[Expired] Blue Federal Credit Union $200 Checking Bonus

Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $200
  • Availability: Nationwide
  • Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+ within 90 days
  • Additional requirements: Use promo code
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft
  • ChexSystems: Yes. They are also sensitive
  • Credit card funding: Up to $3,000+
  • Monthly fees: None
  • Early account termination fee: Unknown
  • Household limit: None
  • US Citizen: Yes, must be a permanent citizen to open online
  • Expiration date: December 10, 2021

The Offer

Direct link to offer (scroll down)

  • Blue Federal Credit Union is offering a bonus of $200 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
    • Use promo code BLUEFRIDAY
    • Receive a direct deposit within 90 days of account opening (must be $500+ in aggregate)

The Fine Print

  • $200 New Membership benefit for members who have not held a Blue membership within the previous 90 days.
  • $500 aggregate direct deposit must be credited within 90 days of account opening for benefit eligibility.
  • Member responsible for tax liability.
  • Offer ends 12/10/2021.
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

Basic checking account has no monthly fees.

They have a  high interest accounts that qualify for this bonus as well:

Early Account Termination Fee

Unsure if there are any early account termination fees.

Our Verdict

Main issue with Blue Federal is that they are exceptionally ChexSystems sensitive so getting approved can be difficult for those that chase bank account bonuses. The rule seems to be that if you’ve had more than three new accounts in the last 6 months you’ll be denied. They do have two interesting high yield accounts as well:

The bonus itself looks great if you’re eligible due to the ChexSystems ‘requirements’. Will add this to the best checking bonuses. Previous best bonus we saw was for $100.

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On November 26, 2021, 17:52
Tags: direct deposit requirednationwide bank bonusessoft pull

View Comments (49)

  • Looks like this *might be* alive again, at least in the Denver area, because they just re-opened a SE Denver branch. Got a flyer in the mail yesterday that says

    Join today and earn $200
    Become a member of Blue and receive $200 when you open a checking account with direct deposit.
    ...
    Offers valid between 2/23/22 - 3/12/22 IN BRANCH ONLY [Yale Branch in SE Denver]

    However, the flyer also says to check out https://www.bluefcu.com/belong/events/yale-re-open but that link is dead. So it's not clear whether the offer is really still alive.

    I'll visit the branch tomorrow to test.

  • Just applied online. Credit card funding was not offered at all. Available options were: "cash or check in branch" or "electronic transfer" (ACH). Received message: "System Referred: Thank you for applying with Blue Federal Credit Union! One of our representatives will contact you within 48 hours regarding your application."

    • Today I got this e-mail from a banker at my local branch:

      "I was unable to get an approval for your new account. The reason is excessive inquiries from ChexSystems. If there are more than 3 new account inquiries in the last year we are not able to open a new account."

      • They are a waste of time but more time wasted on the phone. Earlier they had better interest rate and now it is not worth applying if they think they are so special that they cannot approve anyone over 3 chex inquiries - may be they don't realize that there are hundreds of other credit unions offering better interest, service or a signup bonus.

        Similar experience, within their footprint, applied online, they require Experian (don't know hard or soft pull) no credit card funding (that was one of the reasons I tried it) , Should have checked the chex report first and denied instead of asking me to call back and waste more time. They left a message asking me to call and the rep asked if I was applying because of the bonus (DUH!) of course I said no it was because of better interest rate and she told me that the bonus requires a direct deposit and asked me about my profession and said she will forward it to the manager and within a minute I got an email saying, I was denied (I don't think she sent it to the manager and I got the feeling that she was thinking that I was applying because of the bonus), It is hilarious when all these banks offer bonuses to attract customers but don't want to offer it - if they had customers in droves, they would not be offering the bonus in the first place and when people apply they ask stupid questions.

        • Haha, sounds like we'd prefer to change places - I would've rather they'd tried to get a hold of me and just asked about my Chex inquiries. It is rude that the supposed manager never actually followed up with you though.

          Personally if a bank asks me whether I'm applying because of the bonus, I just tell the truth and say something like, "Of course! The promotion caught my eye and when I looked into your services, I found out that you also offer __________ (e.g. 4% interest on a high-yield checking account. It sounds like a great deal and that's what brought me in." I agree with you that there shouldn't be anything suspicious about that, and usually nobody has any issue with that, but I guess most banks just don't like the idea of serial bonus-hunters like us. It does sound like Blue is a bit uptight about it. 😐

  • Went in and applied. No problem even though I probably have almost 100 accounts on my chex (they mentioned). Just stated I enjoy having many choices.

      • I completely forgot to ask about... just funded with cash. I'd be surprised if they do. Seems like most banks took that away.

      • I've also been meaning to do this too, but my local branch is only open during office hours when I'm at work (weekdays from 9 to 17:30). I'd have to quit my job and do bank bonuses full-time. 😛

  • I applied for a cc as a way around the branch visitation requirement. However, they declined to move forward with the app because both my state id and DL were not sufficient proof of identification.

  • Was told they are no longer accepting membership applicants from non residents which is why they require in branch openings.

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