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DaveInAZ
DaveInAZ (@guest_1104614)
December 7, 2020 16:47

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. 😉

Mike
Mike (@guest_1103210)
December 4, 2020 14:08

Could you update the early termination to say 6 months else bonus is forfeited? They are asking for the bonus back if I close.

DaveInAZ
DaveInAZ (@guest_1104600)
December 7, 2020 16:27

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?

Davis
Davis (@guest_1101046)
December 1, 2020 12:17

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?

Millennial Outrage
Millennial Outrage (@guest_1102154)
December 2, 2020 17:26

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.

Millennial Outrage
Millennial Outrage (@guest_1102155)
December 2, 2020 17:29

Actually terms are still available on their website: https://www.ffb.com/enjoy500

Davis
Davis (@guest_1102192)
December 2, 2020 18:30

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

Millennial Outrage
Millennial Outrage (@guest_1102695)
December 3, 2020 17:19

Davis Ugh, good find. I’m almost at 6 months already so just go to leave $200 in the savings and then close out.

Davis
Davis (@guest_1102700)
December 3, 2020 17:33

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

Davis
Davis (@guest_1102158)
December 2, 2020 17:30

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.

Pudding
Pudding (@guest_1117024)
December 25, 2020 08:18

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.

Pudding
Pudding (@guest_1099182)
November 27, 2020 20:58

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.

Millennial Outrage
Millennial Outrage (@guest_1099017)
November 27, 2020 15:13

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.

mothman69
mothman69 (@guest_1099027)
November 27, 2020 15:23

Millennial Outrage Hopefully it’s just a misunderstanding.

JurianTheDurian
JurianTheDurian (@guest_1099063)
November 27, 2020 16:20

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.

Jason_08
Jason_08 (@guest_1100497)
November 30, 2020 13:32

Sounds like CFPB time

Jason_08
Jason_08 (@guest_1099053)
November 27, 2020 16:02

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.

JurianTheDurian
JurianTheDurian (@guest_1101873)
December 2, 2020 12:06

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.

Jason_08
Jason_08 (@guest_1101888)
December 2, 2020 12:30

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

Millennial Outrage
Millennial Outrage (@guest_1102146)
December 2, 2020 17:16

Same thing for me, Jason_08 ! Good news.

mothman69
mothman69 (@guest_1102233)
December 2, 2020 20:15

Glad to hear you guys got paid!

mothman69
mothman69 (@guest_1086425)
November 7, 2020 10:34

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).

anne
anne (@guest_1087336)
November 9, 2020 14:40

When did you receive $300 for saving account?

ticked off
ticked off (@guest_1072522)
October 13, 2020 17:51

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

pianoman_notbilly
pianoman_notbilly (@guest_1056586)
September 17, 2020 10:34

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.

Eric
Eric (@guest_1056927)
September 17, 2020 18:29

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.

Jason_08
Jason_08 (@guest_1057657)
September 18, 2020 19:15

oops

Jason_08
Jason_08 (@guest_1057661)
September 18, 2020 19:19

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

Eric
Eric (@guest_1097590)
November 25, 2020 12:18

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.

Jason_08
Jason_08 (@guest_1051151)
September 9, 2020 13:55

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

Jack231
Jack231 (@guest_1048346)
September 3, 2020 17:10

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.

Game of Federal Reverse
Game of Federal Reverse (@guest_1048654)
September 4, 2020 06:25

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.

Jason_08
Jason_08 (@guest_1048885)
September 4, 2020 14:36

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