Direct Deposit?

[don_resqcapt19]

...
Same goes for writing a check or using a credit card - once someone has your account info - they have a place to start if they want to try something. Look at fine print details for your account to find what limitations may be for your account in the event fraudulent activity happens, it is not necessarily the same for all accounts or even credit card accounts.

Credit cards do not really have this issue. The card issuer does not have your money until you give it to them. Yes, someone can run up unauthorized charges on the card, but they do not have your money from your account. The same is not true of debit cards.

 

[kwired]

Credit cards do not really have this issue. The card issuer does not have your money until you give it to them. Yes, someone can run up unauthorized charges on the card, but they do not have your money from your account. The same is not true of debit cards.

Care to explain a little further? If I purchase something and give the merchant my credit card information as my payment method, what is to keep them from creating another false sale and keeping the money from that transaction? Sure there may be a way to track what happened and end up prosecuting them in the end, but nothing stopping them from the attempt. This is not the same thing as someone using your credit card to make purchases for themselves which is probably somewhat easier to get away with, but we have to trust merchants we give the card or number to when we make purchases or what is the point of having the card in the first place.

I don't accept credit cards as a payment method, but if I did, what would stop me from taking someone's card information if I have it and processing a payment for anything I can imagine putting on the bill? Sure I will probably get caught and have to pay it back, maybe even go to jail, but it would not be that hard to do if I wanted to. If I just billed peoples cards small amounts monthly I possibly could get away with a lot of money for some time before ever getting caught. On top of that if I had a criminal mindset and knew how to hide this activity, or how to legally sell something of no value that the victim actually signed and subscribed to I could increase how long I may get away with it. Legitimite companies get away with this all the time. I am always finding things on my phone bill or other bills that I have to cancel that somehow I ended up legally subscribing to yet never knew I did so. (I hate this kind of marketing and think it should be illegal.)

 

[Fulthrotl]

Just got a decent lighting job I bid. Customer says today I need to sign a direct deposit form for them to deposit payment to my account. 1st time I have had this situation. I have worked for employers who paid that way & it was OK. But this company's home office is in Philadelphia, way out of state, harder to deal with if I need to go over someone's head. I know if they can credit my account, they can also debit it, either by error or on purpose. I am not comfortable with this at all. I badly need the work but don't want to put my account at risk in any way.

Have any of you dealt with this situation?

open a second checking account, an impound checking account.

when the money shows up, move it to your regular account.

i have three checking and three savings accounts, and can
move money between them with an app on my phone.

one personal checking, one business checking, and one impound checking.

and once money has been moved from one account to another, the only
folks who can access it are you, and YOUR bank.

relax. it'll be ok.

 

[hurk27]

If my bank told me that the outside person can make a withdrawal from my account via the direct deposit system, I would be looking for a new bank

Don I make payments to Toyota and my utility both because they don't accept dept card or credit cards because of the charges, I use the same bank info such as the routing number and account number that I gave my employer for direct deposit, I also have a couple cooperations that pay me by direct deposit.

The only thing that stops them from stealing money is the fact that they can be charged with bank fraud and or conversion both felony's.

Here is a scary one that my sister got nailed on, Comcast has a clause in their TOS that if you set up automatic payments to pay your bill then if you cancel their service at a later date they can and will still remove funds if you cancel before your contract has ended in most cases the whole amount of what was left on the contract, also what my sister got hit with was even though she turned in all the equipment somehow it was never recorded into their computer and they charged her account for over $1800.00 it cause a big mess with her over drafting on many of her bills, and well she barely won the case because she had the receipt showing that she did turn in the equipment, but for the contract default she lost so the amount they withdrew for that stood, so I will never allow automatic payments unless it is for only a specific amount and limited at that amount, it is almost imposable to get the bank to stop the payments all of short of closing the account, many of these book clubs, video, and record clubs will do this even if you cancel them.

There was several news articles on the Girls Gone Wild video scams as they would keep sending the videos and charging the accounts even if you canceled, a neighbor got caught up in this and had to close his account to get it to stop after his son used a blank check from his bank account.

So yes we should be careful in who we allow to have our info and authorize to withdraw funds from our account, If a small contractor wanted to do this I would have to know him very well before I would allow it, but a cooperation or larger company that would have more to loose if charged with bank fraud, I would have no problem.

 

[kwired]

Don I make payments to Toyota and my utility both because they don't accept dept card or credit cards because of the charges, I use the same bank info such as the routing number and account number that I gave my employer for direct deposit, I also have a couple cooperations that pay me by direct deposit.

The only thing that stops them from stealing money is the fact that they can be charged with bank fraud and or conversion both felony's.

Here is a scary one that my sister got nailed on, Comcast has a clause in their TOS that if you set up automatic payments to pay your bill then if you cancel their service at a later date they can and will still remove funds if you cancel before your contract has ended in most cases the whole amount of what was left on the contract, also what my sister got hit with was even though she turned in all the equipment somehow it was never recorded into their computer and they charged her account for over $1800.00 it cause a big mess with her over drafting on many of her bills, and well she barely won the case because she had the receipt showing that she did turn in the equipment, but for the contract default she lost so the amount they withdrew for that stood, so I will never allow automatic payments unless it is for only a specific amount and limited at that amount, it is almost imposable to get the bank to stop the payments all of short of closing the account, many of these book clubs, video, and record clubs will do this even if you cancel them.

There was several news articles on the Girls Gone Wild video scams as they would keep sending the videos and charging the accounts even if you canceled, a neighbor got caught up in this and had to close his account to get it to stop after his son used a blank check from his bank account.

So yes we should be careful in who we allow to have our info and authorize to withdraw funds from our account, If a small contractor wanted to do this I would have to know him very well before I would allow it, but a cooperation or larger company that would have more to loose if charged with bank fraud, I would have no problem.

First time I ever applied for some medical insurance, they took my account information as they required automatic payments, then it took two months before my policy was approved and finalized. Then without warning they take three months of premium from my account - which I did not have and was not expecting to pay that much all at once. Talk to agent - well you were covered from the time you applied (two months ago) plus the next month is now due. That was nice to know - and in fact did no good for me when I did not even know I had coverage:rant:

These companies that take automatic monthly payments simply take whatever the bill says and ask questions later. I am not a big fan of automatic payments ever since that happened to me unless it is something I know has little chance of having any change in the monthly amount that is due.

 

[jmellc]

Have you talked to your bank about this? They may be willing to set up another account for no charge and can certainly advice on the safety (or lack) of all this.

My bank is getting slack on service and doesn't do much without charging. I don't have the time right now to move accounts but will do that when I can. We do some business at another bank that seems more attentive. My bank used to be great but is now on its 4th merger. My so called personal rep is a nice person but sort of ditzy. She has been little help when I needed it. But that's OK. She will call one day to ask why I moved my account. I will have my list by the phone.

 

[jmellc]

I was surprised to get an email back from customer Saturday night. She said they should be able to work with me. We will see Monday for sure.

 

[jmellc]

First time I ever applied for some medical insurance, they took my account information as they required automatic payments, then it took two months before my policy was approved and finalized. Then without warning they take three months of premium from my account - which I did not have and was not expecting to pay that much all at once. Talk to agent - well you were covered from the time you applied (two months ago) plus the next month is now due. That was nice to know - and in fact did no good for me when I did not even know I had coverage:rant:

These companies that take automatic monthly payments simply take whatever the bill says and ask questions later. I am not a big fan of automatic payments ever since that happened to me unless it is something I know has little chance of having any change in the monthly amount that is due.

Yes, I forgot to mention that I used to work for an insurance co. and saw that kind of thing a lot too.

 

[LEO2854]

Open a secondary account earmarked for this project.

I agree with that.:thumbsup:

 

[LEO2854]

First time I ever applied for some medical insurance, they took my account information as they required automatic payments, then it took two months before my policy was approved and finalized. Then without warning they take three months of premium from my account - which I did not have and was not expecting to pay that much all at once. Talk to agent - well you were covered from the time you applied (two months ago) plus the next month is now due. That was nice to know - and in fact did no good for me when I did not even know I had coverage:rant:

These companies that take automatic monthly payments simply take whatever the bill says and ask questions later. I am not a big fan of automatic payments ever since that happened to me unless it is something I know has little chance of having any change in the monthly amount that is due.

My liability Insurance company does this,I give them a Check for the full amount and they hold it for 90 days then they cash it without warning.:blink:They don't tell you this up front, so even-though the money is there for them to take you have to keep in mind that sum will all of a sudden disappear,,I don't see what advantage they are giving themselves holding the check that long.:happysad:

 

[kwired]

My liability Insurance company does this,I give them a Check for the full amount and they hold it for 90 days then they cash it without warning.:blink:They don't tell you this up front, so even-though the money is there for them to take you have to keep in mind that sum will all of a sudden disappear,,I don't see what advantage they are giving themselves holding the check that long.:happysad:

give them a check that says right on it, that it is valid for only 60 days from the date of the check

 

[LEO2854]

give them a check that says right on it, that it is valid for only 60 days from the date of the check

I like that idea...:lol:

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Care to explain a little further? If I purchase something and give the merchant my credit card information as my payment method, what is to keep them from creating another false sale and keeping the money from that transaction? Sure there may be a way to track what happened and end up prosecuting them in the end, but nothing stopping them from the attempt. This is not the same thing as someone using your credit card to make purchases for themselves which is probably somewhat easier to get away with, but we have to trust merchants we give the card or number to when we make purchases or what is the point of having the card in the first place.

I don't accept credit cards as a payment method, but if I did, what would stop me from taking someone's card information if I have it and processing a payment for anything I can imagine putting on the bill? Sure I will probably get caught and have to pay it back, maybe even go to jail, but it would not be that hard to do if I wanted to. If I just billed peoples cards small amounts monthly I possibly could get away with a lot of money for some time before ever getting caught. On top of that if I had a criminal mindset and knew how to hide this activity, or how to legally sell something of no value that the victim actually signed and subscribed to I could increase how long I may get away with it. Legitimite companies get away with this all the time. I am always finding things on my phone bill or other bills that I have to cancel that somehow I ended up legally subscribing to yet never knew I did so. (I hate this kind of marketing and think it should be illegal.)

My point is that you can charge all you want to my credit card, but the credit card company does not have my money until I pay them. My money is still mine. However with a debit card or a checking account transaction, the money is moved out of my bank accout.

 

[kwired]

My point is that you can charge all you want to my credit card, but the credit card company does not have my money until I pay them. My money is still mine. However with a debit card or a checking account transaction, the money is moved out of my bank accout.

Ok, I'll buy into that, but until some settlement or other arrangement is made you still have a debt with the card issuer, even if it was because of fraud by someone else.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Ok, I'll buy into that, but until some settlement or other arrangement is made you still have a debt with the card issuer, even if it was because of fraud by someone else.

There are very clear limits on your liability in cases like that under federal law.

 

[220/221]

. I know if they can credit my account, they can also debit it, either by error or on purpose.

You KNOW this?

I very seriously doubt this. Just because they can deposit funds doesn't mean they can withdraw them. That would be too stupid.

It has to be a common way to transfer money. Writing a check and putting it in the mail these days is kinda dumb.

 

[renosteinke]

We like to think of ourselves as professionals. That's part of the reason sites like this don't like DIY questions; the consumer has no idea of all the little details we need to consider.

No man is an island; we all have to depend on others.

We have to trust that the folks in the banking system foresaw the possibility of errors and mischief, and have various safeguards in place.

I've already worked for a place that, right after agreeing to a new union contract, unilaterally (and retroactively) gave everyone a pay cut. "Overpayments" were deducted from the check - meaning everyone got $5 paychecks that week. It took several years for the NLRB to sort this out.

I bring this up, because the experience makes me certain that there are employers who would gladly raid their employees bank accounts. Yet, despite the popularity of 'direct deposit,' I have not heard of this happening.

Ditto for the various Federal agencies that are going "paperless." Even out pals at the IRS go through the formalities of 'seizing' an account, rather than just making a withdrawal.

So, I have to believe that there are protections within the system somewhere.

Maybe I'm naive.

 

[zbang]

We like to think of ourselves as professionals. That's part of the reason sites like this don't like DIY questions; the consumer has no idea of all the little details we need to consider.
[...]
So, I have to believe that there are protections within the system somewhere.

Exactly, and to repeat myself, check with you banker. Walk into a branch, talk to a human, ask them about all this. Heck, do some fact-based research on the 'net, don't just blindly believe the horror story from the man you just met at the dog park. It's good to be cautious, but not to be paranoid.

 

[K8MHZ]

Exactly, and to repeat myself, check with you banker. Walk into a branch, talk to a human, ask them about all this. Heck, do some fact-based research on the 'net, don't just blindly believe the horror story from the man you just met at the dog park. It's good to be cautious, but not to be paranoid.

If you get paid with a check, you now have that person or company's account and routing numbers.

What's to prevent you from making a withdrawal on that account?

 

[Fulthrotl]

Ditto for the various Federal agencies that are going "paperless."
Even out pals at the IRS go through the formalities of 'seizing' an account,
rather than just making a withdrawal.

not in my experience, they don't.

especially at the state level, in californicate.

i had a vehicle i sold, that was transferred out of
state by the new owner... all the paperwork was
done on my end, but the new owner did not either
register it, or surrender the plates. the car was
sold to a third party, who subsequently, i'm told,
drove it off the road, totaling it.

the state of calif. took about $300 a year out of my
checking account for registration on that car, without
due process, or notice, for four years after i'd filed
the change of ownership papers.

they finally stopped stealing my money, but i never
was able to recover any of it. $1,400 total.