# No Direct Deposti at Work **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2001, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-deposti-at-work/57516 "2001-03-11T05:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-deposti-at-work/57516/1 "2001-03-11T05:14:01Z")
At the last place I worked the refused to offer direct deposit. They said it was because the hotel wasn’t big enuff. Yet I have worked at smaller hotels and even a place that had only 5 full time and 20 part time employees and they offered direct deposit. Is that legit? I mean the hotel not being big enuff. Or is a way of saving money. I reckon if we get paid on Friday and the check was drawn on the “First Bank of China” in ChinaTown, most people at work wouldn’t have an account there so it would take days to clear and thus they could keep the payroll account longer for interest. Are there other legit reasons for not having direct deposit? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-deposti-at-work/57516/2 "2001-03-11T05:48:13Z")
My WAG would be that banks charge a fee for employers to do Direct Deposit, and your job just didn’t want to pay for it. Like good health insurance, DD is essentially a job perk. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-deposti-at-work/57516/3 "2001-03-11T06:05:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*My WAG would be that banks charge a fee for employers to do Direct Deposit, and your job just didn’t want to pay for it. Like good health insurance, DD is essentially a job perk. > \*\* In my experience, banks often don’t charge for it, since it often requires an account at the bank the employer uses and therefore gets the bank some more customers. IMO, mark’s current employer is just too lazy/uninformed to be bothered with it. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-deposti-at-work/57516/4 "2001-03-11T06:40:06Z")
Direct deposit is much more complicated for the employer. They have to provide a payment instruction directly to the bank, rather than just print up the checks in the office. And yes, the bank does charge a fee for it – if they’re even willing to talk to the small companies at all. Why can some small businesses provide direct deposit? Usually because they outsource their payroll to a company that provides that service. And what kind of company requires an account at their bank for direct deposit? All you need is the ABA routing number and the account number and you should be able to cut a payment to anybody in the country. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-deposti-at-work/57516/5 "2001-03-11T12:50:13Z")
> [@](#): > > And what kind of company requires an account at their bank for direct deposit? All you need is the ABA routing number and the account number and you should be able to cut a payment to anybody in the country. My husband’s employer does this. I imagine the company’s bank has a lower or no fee for direct deposits to their own accounts. I once worked for a bank which _only_ paid by direct deposit to their own accounts - when you got hired,they opened a no-fee account checking account for you. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-deposti-at-work/57516/6 "2001-03-11T18:30:49Z")
Well, I’ll tell you why my little company stopped offering direct deposit. We used to (if you banked where the company did) 'cause all we had to do is fax something to the bank. then the bank changed how they did business, and in order to continue to offer the service, you had to buy a particular computer program and be connected to the Internet, and my accountant opted to not spend the $$ to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-deposti-at-work/57516/7 "2001-03-11T22:13:55Z")
Well this was at my former job, but anyway, they outsourced there payroll to ADP. What I also found out they did was pay the insurance in weekly premiums. As when I left, as in most jobs you assume you’re insurance is paid up thru the end of the month. But they told me I would have to start my COBRA immediately as they pay every single week premiums so I was only covered till I walked out the door. I can’t believe they would do this but it must have saved some money however little it was.