Let’s face it, throughout the span of a decade, banks have become more and more strict and odds are, if you’re doing high volume money order deposits into your banking account, there’s a chance you’ll be red flagged with a account shutdown. Money order shutdowns are generally along the lines of anti-money laundering, an essential method for de-risking. Typically, when you’re depositing $10,000+, you’ll need to fill out a Currency Transaction Report (CTR), however, one thing that you must be mindful of is that money orders is definitely not currency comparative to paperbacks or coins.
Editor’s Note: I recommend that you refrain from depositing larger money orders into a bank that you have a preferred relationship with. You don’t want to cut ties on a bank that you do most of your business with. Local or small credit unions or banks are in my recommendations for this sort of stuff.
Some key notes I want to get through before getting in-depth with this post:
- You may want to deposit volume money orders with smaller local credit unions or banks. This is because there’s no surreal relationship risk and a lot of smaller local credit unions run by local decision makers rather than a full algorithm and rule basis.
- I emphasize local because residence and your business could be a categorical risk factor
- Opening an account in-branch may help
- You may want to “age” your account, creating a relationship by using the account prior to making the money order deposit. Give it a few months then start small and work your way up.
- You may want to look into a business account considering that high-volume is typically expected from such.
Money Order Deposit Shut Downs:
Data rubric:
The below data points use the following format:
- (Date) Date Reported: YYYY-MM
- (Sources) ‘rd_’ (reddit); ‘ft_’ (flyertalk)
- (User) First Three Chars UserID
Indicators:
- (+) Positive DPs
- (-) Negative DP [Shutdown & Warning]
- (Y?N) Unknown Volume
- (*) Positive DP w/ low volume (less than 2-3K/month)
Alliant
- 2017-01_rd_AKS (+)
- 2017-03_ft_CDO (-)
- 2017-07_red_PMM (*)
- 2017-06_ft_EZA (-)
Banco Popular
- 2014-08_ft_AND (-)
Bank of America
- 2014-03_ft_TUP (+)
- 2014-06_ft_SIL (*)
- 2015-04_ft_FRE (-)
- 2016-01_ft_KEN (-)
- 2016-05_ft_JEV (-)
- 2016-05_ft_RBU (+)
- 2016-05_ft_DAT (+)
- 2016-12_ft_PRO (-)
- 2016-09_ft_CB1 (-)
- 2017-07_rd_987 (+)
- 2017-07_ft_LUM (+)
- 2017-08_ft_DEA (-)
Methods of Deposit
- Mobile Deposit – Y/N
- ATM Deposit – Yes
BMO Harris
- 2017-07_rd_SOZ (+)
- 2017-07_rd_MIK (Y?N)
Capital One
- 2016-10_ft_RAM (-)
- 2016-11_rd_BRE (*)
Charles Schwab
- 2016-03_ft_CFF (-)
- 2016-03_ft_HOK (-)
- 2016-03_ft_CWA (-)
- 2016-12_rd_TEE (*)
- 2016-12_rd_WAP (*)
Chase
- 2014-12_rd_PHO (-)
- 2015-10_rd_JAZ (*)
- 2016-01_ft_CHR (-)
- 2017-04_rd_SIM (-)
- 2017-06_ft_SUP (-)
- 2017-09_rd_DAS (Y?N)
Editor’s Note: Most, if not all the dps entitle a negative experience including warnings or even more drastically, shutdowns. There’s a possibility that you can still move low volume of money orders into your accounts, however, I’d advise refraining from such activity.
Citi
- 2015-10_rd_LUM (-)
- 2015-12_ft_OHI (-)
Editor’s Note: Most, if not all the dps entitle a negative experience including warnings or even more drastically, shutdowns. There’s a possibility that you can still move low volume of money orders into your accounts, however, I’d advise refraining from such activity.
Citizens Bank
- 2017-06_ft_BAR (-)
Connexus Credit Union
Methods of Deposit
- ATM Deposit (Partner)
Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU)
- 2014-08_ft_PAY (-)
- 2017-03_ft_RAM (-)
- 2017-03_ft_RIC (-)
- 2017-04_ft_TRA (-)
- 2017-04_ft_BEN (-)
- 2017-05_ft_MDS (-)
Editor’s Note: Most, if not all the dps entitle a negative experience including warnings or even more drastically, shutdowns.
Discover
- 2015-09_ft_DON (-)
- 2016-01_rd_GOO (-)
Editor’s Note: Most, if not all the dps entitle a negative experience including warnings or even more drastically, shutdowns. I advise refraining from mobile depositing money orders as well.
Dollar Bank
- 2015-04_ft_HUZ (-)
Everbank
- 2014-05_ft_SIL (Y?N)
- 2014-08_ft_CRA (-)
- 2014-08_ft_BUO (-)
- 2014-08_ft_THE (-)
- 2014-08_ft_DEE (-)
- 2016-04_ft_RBU (-)
Fifth Third
- 2016-03_ft_LUM (-)
- 2017-01_ft_BEW (*)
First Convenience Bank (First National Bank Texas)
- 2015-06_ft_UA (-)
HSBC
- 2016-11_rd_WIL (*)
Huntington Bank
- 2016-02_ft_LUM (-)
- 2016-12_rd_DUK (-)
- 2017-06_ft_CDO (-)
Keybank
- 2016-02_ft_LUM (-)
- 2016-05_ft_CDO (-)
- 2017-01_rd_COO (Y?N)
- USPS Money Orders via Mobile Deposit ($4-5k/month)
M&T Bank
- 2017-06_ft_SAN (-)
Mountain America Credit Union
- 2016-11_rd_BER (Y?N)
Nationwide Bank
- 2016-06_ft_1PE (-)
Northpointe Bank
- 2016-12_ft_PER (*)
PenFed
- 2017-02_ft_DIS (+)
PNC
- 2014-06_ft_RAM (+)
- 2015-06_ft_ILG (-)
- 2016-05_ft_NUC (-)
- 2017-06_rd_DUK (+)
- 2017-06_rd_MIN (+)
- 2017-06_rd_SON (+)
- 2017-07_rd_KRN (+)
- 2017-09_rd_ITR (+)
- 2017-09_rd_BUB (+)
- 2017-10_rd_MEL (-)
Methods of Deposit
ATM Deposit – Yes
Popular Community Bank
- 2016-04_ft_JEV (-)
Santander
- 2017-01_rd_JEF (+)
- 2017-06_ft_SAN (-)
- 2017-10_ft_ATR (*)
Santa Rosa County Federal Credit Union
- 2017-08_ft_BAR (-)
Security Service FCU
- 2014-01_ft_VBC (*)
Simple
- 2016-02_ft_CHU (-)
- 2016-11_rd_JAM (-)
- 2017-01_ft_OOP (-)
- 2017-03_ft_RAC (*)
- 2017-10_rd_NEG (-)
Star One CU
- 2017-06_ft_THE (-)
- 2017-10_rd_PHO (Y?N)
State Farm Bank
- 2015-02_ft_TRA (+)
- 2016-05_ft_WHO (-)
SunTrust
- 2014-07_ft_US1 (-)
- 2015-05_ft_SPO (*)
- 2017-02_ft_TAK (-)
- 2017-04_ft_RAM (-)
- 2017-07_rd_ASB (*)
TCF Bank
- 2016-12_ft_PWD (+)
TD Bank
- 2017-03_ft_SCH (-)
- 2017-04_rd_SOC (Y?N)
TIAA DIRECT
- 2014-09_ft_SPO (-)
- 2014-09_ft_SIL (-)
- 2014-09_ft_TRO (-)
UFB Direct
- 2016-09_ft_FRE (-)
- 2016-12_rd_HII (-)
- 2017-03_ft_SKY (-)
- 2017-07_ft_BRO (-)
US Bank
- 2014-06_ft_FRE (-)
- 2017-10_rd_THR (*)
USAA
- 2014-03_ft_BRE (*)
- 2015-08_ft_PHA (+)
- 2016-06_ft_BAR (-)
- 2016-06_ft_COO (-)
- 2016-06_ft_MIA (-)
- 2016-06_ft_DIS (+)
- 2016-06_ft_POI (+)
- 2016-06_ft_ANI (Y?N)
- 2016-06_ft_FUM (+)
- 2016-08_ft_DEA (*)
- 2016-09_ft_COR (*)
- 2016-11_rd_ART (?)
- 2016-11_rd_CHA (-)
- 2017-02_ft_BOD (Y?N)
- 2017-05_ft_TCO (+)
- 2017-07_rd_DES (Y?N)
- 2017-10_rd_SCO (-)
- 2017-10_rd_MAS (-)
Wells Fargo
- 2014-08_ft_ITC (-)
- 2015-10_rd_IMS (-)
- 2016-06_ft_LAN (+)
- 2016-10_ft_HII (+)
- 2016-12_rd_CRE (+)
- 2017-02_ft_BOD (+)
- 2017-03_ft_LUM (*)
- 2017-03_ft_SUP (+)
- 2017-03_ft_EXP (+)
- 2017-03_ft_ALO (-)
- 2017-03_ft_FRA (Y?N)
- 2017-03_ft_CAR (+)
- 2017-04_ft_DEA (+)
- 2017-07_rd_EAG (+)
Conclusion:
Ending this post, I must note that structuring or ‘smurfing’ is highly illegal and further activities that include avoiding triggering financial reports in any way. Just be sure to keep a steady eye on your money order volume. Also, I recommend that you refrain from depositing larger money orders into a bank that you have a preferred relationship with. You don’t want to cut ties on a bank that you do most of your business with. I suggest incorporating personal standards and ethics before utilizing any technique shown above. Also, be sure to check out our Best Bank Promotions section for all your banking needs!
