Stimulus check: IRS deposits 90 million payments into bank accounts
The first wave of $1,400 direct deposits have arrived less than a week after President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law last Thursday.
The IRS have confirmed that they have already sent out around 90 million direct deposits into Americans’ banks account as the distribution of the third stimulus check continues.
The American Rescue Plan was only signed into law by President Joe Biden last Thursday but his administration have been eager to get the direct support out to those in need as quickly as possible.
Last week the White House set the target of distributing 100 million stimulus checks in just ten days, and it seems they are on track to do so comfortably.
Banks told to prepare for huge stimulus check influx
The majority of the $1,400 stimulus check payments will be made using direct deposits into the recipients’ bank accounts. As such the IRS contacted financial institutions to make them aware that around 90 million of these payments should be arriving on the morning of 17 March.
This will see an estimated $242.2 billion leave the US Treasury in a single morning, roughly one-eighth of the total cost of the new stimulus bill.
The 17 Mach date was the one set by the IRS as the settlement date for the first wave of stimulus check payments, but some were reporting seeing the money in their bank account as early as last Friday.
But despite some accusations online, Mike Herd, senior vice president of Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network Administration, explained that the delay for some recipients simply reflects the usual payment process for bank transfers:
“Banks and credit unions will make funds from direct deposits available to their customers by the same day that they receive the funds from the IRS,” said Herd.
He added: “Banks and credit unions are not delaying the payments, nor are they earning interest on funds they don’t have.”
Direct deposits are the quickest stimulus check payment method
The first Americans to receive the $1,400 stimulus checks will be those who get the payments via direct deposit, which is by far the quickest method to send the funds.
However the IRS have confirmed that they have also began distributing the first wave of the physical stimulus checks, which are sent to those who have bank accounts but their details are not currently on file.
The IRS has mailed around 150,000 of these paper checks to recipients with a pay date of 19 March, according to the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). In an online update to banking members, the ICBA added:
“Additional batches of payments will be sent in the coming weeks with the vast majority sent by direct deposit… Payments will also be sent through the mail as a check or debit card.”
Third stimulus check: live updates
You can get the latest information on the third stimulus check by following our live blog on the latest round of direct payments.