Update 12/28/24: Deal is back but requires a $5,000 direct deposit now.
Update 6/18/24: Extended until August 31, 2024
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, $1,000+ per month for three months
- 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: None
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: June 30, 2024
Contents
The Offer
- First Tech Federal Credit Union is offering a bonus $300 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Set up a new payroll direct deposit to your First Tech Rewards Checking of $5,000+ per month for a minimum of three months
The Fine Print
- Offer valid for enrollment between February 26, 2024 and June 30, 2024 for members without an existing direct deposit.
- Members with existing direct deposits or who are already enrolled in a First Tech direct deposit campaign are not eligible.
- Participant is defined as 18 years of age or older and the primary account owner on a First Tech Rewards Checking (FTRC) account.
- Direct deposits are considered new if there has been no direct deposit activity in the Participant’s share accounts on which they are the Primary Owner within the previous 18 months.
- New Direct Deposit Offer: New direct deposit must occur at least on New Direct Deposit Offer: New direct deposit must occur at least once per calendar month from the Participant’s employer payroll into the First Tech Rewards Checking (FTRC) account of which the Participant is the primary account owner. Direct deposits from a non-employer payroll source do not qualify. The monthly aggregate amount of all qualifying direct deposits must equal to at least $1,000 to earn the $300 bonus. Enrollment is the date of the initial direct deposit transaction. During the period of time commencing with Enrollment and ending 120 calendar days after Enrollment (“Enrollment Period”), at least one direct deposit transaction must occur each calendar month starting with the initial direct deposit transaction. A minimum of three direct deposit transactions must be received during the Enrollment Period. (EXAMPLE: If a member’s initial direct deposit is March 1, 2024, additional required direct deposits must occur at least once in each subsequent calendar month following the month in which the initial direct deposit is made, the last direct deposit must be received by June 29, 2024.) Only the Participant will receive credit for the direct deposits. Any qualifying bonus will be deposited to the Participant’s Membership Savings account the first week following the Enrollment Period. Bonuses will be considered dividends and may be reported on IRS form 1099-INT.
- 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
No early account termination fee. They have a $5 inactivity fee after 6 months. Need to have transactions or more than $500 in deposits.
Our Verdict
Previously there was a $350 bonus, but this required $1,500 in spend in three categories to get $150 of the bonus. I think this flat $300 bonus is much better and worth doing and we will add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses.
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
Here are my data points:
I contacted First Tech Fed through secure message asking about the bonus and the rep said I needed to open the account and have the first direct deposit post by 8/31/24. Here are the terms that mention that:
“Offer valid for enrollment between February 26, 2024 and August 31, 2024 for members without an existing direct deposit.”
“Enrollment is the date of the initial direct deposit transaction. During the period of time commencing with Enrollment and ending 120 calendar days after Enrollment (“Enrollment Period”), at least one direct deposit transaction must occur each calendar month starting with the initial direct deposit transaction. A minimum of three direct deposit transactions must be received during the Enrollment Period.”
I assumed that as long as I opened the account before 8/31/24, I would have some amount of time to set up direct deposit, but that is not how the First Tech Fed set up the bonus. I transferred out all my funds and closed the checking and savings account today.
pretty cool (and very smart) that they don’t make you close and reopen the account to get the bonus.
8/26 – Account opened
9/11 EDI payment
10/11 EDI payment
11/11 EDI payment
11/20 $300 bonus
I opened the account today. My first direct deposit opportunity won’t be until 1/24 and won’t be $5,000. I have no way to do a full $5,000 this month.
Do I understand correctly that if I start a direct deposit on 1/24 of less than $5,000, that I just need to make sure I have at least combined direct deposits of $5,000 for February, March and April to meet the terms?
Yes, that is correct. However, it would be best to skip January entirely for your DD to minimize the chance that the system will mess up and award you a lower bonus amount since it is now tiered. Also, I would recommend having $5K in DDs in May also to be safe.
Thank you!
I just carefully read all the comments.. looks like Novo doesn’t work.. bummer. I’ve used Novo for like 99% of bank bonuses the last few years.
For Wise.. it looks like to send 5k has a $9 fee (according to the Wise calculator).. so $9×3 = $28 fee to get the $300 bonus. I think that’s worth it.
On the phone, I believe customer service at First Tech tried giving me the wrong info.. the staff was claiming that I also need to spend $1000 on the debit card per month to qualify.. but I think she was confused because looking at the web site it seems like the 1k spend is ONLY for the higher interest rate?
Also, you can push $$ into Wise and then set up payments from your Wise balance. Doing it that way only costs $1.13 per payment.
thanks for the optimism.. but as far as I know.. Novo has always had that? Or at least since I’ve had a Novo account for about 1.5 years
I see that Wise worked in the past from the datapoints
but wondering if anyone had success with Novo?
I always try to do Novo if possible since there are zero fees.
Just curious if anyone had success with Novo and First Tech?
Treasury Direct DOES NOT work. Went back and forth with them and they wouldn’t give me the bonus, I even filed a CFPB complaint and they replied to the complaint saying they wouldn’t give the bonus
P2 used only Wise w/ “payroll” in description and Treasury Direct this past summer with First Tech and received the bonus. So, at least one of them worked and IIRC Wise had a much lower batting average among reported DPs.
If Treasury Direct doesn’t work now, either, I can’t help but wonder if that’s because people have been ignoring rule #1 – don’t call/contact the bank if you’re not using “authentic” DD.
IMO this image should be embedded in every bank bonus post:
https://i.imgur.com/FgfKtc4.png
Not only is scott not following the “Don’t Call the Bank” rule, but he is still asking for advice on how to “Call the Bank Again and Again”. If you are gaming, and it doesn’t work… just move on.
Reminds me of a fella who goes by poopy/Dookie/Dirk around these parts. He must have contacted a dozen institutions last year asking if his Fidelity transfers counted as qualifying DDs…
Treasury Direct has been a godsend since they updated the site to allow adding/removing banks online. So, of course we may not have that very nice thing for much longer at some institutions because people break rule #1. Plus, scott posted below that he had told First Tech his TD deposits were from Social Security. *facepalm*
As for me, I wasn’t eligible for a churn before the last offer expired and don’t feel like doing $5K DDs for this one esp. if TD has been blown. I’d prefer to wait for a lower DD requirement but the current offer doesn’t seem to have an expiration date.
I’ve been in this bank bonus game for about 10 years.. i’m shocked at how well the community generally upholds the don’t call the bank rule.. it’s like a secret shared among 100,000 people.. pretty impressive.. but yeah every once in a while there’s that one person
I’m pretty sure that there’s a lot less than 100K people that read DoC.
That’s unfortunate. That would be a new development as Treasury Direct was working. There are a few DP’s, including my P2’s: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/first-tech-federal-credit-union-300-checking-bonus-2/#comment-1869594
But, the key was not having to call. Their system accepted it as a DD. And, we got email notifications that it was working. If my P2 was eligible, I would consider having her use Treasury Direct again.
Very possible your promo was never attached, and they are using any excuse they can think of to avoid paying. Banks/CU’s like to explain why their system did what it did, vs. why their system didn’t do what it should have.
scott
Also, did they specifically say it was because of your DD’s weren’t qualifying in their response?
Or, was it because of your missed the requirements, lack of enrollment, etc?
You didn’t post your timeline and dates of deposits, as we might see where the requirements were missed.
scott
I’m as certain as I possibly can be that I enrolled in the promo.
7/16 – Account opened
8/19 – $1,100 ACH Deposit APA TREAS 310 – MISC PAY
9/16 – $1,100 ACH Deposit APA TREAS 310 – MISC PAY
10/23 – $1,100 ACH Deposit APA TREAS 310 – MISC PAY
11/18 – $1,100 ACH Deposit APA TREAS 310 – MISC PAY
This is what they said after my CFPB complaint:
The direct deposit promotion is specific to payroll direct deposit and government benefits such a social security. In review of your account history, the transactions that posted were not received as qualified direct deposits. We capture and qualify social security as you shared these deposits were, unfortunately the transactions completed on your account do not reflect as such. The transactions received are generally from a refund or transfer of funds from a Treasury Direct account.
After reviewing this if anybody has any suggestions on how I can proceed I’d love to hear them!
FT already called you out on your bluff/lie by writing “We capture and qualify social security as you shared these deposits were,”.
It might be time for to “fold em“.
This was my complaint to the CFPB:
1st Tech was promoting an offer that rewarded the account holder with $300 if they opened a checking account and met the requirements of the promotion. I met all requirements, including the requirement to have three direct deposits (DD’s) of $1,000+ for three consecutive months from a employer or government benefits provider. My three DD’s were from the US Treasury Department and satisfied these requirements. I never received the $300 bonus and I messaged customer support through their messaging system to ask why. They told me they would not disburse the bonus unless I provided them with documentation form the Treasury Dept. The terms of the promotion do not mention this is a requirement, as such I told them I wouldn’t provide those documents. I had a back-and-forth with 1st Tech support, and they would not disburse the bonus. I asked them if we had exhausted all remedies for the situation, and informed them that my next step would be to contact the CFPB if we had.1st tech told me yes and that they would not disburse the bonus.
“My three DD’s were from the US Treasury Department and satisfied these requirements.”
No they didn’t. You are neither employed by the US Treasury Dept nor did you receive a payment of government benefits from them.
Next step is probably to write your local member of Congress. Maybe lawyer up, too? :p
Or, like Chad S said above, “If you are gaming, and it doesn’t work… just move on.”
I went through the terms – we need to have DD for consecutive 3 months, but there’s no ending date when the first DD has to get started?
You have to post a real DD of $5000+ for each of 3 months for just a $300 bonus?
How is this one of the “best bank account bonuses”??
It’s a new offer that just came out. Definitely not the best but it’s something. Personally, I think it’s a sh*tty offer.
it’s a sh*tty bank, imo
Terms state aggregate total per month
1k-5k gets $50
5k + gets $300.
-M
“qualified direct deposits greater than $5,000 per month must be received for a one-time $300 bonus.”
Aggregate total per month so still $5k+ per month
$1251 cycled weekly = >$5k/month.
they are new to the game…leave them be
lots of reading and scrolling in their future. We all learned
I think it’s nice that folks are spending their time answering newbie questions in such detail. Leave those people be.
Personally, I wouldn’t touch this offer either because I don’t have monthly 5k DDs. When I first came across this site, I didn’t even know I could search the comment section for various discussion topics until a kind stranger pointed it out to me.
You don’t have to hold the $5k so the opportunity cost is very low. You only lose interest for a few days so you net almost the full $300. That’s better than most on the list.
No Chex hit, no debit card hoops, minimal balance requirement and almost $300 for free = one of the best.
Churnable with no Chex hit means it belongs near the top of your list to get the clock started, even if it’s not the highest bonus.
If you only take offers better than this you’ll run out of options fast.
$5k DD is tough without any foolproof way to spoof. You have to go through the process of getting your DD at work updated. Sounds like this bank doesn’t even want to pay out with a legitimate DD.
I’ve had no trouble with them with legitimate DD. Lucky for me, changing my payroll at work is no more than a 5 minute task.
But we know there is at least 1 foolproof way to spoof. There are probably more.
The problems are:
Booby trap example:
Triggering the Qualifying Period with a small verification deposit from a FI that “shouldn’t” count but does, then missing the correct months for your QDDs because you didn’t know.
Extra month insurance:
DPs are confusing because some people require an 4th month of DD to automatically trigger the bonus but some people get paid with just 3.
I spoofed and I got paid with no communication, but only after the 4th month’s “DD”. AFAIK everyone who avoided booby traps and made QDDs for 4 months got paid last time. Many got paid automatically after just 3.
Some who made them for only 3 months had to follow up because for some reason it hadn’t triggered the bonus.
If you spoof you should schedule a 4th month for insurance. Three often work but if not you may be SOL if you didn’t. It may be too late by the time you find out.
If you don’t spoof you can stop after 3 because you’ll have recourse if they don’t automatically pay.
Are there a lot of new offers that get posted at beginning of year? I try to only do things that are super easy/don’t have long time commitment for $300 bonuses, or $400+ if longer time commitment. While these guys don’t do Chex, the 3-4 mo time commitment and burning an account being opened for some other future better offer seems kind of meh. I can change my DD easily at work, and I’m paid a healthy salary, but $5k/mo for 3-4 months stinks a bit (and I move my money out the day after as well).
Anybody successfully churn? Last bonuses 6/2023. Think about signing up next month.to.be safe.
P1 & P2 churned it, but wasn’t a good test of how the 18 months from last DD/last bonus are calculated. P1 activities:
Previous account opened: 10/27/20
Previous bonus received: 12/31/20
DD would have been stopped in 2020 or 2021.
Previous account closed: Jan 2023
3/4/24: Instant approval. Had to use prior online banking login credentials. (less than 18 months from last account – last account restriction was not mentioned in the terms though, just like current terms)
6/29/24: Most recent bonus
8/29/24: Last DD (oops)
P2: Similar dates on past account, last DD 7/8/24, last bonus 7/5/24.
I assume P1 will be eligible 3/2/26, and P2 1/9/26.
I usually use this site to calculate dates… but with Feb being a short month, I added a couple of days for P1.
My last sign up failed. I’d like to close and would like to re-open to try. Any idea when I can do so or what that could look like? Never failed a bonus before until now as I didn’t complete the deposit in the same month I opened it.
You would be eligible 18 months from your last DD and last bonus would not apply to you.
Jay
It happens. There is a lot of bonuses out there and it’s hard to meet all the requirements every time.
But, seems like as long as you did three DD’s for three consecutive calendar months, within the 120 days from the opening date… you should have gotten the bonus. But, I could be wrong…
My P2’s DP, without a DD in the first month: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/first-tech-federal-credit-union-300-checking-bonus-2/#comment-1869594
Maybe something changed in the terms later that I am not aware of?
Right, my thoughts exactly. Per a few DPs, I thought that was the case too. Given it was spoofed DDs, I let it go. You win some, you lose some. This is my first loss haha.
it seems like this is for existing users too and not just new users
Gadget - Bank Bonus Geek 🔗 
Jay
Only if you haven’t had a DD or bonus in 18 months though… it was like this for the other bonuses in 2024 too.
In 2023, you had to be without the credit union account for 18 months, discussed here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/first-tech-federal-credit-union-300-checking-bonus-2/#comment-1859726
yes correct! looks like my last “DD” was in summer 2023 so I decided to give it a go now
so… $5k per month for 3 months?
same question