Update 8/10/23: Bonus now $300.
Update 5/15/21: Bonus has now been increased to $200 (up from $100).
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: Must live, work or attend school in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire Counties in the state of Massachusetts and Hartford, Litchfield and Tolland Counties in the state of Connecticut.
- Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum
- Additional requirements: Open money market or statement savings account
- Hard/soft pull: Unknown
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: $5, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: 12 months, bonus forfeit
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: May 31, 2021
Contents
The Offer
- Polish National Credit Union is offering a $200 checking bonus when you open a new perks checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Use promo code HEROES300
- Earn $100 at account opening when you sign up for Online Banking and a Debit MasterCard
- Earn $200 for receiving a direct deposit
The Fine Print
- *Individuals are eligible for up to a $200 bonus under the following conditions: a.) individuals must open a PNCU Perks Checking Account in which PNCU will credit $50 at time of opening; b.) an additional $50 will be credited at time of opening when you sign up for Online Banking and a Debit MasterCard®; c.) an additional $100 will be deposited to the Perks Checking Account once a Direct Deposit to or ACH withdrawal from the Perks Checking Account is receieved.
- If Direct Deposit or ACH withdrawal requirement is met, credit will be issued on August 2, 2021.
- Offer will expire May 31, 2021. Must present this postcard when opening an account in person or use code HINEIGHBOR200 to receive credit when opening an account online.
- To open an account or apply for a loan with PNCU, you must become a member. Membership is attained by opening a deposit account and is open to: Individuals of all nationalities, who live, work or attend school in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire Counties in the state of Massachusetts and Hartford, Litchfield and Tolland Counties in the state of Connecticut.
- To qualify for a PNCU Perks Checking account, at least one Direct Deposit to or automatic ACH transaction from a PNCU Perks Checking account is required per statement cycle.
- If the PNCU Perks Checking account does not meet the monthly qualifications within three (3) consecutive statement cycles the account will be converted to a Cost Less NOW account.
Avoiding Fees
Perks Checking
Looks like this account comes with a $5 fee if you receive paper statements, otherwise it’s free.
Early Account Termination Fee
Bonus is forfeit if account is closed within 12 months of account opening
Our Verdict
This is a relatively small bonus that requires a direct deposit and must be kept open for 12 months. I guess the upside is that there is no monthly fee to worry about, but for most people I wouldn’t think this is worth the time involved. That being said if anybody signs up please share your experiences and data points in the comments below. Click here to view better checking account promotions.
Big thanks to reader, Mark 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
Very fast payout! Will keep the account open for 12 months now.
9/25: Signed up with $500 CC: CSP funding
9/26: Approved
9/27: Signed up for online access / Received $100 bonus
10/4: Did a real DD of $250
10/12: Received remaining $200 bonus
Signed up beginning of last week and was approved a day later. Received a follow up call a day after that from a branch near by reminding me to enroll in online banking and do the e-statements to avoid the monthly fee
Chex inquiries at the time of signing up for the account:
1 month: 0
2 months: 0
3 months: 1
6 months: 3
12 months: 6
24 months: 9
$500 Account funding with CSP card. Posted as purchase
Rep said there is a credit pull and believes it’s a hard pull. Anyone with DP otherwise?
No one else mentioned about a hard pull and I think people would be quick to post about that if that were the case. So I think its fine but if you want to be extra cautious, you can always freeze your credit with the 3 bureaus
Just signed up for it 2 days ago, didn’t get any notification for a hard pull yet
Kinda lame for an outfit named “Polish National” – Polish citizens outside the footprint not welcome.
Wondering if I should try my luck at opening an account with them. Maybe I should hold off
My chex inquires are probably like
1/1 month
3/3 month
3/6 month
6/1 year
9/2 year
Also denied due to Chex. I think I only have 5-10 inquiries.
5-10 in 12 months?
yeah, probably closer to 5
Funded $500 with CSR. Low chex inquiries so we’ll see.
Curious if you got approved or not. Maybe won’t hear back from them until Monday though
Approved, not sure what chex is exactly but probably <5
Nice! I’m going to try my luck near the end of September (hopefully this promo will still be running). That should be enough time to clear out some chex inquiries on my report for the 30/60/90 days at least.
Also worth noting, I don’t actually think a DD is required. This is from the terms at the bottom of the page:
“An additional $200 will be deposited to the Perks Checking Account once a Direct Deposit to or ACH withdrawal from the Perks Checking Account is received.”
Direct Deposit into -OR- ACH withdrawal from PNCU.
Is anyone else reading it that way?
Pretty clear it should work with ACH withdrawal. This bonus is stupidly easy. I think they’re gonna have to take down this promotion very soon.
Only a few zip codes eligible.
Haha, I just applied for this and funded the account with $500 from a card. Account Pending. I’m probably going to be denied like others on this thread cause I have lots of accounts opened in the past year to date. Like 13 so. Fingers crossed.
Update, was denied due to Chex. Not a fan of credit unions so far.
Put In a zip code within footprint and tried putting oof address later and it didn’t let me proceed