Update 2/24/25: Bonus now $620.
Extended till 1/31/25. Doesn’t require opening in branch this time.
Extended till 12/31/24
Update 11/3/24: New $500 bonus, valid until 11/30/24. Hat tip to HW
Update 11/11/23: new $250/$500 bonus. Requires a $2,500/$5,000 monthly direct deposit.
Update 5/24/23: Looks like there is another $250 bonus for adding a direct deposit for existing users.
Update 6/26/22: Deal is back, there has been a $200/$200 bonus in the past. Hat tip to alopez14
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $100
- Availability: Must open account in branch, all branches are located in Palo Alto or Stanford. Branch locator here
- Direct deposit required: $500+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- Credit card funding: Unknown, but unlikely given it requires in branch opening
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Account must be kept open for three months
- Expiration date:
December 31st, 2015December 31st, 2017December 31st, 2019
The Offer
- Receive a sign up bonus of $100 when you open a personal checking account with Stanford Federal Credit Union and do the following:
- NEW500
- Establish a monthly recurring direct deposit of at least $2,500 to your new checking account
Coupon code is generic: segck100su. You can generate your own official coupon by going to the Special Offers tab and entering your name/email.
The Fine Print
- Valid through 12/31/18.
- First direct deposit must be received within 60 days of account opening
- $5 minimum required to open account
- Offer does not apply to second or multiple checking accounts and/or existing checking members and is limited to one bonus per household
- Bonus $100 will be credited to your account within 30 days after satisfaction of conditions
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
There is no early account termination fee, but you must keep the account open for a minimum of three months according to the fine print. Their basic checking account has no monthly fees or monthly minimums.
Joining
While the Stanford Federal Credit Union is usually for employer groups in the Stanford area, anybody can actually join. If you join the Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL) or Museum of American Heritage (MOAH), then you’re eligible. When you set up your account in branch, they will even pay the membership fees for you.
Our Verdict
This is a decent promotion (given how easy it is to keep fees down), but unfortunately we don’t know if it’s a hard or soft pull and what counts as a direct deposit. The upside is that an in branch application is required, so you should be able to easily ask whether it’s a hard or soft pull. Because of these unknowns we haven’t added it to our best bank bonus page.
We have added it to our massive listing of all bank bonuses, which is easily sortable and searchable.
Signed up for account online with referral code found here on 2/24, went pending, manual review approved 2/25. Chex 0/24 2/36. Within footprint, not alumni.
Cashback offers showing as of today 2/26 (you need to activate these):
1) $500 – 3 consecutive months of $2,500 DD
2) $5 – Deposit a check with the mobile app
3) $10 – Send money through Zelle
4) $10 – Set up at least 1 alert in Digital Banking
5) $20 – Add an external account to transfer money
6) $20 – Open a new Certificate or Savings Account (minimum $1,000)
7) $25 – Enroll in e-statements on your account
8) $30 – Make 5+ credit and/or debit card purchases
Feel free to use my referral when signing up: F8T8S6X
Thank you Tom!
For listing out the “up to $620” that everyone was wondering about.
I did use your code, although I’m not instantly approved.
Did Stanford used to be a lot less Chex-sensitive at some point? The reason I ask is because there were so many people that seemed to come out of the woodwork to post their referral codes in the past week or so in the comments. That implies that all of those people were approved at some point!
Stanford, university, students, viral. Get it.
I am beginning to see enquiries from other credit bureaus being reflected on ChexSystems now. I don’t understand why banks have to add a ChexSystems enquiry for every new account/CD you open with them once you have already established a relationship with them. Here is an example that I see on my latest report from ChexSystems:
“Public record information on file at Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions was utilized for this inquiry. Should you wish to request your file disclosure from Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions you may contact them at: LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Center, P.O. Box 105108, Atlanta, GA 30348-5108, Phone number: 1-866-897-8126”
I also agree with a complete ??? on what you need to do to earn UP TO $620. It appears that once you open a new checking account, you can login and access their Cashback+ offers which will show different tasks you can do to earn UP TO $620. The offers can change/disappear at any time. ‘UP TO’ $620 could be $0 to $620, and you won’t know what is available until AFTER you open the checking account and login to see your Cashback+ offers. No where does it say there’s a $500 new account opening bonus, or list any solid dollar amount as a bonus for doing something, before applying. It seems really risky.
From the small print (which doesn’t say much):
Open a Stanford FCU Everyday, Premier or High Yield Spending account beginning 2/20/25, activate the Cashback+ offers in Digital Banking, then complete each task within your new member period to earn the assigned reward in your choice of cash or gift cards. Tasks and rewards are subject to change without notice. Offer is not available to existing members and will be limited to one reward per task per household. The rewards will be credited to your Cashback+ wallet within 35 days from satisfaction of the requirements. The 3-month new member period begins on the first day of the month following your account open date.
Offer does not apply to second or multiple spending accounts and/or existing members with spending accounts, and will be limited to one bonus per household. The spending account must remain open a minimum of three months. Any taxes due on the bonus deposit are the sole responsibility of the recipient. Stanford FCU will report the bonus deposits to the appropriate state and federal agencies, as required by applicable law. This offer is not valid with any other Stanford FCU promotional offer, and is subject to change without notice. Membership eligibility required.
Sorry if this is mentioned somewhere in the comments, but I don’t think it was. What do you actually have to do to get the $620 bonus? The bonus website is entirely unclear on this, isn’t it? Ive been in this game a long time and I can’t ever recall seeing a bonus, especially this high, where the terms do not appear to be explained anywhere on the website.
Does anyone know if Wise Direct Dep still works? Would it work for SFCU?
11/3 – Submitted application online, in footprint
11/6 – Received secure message requesting proof of address
11/7 – Account opened with $5000 funding via Citi DC posted (coded as purchase)
12/3 – Real DD $1500
12/19 – Real DD $1500
1/3 – Real DD $1500
1/16 – Real DD $1500
2/5 – Real DD $1500
2/20 – Real DD $1500
2/24 – $500 bonus posted
I know many are looking for Chex stats, but I was unable to register for an account. If you found this helpful anyway, please consider using my promo code F1J0B1U for the new $620 bonus.
Wait the account allows credit card funding up to $5k? That’s good deal!!
Denied, in footprint, not alumni, Chex 0/1, 0/3, 1/6, 1/12, 11/24
With impeccable stats like that, you were probably better off trying for this bonus instead: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ca-sf-fire-credit-union-300-checking-bonus/.
Probably not because now you have 1/1 & 1/3, which may rule you out. What’s your Chex Score? Mine was < 700 so I probably never had a chance! 🙁
score at 701. probably will save myself an inquiry and skip sf-fire
Sunward denied me with a 819 Feb 6!
How do you obtain such information from your chex report? I got my ews report. Is that the same thing?
Only footprint was a requirement when I opened five years ago. I still have this account as I wasnt sure if its churnable. But they have cashback in GCs like pepper, that often have sales during holidays. Other than that they also target existing members for DD bonuses once in a while. If you need a referal code, click on my name and it would have referal code listed for Stanford CU.
We are sorry but your application has been denied.
If you have any questions please contact us.
[oos]
You probably had a .0001% chance of getting approved but I give you credit for your persistence!
However, many of the referral comments are from 1 comment people, which means that either he or
Chuck allowed those comments to be posted!
Only they can answer why they police certain posts (ie Laurel & Affinity) but not other posts (ie Stanford and KP).
Okay, that wouldn’t surprise me if he did that. What is your point though? I don’t see how that conflicts with anything that I wrote in my reply to
RM.
We approved the comments on the backend, I don’t remember every specific post that doesn’t allow referrals but a few that people constantly try to break the rules for I remember so those are generally policed. I’ll remove the ones in this thread now.
That’s understandable.
I have 1 suggestion that might help curb the shenanigans a little bit. What do you think about adding the “No Referrals in the Post” line to the general template where you have the “Do Not Call the Bank” link and other links?
That way, the default setting (which everyone could see) will be that referrals are not allowed unless you want to allow them.
It won’t do anything and I don’t want to keep cluttering that section as even less people will read it