Customers angry at bank delays in stimulus checks

Americans hoping to get their stimulus checks became increasingly frustrated Saturday after discovering that some banks will not make the checks available to them for days, even if they have already been deposited by the federal government.

The official payment date for “Economic Impact Payments” is March 17, but millions of dollars in checks had already landed in countless bank accounts on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Some Americans may view direct deposit payments as outstanding or as interim payments to their accounts before the official payment date of March 17,” the Internal Revenue Service explained on its website.

Some digital banks, such as Chime, said they authorized customers to access cash instantly. Chime announced Friday that he had already handed out $ 600 million in “stimmy” checks.

Chime’s customers on Twitter confirmed they already had access to the money.

Chase, however, issued a statement saying it will release payments from March 17, apparently even if the money reaches the accounts sooner.

Wells Fargo said the same thing: he will treat all checks as arrived on March 17, whether they arrive earlier or not. “Wells Fargo will process all direct deposits according to the effective date provided by the U.S. Treasury,” the bank noted on its website.

The bank expressed the policy positively on Twitter, shouting that customers could get the money “as early as March 17,” but clearly before, even if millions of the government were under the bank’s control days earlier.

It is still unclear how other banks handle payments. Some customers of banks have received notification that the money has landed in their accounts, but the the money will not be available to them until March 17th, As reported by the Washington Post

The newspaper noted that in previous rounds of stimulus checks, transactions at larger banks sometimes took a few days to appear as credited to the accounts.

Treasury and IRS officials do not disclose how much money has already been sent to the first batch. Additional direct deposits will be sent over the next few weeks. People will receive paper checks or new debit cards in the mail if the government does not have direct deposit information.

Slow check processing only works to the advantage of banks due to the increase in “floating” created by a massive influx of government cash. They can juggle delays to increase outgoing loans to other customers and increase their profits.

Customers were upset about the stop and seemed to be zero in on Wells.

The IRS said Friday that people can start tracking the status of their checks through the “Get My Payment” portal starting Monday. The agency also said it expects to issue more direct deposits and send payments as a check or debit card over the coming weeks.

This third round of payments, with a total value of $ 411 billion, is larger than either of the previous two last year. Eligible households will receive up to $ 1,400 for each adult, child and dependent adult.