Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $300
- Availability:Â Full list of eligibility can be found here.
- Direct deposit required:Â No
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Up to $5,000
- Monthly fees:Â None
- Early account termination fee: $15, six months
- Household limit:Â None listed
- Expiration date:Â None listed
Contents
The Offer
- University Credit Union is offering a $300 bonus. Broken down as follows:
- Earn $100 when you open a new University Checking Account. New account must be opened with a .edu email address to qualify.
- Earn $100 more for enrolling in digital banking.
- Earn $100 more for making 10 transactions with your UCU debit card in the first 90 days after account opening.
The Fine Print
- Effective January 1, 2024, qualifying members will earn $100 when they open a University Checking Account with a minimum of $50 deposit.
- Member will earn additional $100 for enrolling in digital banking. Within 90 days after account opening, member must make 10 qualifying transactions with their debit card to receive the final $100 bonus.
- Checking account must be open to qualify for the digital banking and card usage bonuses.
- All qualifying bonus payments will post to the checking account 91 days after account opening.
- Offer only valid for new accounts opened by students with a .edu email address.
- Account must remain open and in good standing for 90 days to receive bonus payments. Bonuses may be subject to IRS reporting; consult with your tax advisor.
- Account opening promotion is subject to end or change at any time and is not valid with any other offers. Membership terms and conditions apply.
- To establish a UCU Membership, you must deposit at least $5 to a Regular (Share) Savings Account. All accounts are subject to approval.
- 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
According to the fee schedule there is a $15 fee if closed within six months of account opening
Our Verdict
Good deal even if it turns out to be a hard pull as the requirements are easy to meet. Could see this one being pulled early and we will add it to our best bank bonus page.
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
Purchased the special 5 month certificate back when this bonus was first announced. My original CD matured on 6/30, but looks like it’s now been rolled over into a new 6 month CD at the publicly available 1.687% rate. Thought this was supposed to automatically redeem for cash, but guess not. Anyone aware how to cash out?
Found the terms here. https://www.ucu.org/Join/Helpful-Information/Truth-in-Savings-Disclosures
“d. Renewal Policy.
Certificate accounts are automatically renewable accounts. Automatically renewable accounts will renew for another term upon maturity. You have a grace period of ten days after maturity in which to withdraw funds in the account without being charged an early withdrawal penalty.”
Seems pretty shady. Automatically renews with 10 day grace period to withdraw.
A lot of banks do this for their CDs as they want to hold onto your cash for as long as possible. You need to explicitly tell them to close the account during the grace period.
Ex. Securityplus requires a form to be submitted, and won’t process the request until the day of maturity.
Good to know. Thanks!
Called in to redeem CD. Pretty straightforward process. Was also offered a retention CD rate of 5.25% or so.
Anyone know if you can fund this with a US Bank business card and if so did you set the cash advance to zero first?
Alternatively, I am also wondering about funding with a WF bus. card?
DP
2/2: Applied online with a .edu email and transcript but not enrolled in one of the listed universities. I received an email about donating to the UCLA hospital for $5. I sent the receipt via email, and it was approved within 3 hours.
2/5: Opened account with Fidelity 2% Visa. Coded as a purchase.
2/1x: Funded an additional $3.5k from a Chase Ink Unlimited. Coded as a purchase.
2/2x: Completed debit transactions by reloading Cash App
5/19: Sent a secure message about the bonus with my current transcript attached.
5/23: SM was answered and “$300 STUDENT BONUS” posted the same day!
I also applied for their scholarship but was completely ghosted after the “submission confirmed” email. Overall great churn for the CC funding alone! I’ll keep this open for 6 months.
2/9 account opened
5/22 called for manual payout, $300 posted same day
Has anyone tried closing the account right after receiving the bonus? Should I keep $25 in the account when trying to close to account for the early account closure fee?
Let us how it goes if you close your account.
I was able to close my account over a secure message. I assume the new fee schedule hadn’t come into effect yet for my account, as the rep said it would only be $15 for closing within 6 months. I left $25 in my account but no longer have account access, so I guess I’ll see if I get the remaining $10 in the mail.
I think I will keep my account for a few more months before closing to avoid the fee.
any non-students/graduated students get the bonus?
You would have to be very lucky.
I believe they do a manual check on each person for the bonus.
I ended up getting all 300 and never donated and not a real student. Used my old college email.
I never got that email that UCU sent to a lot of people about graduates not being eligible. still holding out.
did you get that email?
I did get an email saying that i was not eligible but still got the 300 bucks
1/31 account open
When the email rolled around, sent back proof of student
4/30 rolled around, no bonus
5/2 – Called in and got it manually paid out. 300$
What proof did they need
I sent student ID and transcript. That worked. I was in a non in-network university.
Did they ask for proof again on 5/2?
No I followed up with them and had to call to get it manually paid out. Apparently the auto system didn’t work.
Nope, read other comments, sorry for late response:)
I was told the $300 bonus would be declined to any NON Student, even if they were approved with a .edu email
Was this requirement of being a UCLA student mentioned at all as a requirement in the terms?
1/30 account opened and completed all 3 requirements.
Still no bonus…
1/30 – Account opened online (as current student)
(Completed all requirements)
5/1 – 3X$100 bonus posted