Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $250
- Availability:Â Seems like anybody can join via American Consumer Council (ACC)
- Direct deposit required:Â Yes, $5,000+ per month for three consecutive monthsÂ
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: Up to $1,000
- Monthly fees:Â None
- Early account termination fee:Â None
- Household limit:Â None
- Expiration date:Â None listed
Contents
The Offer
- Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union (FIGFCU) is offering a $250 bonus when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Use promo code NMHYC
- $250 bonus when you open a High Yield Checking account and make direct deposits of $5,000 or more a month for three consecutive months.
- $100 bonus when you open a High Yield Checking account and make direct deposits of $1,000 to $4,999 a month for three consecutive months.
The Fine Print
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has no monthly fees to worry about. There is a $5 monthly inactivity fee
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no EATF according to the fee schedule.
Our Verdict
This is significantly better than the $100 referral bonus we have previously posted about.
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
I’m assuming this is a one-time bonus considering the terms don’t talk about a cool down period?
Opened account 2/10/25, Schwab brokerage $5,000 push Feb, Mar, Apr. Received $250 bonus in membership account 5/14/25.
This bank is so incompetent. I requested that my accounts be closed two weeks ago, but they’re still open. Their Docusign process to request closure is very finicky and when I did it two weeks ago, I couldn’t open the first version at all, had to call again, then the second Docusign kept saying that my driver’s license was a copy and it wouldn’t let me proceed. After calling again, I finally submitted the Docusign only to discover yesterday after I called yet again that the field for reason for closure was blank (I thought Docusign doesn’t allow you to complete it without completing all required fields.) I was told that another Docusign would be sent yesterday but it wasn’t so I had to call again. After finally receiving a new Docusign, this time the rep misspelled my last name so when I uploaded my license, the name was a mismatch and it wouldn’t let me proceed. So I had to call yet again and request yet another Docusign, which I still haven’t received. Has anyone else had trouble closing their accounts? It’s times like this that make me not feel bad about churning bonuses, even at credit unions
Can confirm that Sofi Banking (the personal checking) works as a fake DD.
Now going to transfer that out and close this down. I don’t think dicking about to get 10 debit transactions each month is worth the extra $4.17 per month gross over Fidelity money markets, and I’d rather have the money working on other bonuses anyway.
How can you confirm sofi works when you used Fidelity too?
I did not, I was unable to link my Farmers accounts in Fidelity. I use Fidelity as a hub and sent the money from there to Sofi, then from Sofi to Farmers.
I asked for clarification on ACH limits and got these answers:
“When using the external transfer platform for the first time, for the first 60 days, your limit is $250 daily/$500 weekly.” “These limits cannot be changed.”
The CSR recommended “using the transfer tool with these limits so that after the 60 days, your limit will change to $2500 daily/$5000 monthly.”
From that I infer the 60-day clock starts the first time you initiate an ACH with FIGFCUs transfer tool (not when you open the account). So it’s worth making a few $250 pushes early on, even though you’ll mostly want to pull from outside.
On a positive note, pushes from FIGFCU arrive the next biz day.
12/12/2024 Membership and High Yield Checking accounts opened and funded with Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards (coded as purchase)
1/21/2025 $5000 TreasuryDirect deposit into checking account “APA TREAS 310 – MISC PAY”
2/18/2025 $5000 TreasuryDirect deposit into checking account “APA TREAS 310 – MISC PAY”
3/18/2025 $5000 TreasuryDirect deposit into checking account “APA TREAS 310 – MISC PAY”
4/22/2025 $250 bonus posted to membership account “Digital Code Bonus DDEP”
Farmers paid me $100.00, citing the fact that the first month my account was opened (which was in the middle of the month) did not have the required $5,000.00 in DDs. First DD was a bit over $2,500.00, which posted in the last week of the account opening month. I had over $5,000.00 in DD’s for the three months thereafter. Chat refused to credit the remaining $150.00 like they did for other posters here, so I submitted an NCUA complaint, which was successful. Additional $150.00 received.
Probably one of the most unpleasant bank customer service I have dealt with, but eh, I profited $250.00 from them, even if I had to pull teeth.
Same experience here. Chat escalated to their back office but I expect I’ll have to file a complaint as well. The terms don’t say that the DD has to be done in the first 3 months, just 3 consecutive months.
Yeah, they definitely fight on it. You can request them to email you the chat transcripts if you want by the way. Farmers gave in pretty easily and didn’t keep doing the whole back and forth dance once the NCUA got involved. Good luck!
Looks like CC funding (for additional accounts) is dead.
limit has dropped to $500 from $1000
Does PayPal or Venmo work for 5%?
Tested. Both work.