[WA Only] Sound Credit Union $100 Free Checking Bonus – No Direct Deposit + $50 Referral Bonus

Reposting as bonus is available again.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $100
• Availability: WA only, find branches here or sign up by phone.
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: 25 debit card transactions
• Hard/soft pull: Soft
• ChexSystems: Unknown (inquiry sensitive)
• Credit card funding: Yes, you have to use Paypal but you can use a credit card up to $3,000
• Monthly fees: None for the free checking account and none for savings if balance is $25+
• Early account termination fee: $10, 90 days. You’ll need to keep the account open for at least 3 months though to get the bonus
• Household limit: None
• Expiration date: None listed

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Open a new free sound rewards checking account and receive a $100 bonus when you complete the following requirements within 90 days of account opening:
  • Complete 25 debit card transactions [Read: How To Meet Minimum Debit & Credit Transaction Requirements]

 

The Fine Print

• Requires Sound membership and savings account with minimum $25 balance.
• Must meet qualifying criteria to open checking account.
• Offers may change at any time. $100 Bonus: Requires 25 debit card transactions within the 90 days after opening a new primary consumer checking account.
• Cannot have received a checking account bonus in the past.
• Bonus paid within two weeks following 90 days of opening account.
• One bonus per member and may be reported on form 1099-INT.
• Sound Rewards: Upon request, your Sound checking account will be enrolled to receive Sound Rewards. Must meet qualifying criteria to participate.
• A one-time sign up will enroll every valid Sound debit card connected to the membership account.
• All points accumulate under one membership account and accumulation begins 5-7 days after enrollment.
• You can monitor and redeem points beginning on the first business day of the month following enrollment.
• Debit Rewards will be automatically removed if there is no debit card activity for more than six (6) months.
• Overdraft Refund: On request, every checking account can reverse one overdraft fee per calendar year.
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Your best bet for avoiding fees will be to open the free checking account, which as it’s name implies does not have a monthly fee. If you close your account within 90 days there will be an early account termination fee of $10, given that you need to keep the account open for at least three months this isn’t really an issue.

You’ll also need to keep the $25 in your savings account to keep that fee free, otherwise you will be charged a $5 monthly “low balance fee”

Referral Bonus

According to this comment there is a $50 referral bonus as well. Not 100% clear if they can be stacked or not.

Our Verdict

Not the biggest bonus in the world but if you can get the $50 referral as well then $150 is decent especially considering there is no direct deposit required and also no monthly fees to worry about. Because of that I am adding this to the best checking bonus page. The $3,000 you can fund with a credit card via Paypal is a nice cherry on top!

Hat tip to reader Jim

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• 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?
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