Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $350
- Availability:
- Have an immediate family member who is a Kinecta member, or
- Share a household with someone who is a Kinecta member, or
- Work at, attend school at, or are a retiree of any of our Select Employer Group organizations, or
- Are a member of one of our Associational Group organizations, or
- Live, work or attend school in select zip codes in California, Texas, Illinois, and New York (Not all zip codes apply.)
- If you don’t qualify in these ways, you can qualify by joining Innovision Society for a one-time $10 fee, which Kinecta will cover.
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: Avoidable
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: None listed
Contents
The Offer
- Kinecta Credit Union is offering a $350 bonus when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Receive direct deposit(s) totaling $500 or more within 60 days of account opening.
- Maintain an average daily balance for the first 90 days after account opening:
- $5,000 to qualify for a $350 bonus
- $1,000 to qualify for a $100 bonus
- Complete 15 debit card transactions per 30 days for the first 90 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- Earn a bonus by (1) opening a new personal checking account; (2) receiving direct deposit(s) totaling $500 or more in the new checking account within 60 days of account opening. Direct deposit(s) are ACH deposits; (3) maintaining either a $5,000 average daily balance in checking for the first 90 days of account opening to earn $350 or a $1,000 average daily balance in checking for the first 90 days of account opening to earn $100; (4) completing 15 debit card transactions per 30 days for the first 90 days of account opening.
- Qualified transactions do not include adjustments, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, and fees of any kind.
- Offer not valid for members with an existing checking account or a Kinecta checking account closed within 90 days of new checking account opening.
- Your bonus will be paid within 30 days of meeting all qualifications described above.
- Account must be in good standing to receive bonus.
- One bonus per member.
- Cannot be combined with other offers.
- Limited time offer subject to change without notice.
- Bonus may be subject to IRS reporting.
- Member may receive a 1099 Form from Kinecta for the bonus.
- Member is solely responsible for the payment of any applicable taxes. Please consult your tax professional.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
No monthly service fee in any month if either of the following conditions are met: 1) $2,500 average monthly balance; or 2) direct deposits totaling $500.00 or more.
Early Account Termination Fee
Unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not.
Our Verdict
I’ve marked this as specific states as last time it didn’t seem like working out of state actually worked, but as always you’re welcome to give it a go and see how it goes. The bonus itself is better than last time and worth doing if you’re eligible.
Hat tip to ShawntheShawn
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
Churn and fake DD direct deposit DP:
2022/12/19: Opened
2023/01/31: Bonus
2023/03/31: Closed
2024/12/07: Opened in branch
2024/12/09: Transferred in money to bring balance to $5300 (wanted to account for a couple of days of zero balance in their 90 day $5000 daily average balance calculation)
2024/12/27-2025/01/01: 15 $1 reloads of Pirate Ship balance
2025/01/09-2025/01/30: 15 $1 reloads of Pirate Ship balance
2025/01/28: Wise $500 push with “PAYROLL” as description came in as WISE US INC TYPE: PAYROLL ID: XXXX CO: WISE US INC ACH ECC PPD ACH Trace XXX Salary/Regular Income from Wise.com Paychecks/salary $4.18 fee to send
2025/02/09-2025/02/26: 15 $1 reloads of Pirate Ship balance
2025/03/07: Deposit $350 checking bonus
No monthly fees so far, so I plan on withdrawing and closing before the end of the month. Account had lock up issues (like last time) when I made a large push into the account.
Is this offer still on? I don’t see anything when I click the direct offer link.
Successful DP:
11/13/24 Applied online (work in covered zip code).
11/14/24 Account opened following manual review; deposited $5,050 by check at shared CU branch.
Early December: 15 debit transactions completed at supermarket self-checkout.
12/20/24 $500 real DD.
Late December: 15 debit transactions completed at supermarket self-checkout.
12/30/24 $500 real DD (forgot to cancel).
Late January: 15 debit transactions completed at supermarket self-checkout.
2/12/25 $350 bonus posted (at exactly 90 days).
2/13/25 Zeroed out account.
Account is fee-free for the rest of February due to forced conversion to ProtectPlus. There does not seem to be a early account closure fee, so will probably close in March. Alternatively, may keep open for a bit since Classic Checking (to which account will revert in March) is relatively easy to keep fee-free with one $250 mobile check deposit per month. https://www.kinecta.org/getmedia/cb957cf8-9492-48f8-a90e-66d1532554f9/Consumer-Schedule-of-Fees.pdf
Additional DP: Kinecta is like Chase and Huntington in the sense that ACH transactions initiated on their side are best avoided. Attempted to push out of Kinecta to an external account and transaction got flagged. Spent hours on the phone to get the fraud flag removed. Save yourself the hassle; pull from your external account to do withdrawals.
That’s interesting that you mentioned Chase. I saw someone else also mention having an issue with transferring out of Chase. I’ve probably initiated transfers on Chase’s site from Chase to my external accounts 100+ times over the years and never had an issue.
P3 experienced this firsthand. All of her ACH pushes would get stopped, even to linked external accounts that she had verified multiple times. She finally gave up and closed her Chase account, as it had become unusable.
No, my accounts are fairly new. I recently got the final $600 of the $900 bonus.
To be clear, when I wrote “100+ times over the years”, I was referring to the totality of transfers using many different Chase Checking & Savings accounts.
I have churned the offer numerous times. You and I have conversed many times on here so I am sure that you aren’t surprised by that. 😉
Did anyone’s checking account get changed to ProtectPlus? That has a monthly fee. I don’t think I authorized anyone to do this. I messaged them to change it back.
Yes, I just logged in and noticed my account suddenly has a new title, PROTECTPLUS. I didn’t request this, either. Below, on their webpage for this new account: https://www.kinecta.org/protectplus
“To take full advantage of all the benefits and features, be sure to complete your registration in Kinecta’s digital banking or the mobile app, beginning Saturday, February 1, 2025. (Trust accounts: Visit protectplus.kinecta.org and enter the Access Code provided in your notification letter.) You’ll receive one month of complimentary access to your ProtectPlus benefits. A low monthly fee of $9.95 will be first billed on March 31, 2025, which can be waived by maintaining a $10,000 average monthly balance in your ProtectPlus account.”
I’m really curious how they’re going to respond to you; I hope this is a simple switch back.
As per your request the checking account has been queued to convert to a Classic Checking account as of 03/01. The reason why the account cannot be changed today is because the benefit of ProtectPlus cannot be prorated. Please note that Kinecta is waiving the first month’s fee for all members that were converted to ProtectPlus so you will not be charged. During this time if you would like you can take advantage of the ProtectPlus benefits. If at any point in the future you decide you would want to take advantage of ProtectPlus checking account, please let us know.
Pretty sleazy move on the part of this CU. I was toying with the idea of keeping the account open after getting the bonus — but not anymore.
Guys Please suggest, what count as Direct deposit other then Real DD ?
Wise worked for me it as codes as Trancation categories: Paychecks/salary .
Is this offer still available? I can no longer find the offer terms at the “Direct link to offer”.
Also seems dead to me
Now we have a chance to get a better deal than the last one.
Is this offer still available? I can’t find the offer terms at the “Direct link to offer”.
Never mind. The big print of the offer is gone, but the fine print is still at the bottom of the webpage.
Approved in CA branch with my ID address. Banker asked about why so many accounts and I say I’m just trying to find high rates because they’re dropping. The $10 Innovision deposit was covered by Kinecta. No mention of my previous account. Funded $1
Had you tried online and been declined for Chex before this?
yes
Some DPs:
Approval: Applied online, approved after manual review with the following Chex: 1/1, 1/3, 3/6, 6/12. Eligibility based on working in a listed zip code.
Funding: offered a chance to fund with a credit or debit card online after approval. Tried funding $5,005 with CIP, but transaction would not go through, presumably because it was coding as a cash advance and my CIP has a $100 cash advance limit. Did not try any other credit cards because did not want to accidentally end up with a cash advance. Attempted funding with debit card for $5,005; also did not go through with error message that attempted transaction was over my debit card’s limit. Finally ended up doing $10 by debit card and then the rest by paper check through shared branching at a CU down the street.
Second DP:
P2 approved instantly with the following Chex numbers: 1/1, 1/3, 2/6, 5/12. Eligibility based on P1 being a member.
Still could not get credit card funding to work, although now it appears that this is not because it is coding as a cash advance, but because the CC funding limit is low. Tried in steps from $5200 to $900. After each step, message popped up that attempt was over the limit. After six attempts, process errored out and I had to fund by paper check at shared branching CU. So CC funding may be possible, but the limit is N<$900.
A number of zip codes have been eliminated, including all but one of the ones that would have qualified me for membership.
However, a rep on the phone assured me that, for opening in branch, it is not necessary to live, work etc. in one of these zip codes. I will find out tomorrow whether this is actually the case. Possibly makes sense, as the list does not include either the zip code of the branch I am going to, or the next zip code over (where I work).