Update 1/14/24: Extended until 12/31/24
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: be a primary resident of Florida
- Direct deposit required: Unknown
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: No
- Credit card funding: Can fund up to $3,000 with a Visa or Mastercard
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: 180 days, bonus forfeit
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: December 31, 2023
Contents
The Offer
- Addition Financial is offering a bonus of $350 when you open a new benefits checking account and complete the following requirements for six months after account opening:
- It’s not clear from the fine print what the actual requirements are? I think you just need to keep the account fee free and have a minimum balance of $1,000?
The Fine Print
- The new account promotion is not available to existing Addition Financial Credit Union (“Credit Union”) members who have a current checking account (as primary or joint) or to those whose Credit Union accounts have been closed within the past year (365 days) or were previously closed with a negative balance.
- To receive the promotional payment, a new member must: a) be over the age of 18 (eighteen); AND b) meet Credit Union membership eligibility requirements (www.additionfi.com/membership-counties); c) be a primary resident of Florida, d) open new Benefits Checking account (“Account”) and keep the Account active for at least six (6) months; and e) complete the activity associated with the desired promotional payments listed above each month for six (6) months after opening the Account (collectively, The “Promotion Requirements”). To be eligible for the promotion, the new Account must not be closed, restricted or have received a monthly service fee at the time of payout. The appropriate promotional payment will be deposited into your new account six (6) months after the account open date.
- This promotion begins on March 3, 2023 and ends December 31, 2023.
- Dividend period – For this account type, the dividend period is monthly, for example, the beginning date of the first dividend period of the calendar year is January 1, and the ending date of such dividend period is January 31. All other dividend periods follow this same pattern of dates. The dividend declaration date is the last day of the dividend period, and for the example above is January 31.
- Minimum balance requirements: There is no minimum balance required to open this account. However, you must maintain a minimum daily balance of $1,000.00 in your account each day to obtain the disclosed annual percentage yield.
- Other Account Requirements: To avoid a monthly fee you must have a minimum amount of direct deposit(s) or debit card transactions each month. Please see the Fee Schedule for current fees that may apply to this account.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Benefits checking has a $15 monthly fee, this is waived if you do any of the following:
- Fee waived if there is a $2,000 direct deposit or
- 20 debit card transactions per month ($10 minimum per transaction)
Early Account Termination Fee
I didn’t see any mention of any early account termination fee in the fee schedule. But you do forfeit the bonus if closed within 180 days.
Our Verdict
This has been as high as $300 in the past. I’m not sure if I’m an idiot or the bonus requirements just aren’t clear.
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
This bonus was $300 in the past. Some might consider waiting for it to come back? It’s a lot of work for $150.
The $150 bonus has entirely different requirements and it’s not really a lot
Wayne . Two DDs and it pays within 67 days of account opening.
Link to $150 checking offer here: https://pages.additionfi.com/checking
Beware of fees, check fee schedule.
Membership only available to residents of 24 Florida counties.
I just recieved an Email Today from Addition Financial with the title $150 is waiting for you! For a limited time, earn up to $150 when you open a new Benefits* or Classic** checking account with Addition Financial! Plus unlock all the benefits of becoming a member of one of Florida’s top credit unions. The terms are for new Customers who open a new checking account and recieve $2k in DD OR make 20 debit card transactions a month “each month” minimum of $10 per transactions within 60 days of the new account opening will recieve a $150 bonus, after 60 days if the incentives are met the bonus will be deposited within 7 days. Below that it also states you can earn $100 if you open a new first-time classic checking account, and recieve a dd of $1k or the same debit transactions. Maybe this is targeted as I don’t see a promo code? Just a “learn more” green box to check.
William Charles
https://imgur.com/a/70nE9y0
Thanks
Terms on this one have changed significantly. $150 or $100 checking bonus. Same link as before.
William Charles
N
Maintain an average daily balance per month for 6 months:
• $5,000-$9,999
– Receive $150
• $10,000-$14,999
– Receive $250
• $15,000+
– Receive $350
Is this something they offered you over the phone in addition to the bonus promotion detailed on the link? Or did they state that this is an additional requirement to the promotion? I haven’t found anything mentioning a minimum balance to earn the bonus. Thank you
Wayne
My interpretation of the terms is so long as you are not hit with a monthly fee for any of the six months after opening, then you should receive the bonus. “Fee ($15) waived if there is a $2,000 direct deposit or 20 debit card transactions* per month. **Each debit card transaction must be at least $10.00.”
I agree with you 100%. I thought I should reach out for bonus clarification. I’ve been doing the debit card transactions to avoid the fee. The terms are so vague?
Just to add to this, I secure messaged them for specific terms of the promotion and received a response that was a copy and paste of the terms from the promo online so I will 100% be using that in CFPB if they don’t payout. No where does it mention any balance requirements.
I would be very, very careful dealing with this credit union, especially with the bonus terms not being particularly clear. There were lots of payout problems with the bonus from August 2021. Thankfully, I ended up getting mine resolved with assistance from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. However, without super clear documentation on the bonus requirements, I would be concerned that if they don’t pay out it will be difficult to prove you met the requirements.
I agree about the conditions not being clear, but I had no issues (nor did P2) with the August 2021 bonus. Used fake DD from Fidelity CMA and Amazon reloads. IIRC, the problems may have arisen when they changed terms on the debit card transactions after people applied on the old terms.
Agreed, I think it was primarily that. However, they changed the terms mid-bonus. These terms are nonexistent pretty much, so that seems pretty risky to me. Just wanted to caution people as this credit union got a bad look by not following through on their original terms (and did not attempt to rectify these bonuses manually for anyone that contacted them).
With Addition Financial, you should expect to battle. “Save your receipts.”
Benefits Checking
Waive the $15.00 monthly fee by adding direct deposit ($2,000 monthly aggregate requirement)
OR making 20 debit card transactions per month (Each debit card transaction must be at least $10.)
https://pages.additionfi.com/hubfs/Product%20Profiles/Benefits%20Checking%20Account.pdf?hsCtaTracking=52175500-15af-4ee9-8f18-017ff743459c%7Cdff7b9dc-0663-4435-9a2a-6e21344dbd45
https://pages.additionfi.com/info/benefits-checking?_ga=2.221923358.746999825.1684203367-2073180929.1684203367
A Share Savings Account must first be opened to establish membership with Addition Financial before adding a checking account.
$10.00 membership fee
$5.00 minimum share
Eligible counties: Anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or vocational training, or is an alumni of any college, university, or educational institution located in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Alachua, Brevard, Duval, Flagler, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Okeechobee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, or Volusia County may join. If you become a member of Addition Financial, your immediate family members are automatically eligible to join.
APY for balances up to $10k (minimum $1k) is 0.05% *eye roll*
In state, eligible county. “Thank you for applying with Addition Financial. Your new account application is being reviewed by a credit union representative.”
Successfully opened w/$2,500 from Chase SP
Thanks for the info
Christopher Robin I just signed up for the $150 offer, waiting on approval. Glad to hear you were successful. $10 membership fee, how classy.