Deal has expired, view the best current checking bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $150
- Availability:Â Certain counties in TX, more information here.
- Direct deposit required:Â Yes, $100+
- Additional requirements:
- Hard/soft pull:Â Hard pull (although this is an old datapoint and customer service is apparently saying it’s soft)
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding:Â Can fund up to $250 with a credit card
- Monthly fees:
- Early account termination fee:Â No early account termination fee
- Household limit:
- Expiration date:Â December 31st, 2018
Contents
The Offer
- Open a new TDECU checking account and add a recurring direct deposit of $100 or more and receive $150
- Open a credit card and receive another $50
The Fine Print
- TDECU membership required. Incentive offers good through December 31, 2018, and are considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT.
- Other restrictions may apply; see credit union for details. 1$150 will be deposited into new Member’s SavingsAccount after 60 days of account opening.
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Classic checking has no monthly fees to worry about
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no early account termination fee
Our Verdict
The credit cards don’t look very exciting, so I’d stick to the checking bonus. An old datapoint says opening the checking account is a soft pull but apparently customer service reps are saying it’s now a soft pull. It’s difficult to determine if this is a good or bad deal until we know for sure if it’s hard or soft. As always please share your data points in the comments below.
Big thanks to reader, Jonathan F & T who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.
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Had 1 legit DD. Bank said no reoccurring 60 days and denied. CFPB on vague term or just give up?
Terms do say recurring so I think you’ll be out of luck
Paid out bonus as promised 60 days after account opening
No HP for me. Had all reports locked. Opened and funded $250 with my Barclays arrival plus (with cash advance limit set to $100).
Does anyone know within how many days of account opening should DD post?
It doesn’t seem to specify… I’d assume you should do the DD by Dec 31 to be safe, or call them for more specifics.
I saw on the offer page that they say their support phone # is available 24/7, so I decided what the heck I’d try calling… unfortunately they didn’t know much more than what the webpage said.
Obviously they’re hoping for people with a traditional frequent paycheck moving it all over to this CU for the indefinite future, but it *sounds* like you would probably qualify if they see a $100-minimum DD hit twice within 60 days of opening the account, since that would be the minimum to look like you’re getting paid monthly. (I just asked along the lines of how people get paychecks at different intervals and the site doesn’t say how frequently it would need to recur.)
I was able to semi-confirm (as far as the rep knew, but that wasn’t very ‘far’) that existing members are eligible to do the CC $50 portion of the offer, although the checking account $150 portion is only for entirely-new members.
Another thing to note about the CC offer, it pays out as a deposit to your base savings account, and isn’t contingent on spending, so it will definitely end up on a 1099-INT.
Opened account on Dec 12. Got the bonus on Feb 14.
DP: Opened a “Classic Checking Account”, and received a hard pull on Equifax.
Just for the sake of the DP, did you opt-in to Overdraft Protection? Did you opt-in to Courtesy Pay?
I did NOT opt-in to either overdraft Protection or courtesy pay.
Coveting that Buc-ee’s MasterCard!
CC funding limit of $250
any clue what counts as dd for these people?
And how many times that DD needs to happen to count?
I kinda-sorta got an answer to this question, which I’ve posted below.
As for the topic of what source qualifies as a ‘DD’, that’s the kind of thing one shouldn’t really ask directly, but I got the general feeling that you shouldn’t count on the kind of automatic processing that often easily confuses non-DD sources for more-legit ones; this is the kind of place that might actually have a human ‘specialist’ look at your account before approving the bonus. And the CU was set up originally for people with very traditional employment at a big chemical plant. So stick to (a portion of) real W2 paychecks, or *maybe* a transfer from something that is clearly an investment account, unless you’re willing to risk not qualifying. If anyone experiments and finds out otherwise, of course, do share.
This is pretty much Houston-area only.
Also, the worst CU out of any I’ve ever dealt with. I called them up a few times, the folks had no idea what a hard pull was. Yes, they were Americans on the line, no idea what a credit report hard pull was. Of course, figuring out whether they actually do one was a huge challenge. Couldn’t answer any of my questions, basically.
They spend all their money on useless radio advertisements and stadiums within Houston.
Also four counties in D/FW area.
You may have heard the term “stadium banks.” Well, TDECU is a “stadium credit union.” They bought the naming rights to the University of Houston football stadium. If they are spending marketing money like that, no need to worry about getting a signup bonus from them…
Your comment literally makes no sense. They’re basically spending money on advertisements like crazy. Banks and CUs with nice customer service skills don’t need to do that, as that can rely on the word of mouth, and their actual product offerings. Those that have crappy customer service and uncompetitive products would rather spend money on naming rights and radio commercials.
“Stadium credit union” doesn’t at all guarantee that they’ll pay anything out. It just means they’re a big enough player in the market for the budget to waste on the naming rights; which you can already figure out from various listings for credit unions per given state — Texas Dow Employees seems to be about 4th biggest in Texas by both number of members and asset size (although some bigger ones appear to be multi-state, but, you get the idea).
I’d rather be a member of the credit union that actually gives back to its actual members (dividends etc), than spend excessively on marketing and advertisement across all mediums.
My real money goes through a community CU.
Any CU that buys naming rights to a stadium might as well be a bank. I don’t go for bonuses from CUs that appear to be community oriented. In the aftermath of the financial collapse, David Dayen came up with the name “stadium banks” as shorthand for banks that are too big.
Given that a lot of banking consists of almost identical systems and algorithms, there isn’t much value to society from the competition between banks. Sure, we sparrows are picking up grains on the side of the road. But that is nothing compared to what the horses are eating. Theoretically, profit is the price society pays for the benefits we get from competition. What value do we get in exchange for banking profits if the competition consists of who has the best advertisements? It is now a natural monopoly.
The US had postal banking from 1911 until 1967 when the banking lobby killed it. DSA and other groups are working to get it reinstated. Maybe that will be part of the next bank bailout.
“DSA and other groups are working to get it reinstated. Maybe that will be part of the next bank bailout.”
lol
Sorry for the lack of clarity. I meant to say that I don’t feel bad about getting a bonus from a “stadium CU.”
My one data point for a credit union that buys stadium naming rights — Digital Federal CU in Massachusetts (DCU) — belies your argument that such credit unions have poor customer service and poor products. I’ve been a member for over 30 years, and other than their meh credit card, they have good products and excellent CS. Naming rights can be looked at as a way of giving back to the community. In DCU’s case, they poured a lot of money into the struggling city of Worcester.
Naming rights isn’t giving money back to the community! The whole stadium thing is a big scam for select few individuals to benefit at the cost of the taxpayers by getting a huge subsidy in rent and tax obligations for XX years, and then moving somewhere else once the free land period expires, or when they get a better deal elsewhere. It’s a big scam, and I’m certainly all against it — it doesn’t benefit most folks in the slightest.
I think DCU in MA having naming rights and being a decent CU (from what I’ve heard) is more of an exception than the norm.
I bank with these guys, great CU