Direct Deposit

Direct deposit is the deposit of electronic funds directly into a bank account rather than through a physical, paper check. Common uses for direct deposit include income tax, refunds and pay checks.

On the whole, direct deposit is a highly popular form of payment because it eliminates the risk of losing a physical check, along with the need to visit a bank in person to make a deposit. Direct deposits can also lessen the risk of losing the check en route as well as theft.

Direct deposit allows an employee's pay to be available immediately in their accounts at midnight the day prior to payday. With this method it is not subject to a check clearing wait period. Salaries paid via check can often take a week or more to clear within their account.

Tax refunds are the annual return of excess amounts of income tax that a taxpayer has paid to the state or federal government throughout the past year. In the United States, most people receive income tax refunds in the first or second quarter of the year. While these refunds can be issued in the form of personal checks or U.S. savings bonds, many also come in the form of direct deposits to the taxpayer's bank account.  

Most refunds are issued within a few weeks of the date the taxpayer initially filed their annual income tax. Direct deposit is advantageous in that it allows the government to make the refund immediately available to the citizen; many depend on tax refunds in their personal budgets.  

Direct deposit and other forms of electronic banking (e-banking) bring with them greater efficiency, along with greater risk of online security hacks. The rise of certain cybersecurity measures to help protect forms of banking, such as direct deposits, has been critical. Types of cybersecurity attacks on sensitive financial information include backdoor attacks (in which thieves exploit alternate methods of accessing a database that don't require traditional authentication), denial-of-service attacks (which prevent a rightful user from accessing a system, often by entering a wrong password enough times that the account is locked), and direct-access attacks (including bugs and viruses, which gain access to a system and copy its information).

Measures to increase security can include using a password protector and/or choosing more complicated passwords, with a combination of letters, numbers, capitals, and special signs, to encrypt personal financial data.