Mobile Check Deposit Limits by Bank: 21 Banks Compared

Your mobile check deposit limit depends on your bank, your account type and your history with that bank. Most of the big names, including Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Citi, PNC, TD Bank, Truist and U.S. Bank, don’t publish a dollar figure. You see your own limit inside the app when you start a deposit.

A few still put the number in writing. Ally allows $50,000 a day and $250,000 every 30 days, Navy Federal allows $50,000 per business day, and Axos allows $50,000 a day on standard accounts. KeyBank allows $7,500 or $20,000 per rolling 30 days, HSBC runs from $4,000 to $25,000 a day by account, and Current caps a single check at $2,000.

Looking for one bank? Jump to the table of limits, cutoffs and hold rules, or to what each bank says.

Waiting For Your Mobile Deposit to Clear?

Is the check you keep photographing a paycheck? Then the real fix is direct deposit, which skips the app, the limit and the wait. Some banks with early direct deposit even pay you before payday.

Current, a mobile banking app, pays you up to two days early when your employer sends your pay there, and new users get a $75 bonus with code WELCOME75 once $1,500 of paychecks lands within 35 days of opening the account. Mobile check deposits don’t count toward that bonus, though, so it only kicks in once payroll sends the money straight to the account.

A cash advance app can cover the gap while a check clears. Limits run as high as $1,000 per pay period, and the apps below don’t run a credit check. Fees for instant delivery vary by app, so read the terms before you take an advance.

Mobile check deposit limits by bank

This covers 21 places people deposit checks by phone: the largest banks in the U.S., online banks, app-based accounts like Chime, Varo and Current, one credit union and PayPal. Tap a filter to see only the banks that publish a limit, the ones that pay out the next business day, or the ones that sell instant access.

Cutoffs apply on business days. A deposit after the cutoff, on a weekend or on a federal holiday counts as made the next business day.

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What each bank says about its mobile deposit limit

Each bank’s name links to the page or agreement the figures came from, so you can check for changes yourself.

Ally Bank

Ally is one of the few that prints its limit. Ally lets you deposit up to $50,000 in a business day and $250,000 every 30 calendar days with eCheck Deposit. Get it in before 7 pm ET and the money is generally there by the 2nd business day.

The catch is size. A check over $25,000 can be held longer, and so can a deposit from a new customer. Ally says those generally clear no later than the 5th business day.

Axos Bank

Axos lists three tiers in its mobile deposit terms.

• Standard accounts: $50,000 per business day and $150,000 per rolling 30 days
• Second Chance accounts: $2,500 per business day and $10,000 per rolling 30 days
• Premier, VIP and Advisor accounts: $100,000 per business day and $500,000 per rolling 30 days

Those are the highest published limits on this page. The wait is the trade-off. Axos makes mobile deposits available on the 5th business day, though it can release them sooner, and the cutoff is 3 pm PT.

Bank of America

Bank of America has a monthly limit and shows it when you select the account to deposit to. It doesn’t print a dollar figure, and there’s no fee.

Accounts opened in the Eastern or Central time zones have a 9 pm ET cutoff, and Mountain or Pacific accounts have 8 pm PT, per its cutoff times page. Beat it on a business day and the money is generally there the next business day.

Capital One

Capital One has daily and monthly limits but doesn’t publish them. The app shows your max when you enter the check, and for anything bigger it sends you to a branch or one of its ATMs.

Submit by 9 pm ET on a business day and the money is generally available the next business day. Capital One’s mobile deposit terms say these deposits aren’t covered by Regulation CC, so it can place an extended hold.

Chase

Chase doesn’t publish a limit for QuickDeposit. Open the Chase Mobile app, choose Deposit checks, pick the account and tap Learn More to see yours.

Deposits made before 11 pm ET on a business day are generally available the next business day, which is one of the latest cutoffs here. Chase can still delay a deposit it wants to review. Opening an account there? Check the best bank account bonuses first.

Chime

Chime sets your limit automatically from your account history, age and activity, and support can’t raise it by hand. You’ll find it in the app under your profile, then Account details, then View limits.

Mobile check deposit only turns on after a qualifying direct deposit of $1 or more. Funds are available no later than 5 business days, and Chime’s own mobile deposit guide lists a 5 pm ET cutoff.

Citi

Citi doesn’t publish its mobile limit or its mobile hold schedule. Its deposit account agreement says mobile availability is set in a separate service agreement that Citi doesn’t post on its site.

What the agreement does give is the cutoff: deposits after 10:30 pm ET post the next business day. For your limit, start a deposit in the Citi Mobile app or ask Citi.

Citizens

Citizens doesn’t publish its limits. The app tells you how much you can deposit when you make the deposit.

Deposits before 10 pm ET on a business day are usually available the next business day. New accounts are the exception. Its mobile deposit agreement puts a 5-day hold on checks from other banks during the first 27 days. Citizens may offer Instant Funds on some deposits, and it shows the fee before you confirm.

Current

Current, the app-based account, caps a mobile check at $2,000 in its account agreement. That’s the lowest published cap on this page, so it isn’t the place for a big check.

Deposits before 5 pm ET on a business day count that day, and the money is available no later than 3 business days. You can’t open the account with a check, and new accounts get a longer hold for the first 30 days. Where Current shines is direct deposit, not checks.

Discover

Discover’s mobile deposit help pages now redirect to Capital One, but its mobile check deposit terms still apply. They set daily and monthly limits by account type without printing a number, so the app is where you’ll see yours.

Checks received by 6:30 pm ET on a business day post that day. If you haven’t had a Discover account open and funded for 30 days, its deposit agreement says check money is generally available no later than the 5th business day.

HSBC

HSBC publishes limits by account type.

• Premier: $25,000 a day and $50,000 over 30 days
• Advance: $5,000 a day and $15,000 over 30 days
• Personal Banking: $4,000 a day and $10,000 over 30 days

A check deposited before 10 pm ET on a business day counts as deposited that day. HSBC doesn’t give a mobile hold schedule and says the money may not be available right away.

KeyBank

KeyBank uses a rolling 30-day limit, not a daily one. Key Select, Key Privilege Select, Key Privilege and Key Advantage Checking get $20,000. Hassle-Free, Smart Checking, Express Checking and Key Saver get $7,500. Hold more than one account and you get the highest limit among them.

Deposit by 11 pm ET and the money is available the next business day. Need it now? Immediate Funds costs 2% of the deposit with a $2 minimum.

Navy Federal Credit Union

Navy Federal allows $50,000 per business day across all your deposits, and personal accounts can make up to 10 a day.

The cutoff is early: 6 pm ET, Monday through Friday. Beat it and up to $275 is available the next business day, with the rest on the 2nd. Miss it, or deposit on a weekend or holiday, and its mobile deposit terms push that to the 2nd and 3rd business days.

PayPal

PayPal’s Cash a Check isn’t a bank deposit. Ingo Money runs it and the money lands in your PayPal Balance account, as PayPal explains.

You pick speed or price. Money in minutes costs 2% for payroll and government checks with a pre-printed signature and 5% for everything else, with a $6 minimum. Wait 10 days and it’s free. The Ingo terms cap you at $15,000 a month but list different per-check caps in different sections, so go by what the app shows. It isn’t available in New York.

PNC Bank

PNC has daily and monthly limits and shows them when you select Deposit in the PNC Mobile app.

Deposits completed before 10 pm ET on a business day are available the next day at no charge. For money right away, PNC Express Funds costs 2.5% of each check over $100, or $2 for a check from $25 to $100.

SoFi

SoFi doesn’t publish a dollar limit for mobile check deposit in Checking and Savings. Per its funds availability help page, a check deposited by 5 pm ET has a portion available the next business day and the rest no later than the 3rd business day, or the 5th for a large check.

Holds of up to 7 business days can apply to new customers, large deposits and frequent overdrafts. SoFi says it can’t speed up a hold.

TD Bank

TD sets limits customer by customer and posts yours in the TD Mobile app. Its mobile deposit terms say it can change them at any time.

Deposits received by 8 pm ET on a business day are generally available the next business day. TD is one of the few that spells out the new-account rule for phone deposits on its holds page: $275 the next business day and the full amount by the 4th day after the deposit.

Truist

Truist says deposit limits apply but doesn’t publish them, so check the app. Deposits before 9 pm ET on a business day count that day, and the money is available the next business day unless Truist places a hold.

Truist sells immediate availability on mobile and ATM check deposits: 2% of a check of $100 or more, or $1 for a check under $100.

U.S. Bank

U.S. Bank has daily and weekly limits that vary with your account type, deposit history and relationship. You see them when you enter the check amount, or under Transfer and pay, then Transaction limits.

The first $275 of your daily deposits is normally available right away, and the rest typically the next business day if you deposit before 10 pm CT. New accounts start low: if you opened yours in the last 90 days, your limit could be as low as $50.

Varo

Varo decides who gets mobile check deposit and sets each customer’s limits, per its account agreement. No dollar figure is published.

Checks deposited by 4 pm Mountain time on a business day are accepted or rejected by the end of the next business day, and the money is generally available before the 7th business day. That’s one of the slowest on this page.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo shows your daily and 30-day limits for each account when you pick the account and again on the Enter Amount screen.

The 9 pm PT cutoff is the latest here, which is midnight on the East Coast. Beat it on a business day and the money is generally available the next day. A Saturday or Sunday deposit counts as Monday’s and is generally there Tuesday.

Which banks make mobile deposits available fastest?

Free and fast: 10 of the 21 generally make the money available the next business day if you beat the cutoff. That’s Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citizens, KeyBank, PNC, TD Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. U.S. Bank goes a step further and usually releases the first $275 right away.

Want it the same day? Then you’re paying for it. PNC Express Funds costs 2.5% of a check over $100, KeyBank Immediate Funds costs 2% with a $2 minimum, and Truist charges 2% on a check of $100 or more. Citizens may offer Instant Funds and shows the fee first. PayPal’s Cash a Check gets money to you in minutes for 2% or 5%.

The online banks and apps are slower than you’d think. Ally says the 2nd business day, Current and SoFi up to the 3rd, Axos and Chime up to the 5th, and Varo before the 7th. If speed matters more than the account, a big bank’s app usually wins.

Can you deposit a check on the weekend or a holiday?

Yes, the apps take checks 24/7. The bank just doesn’t count it until the next business day, which means Monday through Friday minus federal holidays.

So a Saturday deposit at Wells Fargo is treated as Monday’s and is generally available Tuesday. Citizens says weekend and holiday deposits are usually available two business days later. Navy Federal releases up to $275 on the 2nd business day and the rest on the 3rd. A Monday holiday pushes everything back one more day.

Paychecks run on a different clock. If you’re waiting on pay rather than a check, here’s what time direct deposit hits.

New-account holds on mobile deposits

A new account is where mobile deposits get the tightest. Under the federal rule on check holds, Regulation CC, an account counts as new for its first 30 calendar days. During that time the bank only has to give next-day access to the first $6,725 of certain checks, like cashier’s and government checks, and it can hold the rest until the 9th business day.

Banks also set their own rules for new accounts:

• Citizens holds checks from other banks for 5 days during the first 27 days.
• TD Bank releases $275 the next business day and the rest by the 4th day.
• U.S. Bank limits can start as low as $50 for the first 90 days.
• Current won’t open an account with a check and holds check deposits longer for 30 days.
• Chime turns on mobile check deposit only after a qualifying direct deposit.
• Discover makes check money available by the 5th business day for new customers.

Bottom line: if you just opened the account, don’t count on a phone deposit to cover a bill due this week.

How to deposit a large check

First, check whether it even fits. A large check has to clear your daily limit and any 30-day or monthly limit, and at a bank like Current a $2,000 check is already the max.

Then expect a longer hold. Regulation CC lets any bank hold the amount over $6,725 deposited in one day. Ally says checks over $25,000 can take longer. PNC releases $100 that evening, $400 the next business day and the rest on the 2nd when you deposit $50,000 or more in a day. At U.S. Bank, Treasury checks don’t count against your limit but are capped at $7,500 each.

For a really big check, like a home sale or an insurance payout, a branch is usually the better move. The teller can tell you the hold up front, and you skip the guesswork in the app.

How long a mobile check deposit takes to clear

Phone deposits don’t always follow the federal schedule for paper checks. Capital One and Navy Federal both say in their mobile deposit terms that these deposits aren’t subject to Regulation CC’s availability rules, so the timeline that counts is the one in your bank’s mobile deposit agreement.

Available isn’t the same as cleared, either. The Federal Trade Commission warns that a fake check can take weeks to be discovered, and you’re the one who pays the bank back. Here’s how banks verify a check during that wait.

If a hold leaves your balance short and you’re thinking about overdrawing, read about ATMs that let you overdraft first.

How to deposit a check with your phone

The steps are nearly the same at every bank.

1. Open your bank’s app and choose the deposit option.
2. Pick the account and enter the amount exactly as it’s written on the check.
3. Sign the back. Most banks also want a line like For Mobile Deposit Only under your signature, and the exact wording is in your app.
4. Photograph the front and back on a dark surface in good light, with all four corners in the frame.
5. Review and submit. Your bank confirms it received the deposit.
6. Write mobile deposit on the front and keep the check until your bank’s retention period is up.

Banks generally take personal, business, cashier’s and government checks drawn on U.S. banks in U.S. dollars. They generally don’t take foreign checks, money orders, traveler’s checks, savings bonds, checks made out to someone else or checks more than six months old.

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What to do when a check is over your limit

A check that’s bigger than your mobile limit has to go in another way. Your bank’s ATM or a branch is the standard route, and that’s where Capital One and Citizens send people who hit the limit.

Waiting works when the limit resets. Bank of America’s is monthly, and a rolling 30-day limit like KeyBank’s frees up as older deposits pass the 30-day mark.

If your limit keeps getting in the way, the account matters more than the app. Ally, Navy Federal and Axos publish $50,000 a day, so compare the best checking accounts or the best online banks before you settle for a low one.

And if the check hasn’t been written yet, or you’re worried it could be fake, ask to be paid in cash or through PayPal, Venmo, Cash App or Zelle instead.

Mobile check deposit FAQs

Disclosures

This article is general information. Banks change mobile deposit limits, cutoff times and hold policies often, so confirm the current details in your bank’s app or on its own site before you rely on them.