Up until the implosion of PayPal Bill Pay a few weeks ago, funding new deposit accounts was a favorite side-effect for certain types of manufactured spend, partially because it was one of the main quick-hit arising when you opened new target accounts. All of those new funding data points and subsequent shenanigans lead to a counterintuitive principle:
Banks and credit unions prefer old school hand-written checks for initial deposits over just about everything else.
Why is this? Frankly I have no idea, but I can tell you that one of the fastest ways to get compliance looking into your activities is to ACH, wire, or bring cash into a new deposit account right out of the gate. For some reason though, those hand-written checks side-skirt initial “stolen funds” and other fraud concerns because reasons known only to the depths of KYC.
Have a nice weekend!
The bank’s “Know Your Customer” team cubicle.