This bonus has now expired, you can view new bonuses here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Must live, work, worship or attend school in Hartford, Middlesex, Tolland, New Haven Counties all in Connecticut.
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $250+
- Additional requirements: eStatements & 15 debit card transactions
- Hard/soft pull: Soft, according to CSR.
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: Up to $500 for both savings & checking, American Express, Mastercard & Visa all accepted (No Discover)
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: $15, 180 days
- Expiration date: September 10th, 2016
The Offer
- Open an American Eagle Financial Credit Union checking account online or in branch and receive a $200 bonus when you complete the following requirements:
- Use your Visa debit card (pin or signature) 15 times within the first 60 days
- Sign up for eStatements within the first 60 days
- Receive direct deposits totaling $250 or more within the first 60 days
The Fine Print
- Promotion valid for new personal Checking accounts opened between August 1, 2016, and September 10, 2016.
- The member must not have an existing open Checking account with American Eagle Financial Credit Union (AEFCU) or have had a Checking account with AEFCU in the last 365 days.
- Savings account required for AEFCU membership.
- The account holder must enroll for direct deposits totaling two hundred and fifty ($250.00) dollars into new Checking account, enroll in e-Statements, and complete fifteen (15) debit card transactions (signature or pin-based) on the new Checking account within sixty (60) days of Checking account opening to be eligible for $200.00 payment.
- Limit of one $200.00 payment per member.
- Please allow up to 120 days from account opening to receive the bonus deposit into your share Savings account.
- Amount of deposit will be reported to the IRS and member is responsible for any applicable taxes.
- Accounts closed within 180 days of opening will be charged a fee of $15.00.
- This offer can be withdrawn any time without notice.
Avoiding Fees
There is an early account termination fee of $15 if the account is closed within 180 days of account opening. The easiest account to keep fee free is their My Checking account.
My Checking
This account does not have a monthly fee, but it does have a dormant fee and inactivity fee.
Dormant fee charged annually for a Checking account that has not had activity in one (1) year or more and has a balance less than $100.00. Inactivity fee charged monthly for Savings and Checking only, with combined balances of less than $100.00, no activity for 6 consecutive months, account holder is age 22 or older, and not a borrower on a loan. The account will be closed when it reaches $0.00 balance.
Basically just park $100 into the account to avoid both of these fees.
Our Verdict
Previously they offered a $100 bonus, with no direct deposit requirement. Personally I prefer this offer, but I can easily change my payroll. How good this offer is will really depend on if you can do that or if they are strict on what counts as a direct deposit. I’m going to add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses, please feel free to share your experiences with this bonus (especially if they allow credit card funding or not!)
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
It seems like using Paypal, Serve, and ACH (from Santander Bank) did not trigger the direct deposit requirement at all within the given timeframe. I guess these guys are strict with the direct deposit requirement assuming no one else was lucky to get the sign up bonus with these methods. Good luck to anyone else attempting this.
When I asked if I was eligible for the sign up promotion, they responded saying that “Unfortunately, you did not meet the direct deposit requirement in order to receive the promotion.”
Oh well, at least I earned a small amount of money using my Chase Freedom Unlim. Card to fund the account. Guess will have to close the account after 180 days of opening..
Sent them this inquiry about 2 months after I made my direct deposits so I had a feeling some requirement wasn’t being met compared to someone here earlier who received the bonus a few weeks after.
Thanks, added dp
DoC,
Although many reported tough online apps (including myself), I opened in branch on Sep 7th with a couple really nice bankers. Fulfilled the requirements within a couple weeks and the bonus posted on Nov 2nd.
I think I’ll keep my account open and use it as my main place of MO depositing. Really nice people so I almost feel bad closing, plus it’s my first CU and hopefully they’ll be ok with some MOs every month.
Thanks for the DP
Datapoint:
Tried to fund checking account $1000 with my Chase Freedom Unlimited (currently has $20 Cash Advance Limit). It was pending for a few days and then it appears that it got denied… Guess that card is no go.
Nope, nevermind, it looks like it went through. That was really weird….
What happened was that it first appeared as pending on the card transactions on September 10th and then the transaction dissapeared but my Available credit limit still showed the -$1000 difference and then the -$1000 difference dissapeared and then I posted here… Next day, it looks like it came back and actually posted and looks like I’ll get my $15 in points. Posted on September 15th.
Summary: Chase Freedom Unlimited does indeed work and codes as purchase.
(Would be nice if I could edit my post or something though probably would be nice to edit at least with 15-30 minutes of posting or before someone else replies to my post.)
Applied for the account the day before the offer was taken down (September 10th). Almost forgot lol
Anyway, just a data point:
A few days later, received a call from a banking representative and they called to verify that I do meet the requirements of “Must live, work, worship or attend school in Hartford, Middlesex, Tolland, New Haven Counties all in Connecticut.” since my address that I put down was Massachusetts but near those regions.
They only seem to ask how I have met that requirement and did not ask for proof so I guess it could depend on the address you put down on the application and how far are you from those regions. So if you put an address that is really far away then it’s most likely the customer service rep will ask for proof rather than simply just asking if I work in those regions. YMMV
Too many to read. Please tell me what bank checking account I can open without a hard pull and can be funded with CHASE SAPPHIRE RESERVE or my new Citi Hilton card to meet the spend req. I am in IL
After opening ti and funding it, can i close it right away after paying my credit card bill?
Thanks
Sorry, but that information is easy for you to find. Stop being lazy and use ctrl+f to search for specific cards. Then you can open this post to see if it’s a hard pull or not: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank-accounts/is-opening-a-bank-account-a-soft-or-hard-pull/
It’ll honestly take you less than five minutes. We provide you with information, but you have to do some of the heavy lifting yourself.
Was denied after submitting app. Suspicious because they asked 6 public record questions and all 6 I answered “None of the above” to. Denial said it was because of adverse information found on my credit report. Was approved for a Santander account an hour ago so not sure what happened.
If they specifically said CREDIT REPORT, that is something they must have gotten with the soft pull. You probably need to get a copy of it and they are supposed to send you a written letter you can use to get a free report.
Now there could be adverse action in your ChexSystems report, which is what the bank also uses to open an account. That could be a past bounced check or, perhaps more likely, too many new accounts/inquiries. Some banks and credit unions are sensitive to how many accounts you open how quickly over a two-year window. Some get nervous after two new accounts, but many more need 8-10 new accounts to break a sweat. Then others will tolerate 20-30. It varies. It may also be how quickly you applied. If you open 10 new accounts in a month, some banks freak out thinking its fraud.
The public records questions will usually not cause a permanent account denial. It will prompt a security person at the bank to ask for additional identity verification. Regardless, you have a right to a written explanation. Ask them to provide one.
In New York, applied for this account and is being reviewed now.
Datapoint:
Credit Card funding: Yes, Mastercard, Visa & AE (No Discover)
Checking Account: min. $1 , max.$500
Saving Account: min. $5, max $500
Total Max: $1000
Funded $1000 with Citi Double Cash Card, coded as purchase, MORTGAGE COMPANIES-FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
When the application is submitted, there is a reference number showing on the page. There is also an email received from their system but the reference number is not in the email. Be sure to write down or print out the page on the webpage after application submitted.
At the beginning you have to choose one of the following locations in order to proceed application: Hartford, Tolland, Middlesex, New Haven. However when filling out home address, it does not limit city or state, so I put my home address in New York and see what happens.
You will need the member number in order for online login account:
https://command.onlinebank.com/1934/Register.aspx
I would advise caution trying to apply to out of area/field CUs. Most of the smaller regional/local CUs are very sensitive about “fields of membership” which are defined as part of the chartering process by the National Credit Union Administration. The NCUA recognizes some credit unions want to be a lenient as possible to maximize the potential for new customers, but once the fields of membership are defined, CUs have to tread carefully and are expected to enforce the rules.
Here is the NCUA rules governing credit unions and fields of membership: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=cee72d460451fe95071d9121833e689d&mc=true&node=pt12.7.701&rgn=div5#ap12.7.701_139.b
The Field of Membership for American Eagle Financial Credit Union is: open to persons who live, work, worship, attend school in, and businesses and other legal entities, located in Hartford County, Middlesex County, New Haven County, or Tolland County, Connecticut.
Most CUs would enforce this based on the address used to open the account. If you are out of state, that is a big red flag and they may (eventually) ask for evidence of employment, membership, or enrollment in an area business, church or school. Sometimes people slip through the cracks, but are nailed as soon as they have to make direct contact with a CSR. Navy Federal Credit Union is an example of a legendary account closer when they spot-check your eligibility if you ever have to call in. I’d guess with less than 150,000 members, this CU may review eligibility before paying out a very generous promo.
I hope you are the test case that succeeds, but I’d suggest to others we wait and find out to spare another wasted Chex inquiry.
I have a feeling this one may be closed or declined as well.
Thanks for the DP
huh. there’s an American Eagle CU right around the corner from my house (in STL). i guess it’s a different bank.
dang