Its very sad how Finance never really transitioned from the FattWallet

DaveHanson · December 15, 2025, 2:43pm

I would love to figure out a way to recapture the positive qualities that online place and that era of communications. I miss it very much.

kkerty89 · May 16, 2026, 5:05pm

The past 6 months I have found myself with free time like I had back in the FWF days. AKA Brainstorming how to manufacture money out of thin air. I resurfaced my inner FWF o-rama days and found doctor of credit and started hitting bank bonuses, which has been lucrative, but nothing like it would be if we had the gang back together and compiled our thoughts and strategies. together in an organized way. A quick FWF google search landed me here. Saw some very familiar names. Occasionally I reach out to a member or 2 and wish for the good ole days. I too miss it very much. We would be much better off working together rather than (for example) trying to figure out what each bank considers a DD by scrolling through 100k random comments and testing and hoping.

pietromoon · May 16, 2026, 5:33pm

I had the AI do it

Here’s a comprehensive table based on data from Doctor of Credit, r/churning, and other community sources. Keep in mind these data points can change — always verify against the latest DoC comments before acting.

What Counts as Direct Deposit for Bank Bonuses (2026)

Every bank is different — some allow any ACH transfer to trigger the bonus, others require a brokerage account transfer, and some are strict about real payroll only.

Bank	Strictness	What Counts as DD	Notable ACH Sources That Work	What Doesn’t Work	Notes
Chase	Strict	Payroll, gov’t benefits, PPD-coded ACH	Fidelity ACH push, Novo, TreasuryDirect	Ally, Alliant, Cap One, Coinbase, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, most bank-to-bank ACH	Must be coded as “PPD ID/ACH Transfer” — anything showing as “P2P” won’t work
Citi	Broadest	“Enhanced Direct Deposit” (EDD) — nearly anything	Fidelity (50+ DPs), Chase (35+), Ally (25+), Cap One (20+), SoFi, Discover, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle	Very few exclusions	Citi uses “Enhanced Direct Deposit” (EDD) — Zelle incoming transfers (30+ confirmed data points), P2P ACH from Venmo and PayPal, and ACH pushes from virtually every bank and brokerage all qualify
Bank of America	Lenient	Most ACH pushes	Ally, Astra, Fidelity, SoFi Money, Wealthfront, TreasuryDirect, Wise (add “PAYROLL” to memo)	Teller deposits, wire transfers, ATM deposits, debit card transfers	BofA considers regular monthly income as a qualifying direct deposit; community DPs show many ACH sources work
Wells Fargo	Lenient	“Qualifying electronic deposits” — broad definition	Most ACH pushes from banks/brokerages	P2P transfers, personal WF account ACH (business WF checking works)	Wells Fargo uses the broad term “qualifying electronic deposits” and is one of the more lenient major banks; WF personal→elsewhere does NOT work as source
Capital One 360	Lenient	Most ACH pushes	Discover, Schwab, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, Robinhood, TD Bank, US Bank, Vanguard, Venmo (10+ DPs)	Some inconsistency — results vary	Capital One also has data points showing Zelle works; generally forgiving
U.S. Bank	Strict	Payroll ACH or government benefits only	Very limited ACH workarounds	P2P payments explicitly excluded	A direct deposit is an electronic deposit of your paycheck made through the ACH network or an electronic deposit of your government benefits — other electronic deposits or person-to-person payments are not considered a direct deposit
SoFi	Moderate (official) / Lenient (community)	Officially: employer, payroll, gov’t benefits recurring ACH	Many bank ACH pushes work per community DPs	Wire transfers, internal SoFi→SoFi transfers, P2P in official terms	P2P transfers and external ACH transfers are not officially eligible, but community reports show many bank ACH pushes trigger the bonus in practice
Ally	Lenient	Most ACH pushes	Chase, Fidelity, Schwab, Wise — dozens of confirmed sources	Very few failures reported	One of the most ACH-friendly banks; massive number of community DPs
PNC	Moderate	Employer/gov’t preferred; some ACH works	Alliant, Ally, SoFi, Wells Fargo, Chase, PNC-to-PNC	Citi, some P2P	Results mixed — Ally and Alliant have strong track records
Huntington	Lenient	Broad ACH acceptance	Ally, Chase, Fidelity, Cap One, Wells Fargo	Few exclusions	Generally considered flexible
BMO Harris	Moderate	Payroll + many ACH	Ally, Robinhood, Schwab, TransferWise	Some inconsistency	BMO Harris accepts ACH transfers from Ally, Robinhood, Schwab, and TransferWise
Citizens Bank	Lenient	Broad ACH acceptance	Alliant, Ally, Cap One 360, Chase, Discover, HSBC, Venmo, Wells Fargo	Few exclusions	Citizens Bank accepts transfers from Alliant, Ally, Capital One 360, Chase, Discover, HSBC, Venmo, and Wells Fargo
Truist	Moderate	Payroll + some ACH	Some bank ACH pushes work	P2P, some bank transfers	Check DoC comments for current DPs
KeyBank	Moderate	Payroll + some ACH	KeyBank ACH push works as source for other banks	Limited community data
Chime	Lenient	Broad ACH acceptance	Ally, Cash App, Schwab, Chase, Discover, SoFi, Wells Fargo, Wise	WF personal (inconsistent), some P2P	Chime is known to accept transfers from Ally, Cash App, Charles Schwab, Chase, Discover, SoFi, Wells Fargo, and Wise
Discover Checking	Moderate	Payroll + some ACH	Several bank ACH sources work	Some inconsistency in recent DPs	Strong community data on DoC
Axos Bank	Lenient	Broad ACH	Cap One, Schwab, SoFi, Wise (add “PAYROLL” to memo)	Few exclusions	Axos Bank accepts ACH transfers from Capital One, Charles Schwab, SoFi, and Wise

Universal Tips (from DoC / r/churning)

Tax refunds almost always work — they’re classified as government payments, which are nearly universally accepted as qualifying direct deposits.
Brokerage withdrawals (Fidelity, Robinhood, E*Trade, etc.) often work when bank-to-bank ACH doesn’t, since they don’t show as P2P transfers.
TopCashback payouts frequently work because the ACH originates from a business account and doesn’t appear as P2P.
Never call the bank to ask if an ACH transfer counted — you’ll just draw attention to the fact it wasn’t a real payroll deposit.
Fidelity ACH push is the single most reliable DD workaround across many banks (Chase, BofA, Ally, and more) — it’s commonly coded as a proper ACH credit.

Primary source: Doctor of Credit — List of Methods Banks Count as Direct Deposits (updated regularly with community data points). Always check that page for the latest before attempting a specific bank, as policies shift frequently.

kkerty89 · May 16, 2026, 5:44pm

pietromoon:

Universal Tips (from DoC / r/churning)

Tax refunds almost always work — they’re classified as government payments, which are nearly universally accepted as qualifying direct deposits.

Brokerage withdrawals (Fidelity, Robinhood, E*Trade, etc.) often work when bank-to-bank ACH doesn’t, since they don’t show as P2P transfers.

TopCashback payouts frequently work because the ACH originates from a business account and doesn’t appear as P2P.

Never call the bank to ask if an ACH transfer counted — you’ll just draw attention to the fact it wasn’t a real payroll deposit.

Fidelity ACH push is the single most reliable DD workaround across many banks (Chase, BofA, Ally, and more) — it’s commonly coded as a proper ACH credit.

Primary source: Doctor of Credit — List of Methods Banks Count as Direct Deposits (updated regularly with community data points). Always check that page for the latest before attempting a specific bank, as policies shift frequently.

pietromoon, This is very impressive. I guess I need to learn how to get AI to scrub all the comments like this because manually reading is brutal. Should I continue this discussion here or go to that bank bonus thread?

I am in the preliminary process of planning a road trip(s) (or at least seeing if it is feasible) to earn bonuses at out of state banks/credit unions.

scripta · May 17, 2026, 4:49am

More artificial than intelligent . A whole lot of ACH works just fine with USB. The DoC page says so.

scripta · May 17, 2026, 4:56am

Did it scrape DoC comments? Can you get it to scan all of r/churning? I’d expect this to get expensive. Though reddit has its own LLM search, is that what you used?