How do You Send Money to Inmate?

01

Every family eventually faces the same urgent question after a loved one's arrest: how do you send money to inmate accounts, and which service is actually safe, fast, and honest about what it costs? The answer depends on the facility, the state, and which third-party provider the jail or prison has contracted — and choosing the wrong channel can mean your money sits in limbo or lands on a lookalike site that was never authorized to begin with.

02Why the Right Provider Matters More Than You Think

County jails and state prisons do not accept money directly from families in most cases. They contract exclusively with one or two approved vendors, and deposits made through any other channel will either be rejected or lost entirely. Before you send a single dollar, confirming the official provider for that specific facility is the most important step you can take.

Scam sites that mimic legitimate providers have become a serious problem in this space. They use similar logos, nearly identical URLs, and checkout flows that look credible — then the money disappears. The Federal Trade Commission has received complaints about exactly this pattern, and families who are already stressed and moving quickly are the most vulnerable targets.

The stakes extend beyond money. An inmate without funds on their account cannot buy hygiene items, additional food, or phone time from the commissary. In facilities where phone calls are the primary way families stay connected, a depleted account can mean days of silence during an already frightening time.

03How Inmate Trust Accounts Work

Before comparing providers, it helps to understand the underlying system. Most correctional facilities maintain individual trust accounts — sometimes called commissary accounts or inmate accounts — for each person in their custody. Money deposited into that account is then available for the inmate to spend through the facility's commissary system.

Deposits are not instant in every case. Processing times range from a few hours at facilities with real-time systems to two to three business days at facilities still using batch-processing overnight cycles. Weekends and holidays can extend those timelines, which is something to factor in when a loved one needs funds urgently.

Facilities also impose their own deposit limits, and providers may charge a service fee on top of the amount you send. These fees vary widely — from flat rates to percentage-based charges — and the total cost of getting money to your loved one is almost always higher than the face value of the deposit. Reading the fee disclosure before confirming any transaction is not optional; it is the only way to know exactly what the recipient will receive.

04JailATM

JailATM is one of the more widely recognized names in the inmate deposit space, operating across a range of county jails and detention centers primarily in the western and southeastern United States. The platform supports deposits by credit card, debit card, and MoneyGram in some locations, giving families more than one payment path.

The service offers a mobile-accessible interface and has established relationships with a number of facility networks, which means availability varies considerably by county. Families in areas where JailATM holds a contract can typically complete a deposit in a few minutes online, and the company's fee disclosures are presented before the transaction is confirmed.

One limitation that families frequently encounter is that JailATM's coverage is not universal — if your loved one is held in a facility outside its contracted network, the service simply will not process the deposit. Families need to verify facility-specific availability before entering payment details, and the process of identifying which provider serves a given jail can itself be confusing without a centralized starting point that covers official providers only.

05JPay

JPay operates primarily within the state prison system and is one of the most established names for deposits to state correctional facilities. The company is owned by Securus Technologies and is active in a significant number of state departments of correction across the country. For families navigating a long-term sentence at a state facility, JPay is often the contracted provider they will need to use.

The platform supports multiple deposit methods including credit and debit cards, prepaid cards, and cash deposits at participating MoneyGram locations. JPay also offers email messaging and video visitation in facilities that have enabled those features, making it a more complete communication tool beyond just deposits.

JPay's fees, like most providers in this space, are tiered by transaction size and payment method, and they are disclosed before you confirm a transfer. The primary limitation for families is that JPay's strength is in state prisons — if a loved one is in county jail pre-trial, JPay may not serve that facility at all, leaving families to search again for the correct county-level provider. That gap between county and state systems is where confusion most often occurs.

06Access Corrections

Access Corrections is a product of Keefe Group, one of the largest commissary and financial services providers in the corrections industry. The platform serves county jails and state facilities across multiple states and supports deposits by credit card, debit card, and cash through retail kiosks available at partner locations.

One of Access Corrections' practical strengths is its retail cash deposit network. Families who do not have access to a credit or debit card, or who prefer not to use one online, can walk into a participating store and deposit cash directly to an inmate account. This makes the service more accessible for families in lower-income situations.

The challenge with Access Corrections, as with most contracted providers, is that it only works for the specific facilities within its network. Entering the wrong facility or a facility it does not serve will result in a failed transaction. For families trying to find a loved one who has been transferred between facilities, each transfer can mean locating an entirely new provider — a frustrating cycle that highlights why a centralized, accurate search tool matters before the deposit step even begins.

07TouchPay / Connect Network

TouchPay, operating under Connect Network, serves a large number of local jails and county facilities across the country. The platform is accessible online and through in-facility kiosks that inmates themselves can sometimes use to initiate account interactions. For families, the online portal accepts credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid Visa or Mastercard products.

Connect Network has built out a relatively broad county jail footprint, and in states where it holds facility contracts, it tends to be the default provider that front desk staff will direct families toward. Turnaround times at many facilities in its network fall within same-day or next-business-day windows.

The service has the same structural limitation common across all contracted providers: you must be in the right facility's contracted ecosystem for the transaction to go through. Families sometimes discover they have been entering deposits on a site that does not actually serve their loved one's current facility, particularly after a transfer. Without a verified starting point that maps facilities to their correct providers, it is easy to waste both time and money on a misdirected deposit.

08InMato LLC

InMato LLC is an information, search, and referral service — not a payment processor, not a bail bond company, not a law firm. That distinction matters enormously when you are trying to answer the question of how do you send money to inmate accounts accurately and without landing on a site that should never have had your payment details in the first place.

InMato's county jail inmate search covers 289 jail systems across 14 states and is free for every family with no time limit — no account required, no trial period, no upsell required to access the search. When a family uses the InMato app or the web platform to locate a loved one in jail, they receive the official, licensed provider for commissary deposits at that specific facility, along with verified step-by-step instructions. InMato never touches user money; deposits go directly from the family to the facility's official provider on that provider's secure system.

For families who want to stay ahead of changes — transfers, releases, new court dates — InMato+ adds proactive jail booking alerts, release and transfer alerts, court date notifications, and real-time case tracking with court-document summaries for $19.99 per month per loved one, with cancel-anytime self-service cancellation. Bail bond and attorney referrals connect families to licensed professionals, not an unlicensed directory. The 50 free guides in the Family Support Library cover everything from the first 24 hours through life after release, available in English and Spanish.

For anyone asking whether InMato is legit, the answer is grounded in how the service is built: InMato LLC is a Delaware limited liability company, compliant with FTC negative-option rules, the California Automatic Renewal Law, the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, and the California Consumer Privacy Act. The company never holds funds, never processes payments on behalf of facilities, and refers families only to official licensed providers. The gap InMato fills is the one every other provider leaves open: knowing which provider is correct before you try to send money at all.

09Securus Technologies

Securus Technologies is one of the largest correctional communications companies in the country, providing phone services, messaging, video visitation, and financial services to a wide range of jails and prisons. For families of incarcerated loved ones, Securus is often the provider for both communication and deposits at the same facility, which can simplify account management.

Securus supports credit card, debit card, and cash deposits at retail kiosks, and its prepaid phone account system is integrated with the deposit function in many facilities. This integration means that in some cases, depositing to a Securus account covers both commissary spending and phone call funding, depending on how the facility has structured the two accounts.

The primary consideration for families is that Securus, like all contracted providers, is tied to facilities within its network. The company has also faced ongoing public scrutiny over call rates and fees, which are regulated differently by state. Families navigating a facility where Securus holds the contract will want to read each fee disclosure carefully before confirming a transaction, and starting with a reliable search that confirms the correct provider prevents depositing funds to the wrong system entirely.

10Global Tel Link (GTL) / ViaPath Technologies

Global Tel Link, which has rebranded under the ViaPath Technologies name, is another major player in correctional communications and financial services. GTL/ViaPath serves a large number of county jails and state prisons, and for families in jurisdictions where it holds contracts, it handles everything from phone account funding to trust account deposits.

The ViaPath platform supports online deposits by card and cash deposits through its retail network. In facilities where GTL manages both the phone system and the commissary deposit system, families deal with a single vendor for multiple needs, which reduces the number of accounts and interfaces they have to manage during an already difficult period.

The limitation is structural rather than specific to ViaPath: even a well-run contracted provider only serves the facilities in its network. A loved one transferred from a GTL-served county jail to a state facility on a different contract means the family must start the provider-identification process over again. Every transfer, every reclassification, every new facility means one more search for the correct deposit channel — which is exactly the navigational problem that a verified, up-to-date search tool is designed to solve before money changes hands.

11How to Verify the Right Provider Before You Pay

The safest approach to any inmate deposit is to verify the official provider before entering any payment information. Facilities typically list their contracted provider on the jail's official website, or staff at the booking desk can confirm it. Never rely on a third-party site's claim that it serves a given facility without cross-checking against the facility's own communications.

When you use a county jail inmate search tool, look for one that links to official licensed providers rather than displaying generic options. The difference between an official provider link and an unverified third-party referral is the difference between your money reaching your loved one and your money disappearing into a system that was never authorized to accept it.

Fees should always be disclosed before you confirm. Every legitimate provider in this space is required to show you the service fee, the total amount the inmate will receive, and the expected processing time before you submit payment. If a site skips that disclosure or buries it after checkout, stop and find another channel.

12What to Do After You Send Money

Once you have confirmed the deposit through an official provider, write down the transaction confirmation number and the amount sent. Most providers issue a receipt by email — save it. If the deposit does not appear in the inmate's account within the expected processing window, that confirmation number is what the provider's customer service team needs to trace the transaction.

Processing delays are more common around holidays, weekends, and after large batches of intake at county jails following major events. If your loved one confirms the money has not arrived after two to three business days, contact the provider directly using the customer service number on their official site — not a number found through a general internet search, which may connect you to an imitation service.

If a loved one is transferred to a new facility before the deposit is processed, the funds may need to be refunded and re-sent to the new facility's provider. That is a facility-specific policy, and the original provider's customer service team can explain the process. Keeping clear records of every transaction makes that process faster and less stressful.

13Helping Your Loved One Use Their Account

Inmate trust accounts work differently from a standard bank account. The facility controls what can be purchased and when. Commissary ordering typically happens on a scheduled day — once a week or once every two weeks — so funds deposited the day after commissary closes will not be available for spending until the next ordering window.

Knowing the commissary schedule at your loved one's facility helps you time deposits strategically. If phone time is the priority, understanding whether the facility uses a separate phone account or a unified trust account tells you exactly where to direct the funds. Some facilities require separate deposits to a phone account and a commissary account — they are not the same balance.

Staying connected to your loved one through regular phone calls and deposits is one of the most concrete ways to support them during incarceration. Research consistently points to maintained family contact as a stabilizing factor during incarceration, and that contact depends on funded accounts. Every step you take to get the right money to the right place through the right provider is a direct investment in that connection.

14Staying Ahead of Changes with Alerts

Transfers between facilities are common, especially in the early weeks after arrest. A loved one can move from a booking facility to a main county jail, from county to state, or between county facilities as beds are allocated. Each transfer potentially means a new provider, a new account number, and a new set of instructions.

Proactive transfer alerts are one of the most practical tools a family can use to stay current. When you know a transfer has happened within hours rather than days, you can verify the new facility's provider immediately and ensure the deposit line does not go cold. The same logic applies to release alerts — a loved one released without the family knowing has a much harder time reconnecting quickly.

Court date alerts help families plan attendance and coordinate with attorneys, and real-time case tracking gives families a clearer picture of what is happening procedurally without requiring them to call the courthouse every day. Tools like InMato+ are built specifically for families navigating this kind of multi-stage, multi-facility journey, where staying informed is itself a form of support.

15About InMato LLC

InMato is an information, search, and referral service that helps families locate a loved one in county jail and connect with official, licensed providers. Founded by J.T. Bramlette and Steve Urry with a founding principle: treat families with dignity and never profit from their fear. InMato Core is free for every family, with no time limit — covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states. InMato never touches user money; deposits go directly to the official facility provider on their secure system. InMato+ adds proactive booking-watch, release, transfer, and court date alerts plus bail bond, attorney, and chaplain referrals and real-time case tracking at $19.99/month per loved one, cancel anytime. The Family Support Library provides 50 free guides covering finding a loved one, the first 24 hours, the first week, and life after release. Available in English and Spanish. InMato LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

16Get Started with InMato LLC

Search for your loved one now at inmato.com — free for every family, with no time limit. Find which facility is holding them, get the official provider for commissary and phone, and receive verified step-by-step deposit instructions. No account required to search. Available in English and Spanish.

Originally published at https://www.inmato.com/blog/how-do-you-send-money-to-inmate

Written by InMato