Tens of millions of people now bank entirely through an app and have never ordered a checkbook. So when a new employer or a billing department asks for a "voided check," it can feel like a dead end — there is no paper check in the house to void. The good news: a voided check is only a delivery method for two numbers, your routing number and your account number, and every online bank gives you another way to hand those over. This guide walks through the exact in-app path for the major neobanks and online banks, the universal fallbacks that work for any account, and when an online voided check is the cleaner option.
For the basics of what a voided check is and why it gets requested, see our explainer on what a voided check is and when you need one. This article assumes you already know that and focuses on the practical problem: producing the document — or its accepted equivalent — when you have no paper checks.
What you actually need (and what you don't)
Before chasing a physical voided check, confirm what the requester will accept. For direct deposit, most employers' payroll systems only need three things: the account holder name, the routing number, and the account number (plus whether it is checking or savings). A voided check is just one way to supply those. Many neobanks do not issue paper checks at all, so they have built first-party alternatives directly into the app — a pre-filled direct deposit form being the most common.
Ask your employer or biller: will they take a pre-filled direct deposit form, a bank verification letter, or the numbers typed into their enrollment portal? If yes, you may never need a check-shaped document. If they specifically insist on something that looks like a voided check, the options later in this guide cover that too.
- For most direct deposit setups: the routing number, account number, account type, and account holder name are enough.
- A pre-filled direct deposit form from your bank's app carries all of those in a format payroll trusts.
- A bank verification letter (account-confirmation letter) is widely accepted in place of a voided check.
- An online voided check covers the case where the requester specifically wants a check-format image.
How do I get a voided check from Chime?
Chime does not mail checkbooks, so it generates the paperwork for you. In the Chime app, go to the Move money section, choose Set up direct deposit, and select the option to get a pre-filled direct deposit form. Per Chime's help center, Chime emails you a completed direct deposit form as a PDF, and it will include a voided check if your employer requires one — so you can hand over whichever the employer prefers. You can also trigger this from chime.com under your profile's Direct deposit setup. Your Chime account and routing numbers also appear in the app if you only need to type them into an enrollment form.
How do I get a voided check from Varo?
Varo is a chartered bank with no paper checks, so it surfaces the numbers and a form in-app. Open My Varo, then Manage cards and accounts, then Account numbers, where you can reveal your account number alongside Varo's routing number. From the direct deposit area you can also send a pre-filled direct deposit form to your employer, or use Varo's automated connection to eligible payroll providers. For most employers, copying the account and routing numbers or sending that form is all you need; if one truly insists on a check image, use the universal fallbacks below.
How do I get a voided check from Cash App?
Cash App provides routing and account numbers through its banking partners rather than paper checks. In Cash App, tap the Money tab and select the routing and account number option to view both. To produce a form, choose Direct deposit and the option to fill out a form for your employer. One catch worth knowing: Cash App generally requires an activated Cash Card before it will issue direct deposit numbers, so order and activate the free card first if the numbers are not showing. The routing number you see belongs to Cash App's partner bank, which is the correct one for ACH direct deposit.
How do I get a voided check from Ally, SoFi, and other online banks?
The pattern repeats across online banks: instead of a checkbook, they offer a pre-filled direct deposit form and show your numbers in the app or website.
- Ally Bank: from the Ally direct deposit help area you can hand your employer Ally's pre-filled direct deposit form, or download a blank one to fill in. Your account number is in your account details; Ally's routing number is shown there too.
- SoFi: in the SoFi app, open the Banking tab, tap the gear icon, choose Direct deposit, and select the option to send a form to your employer; the same screens show your account and routing numbers.
- Other app-based accounts (Current, Dave, Albert, etc.): look for a "Set up direct deposit," "Direct deposit form," or "Account & routing" option in the app's money or settings area — the language varies, but the capability is nearly universal.
Because these in-app flows change as the apps update, treat the menu names above as a guide rather than gospel — if a label has moved, search the bank's help center for "direct deposit form" or "account and routing number." The underlying capability has been standard across online banks for years.
Universal fallbacks that work for any account
If your bank has no in-app form, or the requester wants something a generic app screen will not produce, these options work regardless of who you bank with:
- Bank verification letter: request an account-confirmation letter on the bank's letterhead stating your name, account number, and routing number. Many online banks can email or generate one; it is widely accepted in place of a voided check, and you can prepare a bank account verification letter to match the format employers expect.
- Type the numbers in directly: if the enrollment form has fields for routing and account number, you often do not need any document at all — just enter the numbers from your app, double-checked digit for digit.
- Counter check from a branch: if your bank has physical locations, a teller can usually print a counter check or a voided sample on the spot.
- Online voided check: enter your bank, routing number, and account number into a generator to produce a correctly formatted, printable voided check PDF — useful when a requester specifically wants a check-format image and your neobank cannot produce one.
When an online voided check makes sense
Some payroll portals and older billing systems still have a field that literally says "upload a voided check" and will not accept a plain form or a typed-in number. For neobank customers, that is the gap an online generator fills: you supply your details and it lays them out in the standard check format, with the routing and account numbers in the right positions, marked VOID. You can then print or upload it like any other voided check.
It is a convenience, not a workaround for anything risky — you are formatting your own real account numbers, the same ones your bank already shows you, into the layout the recipient's system expects. If you go this route, you can create a voided check online in a couple of minutes, then share it only with the trusted party that requested it.
Before you submit: a quick safety and accuracy check
Whichever method you use, the numbers you are sharing are sensitive, so handle them like you would the checkbook you do not have. Verify the routing and account numbers against your app before sending, send through the employer's or biller's official secure channel rather than plain email, and keep a copy of what you submitted. A voided check or form supplies your numbers but authorizes nothing on its own — you still complete and sign the enrollment form to actually start the deposit, and you keep the right to revoke a recurring authorization later. For more on the exposure involved, see whether it is safe to give someone a voided check.