[$250] Unable to Add Deposit-Only Bank Account in ND iOS (Manual Entry Fails Verification)

[m-natarajan]

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Version Number: 9.3.32-3
Reproducible in staging?: Needs Reproduction (Reproduction blocked)
Reproducible in production?: Needs Reproduction
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @Liz-Canary
Slack conversation (hyperlinked to channel name): #Expensify Bugs

Action Performed:

1. Go to Account
2. Tap Wallet
3. Select Add Bank Account
4. Choose Add Manually
5. Enter details for a deposit-only account
6. Proceed with verification

Expected Result:

Deposit-only account should be successfully added and verified

Actual Result:

Verification fails with an error

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

Select the officially supported platforms where the issue was reproduced:

• Android: App
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: App
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• iOS: mWeb Chrome
• Windows: Chrome
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screenshots/Videos

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @Pujan92

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022038654361622088454
• Upwork Job ID: 2038654361622088454
• Last Price Increase: 2026-03-30

[MelvinBot]

This has been labelled "Needs Reproduction". Follow the steps here: https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/expensify/questions/16989

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

The App frontend has no deposit-only specific logic — the concept of "deposit-only" does not exist in the client-side code. When a user manually adds a personal bank account, the AddPersonalBankAccount API command is called with setupType='manual' and isSavings=false (hardcoded default). The server-side handler for this command performs bank verification, which likely fails for deposit-only bank accounts because such accounts cannot process debit transactions (e.g., micro-deposit verification debits).

The full flow is: Wallet → Add Bank Account → Country Selection → AccountFlowEntryPoint ("Connect Manually") → ManualBankAccountDetails (routing + account number) → LegalName → Address → PhoneNumber → Confirmation → addPersonalBankAccount() API call (src/libs/actions/BankAccounts.ts:296-408).

On failure, the client receives a generic error via Onyx: walletPage.addBankAccountFailure = "An unexpected error occurred while trying to add your bank account. Please try again." (src/libs/actions/BankAccounts.ts:364). The server can also push a more specific error string, but without reproduction we cannot determine the exact message.

Key evidence:

• AddPersonalBankAccountParams (src/libs/API/parameters/AddPersonalBankAccountParams.ts) has no field for account purpose or deposit-only flag
• The isSavings field defaults to false for manual setup since only Plaid can detect account type (src/libs/actions/BankAccounts.ts:307)
• The ManualBankAccountDetailsStep only collects routing and account numbers — no account type selector (src/pages/settings/Wallet/InternationalDepositAccount/PersonalInfo/substeps/ManualBankAccountDetailsStep.tsx)
• PersonalBankAccount type has binary success/failure (no intermediate verification states like the VBBA flow)

Additionally, there is a potential secondary frontend issue: when personal info steps are skipped via getSkippedStepsPersonalInfo() (src/pages/settings/Wallet/InternationalDepositAccount/PersonalInfo/utils/getSkippedStepsPersonalInfo.ts), the submitBankAccountForm function in PersonalInfo.tsx:35-53 merges privatePersonalDetails (which stores addresses as addresses[].street, addresses[].city, etc.) with the form draft. However, addPersonalBankAccount() reads account.addressStreet, account.addressCity, etc. — field names that only exist in the form draft, not in privatePersonalDetails. If the address step was skipped, these API parameters would be undefined, potentially causing a server-side validation failure.

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

This issue requires reproduction and server-side investigation first. The error originates from the backend AddPersonalBankAccount command (not available in the App repo). However, there are two improvements the App can make:

1. Fix the address field mapping in submitBankAccountForm (src/pages/settings/Wallet/InternationalDepositAccount/PersonalInfo/PersonalInfo.tsx:35-53): When personal info steps are skipped, explicitly extract address fields from privatePersonalDetails using getCurrentAddress() (the same helper that ConfirmationStep.tsx:33-43 already uses for display). Map currentAddress.street → addressStreet, currentAddress.city → addressCity, etc., to ensure the API always receives address data even when steps are skipped.

2. Surface the actual server error: Currently the failure handler at BankAccounts.ts:364 shows a generic translation key. The server can push specific error messages via Onyx, but if the error is more descriptive (e.g., "deposit-only accounts cannot be verified"), it should be surfaced to the user rather than showing the generic fallback.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

• Adding a deposit-only flag/selector to the manual bank account entry form was considered but is likely unnecessary — the server should handle account type detection and provide a clear error message to the user.
• Investigated whether DynamicAddBankAccountVerifyAccountPage (email verification) could be the failing step, but the issue description indicates the user reaches the bank details entry step, meaning email verification passed.

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to create a draft PR, @MelvinBot to refine this analysis, or explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @Pujan92 (External)

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022038654361622088454

[trasnake87]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

When a user tries to manually add a deposit-only bank account via Wallet on iOS, the verification step fails with an error, preventing the account from being added.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The root cause is in submitBankAccountForm within src/pages/settings/Wallet/InternationalDepositAccount/PersonalInfo/PersonalInfo.tsx. When a user already has personal details on file (legal name, address, phone number), the getSkippedStepsPersonalInfo utility skips the LegalName, Address, and PhoneNumber substeps. The Address substep's updateAddress handler is the only place that writes flat address fields (addressStreet, addressCity, addressState, addressZipCode, country) to the form draft. When skipped, those fields are never written.

In submitBankAccountForm, accountData is constructed by spreading privatePersonalDetails then personalBankAccount (the form draft). However, privatePersonalDetails stores addresses in a nested addresses: Address[] structure with keys like street, city, state, zip — NOT the flat keys addressStreet, addressCity, etc. that addPersonalBankAccount reads at line 315-319. This means the API call is sent with undefined for all address fields and "\n" for addressStreet (from getFormattedStreet(undefined, undefined)), causing backend verification to fail.

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

We should fix submitBankAccountForm in PersonalInfo.tsx to extract address data from privatePersonalDetails using getCurrentAddress when the form draft doesn't contain the flat address fields. This ensures skipped steps still produce valid API parameters:

// In PersonalInfo.tsx submitBankAccountForm, before constructing accountData:
const currentAddress = getCurrentAddress(privatePersonalDetails);
const addressFallback = {
    addressStreet: personalBankAccount?.addressStreet ?? currentAddress?.street ?? '',
    addressStreet2: personalBankAccount?.addressStreet2 ?? currentAddress?.street2 ?? '',
    addressCity: personalBankAccount?.addressCity ?? currentAddress?.city ?? '',
    addressState: personalBankAccount?.addressState ?? currentAddress?.state ?? '',
    addressZipCode: personalBankAccount?.addressZipCode ?? currentAddress?.zip ?? '',
    country: personalBankAccount?.country ?? currentAddress?.country ?? '',
};

const accountData = {
    ...privatePersonalDetails,
    ...personalBankAccount,
    ...addressFallback,
    ...bankAccountWithToken,
    phoneNumber: formatE164PhoneNumber(finalPhoneNumber, countryCode),
};

The getCurrentAddress import already exists in the codebase (used by AddressStep.tsx and ConfirmationStep.tsx). This fix ensures that when the Address substep is skipped, the flat address fields required by addPersonalBankAccount are correctly populated from the user's existing personal details.

[trasnake87]

Contributor details
Your Expensify account email: trasnake87@gmail.com
Upwork Profile Link: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~010f770315ab181656

[melvin-bot]

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