It's so hard to believe that 2017 is almost over! The December end-of-month payday is coming pretty early, thanks to the 1 January federal holiday and the weekend. The last regular, active duty military pay day for 2017 is Friday, 29 December 2017. Lots of people are already eagerly awaiting that paycheck, with the expenses of the holidays growing every day. So when will that paycheck show up in your bank account? That depends...
Unless you know, for sure, that your bank or credit union credits military pay early, you should expect to have your pay deposited at some time on Friday, 29 December 2017.
Banks and credit unions that I know offer early crediting of military pay include:
USAA
USAA credits pay one business day prior to the day they're instructed to make the payment. For this pay period, that will be Thursday, 28 December 2017.
Keep in mind that pay may be deposited at any time on the business day. Many people report that USAA "always" pays at the same time. This may be your experience in the past, but it doesn't represent a policy and you shouldn't always expect that it will occur that way in the future.
Service Credit Union
Service Credit Union credits military pay two business days prior to the day they are instructed to make the payment. For this pay period, that will be Wednesday, 27 December 2017.
Pacific Marine Credit Union
Pacific Marine Credit Union (PMCU) credits military pay two business days prior to the day they are instructed to make payment. For this pay period, that will be Wednesday, 27 December 2017.
Navy Federal Credit Union
Navy Federal Credit Union is a little confusing, because they offer early crediting with one type of checking account but not the others.
Members who use an Active Duty Checking account for their military pay deposit will have their pay available for use one business day prior to the actual payday. For this pay period, that will be Thursday, 28 December 2017.
Members who use any other type of checking account for their military pay deposit will have their pay available for use on the actual military payday, Friday, 29 December 2017.
Head's Up
Regardless of whether you're paid on the actual payday, or your financial institution credits your pay early, we're all facing an extraordinarily long pay period at the end of January. Take a minute now to figure out what changes you'll need to make to help your money last through that time.
