Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $500
- Availability: AZ, CO, OK
- Direct deposit required: Optional
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: 90 days, $30
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date: None listed
Contents
The Offer
- First Fidelity Bank is offering a bonus of up to $500 when you open a new checking & savings account. Requirements are as follows:
- Get $200 when you open a new freestyle checking account. Complete one of the following:
- Complete ten (10) POS debit card transactions of at least $10 each.
- (2) Set up a monthly recurring direct deposit of at least $250 each.
- Get $200 when you open a new traditional savings account and complete the following requirements:
- Deposit a total of $15,000 new money within twenty (20) business days of account opening
- Maintain a $15,000 balance for a minimum of ninety (90) days from account opening.
- Open both a checking & savings account and get an additional $100
- Get $200 when you open a new freestyle checking account. Complete one of the following:
The Fine Print
- Offers only good for new Freestyle Checking and Traditional Savings accounts for new First Fidelity Bank (FFB) customers.
- Checking and savings account bonus offer not available to existing First Fidelity Bank (FFB) customers.
- Both offers are not available to those whose accounts have been closed within 90 days or closed with a negative balance.
- Offer limited to one Freestyle Checking and one Traditional Savings account type per household.
- May not be combined with other offers.
- All account openings subject to approval.
- $100 minimum required each to open a new Freestyle Checking and Traditional Savings accounts.
- Bonus is not considered part of the minimum opening deposit.
- To receive the $200 checking bonus, you must complete one of the following within sixty (60) days of checking account opening:
- (1) Complete ten (10) POS debit card transactions of at least $10 each. ATM transactions not eligible.;
- (2) Set up a monthly recurring direct deposit of at least $250 each.
- $200 bonus will be deposited into your checking account within ten (10) business days once all account requirements are met.
- To receive the $200 savings bonus, all of the following conditions must be met:
- (1) Deposit a total of $15,000 new money within twenty (20) business days of account opening;
- (2) Maintain a $15,000 balance for a minimum of ninety (90) days from account opening.
- $200 bonus will be deposited into your checking account within ten (10) business days once all account requirements are met.
- If account falls below $15,000 within the first ninety (90) days of account opening, the bonus will be debited from the account.
- Additional $100 bonus will be paid upon opening new Freestyle Checking and Traditional Savings on the same day.
- Once all account requirements are met for both accounts, the additional $100 bonus will be deposited into your new checking account within ten (10) business days.
- Bonus cash is considered interest and is reportable on IRS form 1099-NT (or Form 1042-S, if applicable).
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Freestyle checking account has no monthly fee. The traditional savings account has no monthly fee as long as you have $200 in the account.
Early Account Termination Fee
If the account is closed within 90 days a $30 fee is charged.
Our Verdict
Seems like a relatively good bonus especially as no direct deposit is needed, just needed to know if it’s a hard or soft pull.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- 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
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
Wow, I hadn’t checked back here in awhile as I got the $500 bonus so quickly. See comments below that if you try to close the accounts before 6 months they want the bonuses back, I was planning on closing accounts in early January, change of plans. Also easy to miss if you let savings balance below $200 it’s a $6 fee. My 90 days was up 11/19 so on 11/22 I withdrew $15k, lowering balance to $76, but as of 12/7 no fee charged. But the reason I came back to comment was that I got another $200 bonus on 12/2, making it a total of $700 in bonuses for me:
Opened accounts 8/13, $100 each. 8/19 I moved $15,100 to checking & moved $14,925 to savings for a total of $15,225 in savings. 8/20 I received a $200 bonus + $100 bonus credited to checking and $200 to Savings. To be safe I’ve been sending $255 monthly via ACH to checking and using it in their Bill Pay for CC bills. Got my 11/30 Savings statement PDF, $76.xx balance, no fee. Happened to log in today & saw the extra $200 bonus credited to Savings, says “enjoy $500 promo”, and now Savings balance is $276.xx, so no fee worries. I won’t tell them about the extra bonus if you won’t. 😉
Could you update the early termination to say 6 months else bonus is forfeited? They are asking for the bonus back if I close.
Did they tell you how they calculate “6 months”? 180 days? Or calendar 6 months, as in I opened my account 8/13/20 so 6 months is 2/13/2021?
FYI there are more fees for the savings account. Got hit with (2) $5 charges trying to reduce my account.
If the account balance falls below the $200 average collected
monthly balance requirement, a $6 per month fee will apply. If there
are more than three (3) debits per month, regardless of the balance,
additional debits will be $5 each.
Paper statements $2 per month
They also say your accounts needs to be open for 6 months or else the bonus is forfeit. Anyone else know that?
Davis nowhere in the terms does it say your account must remain open for six months, so if they try to reverse the bonus amounts, call and tell them you’ll submit a CFPB complaint. Happy to share a PDF with the offer if you need it.
Actually terms are still available on their website: https://www.ffb.com/enjoy500
And https://web.archive.org/web/20200803100352/https://www.ffb.com/enjoy500 for when it was valid. If you click the FAQ link on that page, it has the 6 month early close text in it. IMO that would not hold up if they took back the bonus
Davis Ugh, good find. I’m almost at 6 months already so just go to leave $200 in the savings and then close out.
I had zeroed out my checking account near the end of last month, thinking that I would close all up in early December, but they actually closed the checking account then. I had to call them up to reinstate it
sure please post a link with any terms you have. they did send me a pdf and one of the first comments on this page mentioned the bonus forfeiture.
I think it is better for the longevity of the hobby to just say “no problem, absolutely Karen, right away Karen” and wait out the 6 months even if it seems like CSRs are seemingly making up new terms. If we give them too much of a hassle the bank may stop offering such generous bonuses in the future and/or make it harder for us to churn them.
08/02/20 Applied out of footprint for checking and savings
08/18/20 Approved after sending in a bunch of requested documents
08/27/20 $25x.xx push from Ally posted to checking
08/28/20 $15k push from Ally posted to savings (directly to FFB savings, not thru FFB checking first)
09/01/20 $25x.xx push from Ally posted to checking
09/03/20 $200 “Bonus Credit Enjoy500” posted to checking
09/21/20 finished 10 amazon $10.xx reloads (just to be safe)
11/27/20 $100 “Bonus Credit Enjoy500” posted to checking
11/27/20 $200 “Bonus Credit Enjoy500” posted to savings
Thank you DoC! I was worried when I didn’t get the savings bonus right away like others did but it came thru on its own right on time without any further intervention by me.
Welp, wish I had followed the comments from mothman69 Eric Jason_08 on this post more closely. After waiting the stipulated time and not having received the savings bonus (or combo bonus), I messaged FFB and was was told today that because I transferred the $15K into the checking and then the savings, the funds don’t qualify as “new”. I’m pushing back that regardless of how the funds deposited to the savings, they’re still “new” funds not previously held at FFB, so should either qualify or FFB should have defined what “new” means to them. Hoping to resolve this without a CFPB complaint. Based on mothman69 experience on receiving the savings bonus, this decision is inconsistent so should have a good case.
Millennial Outrage Hopefully it’s just a misunderstanding.
Whelp, I fall in the same category as Millennial Outrage, I just found out today that they’re not going to pay out the rest of the bonus due to the wording in the disclosure, sucks since I had been led to believe that everything was going well when I called in at the 2 month mark. Wish I had known earlier so I could call this a loss and use the $15000 funds elsewhere for another bonus.
Sounds like CFPB time
Ugh, not good to hear. I did save my conversation with them where they specifically said that it would be fine though, so if I don’t get my bonus I will push back with that, and then head to CFPB if I have to. I should be getting my bonus paid out within the next week or so.
Well this is an unusual DP, after being led to believe by a bank manager on 11/23 that FFB wasn’t going to pay out the for the savings bonus, today (12/2) the same manager reached out to apologize for the delay and confusion. There was a credit of the remaining $200 (savings bonus) & $100 (for completing both checking & savings). I didn’t bother with a CFPB complaint and had just written this off as a loss. What a weird turn of events.
I just got mine today after speaking with them about it. They told me a couple days ago I didn’t meet requirements (due to going from external > checking > savings). But I pushed back on that it was still 15k in new money, and that I spoke with a rep earlier who said it would meet requirements. Got a message today that the bonus has been credited (pending in my account). Saves me a CFPB complaint. Millennial Outrage
Same thing for me, Jason_08 ! Good news.
Glad to hear you guys got paid!
Although I received all three bonuses very quickly (https://www.doctorofcredit.com/az-co-ok-first-fidelity-bank-500-checking-savings-bonus-direct-deposit-not-required/#comment-1039633), I still waited the full 90 days with the $15k on deposit (to negate any chance of a bonus clawback). I zeroed both accounts and was able to have them closed quickly and easily via the messaging feature (works on both the app and web-based).
When did you receive $300 for saving account?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/az-co-ok-first-fidelity-bank-500-checking-savings-bonus-direct-deposit-not-required/#comment-1039633
Wanted to f/u on my decline and subsequent complaint, especially since others were declined for the same reason. When I applied, they said that I was declined because they couldn’t verify my email address—even though they emailed me multiple times, including twice to provide the decline reason. I filed a complaint against them. CFPB forwarded it to the Fed Reserve.
Their response is that it was declined because my email and phone number didn’t match what TU has on file. They said that they called that # and sent an email to whatever # and email TU has on file. WTF would they do that??? I have no clue what they have on file and can’t simply ask them to remove it unless it’s truly not associated with me. They also talked to me on my current number twice. So, WTF would they try to verify an email and # that a credit bureau has on file???
They also said that my SS card and DL was signed with just my initials. No, morons, it’s my signature. You can’t dictate how someone signs.
I think that they just threw out random decline reasons. But, I’m getting the last laugh because I’m sure that most of you will be closing your accounts shortly after receiving your bonus. LOL
Those of us who deposited from an external account directly into FFB savings: do we assume we now have to wait the full 90 days plus 10 for the savings payout, plus the $100 extra? It’s weird that some are receiving all three bonus payouts on the same day and they all seem to be accounts that funneled the savings funds through the FFB checking first.
Yes. I confirmed it with them via SM a couple of days ago. The savings bonus is supposed to post to the checking account within 10 business days of the $15K being in the savings for 90 days.
oops
Not everyone who got it deposited straight into the savings. mothman69 below posted he transferred > checking > then to savings
Yeah I would assume you have to wait the full 90 days for the savings bonus, at least based on the terms
But yeah, not sure why some get it early and why some don’t
The $200 bonus just posted to my savings and the $100 bonus (for receiving both bonuses) just posted to my checking account. Today is exactly 90 days from when I deposited the $15K into the savings account.
Another DP for Venmo
8/24 $255 Alliant Xfer into the Account
9/3 10 $10+ Venmo’s
9/9 $200 BONUS CREDIT ENJOY500 to Checking
Alliant Xfer didn’t trigger it (went past the 10 Business Days). But the Venmo’s looks to have triggered it (had a real DD hitting tomorrow). Still waiting on the Savings + $100 bonus now
I just called to ask about my pended application from July 27 that they never followed up on. They found it, but said the promo was over.
Not sure what you mean by they never followed up – did they email you to send ID docs and did you communicate or provide them before the offer expired? If you provided the ID documents then the offer should be good since you applied way before it expired – I would think. I applied well before the offer expired publicly on the website and in the meantime they sent me an email asking for ID docs but I was not sure whether to send them or not and then sent them, but they wanted another one, which in all took a few days and was approved and then had to wait the following week to get the account number and online access. In the meantime the offer publicly expired on the website but since I had applied well before the offer expired with the offer code, I assume it is still good for the bonus – will have to wait and see.
You can verify with support, just send a message on the site and they will get back to you. They were able to verify with me both that the promo was input on the application and that it was showing on the account on their end