Reposting this because we haven’t posted this since middle of 2014 and I frequently see it advertised on the blog.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $100
- Availability: Nationwide, see below
- Direct deposit required:
- Additional requirements:
- Hard/soft pull: Hard pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None? Used to be $10,000
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: None listed
Contents
The Offer
- Open a checking account (Choice Checking, Perk Checking or Checking Direct Account) with America’s Credit Union with direct deposit and receive $100
The Fine Print
- Membership is limited (you also must open a basic savings account first which has a minimum opening amount of $25):
- All members of the armed forces (active, retired & reservists), civilian personnel and relatives of these members
- Members of Association of the United States Army (AUSA) which costs $34 to join (one time fee)
- Some employees of specific companies are also eligible
- You also need to print a copy of the account card, sign it and included a notarized copy of your Washington State license. If you live outside of Washington State you must have two notarized forms of ID.
- Direct deposit must be $500 or more and be initiated within 30 days of opening the account
- Once the requirements are met you’ll receive a coupon within 60 days which can be redeemed for the $100 bonus
- Checking account must remain open for twelve months and receive direct deposits otherwise the $100 bonus will be subtracted from the account
- Must be a new account holder, existing account holders are not eligible
- Limited to one bonus per account number
- Minimum opening deposit of at least $1
- Valid until December 31st, 2014
- Bank account bonuses are treated as interest and as such you must pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
The full fee schedule can be accessed by clicking here.
Checking Direct No Monthly Fee
Checking direct does not come with a monthly fee. This account doesn’t earn interest.
Choice Checking $4 Monthly Fee
Choice checking comes with a monthly fee of $4 if your balance dips below $500. This account earns interest of 0.05%
Perk Checking No Monthly Fee
This account earns an APR of 5% on the first $1,000 deposited when you meet the following requirements:
- Conduct 10 debit transactions
- Pay two bill pays online
No Early Account Termination Fee
None of the above accounts come with an early account termination fee, but remember that they will claw back the bonus if you cancel your account within 12 months.
Our Verdict
Not a great deal due to the hard pull. Used to be a much better offer when there was high credit card funding as well. The fact you need to pay a $34 membership fee for most people makes it even worse. You can view the bonuses we do recommend here.
- Opening this account is a hard credit pull
- You can fund your account with a credit card, we’re unsure of exactly how much but it might be $10,000.
- We’re unsure of what currently qualifies as a direct deposit
So the hard pull means it will show up for 2 years on my credit report and Chex?
On your credit report yes, Chex is a separate report.
which bureau is the hard pull on?
lol @ notary
Same offer, updated link since original is 3 years old:
https://www.youracu.org/accounts/checking/free-offer/
Does it make sense to join all the CUs that you been listing here primarily for loading it up with CC. Does Chase work?
It doesn’t really make sense because you’re only going to be able to load a small amount in most cases, I usually look at credit card loading as an additional small benefit.