[FL only] GTE Financial $300 Checking Bonus

Update 8/30/24: Extended through 9/30/2024

Update 8/6/24: Extended until 8/31/2024

Update 7/1/24: Bonus now $300

Update 6/29/24: Deal is back and valid until 7/31/24. Hat tip to reader Bockrr

Update 9/7/22: Deal is back and valid until 10/31/22.

Update 4/3/22: Deal is back and valid until 5/31/22.

Bonus is now FL only

Update 11/1/21: Deal is back, no end date listed this time. Hat tip to reader Gadget.

Offer at a glance

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • GTE Financial Credit Union is offering a bonus of $200 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
    • Use promo code JOIN300
    • Receive a direct deposit of $500 or more

The Fine Print

  • Offer valid for new GTE Members only.
  • To qualify, new members must open a Go Premium with GTE Secure, Go Full Access, or Go Further checking account.
  • In addition, new members must have direct deposit set-up totaling $500 or more per month within the first 60 days of account opening.
  • Direct deposit must come from an external source, such as an employer or government agency, direct deposits from another GTE Financial account do not meet the qualifications of this incentive offer.
  • New members must also use promotional code JOIN200 at the time of application. GTE Financial reserves the right to end this promotion at any time.
  • This offer cannot be combined with other incentive offers from GTE Financial.
  • Account incentive will be deposited into member’s account within 10 business days from meeting all qualifications for promotion. Federally Insured by NCUA.
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

Go full access has a $4.95 fee that can be waived by enrolling in eStatements AND making $500 in aggregate deposits per month OR making a combination of 15 monthly debit and/or credit card transactions.

Early Account Termination Fee

Closed Account Within 180 Days: $25 fee (or balance if <$25)

Our Verdict

GTE Financial has offered a $100 checking bonus with no direct deposit required and a $200 checking bonus, but the previous $200 bonus had a monthly fee that couldn’t be avoided. I suspect we might see this bonus pulled before the end date so if you’re interested then sign up sooner rather than later. Some people might prefer the $100 bonus as no direct deposit is required. We will add this to our best checking bonuses.

Hat tip to IS250

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On July 1, 2024, 21:30
Tags: direct deposit requiredhard pullnationwide bank bonuses

View Comments (295)

  • Opened: 6/18/24
    $260 DD: 7/3
    $260 DD: 7/17
    $260 DD: 8/1
    $260 DD: 8/15
    $260 DD: 8/29
    $501 DD: 9/12
    $200 Bonus Posted: 9/23
    I did reach out on the 21st to see what was going on, the rep told me "it needs to be a minimum direct deposit of $500/mo, I see you only made one in sept" I said no that is wrong, the terms state a TOTAL of atleast $500/mo, he said he would create a ticket for their team to review to see if I was still eligble. Never heard back, but the $200 was deposited Today.

  • Has anyone received their bonus yet?
    How long did it take for GTE to deposit your bonus after you met the requirements?

  • I've got the following message through application pirtal: Thank you for your interest in GTE Financial. To proceed with the application, please have the freeze lifted from your Equifax credit report.

  • Looks like it has been extended thru 9/30/24. "Offer valid for new memberships approved between 7/1/2024 and9/30/2024."

    • DP: No hard pull with FL DL
      8/30/24: opened online from FL, new customer, Chex only, Ink Unlimited $505 funding

      • I've got the following message: Thank you for your interest in GTE Financial. To proceed with the application, please have the freeze lifted from your Equifax credit report.

          • According to bureaus’ own websites, a credit freeze doesn't generally prevent soft inquiries. But it looks like it does when such soft inquiries are related to new account applications? Gadget, what says you?

          • Business initiated soft pulls for promotional inquiries can still go through for the credit bureaus. However new customer initiated soft pulls are not allowed. Otherwise what's the point of having a credit freeze? If someone can still open a new account what did you achieve? Existing customer soft pulls can usually occur as well with the freeze in place.

      • Wow, GTE has always been a hard pull. Were your credit bureaus frozen or thawed when you applied, @guest_1902473? Thanks for the heads-up!

        • Keep in mind that if all reports are Frozen... Then the bank can't do a soft pull. So anyone suggesting applying with credit frozen to avoid the hard pull might very well might end up getting denied.

        • Everything was thawed. Shocked as you are. My next step is to open a CD there with everything frozen, including Chex. Will update.

          • GTE has never pulled my Chex when I've opened an a CD with them. Of course, it is always safer to freeze your Chex in case that changes.

          • To be safe, I would still freeze all the bureaus, while keeping Chex open, before applying, Good luck!

      • Hi Minskoff. Have you checked all Credit Bureaus? Just wondering. It was hard pull for most of all historically.

  • Has anyone tried opening new CDs as existing member recently? For me the new application starts with "What is your citizenship?" question and clicking on 'next' doesn't advance the page, the 'next' briefly changes to 'saving' and then back to 'next' but stays on the same page. Tried Chrome, Firefox, Edge. Tried from Android. Tried clearing cookies. I gave up and called them to open $500 CD (they have fees otherwise). I was told the only way to open CD is online or in-person. Any ideas how to solve this?

    • I called again today and chose 2 in phone menu for new customers. This time around they were able to open CD over the phone. They asked to upload DL and e-sign the document. Once this CD was open over the phone the online opening started to work - I didn't test it all the way but I can now advance past the 'citizenship' page. My guess - my old DL they had on file had expired, the system needed a new DL but their crappy software failed silently.

  • I opened a Go Premium Checking and they charged me the $4.95 fee. Looks like you can get the fees waived for Go Access Checking and Go Further Checking but not Go Premium Checking

  • Did anyone open the Go Full Access account and earn the bonus. The language is confusing:

    To qualify, the new member must open a Go Premium checking account with GTE Secure, Go Full Access, or Go Further within 90 days of enrollment

    There are only the Go Premium and Go Full Access accounts when I select the checking account that I want to open

    • Per the Go Further page...

      You can apply online to open an account and if you do not qualify for Go Premium or Go Full Access, we will reach out to you to with information regarding the Go Further account.

      So, that account is a "2nd chance" account for people that do not qualify for the other products. If you think that is you, might be best to apply in person. @guest_1868084

      • I qualified for the Go Full Access, I was just confused by the language that it must be Go Premium account opened to qualify for the bonus. I’m not sure if the Go Full Access is a Go Premium account

        • Sorry, I misunderstood the question. I can tell you the "Go Full Access" account earned the bonus on previous iterations of the promo. The wording is odd, but should be fine because Go Full Access is mentioned in the terms. @guest_1868084

  • Could anyone who opened out of state give me some tips on how to get accepted, please? I've tried twice over the past 2 years (when my chex inquiries over the previous 6 months were fewer than 5) and never been approved. I just spoke to a phone rep who said I was denied for being out of state and must come in branch.

    • Things change. Once upon a time the bonus was not restricted to specific states. Even if you got the account, the only bonus you would be eligible for is the referral bonus.
      @guest_1889945

      It's possible they have decided to filter out OOS all together, or just have gotten much more sensitive.

      • @guest_1274556 that's what was puzzling me. I didn't even try for the bonus posted here, I just wanted membership for future CD funding.

        Might have to write this one off or just try again next year and see if I slip through next time. Thanks for the reply!

        • I just applied normally and managed to open my account. I have lol/6,12,24 on both my chex and credit reports

    • Use an external account to pull from GTE - no fee.

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