Dolittle: The rules are very specific about that and say that it's the date of receiving the money which counts, not the date of sending. A month is a very long period for everyone to make it before the deadline and if someone makes a bank transfer on 21st December, it is not a wise decision because banks are usually slow by the end of the year.
I have decided to make an exception and give crosseyed the bonus but I would like to point out that nothing like that will be done again in the future. The rules should be the same to everyone.