You fill out and submit the Paycom direct deposit form inside the Employee Self-Service portal or mobile app: go to Payroll, then Direct Deposit, enter your bank name, routing number, and account number, choose how you want your pay distributed, and electronically sign the authorization agreement. The whole thing takes a few minutes, but the deposit itself does not activate until Paycom’s system verifies the account with your bank.
What to Have Ready Before You Open the Form
Gather three things: your bank’s name, the nine-digit routing number, and your account number. On a paper check, the routing number is the first nine digits along the bottom left, and the account number follows it. No checks? Log into your bank’s website or app and look for “account details” or “account and routing number.” Most banks list both there.
Decide before you start how you want your pay distributed. Paycom lets you send your entire net pay to one account or split it across several. Splits can be a flat dollar amount, like $300 into savings, or a percentage of your paycheck. If you use percentages, they have to add up to 100 across all your accounts. Working this out ahead of time keeps you from second-guessing yourself inside the form.
Filling Out the Form in the Portal
Log into Paycom and open the Employee Self-Service dashboard.1Paycom. Paycom App Tips From there, navigate to Payroll, then select Direct Deposit.2University of Portland. Show Me How to Set Up My Direct Deposit If you have never set up direct deposit before, the screen will be empty. Click “Add Account.”
The form first asks you to choose a distribution method: full net pay to one account, a split across multiple accounts, or a payroll card. Pick the one that fits and click “Continue.”
On the next screen, enter the bank name, routing number, and account number. Check every digit twice. One transposed number and your paycheck either lands in the wrong account or bounces back, which can push your pay out by a full cycle. When the information is correct, click “Save.”2University of Portland. Show Me How to Set Up My Direct Deposit
Signing the Authorization
Saving the account details is not the same as submitting the form. Return to the Direct Deposit screen and click “Approve and Sign.” Paycom displays the Direct Deposit Authorization Agreement. Check the box to agree, draw or type your electronic signature, and click “Sign.”2University of Portland. Show Me How to Set Up My Direct Deposit Skip this and your deposit instructions never go through, even though your account information is sitting there in the system. This is the step that actually submits the form.
Filling Out the Form on the Mobile App
The mobile app follows the same path. Log in, open Payroll, then Direct Deposit. Pick your account type and either enter the routing and account numbers by hand or tap “Scan Check” to photograph a check and let the app fill both fields for you. Add any additional accounts under the Distribution section on the same screen. Check the terms box and tap “Update.”3Walsh University. Show Me How to Update My Direct Deposit Details Scanning a check removes the single most common mistake on this form, which is mistyping a long account number.
What Happens After You Submit
Your bank details do not go live right away. After you submit, Paycom sends a prenote to your bank, which is a zero-dollar test transaction through the ACH network confirming that the account exists and can receive deposits.4Modern Treasury. What is an ACH Prenote? The verification typically takes a few banking days to clear.5Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. TexPayment Resource – Prenotification (Prenote) Period
If the prenote lands between pay cycles, your first paycheck after setup may still come as a paper check. That is not an error. It just means the verification did not finish before payroll ran. Your next payday will use the new deposit instructions. You can watch the status in the Direct Deposit section of the portal, where the account moves from pending to active once the prenote clears.
If the prenote fails, usually because of a wrong routing or account number, Paycom or your HR department will let you know. Go back into the portal, fix the information, and resubmit. That restarts the verification clock.
Splitting Pay Across Accounts
Splitting your paycheck is one of the more useful choices on the form. A common setup is a fixed dollar amount into savings and the rest into checking. Sending $200 per paycheck into savings, for instance, automates an emergency fund without you having to think about it.
You can also split by percentage, say 80% to checking and 20% to savings. Percentages scale automatically with raises or overtime, so you do not need to update the numbers every time your pay changes. Either way, designate one account as the “remainder” account. That account catches whatever is left after your fixed-dollar or percentage allocations run, so no portion of your pay ends up unassigned.
Changing or Removing an Account Later
Switching banks or closing an account means updating the form before the next payroll run. Log in, go to Payroll, then Direct Deposit. Your current accounts are listed there. To change an account number, select “Edit” next to that account and enter the corrected information. To remove an account, tap the trash can icon next to it and confirm the deletion. The same steps work on the desktop portal and the mobile app.
One catch: Paycom may block changes to an account tied to an active payroll cycle or with a pending payment. If you cannot delete or edit an account, wait until after payday or contact your payroll department. Timing matters generally. Payroll systems pull direct deposit instructions days before the actual pay date, so a last-minute change may not take effect until the cycle after next. Make changes at least a week before payday if you can.
If You Don’t Have a Bank Account
Paycom offers the Vault Visa Payroll Card as an alternative to a traditional bank account. Your employer loads your net pay onto the card each payday, and you can use it anywhere Visa is accepted, including ATM withdrawals and bill payments.6Paycom. Vault Visa Payroll Card It appears as a distribution choice on the same form when you click “Add Account,” right alongside checking and savings. Not every employer has Vault enabled. If you do not see it, ask HR.
Whether Your Employer Can Pick Your Bank
Federal law prohibits your employer from forcing you to deposit your pay into a specific bank. An employer can require direct deposit as the payment method, but you choose the financial institution. The alternative is offering you a choice between direct deposit at a designated bank and another payment method like a paper check. What an employer cannot do is tie your pay to one particular bank.
State laws add their own requirements. Some states require written notice before an employer switches to electronic pay, and others require your written consent before direct deposit starts at all. If your employer is rolling out mandatory direct deposit and something feels off, your state labor department can tell you which protections apply.