Update 1/5/22: Extended through December 31, 2022
Update 11/20/21: Deal is back and valid until December 31, 2021. Hat tip to Christopher Robins
Update 7/16/20: Deal is back and valid until December 31st, 2020. Hat tip to Travel With Miles
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250, $100 without loan
- Availability: Membership is open to all residents of Monroe, Miami Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties; as well as, friends and family of current members. All are in FL.
- Direct deposit required: Optional
- Additional requirements: Direct deposit or initial deposit of $500+
- Hard/soft pull: Reports of hard & soft pull, looks to be a hard pull
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees:
- Early account termination fee: 90 days, bonus forfeit
- Household limit:
- Expiration date:
December 31st, 2017December 31st, 2018December 31st, 2020
The Offer
- Power Financial Credit Union are offering a sign up bonus of up to $250, bonuses are as follows:
- Open a checking or savings account and receive $100 when you open with an initial deposit of $500 or receive a direct deposit of $500+
- Open a check account AND a consumer loan with membership and receive $150
- Open a checking account, consumer loan AND a Certificate of Deposit with membership and receive $200
- Open a checking account, consumer loan, Certificate of Deposit AND a mortgage with membership and receive $250
The Fine Print
- Promotion ends December 31, 2018.
- Prizes will be awarded upon account meeting qualification criteria.
- New accounts require opening a checking account with direct deposit or a minimum initial deposit of $500. Checking account must remain open for 90 days.
- Membership required; $5 membership deposit. Membership is open to all residents of Monroe, Miami Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties; as well as, friends and family of current members.
- Must be 18 or older. Rest
- Minimum Loan Amount of $2,500. Offer not valid on share secured nor CD secured loans.
- Minimum deposit amount is $10,000. Term of CD must be 12 months or longer.
- Minimum loan amount of $100,000.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
As the $100 bonus includes savings accounts you should be able to just open the club saving account and this has no monthly fees. You do need to keep the account open for 90 days to avoid any early account termination fee.
Our Verdict
They have offered a similar bonus in the past and my verdict is still the same. If there is no hard pull, this is a great deal. I wouldn’t bother with the bigger bonuses that require a loan, but $100 with no monthly fees or any bonus requirements is still a great deal. If anybody does decide to sign up, please share your experiences in the comments below. Because it looks to be a hard pull I’d just avoid this all together.
Big thanks to reader, Curmudgeon 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
- 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
Post history:
- Bonus is back for 2018. Seems to be a hard pull so unlikely to be worth doing. Hat tip to Finding My Possible.
They pulled my Equifax CREDIT report for this. Got a hard inquiry.
First time ever getting denied due to Chex. I didn’t even do many bonuses in the last year… but oh well. Looks like this one is super sensitive to Chex.
Hah, hah. They gave me a call, and asked why do I have 25 Chexsystem inquiries in the last six months…
This $100 promotion is back. https://www.powerfi.org/About/Membership/Welcome-Gift
“New accounts require opening a checking account with direct deposit or a minimum initial deposit of $500.”
“Power Financial Credit Union’s membership consists of those who: live or work in Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach County, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, Sarasota or St. Lucie counties; employees of FPL/NextEra and Ryder System, Inc.; members and employees of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust; and immediate family of all current members.”
They are Chex sensitive. I was denied membership yesterday despite being in footprint.
expired fyi
Still shows fine for me.
it says membership available to pinellas county and i live here….. am i able to open online or must be in branch only? tyvm
I opened mine online, so you should be able to do it as well.
I confirm it is a hard pull. I opened an account one week ago and they pulled Equifax.
FYI it looks like this bonus is back until 12/31/20.
I took the plunge in the name is science
I applied. The first time I failed the automated identity check (maybe a typo in my application?) I then immediately reapplied and passed identity verification.
The only listed funding options are visit branch and mail a check in. That sucks. I figured I am already into this and probably even spent a hard pull for it! So I put mail a check (hoping it would let me just do an ach once it is open).
Now it says application is under review…
So I guess i’ll Let you know if a hard pull hits and how this funding operation goes (if I actually have to mail a physical check).
Thanks, orin!
No hard pull yet but it may not have had enough time to show up. I did get denied on my membership application due to Chex systems too many inquiries:
Re: Application for Membership
Thank you for your interest in Power Financial Credit Union. Unfortunately, at this time we have not granted an account for reason(s) indicated below.
Reason for denial:
o Unfavorable credit history.
x Adverse Chex Systems record (Too many inquiries).
o Insufficient or unable to verify identification.
o Unable to verify information obtained.
o Not within our field of membership.
o Other:
The Credit Union’s actions were based in whole or in part on information obtained from a credit report issued by the credit reporting agency listed below:
DISCLOSURE OF USE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM AN OUTSIDE SOURCE
oEquifax Credit Information Services oChexSystems.
Equifax Credit Information Services ChexSystems, Attn: Consumer Relations
PO Box 740241 or 12005 Ford Road, Suite 600
5505 Peachtree Dunwoody Road Suite 600 Dallas Texas 75234-7253
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241 (800) 428-9623 fax (972) 241-4772
(800) 685-1111
How many inquiries do you have in the last 12/24 months?
Not sure how to find out how many of these were Chex system inquiries, but i’ve opened 13 checking account in the last 12 months and there were probably 5 I applied for and were refused.
No account activity between the 12-24 mo spectrum.
Is there an online site like credit karma that shows you Chex system?
It is a hard pull on equifax – just hit.
Dang it, that was supposed to say absolutely nothing fancy!