Update 10/24/22: Deal is back, no expiration date.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $100
- Availability: Nationwide. (If you are not eligible through one (the 2,000) of these paths, you have the option to join by making a one-time $5 donation to the New Jersey Coalition for Financial Education or the Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition)
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $100+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown, sensitive (not sensitive in branch)
- Credit card funding: Up to $1,000 with Visa, Mastercard or Discover. Cannot go over otherwise it won’t work.
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Six months, bonus forfeit
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date:
September 30, 2022None
Contents
The Offer
- Affinity Federal Credit Union is offering a $100 referral bonus to both parties when the new member opens an affinity cash back debit account with a direct deposit of $100+ within 60 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- *The Member, or Referrer. Members of Affinity Federal Credit Union in good standing and 18 years of age or older with an active Affinity checking or savings account are eligible to participate. Once a member makes a referral, they become a “Referrer” and will be provided with a unique referral link that allows them to receive a $100 bonus for each referred friend or family that has met all the qualifying criteria as defined below. The member may earn a maximum of $1,000 in referral bonuses per calendar year, which equates to 10 friends, family or colleagues completing the qualifying criteria. There is no limit to the number of referrals a member can make.
- The Friend, Family or Referred. In order to receive the $100 bonus, the referred friend or member must 1) Open an Affinity Cash Back Debit account 2) Make a qualifying direct deposit of $100 or more within 60 days of account opening. A qualifying direct deposit is an automatic electronic deposit known as an ACH (Automated Clearing House) of your paycheck, Social Security, pension, or other recurring income in the amount of $100 or more. Multiple deposits totaling $100 do not qualify. External and internal transfers, mobile deposits, cash, or check deposits and person-to-person payments such as Zelle®, do not qualify as a direct deposit. Offer valid only for new members who join Affinity.
- Fulfillment. Bonus will be deposited into the referring member and new member’s checking account by the last business day of the month following completion of all qualifying criteria (for example: if the new member’s account is opened on July 15, 2022; qualifying deposits are made by August 13; $100 bonus will be deposited to the members eligible checking or savings account and the new member’s Cash Back debit account by September 30, 2022). Bonus may be reported as taxable income and will be reported on an IRS 1099 Form, if applicable. Additional exclusions may apply. Offer subject to change without notice.
- 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
This account has no EATF.
Our Verdict
Sometimes this account is only open to NY, CT. Doesn’t look to be the case at the moment. Has been as high as $150 in the past, this is a better offer if a friend or family member can refer you. Do not share your referrals in the comments, you can share them in this linked post instead.
Hat tip to MC
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
Do not share your referrals in the comments, stop breaking the rules.
Opened the green checking account last week with no issues. Was able to fund $1000 using the BofA CCR. Going to use real DD for the bonus
Only let me fund $50 through a credit card.
Kind of annoying, they denied my external transfer twice, and then I called and had to do a conference call with the bank I was transferring to to verify that the account was mine. After already doing the verification deposits..
The direct deposit requirement is $500+ instead $100+ for the bonus now. Went to refer one of my family members and noticed the change.
Would you be able to refer me for this? I couldn’t find a link to signup
There is a whole page of referrals right here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/affinity-fcu-share-your-referrals/
No telling’ how many of them have an active account though…
Psp
Looks like Wise with “Payroll” in the memo field should still work for this referral bonus, plus any other direct deposit bonuses they might put out. I remember triggering my initial 2022 sign up bonus for this credit union using Schwab brokerage, but I doubt that one works for Affinity any longer. P1-P3 got the extra $20 bonuses from late last year’s 3% debit card/direct deposit bonus by using Wise–nothing else seemed to trigger it.
Also, I’m glad I decided to keep this account for the 1% cashback debit card/$10 bonus every month. I’m in So Cal, so I might not have been approved for an account a second time through churning since it seems the bonus is no longer available nationwide. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep my account even though I’m out of their footprint.
Yes, wise with Payroll did count as DD for Affinity Federal Credit Union Cash Back Debit account in 2023 last year for me for a special offer they sent since I had done a DD before. Others also used it to get a DD for my referral bonus and their sign up bonus for a DD
Anyone else seeing all your external transfer accounts missing? Hopefully its just a temporary glitch related to the upgrade this weekend…
Just happened on BluPeak too. Probably the same backend software they are using.
Oh wow, lol…there’s a ton of them that use it…someone’s gettin fired
Your comment probably will make a new DoC page 🙂
Hat tip to reader JD 🙂
As of 2 P.M. Eastern, my P2 and I have all of our external transfer accounts, 10-20 each, counting “deleted” ones. I don’t recall if I have any accounts setup at BluPeak, so I haven’t checked there. I didn’t look earlier today.
JD 
Acid Bath
Thanks, mine have re-appeared now
This post should be updated and downgraded to “New Jersey only,” per comments below and also chat today with rep as I tried to close my application because of their request to supply 2 years of tax returns, Rep said, “Oh, you’re from California. We’re only accepting applications from New Jersey at this time. There’s too much online fraud.”
William Charles
I’ve shared my referral about 5 times, got contacted to confirm my name, etc. $0 referral bonus. (Opening bonus worked just fine.)
I’ll give it one more end of month before closing, I guess. Just a DP.
It looks like its not nationwide anymore…I was denied because I wasn’t in their region.
I’m not really sure if I need a referral or not or if I can refer myself with the direct link provided. Would that work if I just entered my own email in the direct link and referred myself?
I think that won’t work, good question.
Almost no chance that would work. You can’t associate two email addresses to a single account/membership. You would rather take a chance to get $0 vs a sure thing $100?