5 Tax Refund Deposit Campaigns You Need Now

When it comes to deposit gathering, the first quarter of any year is critical. If you need deposits and don’t have an active tax refund deposit effort every year, then you are missing out on one of the most effective deposit gathering tactics in banking. Tax refunds are just starting to hit this week and the 2026 tax season is highly significant due to the implementation of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act (OBBBA) (More strategies HERE), which is expected to deliver the largest tax refunds in history, with projections of 18% to 30% higher average refunds. In this article, we discuss the concept of “deposit account layering” to improve performance and detail five tax refund campaigns that have proven effective to gathering deposits.

The Concept of Deposit Layering

Deposit layering is the tactic of finding pockets of new deposits with better performance features than the current account relationship has. By adding these new deposits, deposit cost, beta and deposit value can all be improved. Running a deposit promotion to capture customer’s annual employment bonus is one example, but the most common example in banking is marketing for tax refunds.

By helping convince customers to turn tax refunds into longer term investments, the deposit duration can be increased and the beta reduced.

Tax Refunds Against the OBBBA Backdrop

This year, deposit marketing reactivity is higher than normal given the current focus on affordability. Combined that market sentiment with some of the changes in the OBBBA and you have all the makings to exceed standard campaign key performance indicators. For this tax year, some of the changes include:

Key changes for this tax season include:

• Increased Standard Deduction: The 2025 standard deduction increased by approximately 7.9% from 2024.
• New Tax Deductions: New, targeted deductions were introduced for tip income, overtime pay, car loan interest payments, and a $6,000 deduction for seniors aged 65 and older.
• Higher SALT Deduction Cap: The State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap has been increased to $40,000.
• Higher Retirement Contributions: The maximum contribution to a traditional IRA for 2025 is $7,500 (or $8,600 for those 50 or older).
• 1099-K Threshold Increase: The threshold for reporting online sales (Etsy, eBay, etc.) and app-based payments (Venmo, PayPal) was increased to $20,000 and 200 transactions.
• Trump Accounts: Banks with Wealth groups can capture the $1,000 investment by the Government while also suggesting up to $5,000 of tax refund dollars can be contributed.

Get Deposit Gathering Campaigns Going

Every spring, billions of dollars hit transaction, savings, and money market accounts in a compressed 6–10-week window. Banks that have not done any tax refund marketing still have time as this week is the first week tax refunds are being issued (baring government shutdown interruptions). For households, it’s federal and state tax refunds. For small businesses, refunds, credits, and adjusted estimated payments.

Without bank marketing intervention, some of these balances would land at a bank and then leave into brokerage accounts, fintech wallets, or be spent. This is why if your bank is focused on deposit growth, this is not a passive moment. It is an offensive one.

Why Tax Refund Season Matters Strategically

Refunds have psychological influence on deposit performance. Specifically:

1. Behavioral reset moment. Refunds feel like “found money.” Customers are open to new account structures, savings goals, and product changes.
2. Liquidity spike. Temporary balances improve on-balance sheet liquidity and can be converted into stickier time deposits or money markets. Customers are open to longer-duration accounts.
3. Cross-sell gateway. Refund conversations lead naturally into treasury management, wealth, credit cards, HELOCs, and sweep products.
4. Commercial angle. Many businesses receive refunds or true-ups and reassess working capital allocation at the same time.

If banks wait for balances to show up organically, they will be behind the power curve for balance acquisition. The objective is pre-positioning, get the savings strategy set and the routing number decision made before the IRS payment hits.

It is likely that households and businesses have already designated an account for deposit. The goal of every bank is to either pull those deposits from another bank or keep those deposits for a longer period of time at your bank.

Below are some examples of deposit marketing campaigns that target tax refunds that will prove effective.

Campaign 1: “Direct It Here” Routing Capture Campaign

Objective: Capture the refund at the source by influencing where customers direct deposit their tax refund before they file.

Target Segments: Retail households with external direct deposit, small business owners filing pass-through returns, and treasury clients using outside operating accounts.

Core Message: “You only choose your refund destination once. Make it count.”

Messaging Points:

• “Send your refund directly to your savings with us.”
• “Split your refund: part to savings, part to checking.”
• “Avoid transfer delays—deposit it where you plan to keep it.”
• “FDIC-insured. Local. Relationship-based.”

Execution Tactics:

Bank marketing departments should consider a pre-tax filing email plus an SMS reminder with routing and account number. This should be supported by an in-branch handout card: “Before you file—use this account.” Further, there should be a treasury officer outreach to commercial clients about where they are directing their refund.

The critical aspect here is to educate the customer base on where to find the account information and let them know they should have intent on where they direct their refund. Most accounts will default to what they did last year unless your bank gives them a reason to change the trajectory of their tax refund.

Campaign 2: “Refund to Reserve” Emergency Fund Builder

Objective: Convert a one-time inflow into a durable savings balance.

Target Segments: This campaign is targeted at mass affluent households, younger families, and customers with volatile balance patterns.

Core Message: “Turn a refund into resilience.”

Messaging Points:

• “Create a fortress. Move your refund into an emergency reserve.”
• “Peace of mind beats impulse spending. Start an emergency fund.”
• “The best place for your money is your future.”

Product Strategy:

To capture attention, banks design a promotional money market tier for new refund dollars, use a bonus rate based on 90-average balance or create a rewards program based on balances.

Campaign 3: Small Business Working Capital Boost

Objective: Capture business refunds and reposition them into operating and treasury solutions. Refund timing is a natural reason to initiate a working capital conversation. It opens doors to fee income and operating account consolidation.

Target Segments: This tactic targets S-corps, LLCs, professional service firms, or any seasoned business.

Core Message: “Let your refund work like capital, not idle cash.”

Messaging Points

• “Sweep excess refund balances into interest-bearing accounts.”
• “Optimize ECR against service fees.”
• “Use refund liquidity to pay down higher-cost credit lines.”
• “Layer into a short-term CD ladder.”

Product Strategy: The product strategy here is to promote the attributes of a treasury management account. Banks decide on what customers are on the cusp of needing treasury management and then offer a promotion tied to a refund in order to kickstart balances. This is the opportunity to introduce the concept of a zero-balance account, earnings credit and the ability to project cash flow (if you have that feature).

Campaign 4: Refund Match Incentive (Behavioral Nudge)

Objective: Encourage refund deposits through a limited-time match or bonus structure. Structure bonuses around average balance retention, not just deposit inflow. The goal is to instill greater longevity of balances, not a 10-day spike.

For example:

• 1% match up to $250 if funds remain 120 days.
• Tiered bonus for balances maintained through year end.
• Entry into a savings sweepstakes (where permitted).

Core Message: “Deposit your refund. We’ll reward the discipline.”

Messaging Points

• “Bonus for keeping your refund invested with us.”
• “Simple qualification—direct deposit and maintain.”
• “No hidden conditions.”

Campaign 5: “Invest or Improve” Cross-Sell Bridge

Objective: Use refund inflows to drive multi-product penetration. Refund dollars feel discretionary, which presents an opportunity for banks to turn tax refunds into other product promotion or investment balance growth.

Target Segments: This is a retail promotion targeted at households with mortgages/home equity lines, private banking clients without a wealth relationship and banks with card/payment programs.

Two-Path Messaging:

Path A: Invest

• “Use your refund to open or fund an investment account.”
• “Schedule a 30-minute portfolio review.”
• “Tax refund → tax-efficient investing.”

Path B: Improve

• “Apply refund toward principal on your mortgage.”
• “Use it as down payment savings.”
• “Fund a 0% intro credit card balance transfer.”

Execution: This is a campaign to launch now and run through June. Banks can monitor inbound instant payments and ACH codes tied to IRS refunds. Banks with marketing systems such as Hubspot or Salesforce Marketing Cloud can trigger automated outreach to both the customer and account/branch manager when the refund hits. Any large balances should be flagged for further treasury analysis as an influx of funds presents a unique opportunity to gauge the interest rate sensitivity of the customer. In addition, temporary inflows can distort cost-of-funds modeling so banks can use this data for more accurate ALCO planning.

Putting This Into Action

Refund season provides a unique window to acquire deposits and engage customers with thought leadership and valued advice. For community and regional banks, this is one of the few predictable, seasonal liquidity events on the calendar in which to gather deposits. It is also a time to convert transient liquidity into core deposits.

Tax refunds also create an excellent opportunity to showcase other products such as money market accounts, treasury, wealth, and mortgage banking. The season provides tailwinds to help bankers increase wallet share, trigger advisory conversations, and re-establish operating account primacy.

Just because your customer is getting a refund doesn’t mean it will turn into deposit balances. To increase the odds of retaining or acquiring those balances from another bank, get proactive to layer in tax refund monies to enhance overall deposit performance.

If your bank doesn’t explicitly ask for the routing, someone else will. This year, more than others, there is an outsized opportunity awaiting banks.