I have just heard on a news report, that confirmation letters will be sent in June. The confirmation letters will contain the exact amount of refund, and the anticipated delivery date.
They will be mailing checks starting with the 00 or lower numbers. These numbers are the last ones on your Social Security.
The latest checks will be mailed out is September.
My guess is it will be a real check. Now think if we, as taxpayers, had to supply routing and account numbers for direct deposit.. That would be a logistical nightmare, and would increase processing time for that. If the checks are gettting processed now, that would take longer.