Expired: Sorry folks, this deal is now over. You can view more checking promos that haven’t expired here.
Update: This is a targeted promotion, if you did not receive the marketing material your bonus will only be for $50 instead of the $150 mentioned in this post.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $150
- Availability: Nationwide, must become a member first which may cost $10
- Direct deposit required: Yes, any ACH transfer will qualify
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Bonus taken back if closed within six months
- Expiration date: October 31st
The Offer
- Receive a $150 cash bonus when you set up a new Alliant checking account and complete the following by November 14th:
- Make at least one purchase with your Alliant Visa® Debit Card
- Make at least one payment using Alliant Bill Pay
- Meet the two easy requirements of High Rate Checking
- Opt out of paper statements AND
- Make at least one monthly electronic deposit (direct deposit, payroll deposit, ATM deposit, or transfer from another financial institution)
When becoming an Alliant member, make sure you decline opening an account when you join as there is no option to input the promotion code. You can view the membership requirements here, for the majority of people the easiest way to join will be to make a $10 donation to Foster Care to Success.
The Fine Print
- This is a targeted promotion, if you did not receive an e-mail/postcard from Alliant you will only receive a $50 bonus instead of $150.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
- You must open your account between September 2nd and October 31st using the special promotion link and the promo code CHEK002
- Offer available to new checking account customers only
- One $150 bonus per member
- Bonus will be paid out by November 23rd
- You must be an Alliant member first, read our tip above and make sure you do not open an account when you join otherwise you’ll be unable to qualify for this promotion
Avoiding Fees
Your account must be kept open for a minimum of six months, otherwise Alliant will take the bonus away. There are no monthly fees.
Our Verdict
Alliant looks to have run a bait and switch here, originally the promotion didn’t mention anything about being targeted and now they are not honoring the full $150 bonus that was on offer. If you didn’t receive the targeted communication, I wouldn’t bother with this promotion as you’ll only net $40 after you donate $10 to join. I look to make at least $100 for every bank account bonus, so $40 is not worth the effort.
Alliant Credit Union used to be one of the best products out there, in recent times they’ve been slipping in terms of both service and rates. For example their savings APR is 0.7% and high rate checking 0.65%, whereas Ally and others are hovering around 1%. They do offer free checks and quick ACH transfers, which can be useful for hitting other bank account bonus requirements but I wouldn’t bother with such a small public promotion.
I’m sitting this promo out, which is a shame because if they offered $150 I would’ve signed up and listed it as one of the best bank account bonuses. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come for Alliant.
