Update: Account now comes with a $150 bonus. This requires:
- Make recurring, qualifying direct deposits of $500 or more per month for three consecutive months (The first direct deposit must be made within 30 days, the second deposit within 31-60 days and the third deposit 61-90 days of the account opening date.)
- Make 10 or more purchases with the debit card associated with your Affinity Cash Back Debit account within 90 days of the account opening date
Hat tip to ShawntheShawn
Offer at a glance
- Availability:Â NY, NJ, CT only
- Hard/soft pull:Â Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown, sensitive (not sensitive in branch)
- Credit card funding:Â Up to $1,000 with Visa, Mastercard or Discover
- Monthly fees:Â None
- Household limit:Â None
- Expiration date:Â None listed
The Offer
- Affinity Federal Credit Union is offering 1% cashback on up to $1,000 in purchases per month ($10 cashback). Max cashback is $120 per year.
The Fine Print
- Earn 1% Cash Back on up to $1,000 in debit card purchases (Point of sale purchases can be either a PIN or signature debit card purchase, including online transactions) each month.
- Up to $120 cash back per year maximum.
- Cash back earned each month will be credited to your Affinity Cash Back Debit Account by the next month’s statement cycle.
- ATM transactions, the purchase of money orders or cash equivalents, loan payments and account funding made with your debit card are not eligible for cash back rewards.
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
To qualify for no monthly fees and avoid the $2 monthly paper statement fee, upon opening your Cash Back Debit Account, you must enroll in paperless statements (eStatements) either by registering and logging into your Online Banking or Mobile Banking account.
For new members the paper statement fee is waived for the first 45 days of membership, after that, if you have not enrolled in eStatements you may be assessed a $2 paper statement fee per month. Enrollment in eStatements means you will not receive mail delivery of your statements and you have agreed to Electronic Delivery Disclosure. You may withdraw your consent to receive paperless statements anytime by logging into your Online Banking or Mobile banking account. If you choose to withdraw from eStatements you will be charged a $2 monthly paper statement fee.
Note: The fee is waived for tenant accounts, members age 70 or older; and children age 12 and under.
Our Verdict
Some might have purchases they can’t do with a credit card and will find this account useful. Not sure if people will find it worthwhile to open the account for $10/month, but readers might already have an account from the $150 bonus last year, and can continue to benefit from the account due to this new feature. (That bonus appears to be expired and was replaced with this new cashback debit offer.) They also offer a savings account with 2% interest on up to $2,499 which is mildly interesting.
Hat tip to reader Foodie
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet)Â (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
They are increasing the APY to 4% and cap to $10,000. https://www.affinityfcu.com/personal-banking/banking/savings/smartstart-savings
Chuck
William Charles
Affinity has updated the savings rate to 3.50% APY on the first $5,000.
Probably I screwed myself on this promo. The language sound like two $250 DD per month is enough but “Multiple deposits totaling $500 do not qualify” sound like each deposit have to be at least $500. Did not think enough until a month later.
anybody got the $150 bonus?
Not yet. Account opened mid-October, DD requirements was met on Dec 31.
Same here. Waiting for $150 bonus.
Cash app load is qualified for $10 cashback every month:)
free $120 per year
I cannot get the Afffinity FCU debit card to work with Cash App. All attempts end in failure. Did you do anything special to get cash app to work?
Any data points on what counts as Direct Deposit?
PPK funding for $1000 failed
I think that this is nationwide. Instant approval OOS. Got a welcome email. Logged into account.
During the app, you’re charged $5 to join the CU and if you don’t meet their normal criteria (live/work/worship in area), they charge you another $5 to join 1 of 2 orgs that they have on the site.
Can fund w up to $1k w cc (the $1k includes your $5 or $10 fees that I mentioned above).
Applied OOS, application went pending, and see a $1000 charge on my citi card.
CC funding avail the day after I opened the acct according to my acct history in the portal.
They don’t do that annoying thing that a lot of banks/cu do and make you call to confirm your Zelle acct. I was able to enroll in Zelle online and withdraw. Only withdrew about half, though.
They also don’t have low Zelle limits. Mine is $2,500/day.
This one may be Chex sensitive to OOS applicants. How was your Chex before applying?
vc
No issues for me, my chex is over flowing
I funded with 1k from a BofA premium rewards card and it funded as a purchase.
They also have a savings account which earns 2% up to $2500 with no real requirements. I haven’t seen that listed here for Affinity yet but I’m sure I missed it. It’s not a huge amount but it’s a nice little bonus if you’re going to use them anyway. There were DP’s on myfico of it helping with approvals for their CC’s as well.
1. Chex – Yes, not sensitive in branch. 100+/24.
2. No hard pull in branch
3. No instant issue debit card. Full checks can be printed out.
4. No ETF stated
5. No printout confirming bonus is attached to the account
I have no idea if this is Chex related or if they are simply denying those outside of their normal service area.
Ah, that sucks. This one does pull Chex, as noted on the first page of application. The real reason behind “unable to authenticate you” or “unable to verify your identity” could be too many Chex inquiries.
mothman69
I was denied back in 2019, presumably for Chex.
Account is one of my favorites for easy mobile check deposits and the $120 a year for making a single monthly “large purchase” at a grocery service counter. Also abolutely love their credit card!
So, you never got an instant approval? What happened during your app? During my app, I had to research one of my credit bureau questions and when I came back about a min later and answered all q, they told me to answer quickly LOL. They also gave me new questions. Instant approval. I wonder if it’s related to credit bureau questions. Either way, I’d reach out since they do approve OOS. Good luck!