[Expired] First Tech Federal Credit Union $100 Referral Bonus For Both Parties

Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.

Update 9/15/21: Deal is back and valid 12/31/21. Hat tip to reader Pascal. Looks like it’s only for select employee groups. Select Employer Groups (‘SEGs’): Agilent, Amazon, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cisco, DocuSign Inc., Google, HCL America, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Intel, Keysight Technologies, Lam Research, Levi Strauss & Co., Medtronic, Micron, Micron Laser Technology, Microsoft, MindTree Consulting Limited, Nike, OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University), Oracle, Pegasystems, Inc., Salesforce, State of Oregon, Tableau Software, Inc., Tata Consultancy Services Limited, Tech Mahindra, Tektronix, Twitter, Valve Corporation, Vulcan, Inc.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $100
• Availability: Nationwide (with an $8 membership to the Financial Fitness Association); [ChurningExperiences notes that First Tech may automatically reimburse you for the $8 membership]
• Direct deposit required: No
• Deposit required: Yes, $250+
• Additional requirements: Use referral
• Hard/soft pull: Soft in my experience and recent DPs (an older Hard DP exists)
• ChexSystems: Positive DPs, Some Sensitivity (but maybe not)
• Credit card funding: None
• Monthly fees: None
• Early account termination fee: Unknown
• Household limit: None listed
• Expiration date: December 31st, 2020
• Insured: NCUA

The Offer

Direct link to offer [referrals can be shared in this linked post]

• First Tech Credit Union is offering a bonus of $100 to both parties (plus $100 to charity) when a new member is referred and completes the following requirements:
  • Opens a qualifying checking account (Carefree Checking, First Checking Plus, or Dividend Rewards Checking)
  • Deposits at least $250 into the account within 30 days of opening and maintains at least a $250 balance for 30 days from initial deposit

The Fine Print

• Offer valid for new members and accounts opened at firsttechfed.com.
• Must be at least 18 years old to participate in the offer.
• Available on personal accounts only.
• First Tech employees are ineligible.
• All accounts must remain open, and in good standing, as defined in the Limitation and Termination of Services section in the Membership and Account Agreement, on day of payout.
• First Tech will deposit the rewards into the Membership Savings Accounts of both parties within 30 days of the referred member meeting requirements.
• Referring members:
  • (1) Will receive one $100 reward per qualified, new member up to an annual referral bonus total of $1,000.
  • (2) Must be members for at least 30 days before being eligible to refer new members and receive rewards.
  • For referring members, reward amounts may be reported on IRS form 1099-MISC
• Referred members:
  • (1) To qualify for the $100 reward, must establish membership and open a checking account. Account opening subject to approval.
    • Qualifying Checking Accounts: Carefree Checking 0.00% APY (Annual Percentage Yield); First Checking Plus 0.05% APY; Dividend Rewards Checking (DRC) 1.25% Qualified APY on the first $10,000 and 0.10% APY on remaining balance; DRC Non-Qualified 0.05% APY on all balances.
    • Opening a Membership Savings Account with a deposit of $5.00 is required prior to opening any other type of accounts. Membership Savings has a 0.05% APY. Rates subject to change at any time.
  • (2) Within 30 days of checking account opening, must deposit at least $250 in new funds into their First Tech checking account and maintain an average daily balance of at least $250 for 30 days from initial deposit. New funds must be deposited from a source outside First Tech. Transfers between First Tech accounts will not qualify.
  • (3) Limited to one $100 reward and not available in combination with other new member offers.
  • For referred members, the reward is considered interest and may be reported on IRS form 1099-INT.
• Charity Donation: First Tech will donate $100 per referred membership to a local charity based on the referring member’s address on file. Selected charities are Mary’s Place (Washington), Free Geek (Oregon), Valley Verde (California), and Feeding America (All other states). Maximum combined donation up to $100,000 for referred memberships opened through 12.31.2020. Donations will be paid at the end of each quarter and all tax receipting will go to First Tech Federal Credit Union. See refer.firsttechfed.com/donationtracker for donation updates.

Avoiding Fees

• I believe none of the checking accounts options has a monthly fee.
• Ben also notes that no early termination fee appears on the fee schedule

Our Verdict

A $100 to open a checking account appears to be First Tech’s standard offer (#1, #2).  Though they have offered some larger, tiered, location specific bonuses in the past.  This deal might be a little better than past offers given that the requirements to earn the bonus are quite reasonable and there’s value on the referral side too.

First Tech in my experience offers a nice banking product [and even a good rate for kids savings accounts].

Feel free to share your referrals in this linked post, [with the warning that not all credit unions are keen on the posting of links, so probably safest to receive a private referral if possible].

All the Best!

Hat tip to Gadget