Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $150 + $150 donation to non profit of your choice
- 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
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Unknown. Chex Systems sensitive, Rule seems to be denial if you have 3-6 or more in the last 12 months
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: None listed
- Early account termination fee: None listed
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: December 31, 2020
Contents
The Offer
- BECU Credit Union is offering a bonus of $150 and a $150 donation to the non profit of your choice when you complete the following requirements:
- Join BECU and open a checking and savings account using promo code 150GIVING.
- Make 10 qualifying transactions per month for three consecutive months within 120 days of joining.
The Fine Print
- The offer is valid for non-BECU members, 18 years or older, and within the BECU’s field of membership.
- To meet the transaction requirements you must open and maintain active Member Share or Member Advantage savings and also a checking account. Members have 120 days from the time of account opening to complete (10) or more qualifying transactions for (3) consecutive months. Qualifying transactions include: ATM deposit, transfer, withdrawal and transfer debits; bill payment deposit; checks/electronic checks; international/domestic ACH withdrawals, international/domestic wire transfers, direct, check, point of sale, Mastercard, external or electronic deposit; investor interest, international/domestic ACH, POS, Mastercard, external and international/domestic wire transfer withdrawals; VISA purchases and cash advances.
- 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
Previously we’ve seen $100 referral bonuses. This is an extra $50 for the person signing up plus they get to choose where to donate $150. Downside is that you can’t refer friends/family to get another $100. Deal is very much worth doing as the requirements are easy to meet, this will be added to the best bank bonus page.
Hat tip to Ben L
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
This offer doesn’t really blow my doors off.
I completed the requirements on 9/29/2023 – I reached out to BECU on 12/26/23 and the representative had no knowledge of the promotion or how to look it up. They claimed that the “passport bonus was only for mortgage accounts” and I told them they were mistaken.
They said that when they typed in the URL that described the bonus, they could not find anything (I presume the representative was not good with computers, though). I will follow up after 120 days from 10/1 to share if the promo did hit or not.
I completed the requirements in the first 3 months. The $150 bonus was posted to savings exactly 4 months after the first deposit.
11/04/20 – Open
01/15/21 – Finished series of 10 monthly transactions for 3 months – internal transfers between checking and savings
02/26/21 – $150 Bonus credited – waiting on details for the $150 donation
Anyone have data on what worked as qualifying transactions? I was doing 10+ internal transfers (checking savings) monthly and have seen no bonus. I got an e-mail today saying they’re extending the timeframe to 150 days, so I still have time to make it work. Their use of commas and semicolons in the fine print make it a bit confusing. My next step was to try ACH transfers back and forth to another bank and hope for the best.
I had 10 debit card purchases every month since Nov 2020, and still havn’t received the bonus yet. Not sure if anyone have received the bonus from this deal.
I just got the bonus this week. I opened in November as well. It takes a while to post.
ACH pushes from BECU to external accounts worked. Bonus posted 2/22/21 after 11/18/20 sign up.
Denied due to Chex. lol/24
Anyone needs a referral?
Does anyone know what the “selected associations” they refer to on their site as qualifying you for membership actually are? I could not find an actual list anywhere.
“selected associations”
Not a member of one of the above associations? No problem! You can join online with UWAA, WSUAA, KEXP and NWCUF and then return to BECU and apply for membership.
https://www.becu.org/landing/application/eligibility3
Do referrers get 150 too?
yes
This is by far the best, solid Institution, Credit Union to keep open. I’d had the account with them since 2007. I am not planning on closing just to wait and get a bonus in the future.
They give you a generous credit card limit the longer you’d been with them. Also, no holds on large “credit card” balance transfer offer checks (I had used a lot in 2007.)