[CA] Frontwave Credit Union $200 Checking Bonus

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount:$200
  • Availability:Must  Live, work or worship in either San Diego, Riverside or San Bernardino counties
  • Direct deposit required: Yes, $250+ within 60 days
  • Additional requirements: See below
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
  • ChexSystems: Unknown
  • Credit card funding: None/cash advance in branch
  • Monthly fees: None
  • Early account termination fee: Six months, bonus forfeit
  • Household limit: None
  • Expiration date: 9/30/24

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Frontwave Credit Union is offering a $200 bonus when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
    • Use promo code NEW200
    • Deposit a minimum of $100 into Checking and deposit a minimum of $5 into Savings at account opening
    • Sign up for eStatements within the first 60 days of account opening
    • Conduct a minimum of 30 VISA debit card transactions within the first 60 days of account opening
    • Have one or more direct deposit(s)/ACH(s) or other deposits totaling a minimum of $1,000 must be made into new Savings or Checking account within 60 days of account opening

The Fine Print

  • To receive $200 checking bonus, members must meet the following requirements: 1) Open a new Frontwave Primary Checking account with a VISA debit card and Savings account; 2) Deposit a minimum of $100 into Checking and deposit a minimum of $5 into Savings at account opening; 3) Sign up for eStatements within the first 60 days of account opening; 4) Conduct a minimum of 30 VISA debit card transactions within the first 60 days of account opening; and 5) Have one or more direct deposit(s)/ACH(s) or other deposits totaling a minimum of $1,000 must be made into new Savings or Checking account within 60 days of account opening. After all requirements are met, the $200 checking bonus will be deposited into the Savings account as a dividend adjustment within 120 days of account opening.
  • To receive a $50 loan bonus, members must meet all requirements above and fund an auto or a credit card loan within 60 days of the Checking and Savings account opening.
  • After funding, the $50 loan bonus will be deposited into the Savings account as a dividend within 120 days of account opening
  • . All bonuses are subject to tax reporting.
  • Limit one $200 checking bonus and one $50 loan bonus per unique Social Security Number per 12-month period. Refer a Friend To receive the $100 referral reward, the referring member must have an existing Frontwave account in good standing.
  • The referral reward will be deposited into the referrer’s account once the new member opens a Checking and Savings account on the same day.
  • Rewards subject to tax reporting.
  • Offers valid for new deposit accounts, loans, and referral accounts opened between 7/1/24 and 9/30/24.
  • Reward not available to Frontwave employees.
  • Limited time offer: program subject to change without notice.
  • Membership and credit subject to credit approval. Other restrictions may apply, see the website for more details.
  • 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 the account is closed within six months the bonus is forfeit

Our Verdict

Previous best bonus was $100. You can open online now as well which is nice.

Hat tip to John C

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On September 9, 2024, 12:00
Tags: ca bank bonusesdirect deposit requiredno credit card fundingsoft pull

View Comments (23)

  • Can someone please send a referral link to yimincuiuc AT gmail.com as a relative for the $100 referral? Thanks

  • Wondering if anyone has opened online and can tell me how extensive their ID verification was? Did it require a selfie or could you just upload a drivers license… Determines if I do it for P2 or not? (I would open mine in-branch)

  • I signed up today and was approved. They did have to override chex. I deposited $100 into checking and savings (min $15 for checking and $5 for savings). Frontwave has a coin machine that gets deposited into your checking or savings (no wrappers or fees).

  • I called Frontwave and they indicated that they are NOT currently offering a $200 promotion for opening a new checking/savings account. The only active promotion is $100 for referral. I gave them the web address for the DOC link.

    Frontwave called me back 2 minutes later to inform me that this link was not created by the credit union and appears to be a fraudulent phishing website.

    Per customer support - DO NOT login or provide your information to:

    https://member.frontwavecu.com/new-member-ad

    • I talked to them today when opening the account and they added the promo code so the deal is definitely legit. Good customer service.

    • Don't expect CSRs to know anything about technology. They make stuff up if they don't know what's going on.

      It's just a subdomain of their website. It's 100% an official part of their website unless their domain registrar was hacked but then every page on their website would be compromised.

      • The customer representative told me that [https://member.frontwavecu.com/new-member-ad] is not a legitimate website and should not be used. She indicated that all bonuses etc. are available only through the Frontwave websites with the address that starts as http://www.frontwavecu.com.

        I should note that when I click on the "Apply now" button on https://member.frontwavecu.com/new-member-ad, it does appear to take me to the membership application page on http://www.frontwavecu.com.

        I do not know for certain if the customer service representative is providing accurate information. It was of sufficient concern to cause Frontwave to call me back, unsolicited, to tell me that the Doc-linked website is fraudulent after I made them aware of this site.

        To all interested in this bonus, I would simply recommend they call Frontwave on the phone to verify the bonus and the website where it is posted before using this link.

        • the biggest negative about frontwave is their customer service, so i'm not surprised they are giving misinformation out like this. anytime i made the mistake of going in person for an issue, the reps there are so unprofessional - it is so uncomfortable getting aggressively hit on nonstop by someone holding your account info/address/phone # who refuses to take no for an answer and is begging you to date him. legit the worst customer service i've experienced in a looong time. not surprised they think a subdomain is a different website. yeesh

        • Well they are just saying they have a phishing ad on their website, doesn't make any sense for it to still be there. I assume they misunderstood you

          • It is possible this is miscommunication or the CSR is just not aware that this bonus is being offered.

            I spelled out the website address to the CSR on the phone. When they called me back, I asked if they were able to access the website I mentioned, and she said yes, they saw it and it is not legitimate.

            Perhaps the Doc-linked website is fine, perhaps not. Again, I would just advise all to call Frontwave to confirm the bonus and the website.

            I have been a Doc fan and user for several years. Never had any issues with provided links before, but when the credit union contacts you about potential fraud, it would not hurt to double-check that this is safe.

          • "I do not know for certain if the customer service representative is providing accurate information. "

            Clearly, they're not. This CSR has no clue how websites work. I'm guessing that she's thinking that "member.frontwavecu" is the actual domain. 🤦‍♂️ Domains don't have periods in them. "member" is a subdomain that I'm sure they set up. The sad part is that it sounds like she talked to another clueless coworker who supported her theory. 

            I guess technically, someone could have hacked the bank's site and set up a page to lure ppl in. But, wouldn't the bank just take the page down and/or warn all members that the site is compromised?

    • No, usually we do the 'only' for 'in branch only' but may have used it in differently in the past.

    • oos I had my socal based son open an acct and pull me in. Unfortunately my 6% 18 mo cd matures tomorrow. sad.

    • No, not necessarily. One clue is look at past DoC posts... and those pages only having 30-something comments. That's a bad sign.

      Then, look at the website for the credit union and do some homework. https://www.frontwavecu.com/Our-Mission/Benefits/Membership

      This one says live/work specific counties in CA, or immediate family members of a current member, as the only options for eligibility. So, unless you have a family member who has an account there to vouch for you, it's unlikely you are getting a membership at this one.

      Unless there is some hidden eligibility on the actual application, I wouldn't bother.

  • It's a bummer that Frontwave takes so long to pay out the bonus since the churn language seems to be based on bonus payout date. However, the wording ("Limit one $200 checking bonus and one $50 loan bonus per unique Social Security Number per 12-month period") seems to have some technicality loopholes:

    If I got the bonus lets say ~10 months ago, can I sign up for the promo account now since the next bonus payout will likely be after the 12 month mark?The last bonus (for me) was the $100 checking bonus. Seems like we could still get this $200 checking bonus for the first time.
    Can we get our legalese technicality expert Ricki on the case?

  • Good bonus. There is a branch in Barstow where I live. I think I remember there being a hard pull to open an account there. We'll find out.

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