[TX only] TDECU $200 Checking Bonus
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Certain counties in TX, more information here.
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Old data points say hard pull, new datapoints say soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Can fund up to $2,500 with a credit card per account
- Monthly fees: $5, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: No early account termination fee
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date:
Contents
The Offer
- TDECU is offering a bonus of $200 when you open a new TDECU forward checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Receive a recurring direct deposit of $500+ 11/30
The Fine Print
- Recurring direct deposit must be set up by 9/15/19 to qualify for $200 reward.
- Rewards will be deposited into your main share/savings account within 60 days after meeting offer requirements and are considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT. Insured by NCUA.
- Offer not valid on existing Forward Checking or Credit Card accounts
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Forward checking has a monthly fee $5, this is waived if you meet the following requirements:
- Enroll in mobile deposit
- have a recurring direct deposit or make at least six debit card transactions per month
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no early account termination fee
Our Verdict
The credit cards they offer are basically useless, so this is really just a $200 checking bonus. Previous best was $150, but that was on an account with no monthly fee.
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
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Does anyone know what counts as a direct deposit for this bank, e.g. can Discover or Alliant push count?
The Onyx CC sounds decent enough, especially with the bonus. https://www.tdecu.org/onyx-platinum-mastercard/
“up to 2% rebate on the first $500,000 net spent” (haven’t found details about why it says “up to”)
0% on purchases for 6mo
0% on BTs for 12mo (if initiated within first 30 days) and no BT fee
price protection
extended warranty
“A revolving “base” line of credit, plus a non-revolving “pay in full” line of credit valued at up to two times the base amount.”
There’s a lot of credit cards out there with much better than a $100 bonus. $100 is not worth a hard pull.
my hr person i going to love me changing my dd each month to collect bonuses
mine is self service thank god, i be changing it up every pay period lol
I got a hard pull opening just now. I opted out of the “Courtesy Pay Opt-in” where they cover overdrafts but left the Overdraft Protection Plan checked which is supposed to pull from the associated savings account to cover overdrafts in the checking account so maybe uncheck that as well if you apply new. They pulled Equifax.
I did the opposite. I opted out of the Overdraft Protection Plan but left the Courtesy Pay checked. Also got a hard pull. 😞 Live and learn.
Useless credit cards? Obviously you have never experienced a real Buc-ee’s!
😀
$100 sub is weak. Buccees is overpriced…
It’s a useless credit card. Other cards earn more at all gas stations including Buc-ee’s.
Overdraft Protection is pre-selected when going through the application– make sure to de-select that.
Also, if anyone applies, please clarify whether you got a real hard pull or soft pull on this. Thanks
I applied. Account says submitted for review. Probably to make sure you’re eligible. Certain counties only:
https://i.imgur.com/OSaHG9g.png
No hard pull (yet).
Note you can fund up to $2,500 (not $250).
You are required to opened a savings account if you’re not otherwise eligible to join than by residence. That’s another $2,500.
AWESOME DP!!! $5k in cc funding and a $200 sub!!!
any restrictions on what credit card (visa, MC, AMEX) you can use to fund it? Thanks.
Update: Account approved. No hard pull.
Funding is Visa/MC/Discover.
I can confirm $5000 CC transaction (not cash advance) with chase sapphire reserve.
@Ryan were you in state? Any DP for out of state?
It was a Citi AA card.
Yes, both.
Hi Clay
Do u know if I will be approved although I do not reside in Texas? Is there another option for qualification for residents of another state? Thanks in advance!
If you don’t live in one of the relevant counties in TX (not just anywhere in TX), work for one of the relevant companies https://www.tdecu.org/tdecu-field-of-membership-by-company-and-organization/ (there are some of those that one could work for in other states, several large chemical companies), went to University of Houston, or have a relative who’s already a member, I don’t think there is another way in here.
thanks a lot, Ann…for the clarification. Appreciate it..
Found the fees for the checking, $5/mo, reflected on their rates page:
https://www.tdecu.org/rates/
“Forward Checking Account Requirement (waived if enrolled in Mobile Deposit & either 1 ACH deposit or 6 debit card transactions are posted per month)”
“$5.00 per month”
Churnability?
Also seeing a few DPs below about hard-pulls. Spooky. Gonna be hard to resist a $5000 cc funding account.
I apologize for the length, but TL;DR, AMEX FUNDING and $5k confirmed, but $7,500+ seems possible!
See below for full details:
While the application page ONLY states funding via Visa/MC/Discover; I noted the (?) help, button next to the CSV/pin showed an AMEX thumbnail, so I decided to go for it…
The system showed red font when entering an AMEX indicating it is not an approved funding source, so I expected the system to reject my submission, but to my surprise, it took me to the next page & said my application was submitted and it was shown as pending on my AMEX immediately, so I suspect it is automated and will clear!
My application was approved today and I registered my online access. No funds are shown as pending yet (although they do provide a $1 checking & $5 savings “courtesy funding”), but my AMEX still currently shows the charge as pending and it’s been 2 days, so I expect it should post in the next day or so!
I’ll post an update if/when it clears, but wanted to let everyone know in case anyone else wants to attempt.
In addition to the successful $5k deposit DP, I wanted to add that I had tested if the system had a total funding limit as it allows you to fund $2,500 per account and you can add additional accounts, such as another savings. I started to attempt the $7,500 funding for all 3 accounts and there was no warning that I exceeded a limit, but my application expired before I could find my card and on the second attempt I decided to remove the additional savings & just post $5k since it was more than enough to finish the MSR on the AMEX… so if someone else wants to add a positive DP this CU might be a gold mine if we’re able to churn the account or open multiple checking/savings.
Not sure who maintains the CC funding page, but I wanted to follow-up on my DP for this to confirm AMEX funding works, as both my checking & savings accounts reflect a $2,500 balance this morning!
I used SPG Biz
Adding an additional DP for the recent ones regarding hard pull… I ensured overdraft opt out and still received a hard pull from equifax.
Also, I wanted to add a note that funding by credit card appears to come with a hold as well. I was able to transfer the $2,500 of funding to my savings to my checking, but my available balance is only $1, so the entire $5k is still on hold. I would assume it’ll be released at least by the week after funding deposited, but will update if there are any surprises.
P.S. I don’t know if I could have done more since 7.5k is my highest limit.
Thanks Tony. A couple of weeks are OK. (I thought they are going to hold for a few months. )
My experience was similar. I can’t be certain how many days it was on hold for, but my statement shows deposit was 6/5 & withdraw was 6/21, so somewhere around the 2 week mark referenced.
Not bad if two weeks. Thanks!
Doesn’t specify anywhere how many DDs count as “recurring.”
Very technical reading could be just 2 DDs constitute “recurring” and once those are made, “recurring direct deposit” has been “set up.”
Up to sixty days after that is when bonus will be deposited then.
I guess we need more DPs. But gotta get in on that 5K funding, though.
Hard pull. I called them and asked why. They said that a feature of the Forward Checking Account is mobile deposit (the ability to deposit checks via the app), and that there’s been a lot of fraud on that so they are basically checking the credit of everyone applying for this account.
So definitely can confirm they are doing hard pulls for this specific account.
If I recall, I think that option can be de-selected in the application process. Wonder if that could eliminate a hard pull
I didn’t go back and check, but I asked the phone rep about this and they told me that mobile deposit is a standard feature of this specific “Forward Checking” account (the one with the $200 bonus), hence a hard pull for any applications on this type of checking account.
Well at least you got you application approved. I answered all the questions correctly, but they supposedly weren’t able to verify my application and said I’d have to go to a bank.
Wonder if scanning the DL makes any difference (I didn’t).
Did you opt out of overdraft protection?
I just called their customer service 2 times with 2 different reps and they both said it will be a soft pull.
William Charles
Apparently those 2 reps are both misinformed. (See Michael’s reply shortly before yours.)
Clay’s post said there was no hard pull though.
Christian, Michael, and Danny say otherwise.
Strange. I’ve checked Experian and Credit Karma/TransUnion and I never got a pull. I opted out of Overdraft Protection Plan and Courtesy Pay Opt-In.
I’m starting to think the trick is whether people also caught the ‘courtesy pay’ option or only opted out of the ‘overdraft protection’ option. Had to opt out of both to have any chance of avoiding a HP. The other DPs reporting HPs either didn’t specify, or only mentioned opting out of one of those.
Hard pull, confirmed. This is what’s shown in my creditkarma account for Equifax:
Texas Dow Employees
Inquiry from Jun 05, 2019
Did you opt out of overdraft protection?
Yes, I did. I unchecked the box.
+ 1 Hard pull on Equifax. Same as Danny, I didn’t enroll in overdraft or mobile deposit.
this dp makes this offer a pass to me…. not worth the pull for a $200 bonus…
+1 Hard pull for me too. I opted out of overdraft protection and didn’t enroll in mobile deposit.
I guess the positive is we now have a ChexSystems DP…
Thank you for your new membership application with TDECU. We regret to inform you that we are unable to process your new membership application at this time due to information received from Chex Systems, Inc., a consumer–reporting agency. We have attached a Chex System Disclosure so that you may contact them at your convenience for additional information regarding the information that is being reported.
Thank you for applying with TDECU.
Your TDECU Remote Online Account Processing Team
What are your approximate numbers of Chex inquiries in recent timeframes?
So you didn’t receive a hard pull?
I think there is some middle ground here with respect to Chex sensitivity. I applied online but received a message that they couldn’t verify my information, and I needed to go to a branch to complete my membership. The banker told me that this was due to the number of inquiries on my report (they did not say the word “Chex”). After some discussion on this topic, I was approved for membership/accounts. I don’t know what my Chex numbers are, because I haven’t looked at my report in a long time. I did receive a hard pull on EQ. I didn’t study hard enough: although I opted out of overdraft protection, I was somehow signed up for courtesy pay. I don’t recall being asked about it.