Update 1/2/24: Looks like you need to manually request the debit card in at least some instances. You can check under ‘manage cards’ and if it shows ‘No cards were found, please contact your financial institution for information on applying for a card’ then you’ll need to request one. Hat tip to Eric
Update: People are reporting receiving this as a FB ad, so likely not targeted. I’d recommend copying and pasting the offer URL so they cant see you’ve been redirected from this site.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: Nationwide?
- Direct deposit required: $500+ per month, optional see below
- Additional requirements: 3 bill pays per month + eStatements, optional see below.
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: Up to $500
- Monthly fees: $8, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: None listed
- Expiration date: 12/31/23
Contents
The Offer
- Open a new premier eChecking account with NASA Federal Credit Union and receive a sign up bonus of $300 when you do the following:
- establishing a $500 minimum monthly recurring direct deposit for 3 consecutive months and
- making at least 15 debit card purchases (pin or signature) for 3 consecutive months, all within 120 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- $300 checking bonus requires opening a Premier eChecking account between 12/11/2023 and 12/31/2023, establishing a $500 minimum monthly recurring direct deposit for 3 consecutive months and making at least 15 debit card purchases (pin or signature) for 3 consecutive months, all within 120 days of account opening. In order to receive bonus, account must be in good standing.
- Only one bonus will be paid per member and offer is non-transferable.
- $300 will be credited to the primary applicant’s savings account on file, 120 days from account opening.
- Recipient is solely responsible for any personal tax liability arising out of this incentive.
- Membership savings account with $5 opening balance is required.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
ePremier Checking Account $8 Monthly Fee
The monthly fee on this account is waived if you have a direct deposit or 3 active online BillPay+ with eStatements.
Early Account Termination Fee
I wasn’t able to find any early account termination fee in their fee schedule.
Our Verdict
Terms say that it’s not transferable, so I assume it’s a targeted offer. As this seems to be open to everybody and much better than the previous $125 bonus I’d recommend doing this offer. I expect it to be popular so I’d probably sign up sooner rather than later to avoid the offer being pulled. We will add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses.
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
View Comments (1336)
I have only the membership savings account open at this CU but I am unable to open any CDs with them. It will only allow me to open checking account and that too no CC funding. I chatted with the CSR and they said CDs are allowed only if you already have an internal funding account and the required amount in it.
What is your experience?
What's stopping you from putting the funds in the Savings account and using those funds to open the CD?
Just closed by SM. Very fast reply and they send me the $5 from the shared savings by mail.
Got an email about new account terms effective next month.
Existing Checking Account Holders who Opened Checking Accounts Prior to July 1, 2024: Existing checking accounts will be converted on August 15, 2024. Existing account holders will receive individual letters via direct mail in early July, outlining: (1) their new checking account type; (2) the terms and conditions for said account; and (3) instructions on how to select a different account type if desired.
(My guess is my account will be converted to Everyday Checking -- $8 a month; waived with $200 average daily balance or monthly direct deposit of $500 or more) :-(
https://www.nasafcu.com/docs/default-source/privacy-terms/change-in-terms_msa-07012024.pdf
I got the letter in the mail today, I'm being converted to the premiere checking account which has a $7/month fee and no way to have it waived. Comes with a host of useless gimmicks like identity protection, roadside assistance, and cell phone coverage. Yea how about no.
Been meaning to close this out anyway, I was only keeping it because they had some very nice CD offers earlier this year and I thought they might do another one, like a 6.5% CD, but they haven't in awhile, and I've found other places to stash cash for 6% or close to it. DP below states it was super easy to close by sending an SM.
Like you, I was keeping it open for the potential to get a nice CD rate but looks like I will be closing them now.
If you are interested in their future CDs, you only need to close the checking account and keep the savings and membership. @guest_1870857
If we only close the checking but keep the savings and membership, is it going to exclude us from future promotions? I don't remember whether the previous promotion required "new membership" or allowed "existing member who doesn't have a checking with them"
You never know. For the previous $300 promotion, the terms did not exclude existing members. @guest_1872179
That is great! Thank you. I should have saved the previous promotion terms for future reference.
I discussed the (lack of) churning terms and linked the past promo terms here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/targeted-nasa-federal-credit-union-300-epremier-checking-bonus/#comment-1839036 @guest_1872179
@guest_1762075 Good idea. Can we do that?
Yes, you can. Basically you are keeping your membership with them by doing so. I did this months back. @guest_1789806
@guest_1762075 thanks a lot!
Got my letter in the mail today. I’m being converted to the premiere checking account which has a $7/month fee and no way to waive it. I'm not interested in this account or the Everyday Checking. Time to close it.
@guest_1772016
Yup, just got the letter today. They will switch us to the non-waivable fee account. You will probably have to reach out to move to the Everyday checking account. Good thing this week marks my 6 month with them. Perfect time to close it out.
I got paid out back in April after filing a NUCA complaint
Got this garbage letter today that's over four weeks old that just arrived today:
https://i.gyazo.com/3b78370baf2b69ab73df6f55d04132a8.png
what a garbage letter, everybody should be extremely weary of NASA fcu going forward
if I didn't qualify and all you had to tell NUCA was that I didn't qualify, why did I get paid?
yikes letter all around
I received this bonus for P1-P3. It seems like just about anything works for DD for this bonus. I let the DD's rain on this one, and the results did not disappoint. All debit card transactions were completed via $1 PayPal debit card reloads (not bill pay). P2 and P3 have a similar timeline, and we all had to request debit cards be mailed to us via live chat. My statement every month did indicate that the PayPal debit card reloads counted toward the 5 cents per transaction bonus, so that was a good sign that they would work for the $300 checking bonus as well.
12/20/23 - Applied online through promo link, got email request for pics of drivers license, SS card and proof of residence
12/26/23 - Application approved
12/27/23 - Credit card funding posted as $495 to checking and $5 to savings accounts, email also received on this date with bonus terms (Wells Fargo Autograph posted as purchase)
1/10/24 - Noticed that a debit card was not ordered or received on my account, so I requested one to be mailed to me via live chat as was suggested here on Doc
1/16/24-1/25/24 - $500 DD's received from Fairwinds, Experian, Cash App and Apple Cash
1/15/24-1/30/24 - 15 $1 PayPal debit card reloads posted and cleared
2/12/24-2/29/24 - $500 DD's received from Fidelity, Digital Credit Union, Fairwinds, Laurel Road, Wise "Payroll" and Discover Savings
2/5/24-2/27/24 - 15 $1 PayPal debit card reloads posted and cleared
3/5/24 - 3/18/24 - $500 DD's received from Digital Credit Union, Laurel Road, Cash App, Fairwinds and Discover Savings
3/3/24-3/19/24 - 15 $1 PayPal debit card reloads posted and cleared
3/20/24 - $300 checking bonus posted
I moved some money out of the checking account every month without issues. I've been sending $1 DD's from Fidelity to waive the monthly fees until I figure out whether I want to close or try to earn some cashback from the debit card rewards until the end of the year.
Applied 12/30/2023
Account opened 3/11/2024 after a long wait for verification
Real DDs 4/1, 5/13, 6/10
15 $1 Amazon reloads each month
$300 bonus posted 6/11, the day after my last debit purchase for the last month.
Turned out to be surprisingly easy — I thought I’d have to call for sure due to how long it took the account to finally be approved.
Wow props to you for waiting them out. I contacted them after I think it was 6-8 weeks and they moved my pending application to the front and approved me the next day.
Successfully received bonus using real DD's and closed account by sending a request through the Message Center.
@guest_1763044 @guest_1762485 I received the $300 bonus today.
I remember at least 1 other person saying that they did TM payments also and didn't receive the debit rewards.
Do you happen to remember who that was? I would like to tag them in case they gave up arguing instead of following up like you did. Like I've said a few times, it's always worth fighting if you have the facts on your side.
@guest_1826361,
You are the person that I was thinking of. Did you end up receiving the bonus? If not, you should complain like @guest_1762653 did.
Eric, thanks for thinking of me! Yes, I did received my bonus. I posted the following on 5/1.
"Completed the terms in the middle of March. Did not receive bonus automatically. Sent Message to them asking about my $300 bonus.
Received the bonus without them fussing about my amazon reloads."
Search for Tmobile and/or T-Mobile and you will have your answer...
Here we go...
Sweet! Late is much better than never. Goes to show not to just accept that "the system is always right attitude" sometimes reps will portray. @guest_1762653
Absolutely!
The credit union is refusing to pay my bonus for two reasons:
The debit transactions did not occur in the same months
AND
I did not have a direct deposit in the first calendar month that my account was opened (I opened on 1/9/24).
Were these explicitly stated requirements in the terms? I did complete all of the activities required prior to 120 days after account opening.
I was also spoken to very rudely on the phone and they won't give me these terms in writing.
Sorry, for the first part:
The debit transactions did not occur in the same months as the direct deposits
AND
...
I didn't see your comment until now. I would have certainly told you that was NOT a requirement. I'm glad to see that you filed a complaint and got the bonus.
Thank you. I was glad to close this one out and be done with them!
$300 bonus posted today after I filed a NCUA complaint earlier this week. Will be glad to pull the cash and close this one out.
Can I close the account without any fee?
I had opened it on 01/29/2024, bonus posted on 03/30/24
Yes.