Deal has now ended, view more checking bonuses by clicking here
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $250
- Availability:Â Selected areas of Ohio only. BMI Federal Credit Union is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Franklin, Licking, Fairfield, Pickaway, Madison, Union, Delaware, or Morrow County
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull:Â Mixed Datapoints
- ChexSystems:Â Unknown
- Credit card funding:Â Up to $250 with Visa or Mastercard
- Monthly fees:Â None
- Early account termination fee:Â Six months bonus forfeit, bonus forfeit
- Household limit:Â None listed
- Expiration date:Â December 31st, 2019
Contents
The Offer
- BMI Federal Credit Union is offering a referral bonus of $250 (both parties receive the bonus) when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Use promo code CHEER250 and existing member name
- Sign up for eStatements
The Fine Print
- Existing Member Offer: New member must mention name of referring member when account is opened. $250 cash bonus will be deposited to existing member’s account within 10 days after the New Member Offer is qualified.
- New Member Offer: To earn a $250 Cash Bonus, mention offer when opening the account in person, or add the promo code CHEER250 and existing member name to the comment section when applying online.
- The following requirements must be met in the first 60 days after the account is opened: Open and deposit $20.00 into a new free checking account.
- Member must sign up for electronic statements.
- A regular share savings account must be opened and a $5.00 deposit is required.
- 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
If you close your account within six months of opening you will forfeit the bonus.
Our Verdict
This is better than the previous deals offered as no direct deposit is required. A referral is needed, so if anybody has an existing account then please share your details in the comments below. Once there are a few people willing to refer we will add this to our list of the best checking bonuses.
Hat tip to reader Babu
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 stopped by a local branch. I can confirm that this deal is dead. The banker said they may do it again in January or February with more requirements. Hard pull, also confirmed.
what bureau was pulled?
Transunion
Where are you all seeing the DPs? I looked here and reddit.
Also can I join and then refer wife for $750 total?
I signed up. Definitely a hard pull. I opened the account online. I signed up on 11/27 the bonus posted on 11/29. There were a few DocuSign documents that were emailed on 11/27.
On 12/02(Monday) I went to local BMI to open the account. For a non-member
You use Promo code WINTER250, not CHEER250. After open the account (Silver checking), now I’m a member (instantly) so my wife use CHEER250 to open her account and mention my name as referral. Unfortunately because too many referrals it stopped on Monday (12/02/19) but one can still join and get $250, but you need to mention code WINTER250. One need to enroll e-statement as a requirement (set up online banking on left side click preference,
then manage statements, rest is easy) . If you use APP you click top left MENU > Preference > Manage statements. Because the workload I have not received bonus.
I think there’s a typo – up at the top it says “Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+”. It doesn’t appear this offer requires any direct deposit.
Edit: Also from looking over the previous post, it seems way more likely that this is a hard pull. Two people said it wasn’t, but one of them was not even approved to open the account due to living in the wrong county. Far more DPs of people saying it’s a hard pull.