[CA only] Stanford Federal Credit Union $250/$500 Checking Bonus

Update 11/11/23: new $250/$500 bonus. Requires a $2,500/$5,000 monthly direct deposit.

Update 5/24/23: Looks like there is another $250 bonus for adding a direct deposit for existing users.

Update 6/26/22: Deal is back, there has been a $200/$200 bonus in the past. Hat tip to alopez14

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $100
  • Availability: Must open account in branch, all branches are located in Palo Alto or Stanford. Branch locator here
  • Direct deposit required: $500+
  • Additional requirements: None
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
  • Credit card funding: Unknown, but unlikely given it requires in branch opening
  • Monthly fees: None
  • Early account termination fee: Account must be kept open for three months
  • Expiration date: December 31st, 2015 December 31st, 2017 December 31st, 2019

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Receive a sign up bonus of $100 when you open a personal checking account with Stanford Federal Credit Union and do the following:
    • NEW100
    • Establish a monthly recurring direct deposit of at least $500 to your new checking account

Coupon code is generic: segck100su. You can generate your own official coupon by going to the Special Offers tab and entering your name/email.

The Fine Print

  • Valid through 12/31/18.
  • First direct deposit must be received within 60 days of account opening
  • $5 minimum required to open account
  • Offer does not apply to second or multiple checking accounts and/or existing checking members and is limited to one bonus per household
  • Bonus $100 will be credited to your account within 30 days after satisfaction of conditions
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

There is no early account termination fee, but you must keep the account open for a minimum of three months according to the fine print. Their basic checking account has no monthly fees or monthly minimums.

Joining

While the Stanford Federal Credit Union is usually for employer groups in the Stanford area, anybody can actually join. If you join the Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL) or Museum of American Heritage (MOAH), then you’re eligible. When you set up your account in branch, they will even pay the membership fees for you.

Our Verdict

This is a decent promotion (given how easy it is to keep fees down), but unfortunately we don’t know if it’s a hard or soft pull and what counts as a direct deposit. The upside is that an in branch application is required, so you should be able to easily ask whether it’s a hard or soft pull. Because of these unknowns we haven’t added it to our best bank bonus page.

We have added it to our massive listing of all bank bonuses, which is easily sortable and searchable.
    William Charles
  • On November 11, 2023, 10:00

View Comments (150)

  • Your unique promo code: F5T3F0T

    $250 each for the referring member and the referred member.
    In order for the referring member and the referred member to receive the cash bonus, the referred new member will need to open a Checking or Savings Account with a minimum monthly payroll direct deposit of $2,500 for the first three consecutive months from account opening. 

  • Does this still require zoom call with customer service folks to open account?

    Fairly easy bonus along with good 5k credit card funding when I opened back in December, so wanted to open for p2 but don’t want to deal with zoom calls

  • The quoted terms for the NEW500 bonus from late 2023 are:

    Open a Stanford FCU checking account and use the promo code NEW500 to sign up for a minimum $5,000 monthly payroll direct deposit to receive the $500 or sign up for a minimum $2,500 monthly payroll direct deposit to receive the $250 cash. After three consecutive months and confirmation of your direct deposits, the $500 or $250 will be deposited into your account. Offer available to new members beginning 11/1/23 and ending 12/31/23. Cannot be combined with other offers. Not available for members with existing direct deposit.

  • I opened the checking account back in late December 2023 and I have made real DD for $5K/month in the last 3 months. As of today, I still haven't got the $500 bonus. Am I the only one?

    • Same. Opened 12/26/23, DD for January, February, and March. Reached out via secure message and got the following response:

      Hello Atomic,

      Your account will receive the incentive on early May if the direct deposit requirements have been met for 90 consecutive days.

    • I have the same timeline. Opened account at end of December, had $5K+ in DD for January, February, March. I then ended the DD (because the terms said three months). I haven’t received the bonus

  • Does anyone know how long should we do the DD in order to get the bonus? I opened the account in late 12/2023, and had $5K real DD in Jan, Feb, Mar. I still haven't seen the $500 bonus as this of today. Can I stop DD now? I though it just requires 3 month DD.

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