The Municipal Credit Union direct deposit form routes your paycheck or other recurring payment straight into your MCU checking or savings account. You’ll need two numbers to complete it: MCU’s routing number, 226078036, and your personal MCU account number. The finished form goes to your employer’s payroll department, not to MCU. You can download it from MCU’s website at nymcu.org under Personal Banking → Account Services → Direct Deposit and Payroll Deduction, or pick one up at any MCU branch.1Municipal Credit Union. MCU Branch and ATM Locations
Some employers hand out their own version of the form instead. It works the same way; you just fill MCU’s information into whatever version payroll gives you.
What to Have in Front of You
Before you start writing, pull together:
- Your full legal name as it appears on your MCU account
- Your Social Security number
- Your MCU account number
- MCU’s routing number: 226078036
- Whether the target account is checking or savings (payroll systems treat them differently in the ACH network)
The routing number is the same for every MCU member. It appears at the bottom of MCU’s homepage and, if you have MCU checks, as the nine-digit string at the bottom left of the check.2Municipal Credit Union. Municipal Credit Union
Finding Your MCU Account Number
Your account number is unique to you and shows up in a few places:
- On MCU checks, immediately to the right of the routing number at the bottom.
- In online banking at nymcu.org: sign in, open the account you want deposits sent to, and check the account details section.
- In the NYMCU Mobile Banking app: tap into an individual account to see its full details.
Watch out for one common mix-up. Your member number is not the same as your full account number. The ACH network needs the complete account number, and a member number is usually shorter. If what you’re looking at seems too short for the form’s field, call MCU and confirm the exact string to use for electronic transfers.
Filling Out the Form
The fields are simple, but a single wrong digit will bounce the deposit. Work through it slowly.
In the financial institution section, write “Municipal Credit Union” as the bank name. Enter routing number 226078036 and your account number in the boxes provided. Mark whether the account is checking or savings.
Next, decide how you want your pay distributed. Most forms give you a choice: send the full net pay to one account, or split a fixed dollar amount or percentage across multiple accounts. Splitting is useful if you want part of every paycheck moved automatically into an MCU savings account while the rest lands in checking.
Sign and date the bottom. Your signature is what authorizes your employer to initiate electronic deposits into the account you named. Many employers also ask for a voided check as backup verification. If you don’t have MCU checks, a printout from online banking that shows both numbers usually works. Ask your payroll department what they’ll accept before you submit.
Where the Form Goes
Send the completed form to your employer’s payroll or HR department, not to MCU. Many workplaces now let you skip paper entirely and enter the same information into a digital payroll portal. Either route, the data travels from your employer’s payroll system to MCU through the Automated Clearing House network.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is an ACH Transaction?
When Your First Deposit Will Arrive
Before real money moves, the payroll system usually runs a prenote: a zero-dollar test transaction to confirm the routing and account numbers are valid. NACHA rules require employers to wait at least three business days after the prenote settles before sending a live deposit. Once you factor in normal payroll timing, expect one to two full pay cycles before deposits start landing in your MCU account.4Paylocity. How to Set Up Direct Deposit for Employees
Watch for that small test transaction as a signal that setup is working. If no deposit appears by the second pay cycle after you turned in the form, check with payroll. The usual culprit is a transposed digit, and your employer can generally correct it without asking you to fill out a new form.
Social Security and Other Federal Benefits Use a Different Form
The standard MCU direct deposit form is for employer payroll. Federal benefits go through different paperwork. Social Security and railroad retirement enrollments use Treasury Form FMS 1200. For other federal payments, including certain VA benefits and OPM retirement, the form is SF 1199A. Both are available through the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.5Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Forms
For Social Security or SSI specifically, you can also enroll online through your my Social Security account at ssa.gov, by phone at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or the Treasury’s Electronic Payment Solution Center at 1-800-333-1795, or in person at any MCU branch.6Social Security Administration. Social Security Direct Deposit Completed federal forms are mailed to the paying agency; MCU staff can help you submit them.
Switching Your Direct Deposit From Another Bank
If you’re moving your paycheck to MCU from a different bank, keep the old account open until at least two full pay cycles have landed at MCU. This overlap keeps a deposit from hitting a closed account and bouncing back to your employer, which can take five to ten business days to unwind and may leave you without a paycheck in the meantime.
While the switch is in progress, update any automatic bill payments or subscriptions tied to the old account. The direct deposit form only reroutes money coming in. It does not move outgoing payments, and missing that step is where most switches go sideways.
Once a full paycheck has cleared into your MCU account and your automatic payments point to the new account, you can close the old one safely. If a deposit does slip through to a closed account before then, the old bank will typically return the funds to your employer within five to ten business days, and payroll can reissue.