[CA & AZ] Meriwest Credit Union $150 Checking Bonus
Update 7/13/19: Bonus has been increased from $125 to $150.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $150
- Availability: Must live, work, worship or attend school in one of the following counties: CA: Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, San Francisco AZ: Pima
- Direct deposit required: Yes, recurring direct deposits of $500 for the first three months
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Mixed DP, make sure to opt out of overdraft
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Six months bonus forfeit
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: None listed
Contents
The Offer
- Meriwest Credit Union is offering a bonus of $150 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Receive a minimum of two recurring direct deposits via ACH of at least $500 within the first 60 days of checking account opening
The Fine Print
- Promotional offer starts on June 4, 2018 and is subject to expire at any time.
- Must be over the age of 18, open a checking account and have a minimum of three (3) recurring direct deposits via ACH within the first 3-months of checking account opening ($500 minimum per deposit) to qualify.
- Account to account transfers do not qualify as direct deposit.
- Limit one (1) bonus deposit per membership. Consumer accounts only
- . One (1) $125 deposit will be made to the checking account when the qualifying criteria are met and will remain on hold for 6-months.
- Account must stay open for 6-months after the bonus is deposited; otherwise the $125 will be forfeited.
- Bonus is subject to tax reporting.
- The minimum deposit required to open a checking account is $20.
- All Meriwest consumer checking accounts qualify for this offer.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
The Your Choice checking account has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
If you close your account within 6 months of account opening the $125 bonus will be forfeited.
Our Verdict
Need to know if it’s a hard or soft pull and if you can fund with a credit card. If anybody knows then please share it in the comments below, along with your experiences in opening the account. They also have a reversed savings account that might be worth considering.
Big thanks to reader, Hash K who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.
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
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It seems that others might qualify if you: “Are an immediate family member (spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, first or second cousin, stepparent, stepchild, stepsibling, parent-in-law, sibling-in-law or any adopted relationship) of a qualified Meriwest Credit Union member (living or deceased)” https://www.meriwest.com/?Cabinet=Main&Drawer=Home&Folder=Search+Results&SubFolder=Search+Results&q=how+to+become+a+member
One could say they are a second cousin of another member.
HP on EX to join + Chex (no idea as to sensitivity)
Will reuse pull for credit products for 30 days
Another option for membership if you’re in CA or AZ: “You are employed by a technology company in Arizona or California”
Thanks for sharing. May I ask if you were approved? Like fellow commenters, I have plenty of Chex inquiries, so would appreciate knowing whether to proceed with an attempt…
I actually decided not to apply after they mentioned the HP since it was on EX, which is what everyone in CA seems to use. Although from the other comments, I may have been misinformed, which would make them more interesting if it’s just a SP!
I was denied due to too many inquiries.
Was it a hard or soft pull? I called them they said hard pull but people here have been mentioning it’s only a soft pull.
Apparently, they require a $5 membership fee even for qualified members, and they have this little nasty tidbit at the bottom of the 2nd page.
“You are authorized to check my credit history, including verification of the information submitted in this application”
That’s pretty common language on bank apps, even for ones that don’t do a HP.
Every single CU has this “membership fee”, but it’s not a fee. It’s federal law that you need to maintain a deposit for a credit union membership. If you close all your accounts with them you get it back.
“Membership is established with Meriwest Credit Union by paying a $5 non-refundable membership entrance fee. ”
Also, I am not aware that I was ever refunded a membership fee. I believe to remember CUs that did not require that fee, but a donation; or credited that fee to your account with them.
If you have to join a separate nonprofit organization to be eligible to join a credit union, that nonprofit organization’s membership fee would be a ‘donation’. (Note that for organizations where it’s only a 1-year membership, you don’t have to continue paying, you just have to be a member at the time you join the credit union.)
Regardless of what requirements you must also meet to be eligible to join the credit union, credit unions typically (always, AFAIK) require a minimum deposit, usually $5, in the ‘base share’ savings account that they make mandatory for all members to have. If you close that account, it means you’d no longer be a member of the credit union, but you would get your $5 back.
It’s unclear if the Meriwest “$5 non-refundable membership entrance fee” is in addition to or in place of one or both of the above.
There is a $5 membership fee that everyone pays and you can charge up to $505 on a credit card. Therefore, you can fund the account up to $500 + $5 membership fee. This is what it said: “Note: If you are funding your new share products with a credit card, the total initial deposit for all products you selected cannot exceed $505.00”
Charge went through on my Citi CC.
Do they accept Amex? And did they hard pull your credit?
Yes, I think they accept all CCs for funding. I’m not sure about the hard pull, I’ll wait and see if I get an email from Credit Karma.
Thanks. I replied before I read the other comment. Apparently they pull Experian, which CK doesn’t notify of.
Got it, I have free Experian credit monitoring service so I will let you know if anything posts in the next few days.
Did anything ever post?
Is it cash advantage on Citi Double Cash to fund that $505 ?
No, it should code as a purchase, but just to be safe, call Citi and lower your cash advance limit to $0.
Went through a dummy online application and looks pretty straight forward. Got through to the very end, even see an account number.
Noticed there was an area early on asking for a “promo code”. I re-read the $125 bonus page several times, but it doesn’t appear to have a promo code of any kind…
Would appreciate some DPs from folks as their accounts get fully opened after the weekend 🙂
$500 CC funding + $125 bonus might just be worth a hard pull…
No Promo code needed according to website. Just open and be done. I didn’t see a code, but I’m already a customer there with a savings account.
Thanks for sharing this. May I ask how long ago you opened your account? Wonder if they’ve become more stringent/conservative, resulting in the hard Experian pull, per folks (Ryan) below
I joined this CU ~2 years ago, it was not a hard pull. (Just make sure you opt out of overdraft LOC if it’s enabled by default.)
By the way, they still have the reverse-tiered Premier Savings Account with 3% APY up to $5000 + 2% on next $5k for new members, MAKE SURE YOU OPEN THAT ACCOUNT WITHIN 30 DAYS OF JOINING or it will be unavailable for you. https://www.meriwest.com/?Cabinet=Main&Drawer=Personal+Banking&Folder=Tools+and+Rates&SubFolder=Deposit+Rates
I’m already a Meriwest customer with the savings account 3% on the first $5k without special requirement.
For me there was no option and nothing mentioned about overdraft. I also didnt have the option for credit card funding. Thus there shouldn’t be a hard inquiry.
I don’t know how the whole new customer sign up process is now, but when I opened the savings I had to mail them a check or come to the branch office and bring a check for the $5 and minimum opening deposit.
So anyone get a HP when they applied?
try it out and let us know. be the data point you want to see
I was so close. Faxed in documents. All ready until they wanted to run a hard pull against Exp. I had disabled overdraft. The rep would not budge on the HP so I abandoned the application. Darn wasted Chex inquiry.
thanks for the dp
so can you fund a checking and savings with cc for 500 each? if so im going in.
since i live in santa clara county, i spoke with a CSR and she confirmed that there’s an experian HP for all new members applying to join the CU. they reuse the HP for 30 days though, so if you’re interested in other products, it’s worth it.
just not sure if it’s worth a HP for a 3% checking account + $125 bonus (after 9mo), with $505 cc funding… i think it’s a pass for me
Just went to the location at santa clara and i was told bt the CSR that they do pull experian while opening account.
I work in one of the qualifying counties.
Applied online for checking and tiered savings
$500 CC funding combined for all accounts( +$5 “non-refundable” fee => $505 total ), coded as Services – MORTGAGE on Citi DoubleCash
Did not see any hard pulls on EX/EQ/TU
it says $5 “$5 one-time non-refundable membership fee”. It’s not really non-refundable, right? You get that back when you close the account, correct?
Opened account online and tried using Amex. Succeeded in opening account, but card not processed. Called in and they told me that they only accept Discover and Mastercard, but were still able to let me fund using credit card with a limit of $5000 total. So after the funding of the checking ($20) and membership fee ($5), left with $4975 in checking. Used citi prestige with cash advance at $0. No hard pull.
Thanks for the update. I don’t understand how you ended up with $4975 after funding the $20 checking (I understand the $5 fee). Aren’t both fundings the same thing so you should have a balance of $4995?
$5000 funding is amazing. That will be an easy MSR. Thanks again
Sorry, I meant 4975 in savings and 20 in checking. So yes, 4995 total deposited.
Has anyone received their bonus?
I called and the person said that the bonus would be deposited in 6 months, but the terms say: “One (1) $125 deposit will be made to the checking account when the qualifying criteria are met and will remain on hold for 6-months. Account must stay open for 6-months after the bonus is deposited; otherwise the $125 will be forfeited.”
Does “on hold” mean it doesn’t show up until 6 months later? Does this mean we effectively have to keep this account open for at least 12 months?
Subscribe. Would like to know if anyone has received the bonus as well. My account was opened in late July and I’ve had 6x$500 DDs. Still waiting
Did you ever receive your bonus Peter?
Still not yet!!
Did you ever receive your bonus Curtis?
See below if anyone needs an update.
I am still waiting for the $125 bonus. Here is my account details:
07/14/18 – account opened with $500 CC payment
07/24/18 – $500 direct deposit posted
08/03/18 – $500 direct deposit posted
09/06/18 – $500 direct deposit posted
No bonus yet as of 12/12/18 🙁
Same here. Opened on 7/30 and subsequently had 7x $500 direct deposits, and 2x smaller DDs. Still waiting as of 12/17/2018.
I check my account every few days, but nothing yet 🙁
Still no bonus as of 1/24/19 🙁
Called them today. After being put on a long hold, the rep verified that my requirements were met and should have received a bonus. He is submitting a ticket for my case to be reviewed and will get back to me later.
The one thing that puzzles me a bit is that both the rep and the original rules state that bonus will be “on hold” for six months after being earned. So for me, that $$ would be on hold until at least mid-March? It’s not clear whether we should have visibility to it before that date. I’m also unsure if the account must remain open for six more months from that date (probably).
Thanks for calling. Let me know if you see the bonus manually or automatically posted to your account. Good luck!
My 3rd $500 deposit was on 8/31 and the $125 is now showing up in my account(but not available). Guess it’ll be available in August.
Took a bit longer than promised, but the $125 showed up in my account on 2/6. The rep also kindly left me a follow-up voicemail about it and told me that the money would be released mid-March. If you haven’t done so yet, definitely call Meriwest about your missing bonus. Their IT sucks but based on my exchange, I’m really impressed by their customer service.
The bonus just posted to my account on 2/8/19. Here are my data points:
07/14/18 – account opened with $500 CC payment
07/24/18 – $500 direct deposit posted
08/03/18 – $500 direct deposit posted
09/06/18 – $500 direct deposit posted
02/08/19 – $125 bonus posted, but my available balance does not reflect the $125 bonus. As soon as it does, I am going to transfer all the funds out of this account.
Hi! just wondering what kind of direct deposit is it? real one or ach from another bank?
All real DD for me.