Has anyone else "taken the plunge"?

[broncovet]

  Here is what I mean.  I want to change my bank.  They are slow, and almost eveyone gets their check deposited a day or two before I do.  And they are a pain in the neck other wise, too.  I ownt list the bank name, for privacy and to prevent phishing and hackers.  But its a well known big bank.  

   I have another bank, that I feel confindent wont do me wrong like this bank.  But, I have been with this bank for 10 plus years.  Worse, I know if there is "any" kind of an error "anywhere", my life will be a disaster for months or even years if it ever gets straightened out.  I know that "even if there is no glitch" VA will find a way to find a way to create a glitch.  Its what they do best.  After all, if VA did not make mistakes or glitches, we would need to shut down both the BVA and the CAVC.  The VA wont fix errors, they just tell us to appeal, and wait 5 years.  I already lost my home once, with VA glitches, which took years to fix, so Im reluctant to even consider exposure to another VA glitch.  

     Even if its just changing my bank account.  has anyone changed their bank account where the VA check is deposited, and did anyone have glitches?  

[brokensoldier244th]

You need to ask your other bank how they handle incoming ACH direct deposits- do they memo post or do they do it on the day of. Not all banks pre-deposit incoming money transfers, most do it on the day the transfer arrives, some even wait a day before actually applying it to your balance. 

You can change your direct deposit directly on VA.gov- you don't have to send in anything. Do it near the beginning of a month instead of at the middle or at the end like a bunch of people do for some reason and you should be fine. I've changed my bank 3 times in the years I have received DD from the VA and none of them had any issues so long as I either mailed it in  (old school pre-ebenefits/va.gov) at the beginning of the month or changed it online near the beginning of the month.

VA payment batches are huge, they start batching them up at least a week before the end of a month and start sending them to the Fed. 

[relatively happy camper]

My bank posts them about 10:30pm (2230hrs) the night before the 1st of the month, unless the 1st is a Sat, Sun or holiday, and then it's the last business before the 1st.  I believe VA deposits the money w/the banks/credit unions on the 27th of the month.  Many wait until the 1st but some credit unions/banks deposit it 2 days early.   Old Glory Bank, the one John Rich (of country music's Big & Rich fame) is involved in it.  Mine goes to my bank and then I write a check to an acct, I have, in another bank, where I have an acct, it's faster than a transfer.  I feel it protects me from having them seize it, back, for any unknown reason.  I feel better doing it.

[Lemuel]

My credit union post my VA check on the 28th or before of the month before the 1rst in my free checking account.

PenFed also has my mortgage at 2.25%, the reason I opened an account there.  Not afraid to post their name.  Citi Bank is paying higher interest on CDs now but PenFed was the first to raise their CD Rates after COVID inflation hit.

There are other banks paying higher than Citi now. 

The CDs with the higher rate are short term, 6 to 8 months.

 

Edited August 21 by Lemuel
add info

[Lemuel]

Suggest anyone changing banks have 3 months savings to carry over until the first deposit.  I used a new 0% credit card to make the change.  Was able to buy a CD with the money once it hit PenFed before the credit card started charging interest the CD matured and I paid off the Credit Card.  The Credit card was a PenFed credit card.

[Sgt. Wilky]

I've changed my direct deposit a few times. I always did it at or near the first of the month, and I never close the existing account until about three months after the VA deposit is steadily going into the new account. I've never had a problem with doing it that way. I also (as Lemuel said) keep money aside in case there is a mess up.

Semper Fi,

Sgt. Wilky

[Lemuel]

15 minutes ago, Sgt. Wilky said:

I've changed my direct deposit a few times. I always did it at or near the first of the month, and I never close the existing account until about three months after the VA deposit is steadily going into the new account. I've never had a problem with doing it that way. I also (as Lemuel said) keep money aside in case there is a mess up.

Semper Fi,

Sgt. Wilky

Sounds like a good way to go.  But I did have the experience of a backed-up nonpayment even though my account was still open. 

The deposits were, according to the VA, rejected by PenFed.  No indication in my account that they were ever received by PenFed and rejected, and it took several calls to the Whitehouse Hotline and about 3 months before the arrear's deposits were deposited to my PenFed account.  But I had sufficient savings in the old account to weather the storm.

The error could have been mine.  I could have transposed a couple of digits in the routing number on my first attempt and the deposits went to the wrong bank.  Were they were rejected from was never identified in the notices from the VA and the deposits were not made to my old open account even though it was open.

Just be careful changing banks.  I eventually received the full amount due but it was a hassle.