, of course, minor fees associated with these cards whereas those of us with, you know, bank accounts can do those things free of charge. In my case, my checking account is free because I use direct deposit. I know nothing of paying special fees like the literal no account people do.
If you don’t want to pay fees then simply choose a bank, go there and then open an account. What’s so difficult about that? Make it make sense!
I was able to bring my co-worker into 2025. If you’re reading this and don’t have direct deposit, just what in the hell are you waiting for?