Update 10/20/24: Extended to December 2
Update 9/7/24: Deal is back until 10/19/24
Update 8/18/24: Deal is back until August 20, 2024. Hat tip to reader TonyBank
Update 9/23/23: Deal is back until November 15, 2023.
Update 4/1/23: Extended until 4/30.
Update 3/5/23: Deal is back and valid until March 31, 2023.
Update 8/16/19: Bonus is back. Hat tip to readers Nathan91hunt & J. S.
Update: Reposting because it’s a soft pull and can fund up to $10,000 with a credit card.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: MN, WI only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $200+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Up to $2,000 with a Visa or Mastercard (limit of $1,000 per account)
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Bonus forfeit, six months
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date:
February 28th, 2019March 22nd, 2019March 31st, 2019September 30th, 2019
Contents
The Offer
- Royal Credit Union is offering a bonus of $200 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Receive a direct deposit of at least $200 within 60 days of account opening (two consecutive direct deposits must be confirmed and received)
The Fine Print
- Offer valid on new checking accounts opened August 15, 2019 through September 30, 2019.
- Membership and account opening upon qualification.
- New checking account must receive two (2) qualifying direct deposits of at least $200 each from a direct deposit paycheck, pension payment, Social Security payment, or governmental benefits payment electronically deposited into the account from an employer or outside agency.
- First deposit must occur within the first sixty (60) days from account opening.
- Account must remain open for six (6) months.
- Incentive will be deposited into the tax reported for account holder’s Primary Base Savings account upon qualification.
- Limit of one account per Member may be included in promotion.
- Member cannot have had a previously opened or closed checking account with RoyalCU in the last twelve (12) months.
- RoyalCU reserves the right to withhold or reclaim incentive if qualifications are not met based on RoyalCU’s sole discretion.
- Incentive is subject to federal and state tax requirements, which are the responsibility of the account holder.
- RoyalCU reserves the right to terminate this promotion at any time.
- Offer cannot be combined with any other RoyalCU checking account offer.
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has no monthly fees to worry about
Early Account Termination Fee
Account must be kept open for six months to avoid the bonus being clawed back.
Our Verdict
Seems like a fantastic account to open even before the $200 bonus due to the huge credit card funding allowed. Because of this I will be adding this to our list of the best checking account bonuses.
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
DP for the next time around
5.02.25 Applied for acct
5.05.25 Rec’d call asking me to unfreeze Chex
5.06.25 Approved and funded with $25 to both Checking and Savings
6.19.25 $203 DD from employer posted
7.03.25 $203 DD from employer posted
7.03.25 $250 bonus posted to Savings
I will start pulling all funds but $5 in each. Per T&C’s, cannot close for 6 months.
Also… I am in state.
Any DPs on that clause to potentially “reclaim” bonuses they’ve given out? Seems really out of the norm to have it in there.
They’re making it complicated to open the account. After submitting the application (including uploading a image of my driver’s license), they sent me this message, which I have never seen before:
“Thank you for applying for a new account with Royal Credit Union. To continue processing your application, we need some additional identification information from you. Please upload a clear picture of yourself holding a valid photo ID. Your picture should be as clear as possible with good lighting.”
I’ve had to do that once, and it could have been RCU but I think it was Simple (R.I.P.) back in 2020.
Offer is back.
https://www.rcu.org/promos/checking/spring-2025-incentive-checking
Expires 5/31
Bonus promptly paid!
3/3 Freeze Chex, applied in branch, instant approved, $3.07 opening deposit fr RCU Savings. I’m a long time member
4/1 Real DD over $200 posted
5/1 Real DD over $200 posted
5/1 $250 bonus posted to Savings
Thanks
Bertha , same here. I opened 4/18 but didn’t get around to setting up DD until mid-May paycheck, bonus posted today with second DD.
6/21: opened
6/25: $300 chase biz payroll
6/26: $300 chase biz payroll
7/16: got worried so did a real $250 dd
7/23: another real $250 dd
7/26: called to confirm enrollment in the promo, they said no because it was targeted. Didn’t recall it being targeted to sent them screenshots.
9/20: secure messaged them insisting requirements were met, showing screenshots of the real dds. They agreed and said 2 of the payments I received were eligible.
9/21: bonus posted
Welp, I’m off to see the NCUA. I signed up with the offer as it was on September 9 when the dates were September 3-October 19, and they are claiming that the offer as it was then was “only for existing members opening new checking accounts” despite the terms and conditions being identical to how they are today, a fact they are pleading illiteracy on by repeating that the terms changed, and despite other members having in-period support logs showing support acknowledging new members’ eligibility for the offer. I don’t think a Wayback Machine capture would have helped here, they acknowledge that it existed at that time and the terms of the screenshot I have, but they are literally pleading illiteracy and insisting that it was different. It’s pure incompetency, hopefully a regulator will set them straight. Doesn’t look like they fall under the purview of the CFPB since their holdings are under $10billion, but I’ll probably submit there as well just in case.
Timeline & update on this: Complaint was sent to the NCUA on December 1 after I received support logs from another wonderful member of the community showing they honored the terms for other new members who joined before September 16. They forwarded it to the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions on December 6 who provided me a case number. I still haven’t heard anything back on that case yet, but I just checked my RCU account today and on December 17 they deposited the $250 bonus.
Going to take that money & run far away from these guys. To whoever discovers the next promotion they run, make sure you get an Archive.org capture of the page and start a support chat ASAP to confirm your account is eligible for the bonus. These are not honest people.
I tried applying OOS but just got an email saying I need to specify how I qualify.
Any suggestions? I don’t have a relative in the area. Can I make up one or does it cross the line?
fyi, RCU definitely 1099s the bonus amount
DP:
10/6/2024: Opened account, instantly approved, did initial funding
10/15/2024: $366 Real DD from Job
10/31/2024: $366 Real DD from Job
10/31/2024: $250 bonus posted in Primary Base Savings account
Tried funding savings account with $1k Wells Fargo Autograph Journey and it coded as cash advance.
Realized that I had accidentally forgot to apply for the checking account. applied again and was approved the next day, and I successfully funded the checking account with Citi Double Cash for $1k, coded as purchase.
They pulled chex twice even though i applied for both accounts on same day, im assuming this is because I accidentally did two separate applications for the mandatory savings and the checking acct.