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I want to use my personal bank account to receive payment for my work e.g. as a first-time software developer. I found a company who wants to list my application for sale in their online store. To receive payment for each sale, I must provide the company with my name, my bank account number and the routing number of my bank account.

This is my question: Must my first name and surname exactly match the information that my bank has on record for my account?

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Can you also add the country tag. The Banking regulations vary from country to country – Dheer Sep 25 '12 at 3:24
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I suspect that the OP is interested to know if he can give someone else's account as his own and get caught easily. Vote to close. – littleadv Sep 25 '12 at 6:13
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@user65721 Yes indeed, you should provide more details. You want a company to pay you without them knowing what your name is, just your account number. Sounds like a fraudulent transaction, possibly on both sides. I too vote to close. – Dilip Sarwate Sep 25 '12 at 16:21
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@CQM Also, I take offense at your characterization of the votes to close as democracy without qualifications. People did ask for details and received flippant answers about Nigerian princes. – Dilip Sarwate Sep 29 '12 at 18:48
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@CQM it is in fact something fraudulent. The OP may not be aware of it, but he's most likely committing tax fraud, to begin with. – littleadv Sep 29 '12 at 20:08
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1 Answer

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The bank account and routing number does not reveal this information on its own.

A private company would therefore not be able to legally access the information about the name of the account holder. Law enforcement would still be able to get this information, if ever needed.

You can have money deposited into any account that you know the # and routing number of. You could also walk up to a bank teller with a wad of cash and tell them just the # and the routing number, if that account is with their bank. It will go to the right place.

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I doubt that you can go to a bank teller and deposit a wad of cash into an account for which you provide only a bank account number in that bank, and even more so if you want to deposit the money into a bank account in a different bank. Have you tried this yourself and know it works? – Dilip Sarwate Sep 25 '12 at 16:13
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I understand how the banking system works. You said "You could also walk up to a bank teller with a wad of cash and tell them just the # and the routing number" Yes, the teller will not reveal the name on the account, and so the OP, as the putative recipient, will not have his name revealed to the depositor during this transaction. But I suggest that the transaction will likely be aborted because the teller will refuse to accept the deposit. A company making a payment will send someone to a bank with a wad of cash? The company will not want to know whom it is paying? Just user65721 will do? – Dilip Sarwate Sep 25 '12 at 21:38
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the teller will not refuse to accept the deposit. – CQM Sep 25 '12 at 22:59
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@DilipSarwate is correct, based on my personal experience with banks in the U.S.A. While yes, it would seem as though a bank would not hesitate to accept a deposit, and in fact, that was the case 15+ years ago, it is not true now. Often, to accept a deposit, the teller wants a completed deposit slip (with routing #, account # and name) or in lieu of that, photo ID and an active/ valid check guarantee card (or debit card) at that bank. – Feral Oink Sep 26 '12 at 14:52
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@user65721 The answer is not correct. Also, what you're planning to do will get your friend in trouble with the IRS. I'd advise him not to allow you using his account for money laundering (that is, in essence, what you're going to do). There's a reason why Google doesn't want to transfer money to your country, and the reason is taxes. By working around that you're likely to be breaking the US tax law (unless your friend opens a business and buys software from you and sells it to Google, then the tax problem shifts from Google to your friend). – littleadv Sep 29 '12 at 20:12
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