Military compensation runs on a semi-monthly cadence overseen by DFAS, targeting the 1st and the 15th of each calendar month. When either date lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, DFAS executes direct deposit distribution on the final preceding business day. Before any money moves, DFAS generates pay files and releases the mid-month and end-of-month Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) via the MyPay portal, typically three to seven business days before the actual disbursement.
Once DFAS transmits ACH transaction files to the Federal Reserve, institutional recipients like Navy Federal obtain preliminary transaction files. These files contain account routing numbers, member IDs, and exact entitlement figures. Rather than holding those funds until the official settlement date specified by DFAS, credit unions exercise discretion over when to make the funds available to members. Navy Federal leverages this clearance window to offer early deposit credits to specific account tiers.
