Turns out it is targeted
Update 7/5/20: Seems like this is available again. Mentions it being your bday but as far as I can see it’s not actually targeted. Still not worth doing due to the hard pull. Hat tip to reader APV
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $150
- Availability:Â UT only, see below
- Direct deposit required:Â Yes, no minimum specified
- Additional requirements:Â eStatements
- Hard/soft pull:Â Hard pull via Experian
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding:Â You can fund with a credit card but a 2.5% fee is charged ($4.95 flat fee for debit cards).
- Monthly fees:Â $4, avoidable
- Early account termination fee:Â Six Months
- Household limit:Â One
- Expiration date:
May 19th, 2017None listed
Contents
The Offer
- Open a new MyStyle Checking account with Mountain America Credit Union and get a bonus of $150 when you meet the following requirements:
- Sign up for eStatements within 60 days of account opening
- Initiate a qualifying monthly direct deposit within 60 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- To qualify for and redeem reward, bring this coupon to a Mountain America branch, sign up for eStatements at account setup and initiate a monthly direct deposit such as payroll, pension, unemployment, Social Security or other government benefits within 60 days of coupon redemption.
- Reward will be deposited into account within 30 business days after eStatement setup and initial direct deposit posting.
- Account must remain open for minimum of six months from reward date, or it will be debited from account at closing.
- Limit one reward per person, per household.
- Offer not available on MyFree Checking, secondary accounts, account conversions or in combination with any other offer.
- Employees of Mountain America not eligible.
- Reward is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT.
Avoiding Fees
MyStyle Checking Account $4
This is waived if you do any of the following:
- Make $1,000 in direct deposits each month
- Perform at least 10 credit and or debit transactions each month
- Maintain an average daily checking balance of at least $2,500 for the month
Early Account Termination Fee
It does need to be kept open for six months otherwise the bonus is forfeit.
Eligibility
- Need to live in one of the following areas: Salt Lake County, Duchesne County, Wasatch County in UTÂ census tract 940300, or Uintah County in UT census tract 940100 or 940200 or
- Work for one of the Select Employer Groups or
- Have an immediate family member that is already a member
- Be a nationwide PTA member
Our Verdict
Not worth considering due to the hard pull. There are a lot of better checking account bonuses out there, so I’d recommend sticking with one of those instead.
Big thanks to reader, Curmudgeon who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- 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
As I suspected from the start, the birthday offer is targeted and says so on the webpage and the in-branch coupon. “Each offer may only be used once per targeted birthday message recipient.” I’d suggest marking the title as such.
William Charles
$100 PTA offer is still active. https://www.macu.com/mystylepta
New promo: https://www.macu.com/cp/checking/100-mystyle-celebrate100
William Charles
Expires December 31, 2021. Promo code: CELEBRATE100
Another link https://my.macu.com/100bonus2
Denied in branch for Chex systems. Sensitive to accounts in the last 30 days and to ones in different states
My stats were:
Past 36 months: 64
Past 30 months: 64
Past 24 months: 62
Past 18 months: 59
Past 12 months: 58
Past 06 months: 26
Past 03 months: 14
Past 01 months: 05
They have changed their website quite a bit since I did this promo last time. I think PTA members are now supposed to use this link, where it forces a $100 promo code. And just a reminder, if you join any local school PTA, you are automatically a National PTA member (AFAIK that is how it works everywhere).
https://www.macu.com/mystylepta
This birthday promo seems to be targeted, and when you print coupon it’s automatically supposed to fill in a date and time in when it expires and it doesn’t show up, so I think it might be YMMV. When I did the promo code switcharoo in 2017, the $150 was open to anyone. Just type in the SEG list as “National PTA”, and it worked from VA.
I am not too scared of hard pulls, so please report back if you go for the $150 and get it.
You can always freeze your credit and try.
Sure, you can, but prepare for a headache. I tried that with the GTE Financial CU $200 checking/bonus…. and it was a colossal fail. Basically GTE just bangs on the side of their computer when your application doesn’t process automatically and will shuffle you to the bottom of the stack.
Yeah, it saved my credit report from one inquiry… but took GTE weeks to do anything with my application, even after I contacted them a couple of times asking the status. And, by the time they actually figured out the problem, wanted me to thaw my report before they would continue, and said they wouldn’t honor the then expired promo.
It’s not the HP that bothers me… it says it expires 60 days after your birthday…. and my birthday is not even here yet. It would be so easy for them to deny the bonus…
Although it’s technically NOT nationwide, I used my local PTA membership (VA) to get this same bonus (as opposed to the $100 PTA bonus) in 2016. I kept my account, since it was a hard pull…. figured it wasn’t worth churning. But it appears they don’t do the PTA signups as a qualifier for an account anymore? If anyone finds the proper click path, please let me know. SO might join.
“I work for or I am a member/volunteer of the following company/organization.” Type PTA in the block. Then, select NATIONAL PTA.
If you join any U.S. school PTA, you’re automatically a member of a national PTA. Many local PTA’s are only $6 to join.
I signed up for this CU in Aug using ACC membership. I think PTA was limited in certain states. Used the promo code “consumer” when signing up for ACC membership for free. So should be basically nationwide. I signed up from MN. Got the 3% balance transfer promo that expired 9/30/18. Now 1.5 months later I got letter in mail for $100 checking bonus promo. Although will hold off if its a hard pull.
Joining any PTA makes you a national PTA member, which is on the pull down menu for applying. That’s cool you found a free loophole, and I was under the impression it’s hard pull to join… Not the account choice. Nice. Although there’s no point in doing the $100 bonus when you could do the $150.
I’m not sure, man… Might be worth your while to give them a call and ask questions. They will certainly pull chex but I don’t know if they’ll do another hard pull.
Another one for Utah! Thank you!