[TN, AL only] Redstone Federal Credit Union $500 Checking Bonus

Update 11/9/24: Deal is back until 12/23/24 and now available in Cullman, Jackson, Limestone, Marshall, DeKalb, Morgan and Lawrence Counties in Alabama, or Bedford, Cannon, Lincoln, Moore, Rutherford, and Williamson Counties in Tennessee

Update 7/15/23: Deal is back and valid until September 7, 2023.

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $500
  • Availability: Rutherford County Residents
  • Direct deposit required: No
  • Additional requirements: See below
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
  • ChexSystems: Yes, not sensitive
  • Credit card funding: Up to $530
  • Monthly fees: $5, avoidable
  • Early account termination fee: None
  • Household limit: None mentioned
  • Expiration date: 10/4/2022

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Redstone Federal Credit Union is offering a $500 checking bonus when you complete the following requirements:
    • Use code MBR500 to open your first checking account
    • Log in to online banking
    • Use your debit card 10 times

The Fine Print

  • Promotion available 7/6/2022 – 10/4/2022.
  • RFCU® member must be in good standing as defined by RFCU Bylaws to qualify.
  • The participant must not have had an RFCU checking account within the past 24 months, and notify RFCU of the promotion code at account opening.
  • Membership and opening a share savings account with a $5 minimum balance are required.
  • A $25 minimum deposit required to open checking account.
  • Monthly maintenance fees may apply to checking accounts.
  • Monthly maintenance fees waived for account holders 24 year and younger.
  • Business accounts are not eligible.
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

Easiest account to keep fee free seems to be the easy checking account, Easy Checking as $3 per month fee (waived with 1 Direct Deposit or 4 or more POS debit card transactions posted to account per month

Early Account Termination Fee

I wasn’t able to find any mention of an early account termination fee in their fee schedule.

Our Verdict

The fine print terms don’t actually state you need to be a Rutherford resident, but the general offer instructions do. Will add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses.

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On November 9, 2024, 09:00
Tags: credit card fundingdirect deposit not requiredsoft pulltn bank bonuses

View Comments (46)

  • Is it worth joining now in the hopes they have a future offer open to all members, or wait to join until there’s specifically one open to all (does the promo work for existing members as long as they don’t have a checking acct yet)?

    • Per terms, only "Cullman, Jackson, Limestone, Marshall, DeKalb, Morgan and Lawrence Counties in Alabama, or Bedford, Cannon, Lincoln, Moore, Rutherford, and Williamson Counties in Tennessee" are eligible.

        • I had to escalate the issue (not good) and heard back today that it was denied. Here is the response:

          Thank you for your membership with RFCU. After submitting your 'Promotion Research Request' I was provided you do not meet the requirements for the promotion payout. You must reside in participating county for promotion payout. 

  • There is a monthly fee. Just got hit with $3 fee. Chatted and rep said monthly DD or 4 debit swipes a month. @will

      • Just opened the accounts! Thanks for the information!!

        There's no mention of maintaining an average daily balance of $100 in order to avoid the monthly fees. Fee Schedule states "Easy Checking as $3 per month fee (waived with 1 Direct Deposit or 4 or more POS debit card transactions posted to account per month". Just thought you might want to update the above info.

    • That's definitely odd, the bonus terms I got didn't mention this restriction, but the new bonus page does mention the Rutherford restriction now. Perhaps I overlooked that Fine Print, argh. Looks like they updated the promocode to be "RUT500" instead of "RC500" as well to correlate with this restriction... I'll update on the off-chance they give me the bonus (being an resident OOS account holder with them).

  • For people applying OSS, isn't this concerning?

    "Participant must be a resident of the following states/counties to be eligible for the Promotion; address verification may be required.
    • Tennessee: Rutherford"

  • Just took a look at the updated fine print and there's now a 5 year waiting period, not 2 years.

  • I applied on 7/17 OOS. Joined the Financial Fitness Association ($8) and then applied. They asked for my DL the next day, uploaded it, and just signed the paperwork to open the account. All very easy, but.....I forgot (or didn't notice) the line to enter the bonus code of RC500. I emailed them to ask to have it attached, have not heard back yet. UPDATE: Just chatted with them and they were able to add the promotional code.

  • "Any resident of Rutherford County, TN that hasn’t had a Redstone personal checking account in the past 5 years is eligible for this offer. See the terms and conditions for complete details."

  • I live in Tn but not in Rutherford County. As BW mentioned on their post from 2022, I thought it would be worth checking to see if I would be eligible if I joined a partner group of theirs like the Financial Assocation in San Fran for 8 a year. I just chatted with a rep from Redstone and was told no, must live in Rutherford County.

    "No, you must live in Rutherford Co. to qualify for that promotion."

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