Many banks and credit unions that support military personnel and their families are announcing that they will continue to honor direct deposits and other cash advances in the case of a government default.

Pentagon Federal Credit Union has announced that military or civilian employees and retirees of the federal government, as well as Social Security recipients will receive their regularly scheduled payments in August even if the government defaults. Members will have to repay these advances within 90 days of when the advance was made.

Navy Federal Credit Union is offering a similar program to all of its members. Navy will also have counselors available to work out loan payments should its members have trouble.

Although not a credit union, USAA is providing the following support:

• A one-time payroll advance for payroll scheduled to be deposited on August 15 for active duty military personnel, including activated Guard and Reserves.
• Waive property and casualty insurance policy late fees or bank nonsufficient fund fees and suspend nonpayment cancellations for members who are on active duty, including those actively serving the Guard and Reserve, for 30 days where legally permitted.
• For non-active members, USAA will offer special payment arrangements on loans, waiver of credit card late fees, refunds for non-sufficient funds and overdrafts, lines of credit increases.

If you are a government employee who thinks your pay check might be in jeapordy, check with your agency credit union to see if they will advance funds or be flexible with your payments.

You might have seen the commercial where a guy sitting in a chair uses his iPhone and a Chase Quick Deposit app to take a picture of a check and deposit it via his phone. No trip to the branch required. I saw the commercial the other night and was instantly intrigued. When I worked in the online banking divisions at both Fleet Bank and Bank of America, we always considered check deposits to be one of the barriers to true electronic banking. Most people don't like to snail mail their checks to be deposited. Now, Chase seems to be put a nifty app together that solves that problem.

I decided to give the app a try to see if it really worked. I installed the app on my phone (it's available on the iPhone and Android operating systems), went through the validation process and then followed the instructions to take a picture of the front and back of a check. I pressed submit. Amazingly, it worked fine. A day later the funds were deposited into my account. In sixty seconds I had made a deposit that would have taken me thirty minutes or more to do in the past. Nice.

There are currently some deposit limits with the app. Consumers can only deposit $1,000 per day or $3,000 per weak using the app. Hopefully this limit will increase over time.

This is pretty significant. No doubt other banks will soon have similar apps available. Once they do, there is really no limit to true online banking. With this app, an online banking account, and a debit card, a consumer can open an account from any bank in the country and be able to easily deposit, withdraw, and manage their money. Branches would seem to become far less important for everyday banking, eliminating a major hurdle to online bank adoption.

Interestingly, Chase seems to be pursuing a dual strategy, bulking up its online banking while also indicating it plans to open more than 1,000 new branches over the next three years. I suspect branches will become more focused on investment and lending products while core deposit banking continues to shift online.

Kudos to the online banking folks at Chase.

As banks scramble to make up lost revenue, it’s harder than ever to find bank bonuses and giveaways. However, you can now get a free IPod Touch from KeyBank for opening up a new checking account, but you have to act fast. This offer expires July 22^nd, 2011 and, as expected, there are some requirements you have to meet in order to get the free IPod.

First, you must be a resident of AK, CO, CT, ID, IN, KY, ME, MI, NY, OH, OR, UT, VT, or WA. When you open your account online by July 22^nd, must enter the offer code ONTS0711. Then, you must make at least 20 payments and/or purchases per month for three months after the account is open, and you also must make three direct deposits of $500 or more within that same three months. One month is calculated as 31 calendar days from account opening date (three months equals 93 calendar days from account opening date). Direct deposit transactions are limited to payroll, Social Security, pension, and government benefits. If you close your account within 180 days of account opening, you will be charged a $25 account early closure fee. Accounts that are overdrawn or closed as of 11/4/11 are not eligible for the free iPod.

The eligible checking accounts for this offer include: Key Express (this is the basic banking account in New York), Key Coverage, Key Advantage, Key Privilege, or Key Privilege Select Checking Account. The offer is not available to individuals who have opened a KeyBank checking account in the last 12 months.

In order to avoid monthly service fees for your new KeyBank checking account, there are some additional requirements you have to meet, depending upon the account. The most basic account—Key Express Checking—requires at least $500 in deposits or 5 customer-initiated transactions such as deposits, withdrawals, or transfers. The Key Coverage Checking account automatically charges a $10 monthly service fee, and the Key Advantage, Key Privilege and Key Privilege Select Checking account requires a minimum balance from $10,000 to $100,000, depending on the account. The Key Advantage, Key Privilege and Key Privilege Select Checking are also the only checking accounts that pay interest. The checking accounts vary by account type, balance amount, and geographic area. As an example, an account in Manhattan could pay anywhere from 0.04% - 0.45% APY. All accounts come with free online bill payment, but the Advantage, Privilege and Privilege Select accounts carry more benefits, available for comparison here.

As with all bank promotions, you shouldn’t jump into a new account just to get the free promotional offer. Always make sure that the account fits your banking habits and needs. Just because a bank is offering a free giveaway, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best deal for you. However, if the account does match your banking needs, it’s certainly a nice bonus to receive.

For the best information on checking accounts, click here.