Direct Deposit and Debits: A Bank Migration Checklist
List the employers that deposit and the creditors that debit, then migrate them one by one with written confirmation.
In this article
A successful bank migration fits in a two-column table. On the left, everything that deposits: employer, government agencies, insurers, each with the form or portal where the account gets changed. On the right, everything that withdraws: mortgage, utilities, telecom, subscriptions, with each debit's usual date. Build the list from statements, never from memory, because annual payments and dormant subscriptions escape recall. Each line then migrates with its request date and confirmation number logged. A share of providers get it wrong on the first try, and written proof gets corrections made free. Check the old account every week for six weeks to catch rejections and stray deposits while they are still benign. This article explains how to build the table, in what order to migrate and what to check, so that a source of anxiety becomes a checklist.
Build the deposits column
The table's first column lists everything that deposits: the employer and its payroll service, the government agencies (tax refunds, credits, allowances, benefits), each with its own account-change portal, the insurers that reimburse and, for the self-employed, the clients. Each line specifies how to make the change: HR form, government portal, phone call, void cheque required. Pay particular attention to government deposits: several programs manage their banking details separately, and a single change does not cover them all. A complete column avoids the painful scenario of a tax refund sent to a closed account, whose recovery takes several weeks.
Build the debits column
The second column lists everything that withdraws: mortgage or rent, insurance, utilities, telecom, daycare, subscriptions, dues. Note each debit's usual date, since it will guide the timing of the change. Rely on a full year of statements rather than memory. Annual and semi-annual debits (registration, associations, renewals) escape recall and cause the late rejections. Also note each debit's channel, account or debit card, because card-linked subscriptions follow a different migration path. This column generally runs longer than expected. Discovering it in full is already a gain, since several lines deserve cancellation rather than migration.
Execute with dates and confirmations
Each line migrates by the same procedure. Request the change just after a successful debit or deposit, never just before one, and log the request date and confirmation number in the table. This discipline is not bureaucracy: a share of providers misapply the first change, and dated proof gets the fees of their error corrected rather than yours. Proceed in manageable waves, five or six lines a week, starting with the critical ones (mortgage, insurance, salary) and finishing with the secondary subscriptions. The completed table, every line ticked with its confirmation, becomes the migration's completion certificate. While one line stays open, the old account's closure waits. A blank statement is the proof.
Watch for rejections during the transition
Watch the transition actively: open the old account weekly for six weeks, looking for two anomalies. Stray deposits first: a payment landing in the old account signals an unapplied change, to be chased with the confirmation number. Rejected debits next, this time on the new account's side: a provider drawing on the emptied old account generates fees on both sides. Have them waived with proof in hand, then fix the problem at the source. The buffer balance left in the old account absorbs the stragglers meanwhile. An anomaly caught in week one is fixed with a call. The same one, discovered in month three through a collection letter, costs fees and explanations.
Quebec scenario
A couple in Châteauguay switches credit unions and turns the bank migration into a checklist taped to the fridge. In the left column, everything that deposits: one partner's employer, the revenue agency for quarterly instalments, the other's parental benefits, each with the form or portal where the account gets changed. In the right column, everything that debits: mortgage, insurance, daycare, telecom, with each usual withdrawal date. For every line they record the date the change was requested and the confirmation number received, because two providers out of ten get it wrong on the first try. They make the changes right after a successful debit, never right before one, to leave slack. For six weeks, one of them opens the old account every Monday to spot rejected debits or stray deposits. Two stragglers show up and are fixed without fees thanks to the buffer balance left behind. The checklist ends up in their digital records folder, ready to be reused the next time either of them changes institutions. The exercise cost them one marker and two careful Mondays a month.
Checklist
- Build the incoming-deposits column
- Build the outgoing-debits column
- Find each line's form or portal
- Change each line after a successful debit
- Note the request date and confirmation number
- Check the old account every Monday
- Fix rejections while they are benign
- Keep a buffer balance for stragglers
- Archive the list for the next switch
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