May Day is coming! The next regular, active duty military payday is Thursday, 1 May 2014. This should be a relatively uncomplicated payday, with even unusual early direct deposit policies falling nicely into place on the calendar.
One Business Day Early
The most common early direct deposit offer is where the bank (or credit union) credits the pay deposit one business day early. Two big financial institutions that pay one business day early are USAA and Pacific Marine Credit Union; there are others as well. For this pay period, one business day early equals Wednesday, 30 April 2014.
Service Credit Union
Service Credit Union posts active duty military pay “up to two business days” before the actual payday. This early deposit is not guaranteed and is dependent upon Service Credit Union receiving the pay information from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. For Thursday paydays, pay can be deposited as early Tuesday. For this payday, that means that the pay could be deposited as early as Tuesday, 29 April 2014. Again: NOT GUARANTEED!
Navy Federal Credit Union
Navy Federal Credit union has two different paydays depending on which type of account you use. NFCU members who use Active Duty checking accounts will see their pay pending on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, to be posted overnight and available for use on Wednesday, 30 April 2014. NFCU members who use any other type of checking account will see their pay pending on Wednesday, 30 April 2014, to be posted overnight and available for use on Thursday, 1 May 2014.
Pay can come at any time in the day. Even if your bank is usually consistent with pay deposit times, things happen. See When Will I Get Paid? for more information.
While 99% of pay problems are solved by a little patience (i.e. waiting a few hours), sometimes things do go wrong. If this happens to you, check out Why Hasn’t My Pay Been Deposited? to formulate your solution plan.
