Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $130
- Availability: Looks to be in branch only. All branches are in IL & MO [Branch locator]
- Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum specified
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: 7 months, bonus forfeit and $25 fee
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: None listed
The Offer
- Gateway Metro Federal Credit Union is offering a bonus of up to $130 when you open a new checking account. Bonus broken down as follows:
- $50 bonus: Open a new E*Hanced, Priority I, Priority II or, Priority III checking account and start a qualifying direct deposit of at least $200 or more per month
- $30 bonus: Enroll in online Bill Pay and pay 5 different monthly bills within 90 days of account opening
- $25 bonus: Enroll in Cyberstatements
- $15 bonus: Turn in debit cards from old financial instituion
- $10 bonus: Turn in checks from old financial institution
The Fine Print
- $50 Checking Account bonus paid when you open a new E*Hanced, Priority I, Priority II or, Priority III checking account and start a qualifying direct deposit of at least (1) $200 or more per month.
- A qualifying direct deposit is a recurring electronic direct deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security or other regular monthly income by an employer or outside agency; does not include financial institution to financial institution transfers or credit card cash advance transfers.
- Bonus will be paid within 120 days of first qualifying direct deposit.
- Enroll in online Bill Pay and pay 5 different monthly bills within 90 days of account opening and receive another $30 bonus (Qualifying bill payments must be $50 or more and made to an outside agency; does not include financial institution to financial institution transfer or person to person payments).
- Enroll in Cyberstatements and receive an additional $25 bonus..
- Eligible Debit Card(s) and Check(s) must be surrendered at time of account opening to qualify. There is a maximum credit of $15 for any one or more eligible debit card(s), as well as a maximum $10 credit for any one or more eligible check(s)/checkbook(s).
- Bonuses for Cyberstatements and Bill Pay will not be paid if the account does not have a qualified direct deposit.
- If account is closed within 7 months, there is a $25 closing fee and bonuses may be forfeited
- . Limit one bonus payment per member in the last 24 months.
- If multiple accounts are opened with the same owners, only one account will be eligible for the bonus. Account will no longer be eligible for bonus offer if not qualified within 90 days of account open date. New members only. Additional exclusions may apply. Offer may be extended, modified or discontinued at any time and may vary by market.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Priority 1 checking account has no monthly fees to worry about. E*hance checking offers 6.02% APY on balances up to $1,500 if you have a direct deposit, cyber statements, virtual banking and make 15 debit card transactions per month. Doesn’t look like there is any fee for that account either, but there are better rewards checking accounts out there.
Early Account Termination
Account needs to be open for 7 months otherwise they charge a $25 fee and you forfeit the bonus.
Our Verdict
A lot of requirements for a bonus that is only $130 and requires in branch opening. I can’t really see this being worth doing if I’m completely honest. Maybe some people near a branch that have done all of the better bonuses out there will give it a shot, if that’s you make sure you report back your experiences below.
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
Link is dead, bonus is expired
Not a hard pull, i doubt they even pulled Chex, as there was no Approved/Denied moment. they put my info in the system and boom, account opened.
if you want the 6% APY on the checking, the 15 debits must be PIN-less. So, Amazon or Venmo, but no Walmart MO’s.
Details listed above are all correct. Account agent mentioned that the DD must be from a payroll/gov’t payout – not ACH or other transfers. Minimum DD is $200/mo (i think the single-DD amt might also be $200, at least once a month)
they have a weird promotion going on right now – open a Share Certificate (a 1% APY CD, basically), and for every $25 you deposit in it each month, you get 1 entry into a quarterly $5,000 giveaway. Each branch also has a $25 giveaway for the customers who enroll at that branch. You can earn up to 10 entries (for $250 deposit) – it’s 1 entry per $25 deposited, not per deposit-transaction – so just ACH in $250 each month. Catch is, like a 1yr CD, you can’t withdraw the funds except once a year on the anniversary without incurring a $25 penalty.
No CC funding – at least for these initial accounts (must be in-branch, obviously).
Ahh I wish I knew if they were a hard pull. I’m Hhoping to get a Chase card in a couple months and really can’t have another inquiry on my credit… Do credit unions typically do a hard pull on open of checking account?
not a hard pull. just got back from opening my acct – they must not even pull Chex, b/c i’ve been getting denied for my low Chex score recently (lotta accts last year must’ve tanked it).