Update: This is for Hallmark employees only, YMMV if that is enforced or not
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $250
- Availability:Â MO only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, recurring deposit. No minimum mentioned
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull:Â Unknown, soft pull according to rep
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Up to $1,000 with a Visa/Mastercard or Discover
- Monthly fees:Â None
- Early account termination fee:Â None
- Household limit:Â None
- Expiration date:Â Unknown
Contents
The Offer
- First Federal Bank of Kansas City is offering a bonus of $200 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Use promo code Hallmark
- Deposit $25 at opening and within 45 days establish a recurring direct deposit
- Qualify for Kasasa rewards four out of the first six qualification cycles. This requires:
- Use your debit card at least 12 times per monthly cycle
- Log in to Mobile or Online banking at least once per monthly cycle
- Receive e-Statements
- You can also get a $50 bonus when you open a companion Kasasa saver account and complete the following requirements:
- Use promo code Hallmark
- Deposit $25 at opening and within 45 days establish a recurring direct deposit
The Fine Print
- To receive $200 bonus payment you must open a Kasasa® Cash or Kasasa® CashBack Checking account online or at any of our eleven (11) First Federal Bank of Kansas City Banking Center locations. Deposit $25 to open and within 45 days of opening establish a recurring direct deposit of your payroll, pension or government direct deposit. Open companion Kasasa® Saver and deposit $25 and within 45 days of opening establish a recurring direct deposit of your payroll, pension or government direct deposit or monthly recurring automatic transfer from another financial institution or First Federal Bank account and receive an additional $50 bonus.
- You must also qualify for Kasasa® rewards four (4) out of the first six (6) qualification cycles to be eligible to receive bonus payment(s).
- You must mention that you are an employee, family member or referral from a Hallmark employee to receive bonus incentive and not have a current account with First Federal Bank of Kansas City and not have had an account with First Federal Bank of Kansas City closed with a negative balance.
- All new accounts are verified through ChexSystems. Your account must be open and in good standing at the time you receive the bonus.
- Your bonus dollars will be deposited to your account(s) in the seventh (7th) qualification cycle after account opening and you have met all the qualification requirements for checking and savings.. Limit one bonus checking and one bonus savings account payment per household.
- 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.
Early Account Termination Fee
I didn’t find any mention of an early account termination fee in the fee schedule.
Our Verdict
A lot of requirements for this bonus, it wouldn’t be too bad if you didn’t need to meet the qualification requirements for four qualification cycles but you do. The 2.5% APY account for doing so isn’t particularly attractive either (best savings rates can be found here). It’s worth doing the savings bonus at the same time as there shouldn’t be any extra chexsystems inquiry and there are no additional requirements for that bonus as far as I can see. If anybody goes for this bonus then please share your experiences in the comments below.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
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- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
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- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
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https://www.ffbkc.com/bank/checking/new-checking-promotion/
$200 checking bonus. No promo code listed and I didn’t see anywhere to enter one on the application anyway. Signed up online w/ KS address. Funded $1000 with CFU.
Data Point: opened 29-sep-2019.
I made 2 $250 employer DD’s every month into checking
$50 ACH (Elements FCU) once a month into Savings
bonus posted 02/21/2020 in checking $200
bonus posted 02/21/2020 in savings $50
Do you remember what the DD posted as?
do a $400 load onto your serve or gobank card at walmart for an easy $10/mo. but yeah: probably not worth the trouble.
bonus is only available to Hallmark employees, i just found out
It asks for 12 pin or signature based transactions/cycle, which would be a problem if you can’t satisfy it by using amazon or utility bills online.
yeah, i was hoping to do Venmo.
When I went to apply there was no option of how I found the offer that included the word “Halmark”. There was a “Referred by friend/family member” but nothing to do with halmark.
CC funding, Visa/MC/Discover – up to $1000 per application (i did Checking & savings, so $500 each). I did not see where to enter the Hallmark code, so i will SM them after the account opens (i clicked thru the promo page and kept a screenshot)
Hard/soft pull?
ok, 1) soft pull (maybe chex? not sure). but i SM’d to ask about the Hallmark code & bonus, and was given this reply:
Are you an employee of Hallmark? The bonus is for employees of Hallmark. You still get the Kasasa rewards with the 12 debit card transactions, logging in to online banking and having estatements. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Carolyn Ross
Deposit Operations Representative
816-245-4225
maybe if you choose “I am an employee of Hallmark” in the dropdown, you become eligible?
Thanks for the information. For me it is not worth lying for 6 months (and meet all the requirements) to get the bonus. BTW elements now offers 3% APY if 15 transactions.
good to know re:Elements. i’ve never bothered with the APY on their checking b/ c i have other high-interest checking, but i do enjoy using them for a couple MO deposits per mo
FWIW: the $1000 posted as a purchase to my Citi Doublecash. no bonus, but easy $1000 MS (and a high-APY checking, if you need one)
so, it’s only open to Hallmark employees, or those related to/referred by Hallmark employees? how is this enforced?
n/m. when you sign up they havea “how did you hear about us” dropdown. One of the options was “referred by employee/friend/etc of Hallmark”. They do not ask for a name or proof of any sort