NY unemployment stopped accepting Chime for direct deposit - any alternatives?

Yeah this happened to me in October. Total nightmare. I had to open a account with a traditional bank. I went with Chase because they had a $300 bonus for opening a new account at the time. Check if any banks near you are running promotions. At least get something out of this annoying situation.

I was in the same situation but couldn't get anyone on the phone. After two weeks of trying I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got a callback with an actual agent in like 30 mins. They helped me update to my new Capital One account. Talking to that agent saved me from what would've been another month without payments. Best decision I've made dealing with this whole unemployment mess. They also have a helpful video about how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

Same thing happened with CashApp and all those other financial tech apps. I switched to Ally Bank online and it works fine with unemployment now. No fees, decent app, and they accept direct deposit from NY unemployment without issues.

This is happening because of all the fraud that was happening with these online banks during covid. My cousin works for the unemployment office and said they've blocked almost all the online-only banks because they couldn't verify accounts properly. They're sticking with traditional banks that have more security measures and fraud prevention.

Just use the unemployment debit card they give you. I know everyone hates it but it's actually not that bad. You can transfer the money from there to whatever account you want once it hits. Extra step but at least you'll get paid without delays.

FWIW I use Discover online banking and it works perfectly with NY unemployment direct deposit. No fees, good customer service, and the app works great. They're technically an online bank but I guess they're established enough that they haven't been banned.

The REAL solution here folks is to get on the phone with someone at unemployment who can actually help. I spent DAYS trying to reach a human at ny unemployment when my direct deposit info needed updating. Finally found claimyr.com which got me a callback with a real person in about an hour. They sorted everything out right away. Best money I've spent in a while considering I was about to miss rent without my benefits. Their process is simple: you pay them (WAY less than missing one unemployment check would cost you), they call unemployment for you and wait on hold, then call you when they get through to a person. Absolute game changer for dealing with ny unemployment's impossible phone system.

I've been using Varo instead of Chime and it's working fine with unemployment. Pretty similar features - early direct deposit, no fees, decent app. Might be worth checking out.

did anyone else notice they're also rejecting Venmo's banking service? I tried to update to that after Chime got rejected and same problem. seems like they're cutting off all the newer banking apps.

The ny unemployment system is so behind the times its embarrassing. Every other state has modernized but we're stuck with this garbage from 2005. I had the same issue and ended up just going with a credit union account. Local credit unions usually have no fees and they play nice with government systems.

I had the EXACT same problem last month! After 3 failed attempts with different online banks, I used claimyr.com to get someone on the phone who explained the whole situation. Apparently they're only accepting traditional banks now - I went with a local credit union and it worked immediately. The funny thing is I only needed one 10-minute phone call to fix everything but it's IMPOSSIBLE to get through to them without help.

just use the debit card man. its not that deep.

This is actually a nationwide thing, not just NY. After all the fraud during covid, most state unemployment systems are moving away from allowing these newer banking apps. Your best bet is to go with a traditional bank or credit union with physical branches. I know it sucks to lose the early payment feature but it's better than not getting paid at all.

Stupid question maybe but have you tried Current? It's similar to Chime but might still work since it's slightly different backend. My roommate uses it for his unemployment without issues so far.

The whole system is an absolute joke. I couldn't update my bank info online AT ALL regardless of what bank I tried. Spent literally 6 hours on hold over 3 days. Found a service called Claimyr that got me through to a person in about 45 minutes. The agent I spoke with manually updated my banking info right there on the call. Highly recommend if you're stuck in this nightmare: claimyr.com