This bonus has expired and is no longer valid. View the best current checking bonuses by clicking here.
Originally posted 12/20/17. Reposting on 01/10/18 as we have now confirmed it’s a soft pull.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: Must live, work or worship in one of the following counties
- KY: Boone, Campbell, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton
- OH: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, and Warren Counties
- IN: Dearborn, Ohio, and Switzerland
- Direct deposit required: Yes, two direct deposits of $250+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: None listed
The Offer
- Open a new checking account with Cincinnati Federal and get a bonus of $250 when you complete the requirements:
- Receive two direct deposits of $250 or more within 90 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- Minimum of $50 required to open account. $250 gift earned after two Direct Deposit(s) of $250 or more are posted within 90 days of account opening.
- Direct Deposits limited to payroll, Social Security, pension, and government benefits.
- Transfers from one account to another or deposits made in a branch, at the ATM, via mobile, etc. do not qualify as direct deposit.
- Two Direct Debits from two separate merchants will qualify if a company does not offer Direct Deposit and two payroll checks of $250 or more are deposited to the account within 90 days of account opening.
- Offer available to clients who do not have or have not had ownership rights on a checking account with Cincinnati Federal in the last 12 months.
- Not available to anyone who has received a promotion in the last 12 months.
- Limit one per qualifying account. Limit one per individual.
- Accounts overdrawn or closed at the time of gift fulfillment are not eligible.
- Gift will be posted to the account within 30 days of qualified activity.
- If account is closed due to overdrafts within the next 12 months, gift will be revoked and included in any charge off amount, if applicable.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
None of the three accounts that qualify for this bonus have any monthly fees to worry about. I wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so I’m unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not. If the account is closed due to overdrafts, you do forfeit the bonus though.
Our Verdict
Definitely worth doing as it’s a soft pull and a very healthy $250 bonus. There are also no monthly fees to worry about. You do need two direct deposits, so hopefully they aren’t too strict on what counts. I’ve just added this to our best checking bonus page.
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
Has anyone received their bonus yet?
I met the requirements on 2/16, but have not received it yet.
Not yet. I first used an ACH from my Pentagon Federal Credit Union account for the direct deposit requirement, it almost always triggers such bonuses, but it didn’t this time. I’ve since tried six other banks, the latest the bonus could post per the terms if any of them worked is mid-April. I am prepared not to get it though, the only other commenter here who succeeded used real direct deposits.
I thought I’d receive the bonus at the end of March, but it didn’t hit. I used actual employer direct deposits and met the requirement on 1/26. I plan to call in some time this week and find out why they haven’t posted the bonus to my account.
Spoke with the bank this week. They said that since I didn’t mention the bonus at the time the account was opened (I opened it online, through the landing page, don’t know where I should have mentioned it), that the bonus did not post. Nonetheless, since I called to inquire about why the bonus didn’t post, they went ahead and gave me the bonus since I met the requirements. Aside from needing to make an additional phone call, this was an easy one.
Same thing here but they did not give me bonus. I was told that I needed to mention the bonus in some free form text field in the application. This sounds made up to me. She did offer the new bonus to me but not sure it is worth it.
Not that I was going to anyway, but I would not do banking with Cincinnati Federal.
I tried to open an account today in branch and was told the promotion ended yesterday, Thursday Feb 22. I was also told you have to be a Cincinnati resident (I live in Virginia but my employer is in Cincinnati, that didn’t work – not that it matters without the bonus).
Can confirm it is over
FYI Doc, no CC funding, opening the account is done online via secure message.
Thanks, updated post.
So I live in Indiana, but about 2 1/2 hours from these counties, and roughly 3 hours from Cincinnati, so I am wondering since it says “Must live, work or worship in one of the following counties” do you think they are enforcing the counties? Anyone tried being in Indiana but not in one of the three counties (Dearborn, Ohio, Switzerland)? How they could enforce where you worship and prove that I don’t see possible so I think I can have a good argument, no?
What ya guys think? I am going to give it a shot (nothing really to lose, expect some hassle) regardless, but I was just curious if I would go for SO and my brother and sister-in-law… obviously doing four people without any bonuses posting would be annoying! haha. Thanks
I’m in Louisville, about 90 mins from the target counties and I plan to try this with the worship thing. They can enforce the live or work part by the address and pay stub from your employer and home, but not sure about the worship part. Pretty sure there’s a Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster congregation at all Skyline Chili locations, and there are a few of those in Louisville too – so I’m good to go.
Either of you try this and have a DP for us all? I’m out of the area too by a few hours.
Was denied for an application – was told permanent address needed to be in their footprint. Worship thing is basically worthless then. They must have been hit hard with this already, because that response runs counter to their membership charter.
How did this work for you? I am in the same situation. Ramen
This isn’t OH only. Boone, Campbell, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton Counties are in KY. Dearborn, Ohio, and Switzerland Counties are in IN. Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, and Warren Counties are in Ohio.
Thanks, updated.
I opened my account today by going to the main office which is on my way home from work. No credit card funding, chexsystems pulled butno hard inquiry. Account was set up in about 15 min. The lady wasn’t a typical bank teller but also wasn’t the best in terms of customer service but also not bad either.
My job pays weekly and I will have the two DD show up by Jan 5. Will try to update then.
Their app is similar to Dearborn Savings, which is in the same targeted area.
I got this bonus the 1st of the following month after the criteria were met.
I did notice it says the account has to remain open at least six months.
My address is in the target area and I applied a couple days ago. I filled out the online form and selected my preferred contact as email, not phone. I received an email directing me to a secure message on their site. I was able to set up a login and password in order to access the secure message. The message contained some forms to print out, scan and send back along with a copy of my drivers license. It said that once the forms were received they would open my account and send me two more documents to sign and send back. They said I could then use mobile check deposit, direct deposit, or visit a branch to fund the account.
The upload failed a couple times but eventually worked, and I anticipate my account will be opened soon. No hard inquiry has showed up yet on any of my credit reports. I will update if that changes or I have any problems.
I just applied and received the same “you will be contacted.” The follow up, from a teller, needed SSN and copy of DL.
Are you local or out of area? Did you get the impression local area only? I don’t see anything specific in terms.
When filling out the initial questionnaire, you are required to select the county of residence within the drop-down list. I live within the targeted area. My guess is you would have an issue with trying to proceed without doing so.
Thank you. Sounds like a big enough road block to me along with having to speak with a person.
I for one am glad to see local CU’s adding these “road blocks” to prevent those not intended from participating and killing the deals.
This whole site is dedicated to getting around these types of road blocks so I’m not really sure what your comment aims to achieve?
I just applied for a Simply Checking account. After filling out a very simple application (didn’t require SSN or Driver’s License), I was told I’d be contacted. I’ll update this as I learn more.
Thanks, appreciate it.
The account opening process was fairly easy: after submitting the initial application, I was contacted by email from a teller who provided a more detailed app and Customer Identification Form that I completed and returned. From there, I filled out a form to choose between an ATM Card or a MasterCard Debit Card. I stuck with the ATM Card and declined overdraft protection.
I did not have a hard pull on any of my credit reports. YMMV if you opt-in to overdraft protection.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to provide a useful DP regarding direct deposit as my employer makes it easy to add a new bank account, so I won’t be using Ally or another online bank for the DD.
I’ll post a final update once my bonus posts. Assuming no issues with the bonus posting, this is a very easy $250 if you live in the qualifying area.
Thanks, Taylor! Very useful info
Thanks for confirming the soft pull!