Direct Deposit Required
More than 23,000 retirees, annuitants and former spouses have set up direct deposit in the past six months.
That means 23,000 fewer paper checks and savings of nearly $265,000 per year. The Department of Treasury mandated that all federal payments be made electronically by March 1, 2013 in an effort to save American taxpayers an estimated $120 million every year.
With direct deposit, DFAS sends your payment straight to your bank account. Direct deposit gives you immediate access to your money on pay day, and it helps eliminate the risk of lost or stolen checks, forged signatures and identity theft.
Over 99 percent of DFAS customers are complying with the mandate by receiving their payments through direct deposit. If you’re one of the few still getting a check in the mail, please sign up for direct deposit now.
How to enroll
There are three ways to start direct deposit. Before you enroll, you’ll need to gather information including your financial institution’s routing transit number and account number. Then do one of the following:
- Send a signed Fast Start Direct Deposit Form to Defense Finance and Accounting Service, U.S. Military Retired Pay, 8899 E 56th Street; Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200
- Use your myPay account to set up a direct deposit to your checking or savings account;
- Or call the DFAS Retired and Annuitant Pay Customer Care Center at 800-321-1080
(option 1).
It can take 30 to 60 days from the day we receive your enrollment for direct deposit to start. If after enrolling you receive a paper check, please cash or deposit it as you normally would. We’ll send you a notification when we process your enrollment.
What if I haven’t complied?
We understand that a small number of military retirees and annuitants might not be able to open bank accounts, so we're working to provide a debit card option similar to the one Treasury is offering for Department of Veterans Affairs and Social Security payment recipients. We will notify paper check recipients as they become available. Until then, you will continue to receive your payment by check as you normally do.
View the link below for more information about the debit card option.
There are many advantages to eliminating paper checks. No more trips to the bank to deposit your check, no risk of lost or stolen mail, no waiting for misrouted or delayed mail, and your money is available to you the day it is due.
Back to the March Newsletter
Updated May 4, 2019