Direct deposit

Frequently asked questions

What is it & How does it work?

It’s when your paycheck is sent directly to your bank account instead of as a paper check or cash.

You can send a portion of your paycheck directly to Flex. It will go into your Flex Funds and be used automatically toward your Flex payments.

When a payment is due, we will use those funds first so your linked card only gets charged for your remaining balance. And don’t worry, any unused funds can be withdrawn anytime!

If you qualify for direct deposit with Flex, it could make your rent payment easier! It unlocks benefits like credit line increases and helps you budget by setting aside part of each paycheck for rent.

 

It depends on your rent, income, and how often you’re paid. We’ll calculate the amount for you during setup.

As long as you set up the minimum direct deposit amount, you’ll get a credit line increase to help with rent! That means your first payment will be lower, giving you more breathing room by pushing more of your rent to later in the month.

Keep direct deposit to Flex active and make sure we receive your first paycheck within 45 days. If we don’t, your credit line will return to the original amount.

Once you’ve set up direct deposit with Flex, it may take 1 to 2 pay cycles for your payroll provider to start sending a portion of your paycheck to us. While the timing is up to your provider, we’ll update your Flex Funds as soon as we receive and process the deposit.

Once we receive your paycheck, funds will typically show in your Flex Funds after 1 business day. 

Please note that bank holidays and weekends may delay the time it takes for us to receive and process your paycheck. 

Delays can happen if direct deposit payments are initiated on a federal bank holiday, if your employer sends its payroll file later than usual, or the request goes out after business hours.

Significant delays from the bank are rare. If your direct deposit is late, we recommend that you first contact your payroll provider or employer.

Setting up direct deposit

If an address is required to set up direct deposit, please use the following address:

Lead Bank
1801 Main St.,
Kansas City, MO 64108

In some cases, a payroll provider may require a voided check. This is typically the case for employers that do not use online payroll services. 

Flex does not currently issue voided checks, so we may not be able to support direct deposit for you at the moment. We are working hard to support as many scenarios as possible, so stay tuned for any updates. 

Troubleshooting direct deposit setup

If your employer doesn’t allow you to edit your direct deposit information, we are unable to link to your payroll provider to send part or all of your paycheck to Flex. You’ll need to reach out to your employer to ask them to allow employees to directly update their direct deposit amounts. 

Some payroll providers do not allow direct deposits to be sent to more than 1 bank account. Reach out to your payroll provider or employer directly and request them to allow employees to split their paycheck’s direct deposit into multiple accounts

Please note this is a new feature and we plan to support more scenarios in the future!

Please return to the direct deposit setup form via the link in your email, and select “Options above don’t work for you? Give us feedback”

Popups blocked

To link to your payroll provider to set up direct deposit, our 3rd party partner, Pinwheel, needs to launch in a popup window. Please make sure popup blockers are disabled.

Manage Flex direct deposit account

The paycheck amount sent to Flex is set based on your rent amount, income, and pay schedule. This is the minimum amount required in order to receive the credit line increase.

If you lower the amount of your direct deposit below the required minimum, it may result in loss of the credit line increase

You can change the amount of your pay sent to Flex by updating the amount in your direct deposit settings through your payroll provider. Unfortunately, we cannot change the direct deposit amount for you.

You can cancel your direct deposit to Flex by changing your direct deposit information back to your personal bank account information with your payroll provider. 

Please note, your credit line will return to the original amount, and you will lose the additional credit line increase.

Once you’ve updated your direct deposit settings, we recommend double checking your Flex Funds on your next payday to confirm the changes have been processed. Depending on your payroll provider, it can take up to 1-2 pay cycles for the changes to go into effect.

  1. Open your Flex app, go to Settings > Payment Methods (or tap here).
  2. Click Withdraw.
  3. Enter the amount.
  4. To change the payment method, click Change (Only debit cards can be used, not credit cards.)
  5. Hit Confirm.
  • If successful, you’ll receive a confirmation, and your Flex Funds balance will decrease. Successful withdrawals will typically post to your bank account on the same day.

Learn more in this article: Understanding Flex Funds

If the withdrawal failed to go through, you won’t receive a confirmation, and your Flex Funds balance will remain the same.

  • Check your bank account –  withdrawals can take up to 1 day to reflect in your bank account/on your debit card.
  • Check that a valid debit card is linked to your Flex Funds as a payment method.
  • Check your bank account to ensure your bank allows “fast refunds”, “OCT refunds” or “instant refunds”.

If your withdrawal still hasn’t gone through, reach out to us for assistance in processing your refund via an alternative method.

Rest assured, if your bank does not allow instant refunds, we have other methods in place to get your funds back to you as soon as possible! 

Please note, if a withdrawal failed and our support team has to manually process your refund, these ACH refunds can typically take 3-5 business days to show up in your bank account.

There is no limit on the amount of incoming direct deposits per month. There is a limit of 5 times per month to add money to your Flex Funds from a debit card.

If you add Flex Funds to your balance but do not use the Flex Funds feature for 180 days, your funds will be refunded back to you.