Update 4/18/24: Bonus is now up to $500
- $250 ONE-TIME bonus to new member with $500 minimum monthly direct deposit.
- $500 ONE-TIME bonus to new member with $1,000 minimum monthly direct deposit.
Both bonuses require the following:
- All requirements must be met within 60-days of account opening.
- Monthly direct deposits for a minimum of $500
- Signed up and currently enrolled in eStatements
- 15 posted debit card transactions
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: AZ only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $250+ per month
- Additional requirements: Enroll in eStatements and perform at least 10 check card transactions
- Hard/soft pull: Hard pull (Equifax)
- Credit card funding: Unsure
- Monthly fees: $5-$15, waive able
- Early account termination fee: Bonus clawed back if closed within six months
- Expiration date:
December 31st, 2014 December 31st, 2016 December 31st, 2018December 31st, 2019
Contents
The Offer
- Receive a $500 bonus from Arizona central credit union when you:
- $250 ONE-TIME bonus to new member with $500 minimum monthly direct deposit.
- $500 ONE-TIME bonus to new member with $1,000 minimum monthly direct deposit.
Both bonuses require the following:
- All requirements must be met within 60-days of account opening.
- Monthly direct deposits for a minimum of $500
- Signed up and currently enrolled in eStatements
- 15 posted debit card transactions
The Fine Print
- $200 bonus will be deposited within ten days of completing the bonus requirements
- Bonus requirements must be completed within 60 days of account opening
- Only available to new members with no existing accounts at ACCU
- Considered a new member as long as your account was cancelled twelve months prior to opening this new account
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
It’s necessary to maintain a balance of at least $25 at all times.
AzStyle Checking Account $5 Monthly
The $5 monthly fee is waived if you have 10 or more signature based transactions using your check card.
MyStyle Checking Account $10 Monthly
The monthly fee is waived if you are enrolled in eStatements and receive a direct deposit of $250 or more
There are also the HighStyle checking account that has a $15 monthly fee which is waived if you have a balance above $5,000 and teen checking or iStyle account for those between 13-23 which is free.
Early Account Closure Fee
If the account is closed within 6 months then you will forfeit the $200 bonus.
Our Verdict
Bonus is significantly better now that it’s for up to $500. There is a hard pull but these days this doesn’t matter as much. Definitely worth doing if you live in an eligible area and we will add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses.
Post history:
- Update 12/2/23: Deal is back and valid until 12/31/2024. Hat tip to reader Monica
- Update 1/5/22: Extended through 12/31/2022
- Update 2/13/21: Deal is back and valid through December 31, 2021.
- Update 1/18/2020: Deal is back and available through December 31st, 2020.
- Update 01/17/18: Deal is back and available through December 31st, 2019. Still not worth doing due to the hard pull.
- Update 01/17/18: Deal is back and available through December 31st, 2018. Still not worth doing due to the hard pull.
- Update: Deal is back and now expires December 31st, 2016. Still not worth doing due to the hard pull.
The terms state: “3. Has performed at least fifteen (10) Debit card transactions.”
So is it 10 or 15?
Also noticed in the terms that you have to keep meeting the requirements for 6 consecutive months. Might be worth adding that to the post as that’s a pretty long commitment.
They also split the payout – half when you first meet the requirements, and the other half at the end of the 6 month period assuming you’ve met the requirements the entire time. Never seen a bonus split like that before.
Lastly, the terms state: “Offer must be mentioned at the time of account opening to be eligible.”
Not sure how you “mention” it if you’re opening the account online and there’s no place to input a promo code.
* Pretty sure it’s 15. Other areas of the site say 15, and
Teddy Ruxpin confirmed it was 15 in a chat with the credit union.
* Terms say: “To qualify, the new member must ensure the following three (3) requirements have been met within the first sixty (60) days of account opening:” Sounds like you just have to meet the requirements one time… Now, you may have to meet OTHER requirements to keep the account fee-free… that’s separate.
* Open an online chat with them once you are approved and say that you wanted to make sure you were eligible for the bonus.
There’s a referral program – can we post referral info here?
OK just applied and was approved today so here’s some useful info:
TLDR: No hard pull. Yes ChexSystems pull. Credit card funded $4,950. Add a referral for an extra $100.
Richard: thanks for the info. Could you send me your name & phone # and I’ll add your referral to my acct. meandmine at gmail
Wow, I don’t know how I missed that
Teddy Ruxpin wrote that it’s $5K in credit card funding. Now I see why that other person mentioned MS in an earlier comment.
When I click on “join now” from the “you belong here” offer it prompts me to log in. Is anyone else seeing this? I’d rather not sign up through their regular link and just hope the offer applies.
I live in AZ, have LOL Chex, and was put ‘in review’ and will hear in 2 business days, FYI. I also didn’t see a place to enter a promo code/ mention the promotion, so we’ll see.
Well, got approved, with CC funding.
Thanks Monica! Email me your name and phone number and I’ll put you as my referral! giftation at gmail
Applied and got unsuccessful email. Called and was told due to OOS, need to go to branch. FWIW, no HP or chex hit.
That’s good to know that they didn’t do a HP or a Chex pull before denying you. I wonder how
Teddy Ruxpin slipped through the cracks.
Teddy,
Do you live anywhere near AZ?
No, PA
I think Teddy might have triggered them to block :). They mentioned some issue with the online process when i pressed them for details.
FWIW – they do accept OOS and i also called a branch and confirmed as well . Sadly, have to go into branch.
Yeah I have a feeling I might not make it haha. I received a secured email citing some application error and I need to upload my drivers license to validate my ID. I sent it over couple hours ago. Haven’t heard anything since.
If I remember correctly, you live in either NJ or PA. Isn’t that correct? If so, how are you going to go to a branch?
Correct. I am not going to a branch anytime soon.
Just applied OOS in FL with Chex lol/24 and got an email:
Dear,
Thank you for applying for an account at Arizona Central Credit Union. Unfortunately we were unable to complete your application at this time and may require additional information. Please contact us at 602-523-8225 to complete your application. No funding will be taken from the account or debit card you entered.
Regards
Are you going to contact them?
At least they called you ‘Dear’? LOL
Just approved. Confirmed Chex pull – I’m at LOL.
Note that the link in the offer above takes you to the login site and not the application. I had to poke around the site for it. https://www.azcentralcu.org/join-us-today/
Terms also state bonus paid out 50% immediately and 50% at 6 months:
1. Must be a NEW member with no existing accounts at Arizona Central Credit Union (AZCCU). Existing primary members and joint owners opening a new membership do not qualify. Former members qualify as a new member if their previous account was closed at least 12 months prior to the new open date. To qualify, the new member must ensure the following three (3) requirements have been met within the first sixty (60) days of account opening: 1. Have a monthly direct deposit of minimum $500. 2. Signed up and currently enrolled for eStatements, AND 3. Has performed at least fifteen (15) Debit card transactions. The new member will receive 50% of the monetary bonus deposited to their Member Share account once the above (3) requirements have been met and the remaining 50% of the monetary bonus will be deposited at the end of 6 months from the date of account opening. Bonuses will be awarded in the following tiers: $500 minimum monthly Direct Deposit = $250 one-time bonus to new member; $1,000 minimum monthly Direct Deposit = $500 one-time bonus to new member.
Question: Do you all know if the DD is $1k total for the month or $1k for an individual DD?
thanks for the link!
Did you receive a hard pull?
If yes, which credit bureau was it from?
It’s $1k total across all the direct deposits for the month. I confirmed that in online chat with them.
OOS applied at 10:00am this morning EST w/ $5k max of CC funding (I did $2,500 each to checking/member share w/ Chase Biz Ink Cash).
Received email at 11:42am w/ subject “Almost there!” – indicating there was an error with the funding. Click here to re-enter funding source.
Followed the link, used my Chase Biz Ink Unlimited this time and dropped one of the accounts to $2,450 so the total was under $5k max. Submitted and then received instant approval screen with member number, accounts numbers and instructions to enroll in online banking.
Setup online banking and looks like I’m in for now. The terms state “Offer must be mentioned at the time of account opening to be eligible” I didn’t see a promo code field or a notes section during the application so I’ll hit up live chat or send a SM to see what needs to be done to make sure my account is enrolled in the offer.
Chex pulled?.
I don’t care about nor track Chex so can’t give my numbers. I would say I apply for 2-5 accounts on average per month so I would guess it’s a lol.
I also don’t really care about HPs as I don’t mess with the CC game that much. I’m signed up for a couple different monitoring services and have not received any emails about a hard pull. I don’t see anything on credit karma for now either. Not sure how quickly these get updated but I think it’s pretty quick. I remember getting emails instantly when doing offers for PSECU.
I am sure that I and others will be patiently waiting for your update after speaking to the rep. I also like to see that you have a lot of Chex inquiries, giving the rest of us some hope of being approved.
transcript of my chat:
You: I didn’t see a promo code in the application or a notes section but that offer page says the new offer must be mentioned during account opening. Can you enroll me or confirm the offer is attached to my account?
ACCU Rep:
I would be happy to assist with your request.
ACCU Rep:
I’m having the department that handles those bonus offers take a look at the account.
ACCU Rep:
Thank you for your patience.
So I did confirm with my member services department, we are currently having a different promotion.
Here are the requirements.
ACCU Rep:
New member must mention the promotion at the time of account opening to qualify.
o All requirements must be met within 60-days of account opening.
o Monthly direct deposits for a minimum of $500
o Signed up and currently enrolled for eStatements
o 10 posted debit card transactions.
ACCU Rep:
The promotions are :
o $250 to new members who meet the above requirements and have direct deposits totaling a minimum of $500 monthly.
Or
ACCU Rep:
o $500 to new members who meet the above requirements and have direct deposits totaling a minimum of $1000 monthly.
You: Okay that looks exactly the same as the offer I linked except that webpage says 15 debits and you said 10 debits. Either way I’m good to go though right?
ACCU Rep: I apologize, yes 15 transactions.
ACCU Rep:
I did notate your account.
So as long as you meet all those requirements with in the 60days you should see that bonus after.
Nice. The only concerning thing to me about this is that they might manually check that the requirements are met rather than have a system do it automatically. Therefore, maybe a “real” DD will be required. What do you think?
I use real DD for everything so wasn’t a thought for me. I think I would agree with your assessment though about manually checking since the rep said “I did notate your account” and the terms specifically state it has to be mentioned.
Who knows though maybe the code just needs to be manually applied and it’s automatic after that?
That could be the case. I’ll probably wait for a couple of more positive OOS DP or at least until I am sure that they didn’t request that you go in-branch to take the plunge. The $500 is definitely enticing though.
BTW, even though TD is not a “real” DD, I don’t recall anyone having issues with Elements that used TD. Do you? Even people that used Chase Business had some trouble.
Did you see this comment from
Sammy? I think I remember seeing this back then and it kind of worried me that it could happen to me.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/az-only-arizona-central-credit-union-200-checking-bonus/#comment-1696676
I did not…if they ask me to come in branch I’ll just have them close it all down and onto the next, no biggie.
How long after approval did they alert you that you needed to go in-branch? That way,
Teddy Ruxpin and the rest of us will know when he is in the clear.
I submitted the application for AZCU on 9/9/23 and received approval via email 3 days later on 9/12/23. I tried logging in that same day with the provided account information but it was no good; I called in and was told to go in branch within a week for verification despite the approval received otherwise they’d close the account.
So it seems that if you are unable to login, that is a very bad sign. We’re all rooting for you!
Some of us are too spoiled by the 14, 30, 60 or 90 days wait period. 180 days/6mths isn’t a deal breaker. Being asked to go in branch to verify ID is for many due to distance and time factor.