The First Horizon direct deposit form is a one-page PDF authorization that tells your employer or benefits payer to send money straight into your First Horizon checking or savings account through the ACH network. Download it from First Horizon’s website or pick up a paper copy at any branch, fill in your routing and account numbers, sign the bottom, and hand it to payroll. Setup usually takes one to two pay cycles to go live.
What You Need Before You Start
Two numbers do most of the work on this form: First Horizon’s routing number and your account number.
First Horizon’s main ABA routing transit number is 084000026. The routing number can vary depending on where you originally opened the account, so confirm it in online banking or the mobile app if you aren’t certain yours matches.
Your account number is printed at the bottom of your checks, immediately to the right of the routing number. No checks? Log into online banking or the mobile app and open your account details, or call customer service at 800-382-5465 to verify both numbers over the phone.
Filling In the Form
Three checkboxes sit at the top. Pick one: Begin Deposit for a new setup, Change Information to update an existing arrangement, or Split Among Multiple Accounts to divide your pay.
For each account you list, complete these fields:
- Account type: checking or savings.
- Depository name: write “First Horizon Bank,” or the name of whichever institution holds the account if you’re splitting across banks.
- Routing number: the nine-digit ABA number for the receiving bank.
- Account number: your individual account number at that bank.
- Name(s) on the account: the full legal name registered on the account.
- Amount of credit: a flat dollar amount or a percentage of your pay.
- Date or frequency of credit: every pay period, monthly, and so on.
Check every digit twice. A single wrong number can route your pay to someone else’s account or bounce the deposit back to your employer, which costs you a full pay cycle or more.
Sign and date the bottom. Your signature authorizes your employer to initiate ACH credits to the listed account, and also to initiate ACH debits if an overpayment needs to be pulled back.
Splitting Pay Across Multiple Accounts
The form has room for up to three accounts, so you can divide each paycheck across different buckets or even different banks. A common setup sends a fixed dollar amount into savings and the rest into checking.
If you split by percentage, the totals have to add up to 100%. If you split by flat amounts, designate one account to receive “the remainder” so money isn’t left unallocated. Payroll will reject the form if the math doesn’t close.
Proof Your Employer Will Probably Ask For
The authorization form itself doesn’t require an attachment, but most payroll departments want independent proof that the numbers you wrote are real and belong to you.
Voided Check
The easiest option is a voided personal check from the receiving account. Write VOID in large letters across the front and attach it to the form. The pre-printed numbers at the bottom let payroll cross-check what you entered.
Account Verification Letter
No checks? Ask First Horizon for a verification letter on bank letterhead listing your name, account number, routing number, and account type. Any branch can produce one, or call 800-382-5465.
Prepaid Debit Cards
If you’re using a reloadable prepaid card instead of a traditional bank account, direct deposit still works, but the routing and account numbers are not the digits on the front of the card. Call your card provider for the correct numbers.
Submitting It and When Deposits Start
Hand the completed form and any supporting documents to your employer’s human resources or payroll office. For government benefit payments like veterans’ benefits, submit the form to the issuing agency instead. Note that Social Security and certain federal retirement payments use a separate government form (Standard Form 1199A or FMS 1200) rather than a bank-specific authorization, so this First Horizon form won’t cover those payers.
Once payroll has the form, most employers send a prenotification entry, a zero-dollar test transaction through the ACH network, to confirm the account is valid. Under Nacha’s operating rules, a prenote carries a three-banking-day waiting period before live entries can begin. If the test flags an error, payroll will contact you to fix the details.
Plan on one to two full pay cycles before electronic deposits actually arrive. You’ll likely receive a paper check in the meantime. If nothing shows up after two pay periods, call your payroll administrator; the cause is almost always a data-entry error on the form or a prenote rejection nobody flagged.
Changing or Canceling Later
To update account details, fill out a new form and check Change Information at the top. Submit it to payroll the same way you submitted the original.
If you’re moving to a different bank, keep your old First Horizon account open for at least one full pay period after submitting the new form. Deposits already in the pipeline can still land in the old account during the switch, and closing early means those funds bounce back to your employer.
To cancel direct deposit entirely, notify your employer in writing that you want paper checks or a different payment method. Under Regulation E, you can also stop a preauthorized electronic transfer by notifying your bank at least three business days before the scheduled deposit date. If you give oral notice, the bank can require written confirmation within 14 days, and the oral stop-payment order expires if you don’t put it in writing within that window.
If a Deposit Lands Wrong
Sometimes the amount is off, a duplicate shows up, or money lands in the wrong place.
Your employer can initiate a reversal through the ACH network to correct an overpayment or misrouted deposit. Nacha rules require that reversal to reach First Horizon within five banking days of the original settlement date. Because the authorization form you signed permits debits for corrections, the reversal can happen without a separate request from you.
If you spot an unauthorized or incorrect deposit on your statement, federal law gives you 60 days from the date the statement was sent to report the error to First Horizon. Once you notify the bank, orally or in writing, it has 10 business days to investigate and report back. If the investigation runs longer, the bank must provisionally credit your account within those 10 days and reach a final resolution within 45 days.
When you report an error, give your name, account number, a description of what looks wrong, and the dollar amount. The bank may ask you to confirm an oral report in writing within 10 days. Missing that written follow-up releases the bank from the provisional-credit requirement, so send the written version promptly.