As promised, the government began distributing $1.400 payments to Americans over the weekend. Some people got their money as early as Friday while others will have to wait until the middle of this week -- depending on what bank they use.
Some Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase customers took to social media over the weekend to complain after the two banks said some payments would post to accounts no earlier than Wednesday of this week
While it’s only a matter of a few days, plenty of Americans showed impatience in social media posts, especially since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a “Get My Payment” page that allows people to check the status of their payment. In many cases, they were able to determine that the government had quickly sent the money to their bank account.
‘Not holding the funds’
According to posts, some people saw that the IRS had sent out the money to others but that their bank was not making it available immediately. Officially, however, the banks note that the payment date on the $1,400 checks is Wednesday, March 17.
“We know the importance of the stimulus funds to our customers, and we are providing the payments to our customers as soon as possible on the date the funds are available, based on IRS direction,” Jim Seitz, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo, told Bloomberg News. “Wells Fargo is not holding the funds.”
Some people on Twitter accused the two banks of reaping millions of dollars per day by holding onto the funds, a charge that both institutions denied. Wells Fargo says the government plans to distribute the $1,400 payments in tranches, meaning all eligible people won’t get their money at the same time.
Wells Fargo has asked its customers not to call branches to inquire about the status of their payments because bank employees don’t have that information. JPMorgan says customers who are concerned about the timeliness of the payments should set up account alerts that would let them know when the deposit posts to their accounts.
Customers eager to receive the money contained in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus (COVID-19) aid bill did not appear to be satisfied with that approach. Some declared on Twitter that they would close their accounts and move them to other banks or fintech firms.