Direct Deposit Received But SBTPG Not Updated and WMR Still on Second Bar

This is actually quite common this tax season. Per IRS Publication 5084, the Where's My Refund tool and third-party processors like SBTPG often experience desynchronization during high-volume processing periods. The IRS database update cycles occur every 72 hours, but these updates don't always propagate to external systems in real-time. What matters is that you received your funds - the visual indicators are secondary and often lag behind actual payment processing.

I had the exact same thing happen last month. It's like watching a package delivery that says "out for delivery" even after it's been sitting on your porch for hours. My deposit hit my account while WMR was still showing the second bar, and SBTPG never updated at all. The systems are like different departments in a big company that don't talk to each other very well.

If you're really concerned about the discrepancy, you might want to confirm everything is properly processed on the IRS side. I tried calling the IRS for three days straight about a similar issue last year and couldn't get through. Finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and got connected to an agent in about 15 minutes who confirmed everything was fine on their end despite the WMR not updating. Is it worth $20? Depends on your peace of mind, but I was tired of wondering if something was wrong with my return. Have you checked your tax transcript to see if that shows the correct information?

I'm so happy you got your refund! 🎉 This has been happening to a lot of people this tax season - the IRS systems are definitely not in sync. The important thing is that you received your money, which means the IRS processed your return correctly. The WMR tool is notoriously unreliable and often doesn't update until days or even weeks after deposits are made. I've seen people get their refunds with WMR still showing "Return Received" which is even earlier in the process than your second bar! You're all good, and no need to worry about the backend issues.

Be careful with this situation. Last year my refund showed up in my account before WMR updated, and I thought everything was fine. Two weeks later I got a letter saying there was an error in my return calculation and they were adjusting my refund amount. Had to pay back $340! 😖 Not saying that will happen to you, but might be worth checking your transcript just to make sure everything processed correctly. The IRS giveth and the IRS taketh away, lol.

Did you have any tax preparation fees deducted from your refund? I'm wondering if that's why SBTPG was involved but not showing updates. I've heard SBTPG is primarily used when filing services take their payment directly from the refund amount rather than charging upfront.