Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: VA, Looks like all it’s actually available nationwide with a membership to The American Consumer Council (free to join)
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown, sensitive
- Credit card funding: Up to $500
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: December 31, 2025
Contents
The Offer
- United States Senate Federal Credit Union is offering a bonus of $300 when you become a member of USSFCU.
- Use promo code BONUS25
- Use your new debit card to make at least 20 purchases of $10 or more within your first six months
- Receive direct deposits totaling $500 or more each month for six consecutive months
The Fine Print
- All requirements must be completed within six months of membership application. If eligible, the $300 bonus will be deposited into your USSFCU Primary Savings Account within 30–60 days of completing all requirements.
- Offer is available to new members only and cannot be combined with other promotions. USSFCU employees, managers, and board members are not eligible. Taxes are the responsibility of the recipient. Terms of this promotion are subject to change and may be modified, suspended, or terminated at any time by USSFCU.
- 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 wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so unsure if there is any EATF.
Our Verdict
Not as good as when the $500 bonus was offered unfortunately, although the requirements are easier.
Hat tip to ShawntheShawn
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
View Comments (24)
My DP. Applied OOS by becoming American Council Membership. They did pull my Chex report. Uploaded Driving License and SSN copy. Waiting to hear from them.
Sharing this information here so that others doesn't have to search how to become member.
Use below link to join American Consumer council Membership. Use promo code USSFCU to avoid paying $15 membership fees.
https://www.ussfcu.org/segs.html?cId=14779&title=american-consumer-council-virginia-chapter-vacc
Did it last time, a couple of years ago. The best part was the pretty cool debit card design. That being said, there were some hickups with online account access, and actually reaching them via phone was quite an adventure. Once you reach them, they are helpful enough.
Last offer was $500 and AFAIK there are no DPs on churnability. Getting approved oos last time was like pulling teeth and it costs a Chex hit so I'm not going to be the guinea pig for just $300.
Their CSRs are great though, which is important to know because you'll probably need to deal with them repeatedly.
All the requirements need to be met within 6 months of application, so better to wait till 6/1 to apply.
Not sure I get your point. Terms don't say anything about full months or statement periods, I assume 6 months means 180 (or 183) calendar days.
If the process is the same as last time then they will manually review applications, ask for documents to be sent, forget to mail out your debit card, etc. Read through the last post from a few years ago and you'll see some of the delays people experienced when opening a new account. If you apply at the first of the month then that will give you more time to get your account/routing numbers to set up your DD for that month.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/va-only-united-states-senate-federal-credit-union-200-checking-bonus/
That's a lot of work for like $300. Maybe when there aren't easier ways to get $300.
What do you mean by lot of work? DD $500 for fix months?
The twenty transactions are kind of a hassle. The DD for six months isn't a huge deal, but since I use real DD, it does lock up some of the money I could use for a different offer. If I'm going to use an application, I want it to either be on the simpler side or for a larger sum. It's just my personal preference. Also, if this thread is correct and they're chex sensitive, I might run into problems.
I see your point, but you have full 6 months to do 20 transactions, I usually do Utility payments split in to multiple payments. Also, regarding DD, don't you think you will be able to move the money out of the Credit Union somewhere else you want?
Also good points. The utility payment idea is a good suggestion, those are reliable expenses with fees for using credit cards. I should check to see if the utility will let me split up the payment. Maybe I will give it a try if the offer is still up in July and they aren't scared off by my chex.
And a gas tank fill up could be done in ten dollar chunks.
Utility companies prefer Debit card payments as they don't have to pay the Credit Card fees.
My utility charges debit/credit card fees.
@guest_2067419,
@guest_2067382 wrote "it does lock up some of the money I could use for a different offer." I could be wrong but I interpreted that to mean that he would be using up some of his "real" DD bandwidth for 6 months, which could be used as QDDs for other offers instead of this one.
That does make sense. Based on previous offer it does look like Fidelity and Chase Biz worked and that's Etsy I'm planning to do. Let's see.
Wow, so you were approved? What were your Chex stats before applying?
Oh no not yet.. If I apply that will be my action plan.
More like if you are approved. 😉
If it's no chex pull it would maybe be worth, but otherwise I agree.
IME, they do pull Chex and are Chex-sensitive, unfortunately.
Dang, thanks for the heads up. I saw anyone can join through a foundation for free, but if they're chex sensitive it's a definite no for me atm