A voided check for direct deposit is a blank personal check with the word “VOID” written in large letters across the front, handed to your employer so they can read your routing and account numbers and send your pay electronically. If you don’t have a checkbook, a bank verification letter does the same job on official letterhead. Either document gives payroll the exact numbers it needs to deposit money into the right account.1Nacha. How ACH Payments Work
How To Void a Check
Pull a blank check from your checkbook. With a blue or black pen, write VOID across the front in capital letters large enough that nobody could miss them. Press firmly so the ink can’t be erased.
Keep the word away from the bottom edge of the check. That bottom strip holds the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) line, and payroll software reads your routing and account numbers from it. Covering those digits defeats the purpose.
Leave everything else blank. No date, no payee, no dollar amount, no signature. The only mark on the check should be the word VOID.
Once marked this way, the check can’t be cashed or deposited. If it’s lost in the mail or left on someone’s desk, the risk of a withdrawal from the paper itself is minimal. Payroll copies the numbers off the MICR line and files or shreds the check.
What the Document Needs To Show
Whether you give your employer a voided check or a bank letter, four pieces of information need to appear clearly:
- Your legal name as it appears on the account. A nickname that doesn’t match what HR has on file can stall the setup.
- The full official name of your bank or credit union.
- The nine-digit routing transit number, which identifies your financial institution. Many banks use one routing number across an entire state or region, so it won’t point to a specific branch.
- Your individual account number.
If you’re sending a bank letter instead of a check, most employers expect it on official letterhead or carrying a digital watermark. Some also want a branch stamp or a banker’s signature.
If You Don’t Have a Checkbook
Plenty of people never ordered checks, especially those banking with online-only institutions. You have a few ways to produce the equivalent document.
Download a Letter From Online or Mobile Banking
Most banks and credit unions let you download a direct deposit form or account verification letter from their website or app. Log in and look for a section labeled “direct deposit,” “account details,” or “documents.” The pre-filled PDF will already contain your routing number, account number, bank name, and legal name, pulled from your account records.
Before you submit, open the file and confirm every field is populated. Some banks partially mask the routing or account number for security. If yours does, you’ll need to request an unmasked version or visit a branch.
Ask at a Branch
Walk into any branch and ask a teller for a direct deposit verification letter. They’ll print it on letterhead, often with a stamp or signature, and the wait is usually a few minutes. Some banks charge a small fee for formal verification letters, so ask first.
Use a Counter Check
If you recently opened an account and your permanent checks haven’t arrived, the bank can usually print temporary counter checks (sometimes called starter checks) with your routing and account numbers on them. These can be voided and submitted like regular checks, but not every employer accepts them because they lack the personalized formatting of a standard check. Check with payroll before you void one.
When No Paper Is Requested at All
Many employers and billers have moved away from paper verification. If a new job’s onboarding portal never asked for a voided check, you probably linked your account through one of these methods instead.
Instant Bank Verification
Services like Plaid let you link your account by logging in through a secure portal during signup. You pick your bank, sign in through the service’s interface, and the system pulls your routing and account numbers directly.2Plaid. Bank Account Verification Guide: What It Is and How It Works For banks that support OAuth connections, you’re redirected to your bank’s own login page, so the third-party service never sees your password. The whole process usually finishes in under a minute.
Micro-Deposits
When instant verification isn’t supported for your bank, many services fall back to micro-deposits. The company sends two small deposits, usually between $0.01 and $0.99, to your account. After one to three business days, you confirm the exact amounts on the company’s website or app to prove you control the account.3American Express. How Does the Micro-Deposit Verification Process Work You trade speed for simplicity.
Handing It Over Safely
A voided check or bank letter contains everything a thief would need to initiate unauthorized ACH debits or produce counterfeit checks. Treat these documents the way you treat your Social Security number.
Never email a voided check or bank letter as an unencrypted attachment. If your employer’s HR portal supports direct upload over HTTPS (look for the padlock in your browser’s address bar), that’s the safest digital route. When email is the only option, password-protect the PDF and share the password separately, by phone or text, not in the same thread. A fax is dated, but it’s more secure than unencrypted email because the file doesn’t sit on a server.
Hand a physical voided check directly to the payroll office rather than leaving it in an open inbox. Once your direct deposit is confirmed and working, shred any extra copies.
You Pick the Bank
An employer can require you to receive wages electronically, but under Regulation E they cannot force you to open an account at a particular bank to get paid.4eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.10 – Preauthorized Transfers If your company offers a payroll card through a specific bank, you’re free to decline it and submit a voided check or bank letter from any checking or savings account you prefer.
What Happens After You Submit
Turning in the paperwork doesn’t mean your next paycheck lands in your account on Friday. There’s a verification step first.
Many payroll systems send a prenote, which is a zero-dollar test transaction, to confirm that the routing and account numbers connect to a valid account.5First State Bank. ACH Origination Quick Reference Guide The prenote usually takes about three business days. If it succeeds, your account is linked and ready for live deposits. If it fails, because of a typo, a closed account, or mismatched information, you’ll need to resubmit corrected documents and wait for another prenote.
Most employees see their first electronic deposit within one to two pay cycles after submitting the paperwork. During the gap, your pay will likely arrive as a paper check or payroll card. Once the connection is live, deposits on payday typically post by morning, often between midnight and 6 a.m.
Watch your account on the first scheduled payday. If the deposit doesn’t appear, call payroll that day. Catching a failed setup early means getting a replacement check issued quickly, instead of waiting out another cycle to find out what went wrong.