Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 1/18/25: Seems to be available for Oakland University Credit Union as well?
Update 12/1/24: Extended to January 31, 2025
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $500
- Availability: Michigan only, maybe nationwide?
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,000+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown, sensitive
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: 10/31/24
Contents
The Offer
- MSU Federal Credit Union is offering a $250 checking bonus when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Open a Money Market Checking
- Must have two consecutive electronic deposits each with a minimum deposit of $2000
- Must maintain balance of $2000 for 60 days after account opening
- Complete 10 transactions within 30 days of account opening
- You’ll receive a $250 bonus to kickstart your savings when you open the account with at least $25,000. Must maintain balance for 60 days
The Fine Print
- Offer valid 09/01/24 to 10/31/24.
- To receive $100 bonus, member must open a Totally Green Checking Account and set up direct deposit from their employer or Social Security.
- Must have two consecutive electronic deposits each with a minimum deposit of $1000.
- To receive $250 bonus, member must open a Money Market Checking account and set up direct deposit from employer or Social Security. Must have two consecutive electronic deposits each with a minimum deposit of $2000.
- Must maintain balance of $2000 for 60 days after account opening.
- For both offers, first direct deposit must be set up and funded into member's MSUFCU checking account by 10/31/24 and member must complete 10 transactions within 30 days of account opening. Bonus of either $100 or $250 will be deposited to the member's Cashback+ wallet within 90 days of promotion end date. Not valid for members with existing or previously closed checking accounts.
- Not valid for funds already on deposit with MSUFCU. Bonus may be taxable and reported on an IRS Form.
- Members who do not currently have an Insured Money Management Account (IMMA) and open an IMMA with a minimum deposit of $25,000 and maintain a balance of at least $25,000 for 60 days will receive $250 bonus.
- IMMA must be opened and funded by 10/31/24. IMMA Tier 1 Annual Percentage Yield 1.30% for minimum balance of $2000 as of 8/26/24.
- Rate subject to change.
- Bonus of $250 will be deposited to a 1-Year Add-On Certificate within 45 days of promotion end date. Not valid for funds already on deposit with MSUFCU.
- Offers cannot be combined. Not valid for business or youth accounts.
- Bonus may be taxable and reported on an IRS Form.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
$5 fee if the account has less than $2,000 in it.
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
Not clear if this is just restricted to that single branch that is opening or not.
Hat tip to ShawntheShawn
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
$250 bonus posted to the cashback wallet after 2 real DDs in January.
Opened : 9/28/2024
1st DD on 10/10/2024 : $2000 (Push from Fidelity)
2nd DD on 10/31/2024 : $2000 (Employer DD)
3rd DD on 11/15/2024 : $2000 (Employer DD)
Bonus did not post so had to call them 3 times finally to get the bonus. Finally it was posted last week after the 3rd call.
Not seeing these on either site anymore today (Jan 31)
If anyone did a real dd, would you mind sharing what the description posted as? TIA.
real dd coded as:
ACH Deposit [employer name]
TYPE: DIRECT DEP ID: [numbers]
DATA: [a bunch of XXXX and two numbers]
CO: [employer name]
Thanks
S
Per rep,
We have reviewed the application further through ChexSystems report, and credit report. We found we were unable to verify credit references. Based on our findings, we are unable to offer membership at this time. We appreciate you considering MSU Federal Credit Union for your financial institution.
Wasn’t sure if this meant I got one of the verification questions wrong or if it was just a high score/too many inquiries
Spoke with a rep otp and he said this means they can’t verify I am the person I say I am and that I’d have to reapply in branch
Submitted another app online thru the Oakland website, it never asked ID verification questions (e.g., which of the following addresses have you lived at) so it couldn’t have been because of that
I received the same denial letter and am wondering if it indicates too many chex inquiries.
These little banks are so sensitive 🙁
you can’t apply to both just one fyi y’all
How do you know?
I tried – it said I already have an application
Because OUCU is really just a different name for MSUFCU branches located closer to Oakland University. See the bottom of the OUCU site. It’s the same credit union, an OUCU account is really just an MSUFCU account.
“Copyright © 2025 Oakland University Credit Union, a trade name of Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. All Rights Reserved.
NMLS: 405297
Oakland University Credit Union accounts are held at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union where savings are federally insured to at least $250,000 by the NCUA and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. APR = Annual Percentage Rate. APY = Annual Percentage Yield. View our Privacy Notice and read our disclaimer regarding links to other sites.“
Oakland website is identical to MSUFCU’s, with same interface/design and product offerings (“totally gold” checking for Oakland vs “totally green” for MSUFCU)- likely only eligible for one bonus if they’re the same entity but nice to know there’s a bigger footprint available for folks who might not qualify otherwise
not seeing the hold requirements in the website, actually can’t find any fine print
found drop down arrow at the bottom
Hate to do the “what counts as dd” comment…but does anyone have info from the last round? I was able to open an account but probably won’t be able to squeeze in a real dd before 1/31.
This has changed to just the $250 checking bonus, but does not appear to need DD/deposits now?
Link in the post shows that Totally Green and Money Market checking still require DDs. Is there another option?
they still need direct deposit (i’m doing the money market bonus now), and also 10+ debit card transactions during the first 30 days (they want to make sure the account is being used)- 2 consecutive direct deposits, minimum $2k per deposit for $250 money market bonus or $1k per deposit for the $100 totally green bonus. the debit transaction requirement is buried in the fine print disclosures
Applied OOS but denied as they were “unable to verify credit references” – likely a Chex denial.
That’s also the verbiage I received