Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 6/14/20: Deal is back, but now requires a Premium Rewards Checking account that is harder to keep fee free. Hat tip to reader Robert
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Must live, work or worship in Pima, Pinal, Cochise, or Maricopa Counties, Gila River Indian Community Reservation, Arizona’s “Copper Basin” Area
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: One debit card transaction
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: $2,000
- Monthly fees: $12, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: Six months, bonus forfeit
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date:
June 30th, 2018September 30th, 2018December 31st, 2020
Contents
The Offer
- VantageWest Credit Union is offering a bonus of 20,000 points (worth $200 when you open a new Premium Rewards checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Open account with at least $750
- Setup Direct Deposit on your account (minimum $500).
- Have at least one debit transaction within 60 days
The Fine Print
- The account must be opened between 03/01/2018 – 06/30/2018 and remain open for at least six months.
- If it is closed within 6 months of the open date you may be responsible for reimbursement of any bonus awarded.
- Offer valid for new Rewards and Rewards Plus checking accounts only.
- Members with an existing Rewards or Rewards Plus checking account are not eligible for the bonus.
- Direct deposit must be from source other than income tax return.
- Minimum opening deposit of $20.00 for Rewards checking and $100.00 for Rewards Plus Checking.
- The 20,000 points will be credited to your account within 30 days of the date the last requirement is met.
- See Vantage West Rewards Terms and Conditions for details and restrictions of the program
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Early Account Termination Fee
Account must be kept open for six months, otherwise bonus will be deducted.
Premium Rewards Checking
This account has a $12 monthly fee. This is waived if you do any of the following:
- minimum daily balance of $3,000, or
- combined average daily balance in all deposit accounts of $10,000 or
- monthly net direct deposit of $750
Rewards Checking
This is the easiest account to keep fee free. It has a $5 monthly fee. This is waived if you do any of the following:
Have an average daily balance of $1000 or moreComplete 10 or more credit and/or debit card transactions in a monthIf you have a first mortgage loan with Vantage West
Our Verdict
You might be familiar with this credit union as they also offer a credit card with 5% categories. Overall this is worth doing as it’s a soft pull and there is a nice $2,000 in credit card funding. We will add this to the best bank account bonuses.
Big thanks to reader, Spartan24 who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.
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
Cannot open in-branch if OOS, they require an AZ address w/ proof (such as a utility bill).
Bonus given about 10 days after required deposit (Wells Fargo for me)
Thanks DoC and all posters!
Thank you for posting, I tried this approach. It hasn’t been 10 days yet but where do I confirm that the bonus posted. I don’t have their credit card. Will it just be on the running statement or somewhere else?
I found the rewards. I used paypal first so not sure if Wells works or not but it did code as income in Mint.
This bank showed up on my wife’s ChexSystem report from last month (July 2020)
Opened new account and funded with BOA premium rewards card and counted as a purchase.
It appears that this bank is NOT churnable. I just received this message from CS:
“Thank you for your patience while we researched your request. Upon review of your past Memberships, we have identified that you have received two other promotional bonuses from Vantage West prior to closing the accounts. We will not honor any additional promotions of this kind on your existing or future accounts.”
The two referred to bonuses were:
11/30/2018 – personal rewards checking
5/27/2019 – select business checking
While filling in the online application, there was a box asking for the Promotion Code. A customer rep told me to leave it blank since there is no code for this promotion. I hope he is right.
Any one know what is the format of the account number or how to find it? When I click Account Details the number shows xxxxxxx**xx. I’ve never seen ** in a account number before
If you have just created an account that’s the account number you will see. Your ACH accout number will be different and generate after a few days.
Thank you!
I had the same problem. The CSR told me that the ACH account number would appear after my funds cleared ($25 credit card funding). I opened online on 8/2 and he said funds would clear on 8/10. Seems slow. No other bank i’ve dealt with was like this. I actually thought I had real account numbers and tried to set up an external transfer at Wells Fargo. The trial deposits failed.
Got the same message at the part of generating security questions to verify identity:
Either your identity or other personal information could not be verified, certain application criteria has not been met, or the application has expired.
Although I’m out of AZ, I’m prompted eligible for Premium Rewards Checking…
On the first Eligibility step after the checks, it said I do not qualify for the offer but am offered “Regular share” instead. It seems kind of odd–there isn’t much information. I assume that this is a no-go then but wanted to check if anyone else ran into this?
2020-06-16 APPLIED for Checking and Credit card and got DENIED. Called customer service and they said because of all the Covid-19 scams they are not going outside of their geographic coverage area at this time.
BUMMER I was hoping to get that credit card because it has 5% cash back on utilities category that you can select. That’s been a hard category to find in 5%.
DATA POINT:::: They did a Soft and HARD CREDIT REPORT PULL which sucks, especially since I got denied.
———————————————
Dear Ki,
Thank you for your interest in Vantage West Credit Union.
Please be advised that at this time, we are unable to open the account you applied for, and/or add your name as an owner/signer on the account.
Either your identity or other personal information could not be verified, certain application criteria has not been met, or the application has expired.
If you would like to pursue your application, please visit one of our branches or contact us so we can assist you. We welcome the opportunity to serve you.
Sincerely,
Vantage West Credit Union
*Corrected
Thanks. I appreciate that suggestion. I’ll give them a try though they did deny me for a checking because they said I owed $100+ in fees for a checking account I asked them to close some years ago that the didn’t but then eventually after they ran it up in fees