Florida Credit Union Offers $300 Checking Bonus

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Deal Summary: $300 bonus when opening a new Interest-Bearing Checking or Value Checking account.

Availability: 48 counties in North, Central, and South Florida.

Florida Credit Union (FCU) is currently offering a $300 bonus (Promo Code 21CHK300) when opening a “free personal full-service checking account.” The fine print on the offer page lists the following requirements and conditions:

Anyone who has held a checking account with FCU in the past year will not qualify for the incentive.

Must be 18 years of age or older to qualify for this offer.

Credit approval and initial $5 open deposit required.

$500 cumulative direct deposit amount must be made to this account within the first 60 days of account opening.

If the requirements are met and the account remains open and in good standing for 90 days, the $300 reward will be made available to the member.

FCU’s Interest-Bearing Checking and Value Checking (non-interest bearing) both are eligible for the $300 bonus. The Value Checking has no monthly service fee, no minimum balance requirement, a $5 minimum opening deposit requirement, eight free ATM transactions per month, and a free first box of checks.

The Interest-Bearing Checking also has no monthly service fee, but does require a $2.5k minimum opening deposit* and a $10k minimum balance to earn interest. Unlimited fee-free ATM transactions are offered and free checks are available throughout the lifetime of the account. The Interest-Bearing Checking has five tiered APYs ranging from 0.02% ($10k min) to 0.50% ($1m min).

APYMINMAXINSTITUTIONPRODUCTDETAILS
2.00*%$1m-Florida Credit UnionInterest-Bearing Checking
OTHER TIERS: 1.00% $10k - $25k | 1.10% $25k - $50k | 1.25% $50k - $100k | 1.50% $100k - $1m
Rates as of March 29, 2023.

*Although the Deposit Rates page states the minimum opening deposit is $10k, the online application states it is $2.5k. In a Live Chat, CSR stated,

I verified with the manager, you can open it with just $2,500 but will only start earning interest on $10,000 or greater. You can open the account with a minimum of $2,500, however, it is supposed to be $10,000. We do it as a courtesy for the member if they are moving funds from another institution.

CD Specials

In March, I wrote about FCU’s CD Specials, which required new money. (Even though the CD Specials are advertised as “limited-time” offers, the 25-month CD Special has been part of the product line for more than nine years.) While the rates have fallen from their very competitive March levels, they’re still respectable. For more details, please refer to my March 15 blog post.

Availability

Headquartered in Gainesville, Florida Credit Union field of membership (FOM) is residency based. Since my last FCU blog post in March, an additional three counties have been added to the FOM, with individuals who live or work in any of the following 48 North, Central, and South Florida counties now eligible to join:

Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, De Soto, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, or Volusia.

Joining FCU and applying for the $300 checking bonus (using promo cod 21CHK300) can be done online, by phoning the Contact Center (800.284.1144), or by visiting any of eleven Florida branches located in DeLand, Gainesville (4), Lake City, Ocala (4), and Starke. According to FCU’s COVID-19 Update page, all locations are open for business with normal business hours.

Opening a Regular Savings account ($5 minimum/$2.5k maximum) is required to establish an FCU membership.

Credit Union Overview

Florida Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 1.20% (excellent), based on March 31, 2021 data. In the past year, Florida CU has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $227.21 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 20.93%. Please refer to our financial overview of Florida Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 60497) for more details.

Originally chartered in 1954 as the Alachua County Teachers’ Credit Union, Florida Credit Union was owned and operated by teachers in the Alachua County School System. The Credit Union began adding more school systems and community colleges to its FOM within two years of opening its doors. 67 years later, after two name changes, a charter change, and expansion throughout North and Central Florida, FCU is currently the 16th largest credit union in Florida, with more than 123,000 members and assets in excess of $1.6 billion.

Bottom Line

With only a $500 direct deposit required and no other transactional hoops to jump through, this is a relatively easy $300 bonus, particularly if you open a Value Checking account ($5 minimum opening deposit). I don’t think there is any current offering that would return $300 on $505 ($5 opening deposit and $500 in direct deposits) in three months.

When interest rates are low, savings and checking bonuses have more of an impact. To earn $300 in a typical online savings account (with a 0.50% APY) would require a $60k balance for a year.

If you don’t qualify for the Florida Credit Union $300 bonus, check out our full list of the best savings and checking account bonus offers.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 6/11/2021.

Related Pages: Orlando checking accounts, Jacksonville checking accounts, Gainesville checking accounts, checking accounts, 1-year CD rates, 5-year CD rates, bank bonuses

Comments
enduser
  |     |   Comment #1
A few important points missed by Ken...
-They do a hard pull when you open account
-There is a $20 fee if account is closed within 6 months of opening
-$300 is considered interest and will be reported on IRS form 1099-INT
-Your direct deposit needs to be an electronic deposit of your paycheck, pension or, government benefit (such as SSI) from your employer or the government. Person-to-person payments (such as Cash App, Venmo or PayPal) are not considered a direct deposit.
Rickny
  |     |   Comment #2
These requirements are usually the case with checking bonuses except a hard pull is not used often. I've gotten 2 credit cards in the last 6 months and my score at Experian is 839. It went down 5 points. Always important to read all the fine print on these offers.

I opened a bonus checking account at Keybank for $400. Had to open with at least $10 and within 2 weeks make a $500. No direct deposit which the rep says that rarely offer and you are required to do a 1 hour financial health check and only offered to people with 800 plus scores. .Reward credited at 30 days and $25 penalty if closed in. 6 months. They only did a Checksytems check at Key

The key rep said most people forget to fund the $500 in 2 weeks and many others closed the account before the 6 months and had to pay the $25 penalty.
P_D
  |     |   Comment #3
Unfortunately that deal expired 6 months ago.
Rickny
  |     |   Comment #7
Yep PD Offer ended. Best reward I ever got. I even took the $500 out a few weeks after I made the deposit so for the most part the balance I was carrying was $10. Got the $400 bonus in 30 days and pulled that out the day I got it. I only go for these checking bonuses when there is no direct deposit requirement. Still waiting for my Citi, TD Bank bonuses which should come in soon. With Alliant I have several months of making $100 deposits to get that $100 bonus.
P_D
  |     |   Comment #8
I missed the Keybank deal because according to the discussion here at the time it was invitation only and I have no relationship with them, hence had no invitation. I since found out that it may not have been invitation only, but it was too late. Done with Citi. TD due by 7/13. 7 months to go on autopilot for Alliant.

I don't have any direct deposits and no desire to try to game them. So the options are limited and in this deposit environment, pretty much dead.
Rickny
  |     |   Comment #9
The Keybank deal with no DD was invitation only according to the Keybank rep I delt with.
P_D
  |     |   Comment #10
You mentioned that at the time. But subsequently I saw a post on the Web that seemed to indicate it was an open deal. Maybe it changed during the course of the offer.
Rickny
  |     |   Comment #4
Citibank has a new charge card with a $200 bonus.
P_D
  |     |   Comment #5
I'm being bombarded with "preapproved" solicitations for that card. I don't know. I sort have been following the rule that if I have no use for a card I don't get it even if there is a bonus. My FICO is in the 800s too. I don't really need to have a good credit score, but I still don't like dinging it. It's a pride thing I guess. Is it worth the ding for $200? Maybe. But then I have to decide what to do with the card. Remember to use it every now and then, or have it cancelled by the issuer eventually for non-use potentially dinging your credit again.

I had only one credit card for probably the last 15 years. A few months ago I gave in and got a second card from Chase for the $200 bonus. But it is also a useful card to compliment my first card. The Citi card adds nothing to the mix. I would never use it.

So is it worth it? IDK.
Rickny
  |     |   Comment #6
Between wife and me we got 3 new cards and made $800 on bonuses. The least I make on a credit card purchase is 2%. I get 5% on a few things. All three cards gave me more valuable bonuses.

This new card would not add any features and would only be a bonus. Since we may need a mortgage for our move to North Carolina in the next year or so It's not the hit on the score but if the underwriter sees to many requests for credit. Just paid off my car loan and got a note from Experian confirming the loan closure.
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