Update 1/14/24: Extended until 3/31/2024
Update 5/27/23: Deal is back and valid until 12/31/23.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Must be eligible to join CU (live, work or worshipping in Washington State qualifies you – more options here). Looks like it’s also available to some in Oregon as well. Idaho: Live, work, worship, or attend school in Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce or Shoshone county
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Yes, sensitive
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: None listed
- Early account termination fee: None listed
- Expiration date: 3/31/2023
Contents
The Offer
- BECU is offering a $200 checking bonus when you open a new checking account with the promo code PASSPORTMBR and perform 5 qualifying actions within the first 30 days of joining:
- Make a purchase using your BECU Debit Mastercard®.
- Write a check or electronic check.
- Make a payment using BECU Bill Pay.
- Or deposit $500 or more into your checking account.
The Fine Print
- 1Redeemable at any BECU location and online. The promo code 23Q1CONV must be entered at time of application. BECU is not required to pay the promotional incentive for accounts opened without the appropriate promo code. New member may not be an existing member, must be 18 years or older, within BECU’s field of membership, and be eligible to open and maintain membership. Not all applicants will qualify. New members who are rejoining but have had a membership relationship with BECU in the last six (6) months do not qualify. Business, Fiduciary, Zero-Dividend, HSA, and Early Savers accounts are not eligible to receive deposit bonuses. BECU employees are also not eligible to receive deposit bonuses. New member will receive the $200 bonus deposit to the open Member Advantage savings account within 120 days of opening qualifying accounts and meeting the utilization requirements within 30 days. Accounts must remain open and in good standing for at least 90 days. Bonus deposits will not be made to closed accounts. $200 bonus deposit will be reported for the new member as interest income to the IRS on Form 1099-INT at year-end. Other terms, limitations, and conditions may apply. Check with BECU for current Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of accounts. BECU reserves the right to terminate this offer at any time.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Their member advantage and regular checking accounts both come with no monthly fee, you’re probably better off with the member advantage checking account as this earns 4.07% APY on balances up to $500
Early Account Termination Fee
As far as I could see there was no early account termination fee in their fee schedule.
Our Verdict
Better than the previous $100 referral bonus as this way the person signing up gets the full $200 bonus. Deal might also be nationwide. This bonus is definitely worth chasing, just keep in mind they are very ChexSystems sensitive so people might not get approved unfortunately.
Hat tip to reader Flip
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
The BECU Passport promotion seems to be for people with a Passport membership but I don’t think they ask for your Passport card number.
This is the link to the offer on the Passport portal: https://passportcorporate.com/Offers/tHS10NcDpvs%3d
Several companies and associations offer access to Passport for free: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Apassportcorporate.com. Passport memberships through credit unions won’t show the offer.
Denied in June for Chex, applied again in November, finally opened in branch. It’s possible! Hopefully they correctly applied the promo code I gave them, although it doesn’t sound like the bonus is posting for anyone anyways.
Not worth it for $200 given the number of hoops you to jump through to get the bonus (I still haven’t received mine). I generally skip bonuses less than $250 but this seemed pretty straight forward.
I used the $500 deposit option. No bonus posted after 120 days 🙁
Have called twice already. They just ask me to check again in a week. It’s been 6 months!
i applied around June 1, deposited a week later. As of now, no bonus has been deposited. I met all other requirements to my knowledge.
its been about 3 months now for me and still nothing 🙁
I had to call and point out that promo, specifically the part about just the deposits and no spend requirement. Took about 7-10 days and it posted.
Likewise
Applied out of state with one time donation to radio station, lol/Chex, lol/24, went pending, five days later got email that accounts opened. Asked them about biz account – can only apply in person but now that I am a member, I don’t have to be in WA to apply.
I was denied due to Chex being too low. 15/3 and also 15/24(no history on chex older than 3 months).
Opened an account a bit over 100 days ago, still not bonus deposited. Not sure if I should call now or wait for the full 120 days. I see some people talking about 90 days but the conditions do say it can take up to 120 days. Anybody other feedback from others whose bonus posted automatically?
Does this bonus require you to keep the transferred $500 in your account for the 120 days?
Amazon reloads worked for the bonus. Took a couple months.
Definitely CHexsystems sensitive. I went to a BECU office today and everything was fine until they ran the Chexsystems query. And then they told me to try back in a year.
Guess this one is really niche, but eh, vini vidi vici (saw it, signed up, sailed in). Thanks DoC!