Deal has expired, view more checking bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Selected areas of Ohio only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Mixed Datapoints
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Up to $250 with Visa or Mastercard
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Six months bonus forfeit, bonus forfeit
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: December 31st, 2019
Contents
The Offer
- BMI Federal Credit Union is offering a bonus of $200 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements within 90 days of account opening:
- Use promo code CHECK19 (must be used at account opening)
- Deposit $20 and make a minimum of $30 debit card transactions of at least $5 each
- Sign up for eStatements
- Have monthly direct deposits totaling $500 or more
The Fine Print
- To earn $200 cash bonus, mention promo CHECK19 when opening account in person or add to the comment section when applying online.
- The following requirements must be met in the first 90 days after the account is opened:
- Open and deposit $20.00 into a new checking account with VISA debit card and make a minimum of 30 debit card transactions of at least $5 each. Member must sign up for electronic statements and have monthly direct deposits totaling $500 or more.
- Your direct deposit needs to be an electronic deposit of your paycheck, pension or government benefits (such as Social Security) from your employer or the government.
- A regular share savings account must be opened and a $5.00 deposit is required.
- Cash bonus will be deposited into the member’s account within 10 business days after all qualifications have been met. Cash bonus may be considered income and reported on 1099-MISC or 1099-INT.
- Offer not valid on Starting Over Checking, Platinum Checking, or Business accounts.
- Offer not available to existing members, those with fiduciary accounts, those who have closed an account within 6 months, or have a negative balance.
- Cannot be combined with other checking offers. Checking account must remain open for a minimum of 6 months or the bonus will be debited from the account at closing.
- Offer ends December 31, 2019.
- 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
If you close your account within six months of opening you will forfeit the bonus.
Our Verdict
BMI has offered a $200 checking bonus before, but that was back in 2014. This current deal is better as you don’t need to apply and close a loan. That being said there is still so many requirements for this bonus I’m not sure it’s really worth doing, especially when we don’t know if it’s a soft pull. If anybody decides to go for the bonus then please share your experiences in the comments below.
Big thanks to reader, EW who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.
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- 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?
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- Bank Bonus Posting Times
Just got my bonus…
2/9/19: Opened account
2/21/19: $200+ DD from Thrivent FCU
3/5/19: $34+ DD from Thrivent FCU
3/8/19: $500+ DD from Bluebird
3/8/19: CHECK19 CASH BONUS $200 deposited to Savings
Not sure if the Thrivent DDs counted for anything, but Bluebird clearly pushed it over the edge.
re: required debit transations–did a total of thirty $5+ card transactions via splitting my cable payments up and then automated withdrawals to Bluebird.
Did you open online or in-branch? Could not find the place to enter the coupon code online….
I opened it when it was a $100 bonus :/ It’s a hard pull. Also make sure they enter the code. When I did it I told the banker the code she didn’t enter it initially and when I asked for the confirmation page for the bonus then she entered it.
HARD PULL on my TransUnion report. Ugh.
Me too
Oddly enough the most annoying part is the debit card transactions. Really, $5 minimum for each?
I’m splitting my cable bill into 30 equal payments, paid every day of March.
(Ended up setting up daily Bluebird debit card auto-loads instead. Easier that way.)
DoC,
I went ahead with it to get some info.
– $250 Max CC funding Visa & Mastercard Only (I used CIP will update on whether its CA or purchase)
– Its actually county specific in Ohio might be worth updating to “some counties in OH” or something to that effect EDIT: I see you have that under availability
-No HP on any of my credit reports
Thanks, updated
Others are reporting HP on TransUnion
Not for me William Charles just double checked.
Wonder why others got a hard pull, was there any overdraft protection you opted out of?
Not that I can remember.
I made sure I opted out of overdraft protection and got the HP anyway.
Hmm, very strange some people aren’t getting HP then
I also opted out of overdraft and got a TU HP.
Any info on the CA vs purchase? Also, has anyone explored the re-loadable debit card with this bank?
I was denied unfortunately for not being in the right county. Maybe that’s why no HP for me William Charles
Ah makes sense.
Just got hit with two cash advance fees today on my CIP for funding the savings and checking accounts.
It’s a soft pull, had an account with them for the last few years and just closed last month.