Managing employer bank accounts
Manage employer bank account statuses to ensure smooth payroll processing and verification.
Bank account statuses
- Active
- The bank account can be used to run payrolls. No further action necessary.
- Pending
- The bank account is pending ownership verification. The bank account cannot be used to run payrolls until verification is completed.
- Disabled
- The bank account has failed prenote validation. The bank account cannot be used to run payroll. The employer must add a new bank account.
Details
Employer bank accounts must be in an “Active” status to run payroll.
When an Employer bank account is first created, it starts in a “Pending” status. Check immediately performs ownership verification to ensure that the account signatory is authorized to debit funds from the bank account. This process typically takes a few seconds. If this verification succeeds, the bank account moves to “Active” status.
In some cases, Check will need more information from the Employer to verify ownership. In this case, the bank account will stay in a “Pending” status and Check will request additional documentation from the Employer. Check typically reviews documents within one business day of submission. Once Check is able to verify account ownership using the provided documents, the account will move to “Active” status.
If the Employer connects their bank account using Plaid (recommended), no additional steps occur.
If the Employer does not use Plaid, Check will perform an additional validation step (via prenote). During the prenote process, the bank account will remain in “Active” status and the Employer can run payroll. Prenote validation typically takes 3 business days. If prenote validation succeeds, no additional steps occur. However, if the validation fails, Check will move the bank account to “Disabled” status. To resolve this issue, the Employer will have to add a new bank account.
Examples
Example 1
- Day 1
- Bank account connected via Plaid
- Owner verification succeeds
- Bank account moves to “Active” status
Example 2
- Day 1
- Bank account connected, not via Plaid
- Owner verification succeeds
- Bank account moves to “Active” status
- Check initiates prenote validation
- Day 2
- Day 3
- Day 4
- Prenote validation succeeds
Example 3
- Day 1
- Bank account connected, not via Plaid
- Owner verification succeeds
- Bank account moves to “Active” status
- Check initiates prenote validation
- Day 2
- Day 3
- Day 4
- Prenote validation fails
- Bank account moves to “Disabled” status
- Employer adds a new bank account
Example 4
- Day 1
- Bank account connected via Plaid
- Owner verification fails
- Bank account stays in “Pending” status
- Check requests additional documents
- Day 2
- Employer uploads additional documents
- Day 3
- Check reviews additional documents
- Bank account moves to “Active” status
Last updated on February 28, 2025