Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- 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: Yes, or ACH deposit of $1,000+
- Additional requirements: See below
- 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: April 30, 2022
Contents
The Offer
- First Tech Federal Credit Union is offering a $300 bonus when you open a new checking account using the promo code FTRC2022 and complete the following requirements for four consecutive months (might only need to three months):
- 20 transactions (Any debit & credit card transactions with minimum monthly spend of $500)
- Monthly direct deposit/ ACH of $1,000+
- eStatement enrollment
The Fine Print
- Offer valid for new account openings and conversions from 02.01.2022 to 04.30.2022.
- Promotion available to First Tech members.
- First Tech Rewards Checking (“FTRC”) account may be a new account or converted from an existing First Tech checking account during the offer period. Participant cannot be the primary account owner on any FTRC account within the last twelve months.
- Participant is defined as 18 years of age or older and the primary account owner on the eligible accounts.
- New accounts must be personal accounts. Fiduciary, Trust, Business, Organization, or Health Savings Accounts are not eligible.
- First Tech employees are not eligible.
- For new members, Credit Union membership is established by opening a Membership Savings account, is required prior to opening any other type of account, and is subject to approval.
- The Participant may enroll in the promotion by entering promotion code FTRC2022 on a new account application or by speaking with a representative (“Enrollment”).
- Any qualifying bonus will be deposited to the Participant’s Membership Savings account within 150 calendar days of Enrollment.
- Membership must be in good standing (as defined in the First Tech Membership and Account Agreement and account disclosures) at the time of bonus payment.
- Bonuses will be considered dividends and may be reported on IRS form 1099-INT.
- Any inquiries or disputes must be received by 11.30.2022.
- 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
I wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not.
Our Verdict
Previous best bonus was a $100 referral link. This is an extra $100/$200 depending on how you do your referrals. This is definitely worth doing and we will add this to our list of the best checking bonuses.
Hat tip to reader Rob
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
I received an email yesterday saying “You’re off to a great start, and one step closer to earning your $300 cash bonus. Continue to post direct deposits² of $1,000 or more to your First Tech Rewards Checking account for the next 120 days, and you’ll get your bonus from First Tech.”
In the bonus tracked I only have transactions posting as ACH, not as DD as others have had. I assume one of my transactions counted, but I have no idea which one. I sent from: Sofi, Fidelity, Chase, Wise, and Ally.
I’d really rather not resend from all of these. Does anyone have any DPs from these banks to help confirm or rule out my options?
You might want to comment on the new First Tech page as this page is for the old offer. Both P2 and I used Wise for “DD” but only P2 received that same email so far. I’m betting I get that email on Monday.
Does anyone know what works to satisfy the debit requirements? Cashapp? I’d rather not actually spend $500 from this account.
Cash App worked for me before, just give it a try. The good thing is they have an online tracker in your account (Services–>Rewards Checking), so you can easily know what counts. Pepsi man
That’s really helpful to know, Shawn! Apparently, I have yet to enroll in e-statements and that’s a requirement for the bonus.
Any recent DP on direct deposit besides payroll? Thanks.
Is the Debit Card Spend mandatory to receive the bonus?
Can we just do the Monthly Direct Deposit to receive the $200?
Bhavin Patel nope, they’re distinct bonuses.
Does anyone have a screenshot of the original terms? [email protected]
https://web.archive.org/web/20220423130243/https://www.firsttechfed.com/bank/first-tech-rewards
Looks like the $300 offer ended (no longer mentioned) sometime after 4/23, and gone 4/27.
ugh, I applied a week or so ago & was declined (probably due to 1 ambiguous identity questions from 1996 & 1998 that I’ve never had before!) Finally got around to calling today & they said just reapply. Just realized it ended as I was about to start a 2nd app…..
I signed up in April and completed requirements for April, May, June, and July and still haven’t received the bonus. I mainly used cash app reloads with some Amazon GC reloads mixed in. With the knowledge that I shouldn’t contact the bank, at what point should I contact the bank? It’s been over 200 days since I enrolled in late March
JB Did you receive an email every month notifying you that you met the qualifications for your First Tech Rewards checking account? If so, then you should be eligible for the bonus. Were you checking your tracker every month, did you fulfill all your account requirements according to the tracker/widget?
I used Amazon and Cash App reloads for my debit card purchases and I received the bonus, and I had to contact them too to receive it. Just secure message them about it, and maybe even send in some screenshots of your monthly qualification emails if you have those. You shouldn’t have a problem contacting the bank over this bonus because they did not provide any exclusions for the debit card requirement in their terms.
Welp…I made the mistake of not actually checking the tracker every month…Half of my “ACH transactions” don’t seem to have counted, and they’re not budging via message. Debating how far to push it
They gave you the tools to monitor your account…. But if you really want to push it then you’re probably going to have to file an NCUA complaint.
I know, I know…It honestly didn’t occur to me that some ACH pulls/pushes might be “counted” by them and some might not, given that there were no other details besides “ACH transaction.” But that was an oversight on my part.
Thank you for the advice. Do you have any opinions on what kind of claim I’d have/if I *should* push it, or if that would be irresponsible in some way? Not sure what kind of legitimacy I have here
All you can do is state the facts. Promotion said XXX.,. You did XXX. You were told XXX didn’t count.
At this point you’ve already lost unless you push it. I don’t know all the details so I can’t say if it’s feasible or not but the answer is always no unless you ask. If you exhausted your complaints at the credit union, they’re only option is to take it up a level or forget about it.
Is there a reason you suggest NCUA rather than CFPB? First Tech’s on the most current list I’m finding of depository institutions under the CFPB’s jurisdiction (genuinely wondering)
In my experience when dealing with a credit union the first thing the cfpb says is they are forwarding it to the ncua. All you did was waste a week waiting for them to forward it. If you have new information that I’m not aware of so be it.
I do not. Thank you!
Was not aware of the tracker, this is helpful thanks
Which half did count? I can’t seem to get anything to register as DD
I can’t log in to look at what category they showed as, but from my old statements and vague memory I believe the micro transactions from my local CU showed as a direct deposit (they at least show as “ACH Deposit” on my statement), but actual transfers didn’t. Sorry that’s not helpful. I see other people were recommending Wise w/something in the memo field on the other post, which is a good suggestion that looks like it’s worked recently from a brief search.
Requested close via SM got email reply. I wasn’t a member for “years” just 5 months. And this is fully copied they mention a number but didn’t include it lol.
”
Thank you for your years of membership. Were sorry to know we will no longer be servicing your banking needs but understand and always want what is best for our members.
Please accept this message as confirmation we have closed out your membership with First Tech. You will no longer have access to the online banking portal. You can expect to receive a final check in the mail within 7 to 14 business days. Please note you will receive a final closing statement next month. If at any time you need to access statements or tax forms please kindly reach out to the number below and we will be glad to assist you.
If you need additional assistance, we are available to reply Monday through Friday from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday and Sunday from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM Pacific Time.
Sincerely,
eSupport Associate
”
I will update about if the check is whole or get charged ETF
SEG Confirmed Stacked! + $500
Enrolled in Bundle22 via email that was sent.
5-5 = 4.5K Deposit (A 3.5K Increase from 1K I was doing) via Brex (Confirmed SEG name didnt match Deposit)
5-6 = Left 2K additional monies in checking
6-8 = 4.5K Deposit (A 3.5K Increase from 1K I was doing)
7-8 = 4.5K Deposit (A 3.5K Increase from 1K I was doing)
8-19 = (SEG Bonus) $500 Bonus for a $3.5k DD increase
I don’t see the $100 for the 2K but i might of messed that up and didn’t leave enough bc I pull out the deposit but left exactly 2k more on 5-6. It would of depend on what my start balance was i suppose which probably was more than 1k so I should of left more in but the BIG bonus paid so I am happy.
Anyone else stack SEG Bonus with this? I am curious to see if the additional Balance Bonus was paid out along with the Deposit Increase?