Online banks are truly gaining more and more momentum by the day and with tons of people wanting to get more familiar with online banks, the best approach possible would be to address “How to Deposit Cash To An Online Bank Account.”
If you have a online bank account, there’s plenty of methods to deposit cash into your account, from reloading a prepaid debit card to getting a money order, we’ll be discussing those various methods below. If you’re interested, be sure to read on.
![]() |
![]() |
Reloadable Prepaid Debit Card
A prepaid debit card is recommended if you make frequent cash deposits and since its re-loadable, you don’t have to worry about constantly buying new prepaid debit cards just to fund your account.
You can add cash to the debit card at a local retail store or bank and link the online bank to your card. There may be a daily or monthly deposit limit on the card and it may have a wait time before you can access those funds. But once the card is loaded and funded, you can send the money to your online bank!
Below are steps on activating and linking your card to your account.
- Register your reloadable prepaid debit card online
- Load the funds onto your card, either at a retail store or bank
- Be sure to search the reloadable prepaid card’s website to find out how you can link an online bank account to your card
- Follow each step-instruction for linking your bank account
- Transfer the funds from your prepaid to your online bank account.
Transfer Cash from a Traditional to Online Banking Account
Another option is to link another external checking account to transfer money to the online account. And the account doesn’t have to be yours. As long as it’s another checking account, yours or even your friend’s, you can transfer funds to the online bank.
Note that banks can charge bank-to-bank transfers on the sender’s account. The account that is sending money via ACH transfer may be charged but the online bank generally do not charge a fee.
With traditional checking accounts, we highly recommend that you look for a low to no monthly fee account. Below are the steps to transferring cash from a traditional checking account to an online bank account:
- Deposit cash into your traditional checking account
- Proceed by transferring your money to a online bank account
- Most banks allow a bank-to-bank transfer after a verification process
Get A Money Order
Money orders, similar to a check with a prepaid amount of money, can be used to fund your online account. To deposit the money order, simply use the mobile banking app on your smart phone to transfer the sum via mobile deposit.
You would basically treat the money order like a regular check except the online difference is that there is a small fee in buying them. They usually run around or even less than $2 for a $1,000 money order check.
Below are the steps to getting a money order:
- You can purchase money orders from financial institutions, U.S. Postal Services, and some big-brick-n-mortar stores like Walmart.
- In order to purchase, you’ll need to provide the payee’s name and address when depositing the money into your online account
- Once the money order is filled, you can either:
- Mail it to your bank
- OR utilize their mobile banking app (Preferred method)
Note that there has been an increasingly volume of Money Order Deposit Shut Downs. I don’t necessarily recommend this method considering that there’s fees applicable.
Make Deposits at Eligible Cash ATMs
Easily one of the most popular forms of cash deposits, online banks are often a part of a form of nationwide ATM network. So you wouldn’t have to worry about those ATM fees that traditional banks often charge you for using foreign ATMs.
It is imperative that you check with your bank’s policy on ATM use, as some do not accept cash deposits or will place a hold on the deposit that has been made on an unauthorized ATM.
Below are the steps to making deposits at ATMs:
- Start by inserting your ATM card into the ATM machine and entering your PIN
- Click the “Deposit” option on the screen.
- Choose the account in which you want your cash deposited to
- Select “Deposit Cash”
- Insert the bills
- Once you have accomplished all the necessary requirements, your cash should be deposited into your online bank account
Conclusion
With online banks being increasingly more popular, brick and mortar branches are just not an option for most of these online banks. This is why it’s completely necessary to map out all the methods you can do to deposit cash into your online bank account.
You can either utilize a prepaid debit card, a traditional checking account, money order, or just by depositing at an eligible cash ATM. A few worthy online banks like BBVA or Discover Bank would definitely be a fantastic choice. Through online banks, you are able to earn the best savings rate and bank bonuses nationwide to cater to your banking needs!