Update 9/27/26: There is a new $500 bonus, but only available to residents of Kenton, Boone, and Campbell. Hat tip to reader Kyle
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: KY
- Direct deposit required: 3 totaling $3,000+
- Additional requirements: Use promo code
- Hard/soft pull: Unknown
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Up to $5,000
- Monthly fees:
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: 12/31/24
The Offer
- University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union is offering a $200 bonus when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Receive three Direct Deposits totaling $3,000 or more within 95 days
- Use promo code 200Better
The Fine Print
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
ukfcu checking account has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
I wasn’t able to find any EATF in the fee schedule.
Our Verdict
Seems to be a small service area, unfortunately applying through ACCC doesn’t help with out of state applications.
Hat tip to ShawntheShawn
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
Did it code as a purchase? What CC?
I’ve got a good story about this one. In attempted to open OOS back in 2024. They allowed $5k of credit card funding during the application. Ultimately I was denied but instead of refunding the card, they sent me a $5k check! Free CC spend!
William Charles They have a $500 promotion. Been going on for a while apparantly. Unfortunately it’s limited to select areas as they expand into Northern Kentucky. Looks like previously you could qualify for membership through ACC but not for this bonus. https://www.ukcreditunion.org/northernkentuckians ?
I called them every month to follow up if I am eligible for the bonus because they approved me after 12/31/24. Last week someone called me and confirmed that I was not eligible because the account did not approved by 12/31/24. I did filed a complaint on NCUA after that call and finally received the bonus on 5/2/25
Yes I’ve had probably 8-10 successful disputes over the last 3-4 years using similar wording. It only seems to work for around a quarter of my total disputes submitted. I think it really hinges on the person reading the dispute at the institution in question.
That’s an interesting wording that you used. Have you successfully disputed other inquiries with a similar wording?
It was something along the lines of: The account application was not successfully processed and no accounts were opened, therefore this inquiry needs to be removed from my records, or at least moved to “Inquiries Viewed Only By You” section. I believe it was my own fault for the initial failed dispute submission. I hit submit but apparently instead of saying the submission was successful, there was an error message that I didn’t notice at first. Only after waiting a few months with no response did I realize that I must’ve missed this message that I saw when trying to submit other Chex disputes .
mothman69 , BTW, I have a feeling that the same thing that happened to me happened to you. The 1st time that I disputed for the “branch” message, it was sent out normally by Chex and the FI (CCCU) rejected my dispute. However, the next time, I didn’t hear anything. So past 30 days, I called Chex to find out what was going on. That’s when a supervisor spoke with me and told me that someone from Chex didn’t even send in my request because it wasn’t a valid dispute. I brought up the CCCU dispute that was sent out and showed them that I used almost the exact wording in both disputes. The supervisor apologized and said that the 1st rep (regarding CCCU) was the one that erred as they should have rejected it also and that the 2nd rep did their job correctly. That’s why I am curious what you wrote each time.
It’s better late than never. Can you tell me what you wrote in the dispute?
Eric 🔗 Apparently my dispute did not actually get submitted back in Nov, so I re-submitted it in early February. I got a response on 3/11 that they moved my inquiry to Inquiry Viewed By Others. The only way I can submit disputes now is via mail 🙁
Wow!!! That’s a long time to review and approve
12/27/24 Submitted the application from Indiana using ACC for eligibility. 12/30/24 Got docusign emails to send more documents 01/21/25 Finally approved !!! 🌈
Chase freedom flex 5k (25 + 4975) coded as sale. Anyone get amex to work?
Update: I received an Adverse Action Notice letter in the mail today from UofK FCU. It states that they are unable to offer me a share draft/checking account due to suspected fraud or identity theft and that they obtained the information from TransUnion (although there was no hard pull). I’m kinda surprised they chose suspected fraud or identity theft instead of unable to verify identity.
Whether your dispute is more likely to be successful or not should not depend on whether it is submitted via the Dispute tab in your Chex account or by filling out the dispute form as a guest. I think a lot of it is luck. As you know, I do not have access to the Dispute tab. I have done around 15 disputes, and my success rate is around 60%. I believe many of my successes were just because the bank forgot to respond, as it generally took about 4 weeks for me to hear back about the result. If the bank had responded, I would expect the result to be delivered sooner. But I would not recommend doing too many disputes within a short period of time, or doing it too frequently. You do not want to be considered frivolous. mothman69
I don’t think that’s the reason. The only time that I have ever had a Chex inquiry removed was when I literally had documentation proving that a rep told me that there would be no Chex inquiry. The other time that an inquiry was removed was when the FI didn’t reply in time. I probably have filed < 10 disputes ever but the rest have all failed. I have always (and will always) give 100% honest info in my disputes. Maybe that’s why others have had better success than me as it seems like a lot of DoC readers have no qualms with lying. Maybe you are just a little too honest like me. 😉
mothman69 I have access to the Dispute tab but my success rate is also very low. From my experience making disputes, you aren’t missing out.
I’ve been really restraining myself lately and it helps that I’m relatively maxed out doing other offers between myself and P2. Keeping my Chex frozen has also played a big part. I will let you know the outcome of my dispute, just know that my dispute process is slightly different. I cannot utilize the Dispute tab when logged in, so I have to manually submit a dispute when logged out of Chex. When logged out, the dropdown menu for selecting a reason (other, inaccurate, etc.) is not available. You can only select the Type of Information (Inquiries Viewed By Others) and then manually enter the name of the bank and date of inquiry. I enter the reason into the dispute description box with my explanation of why the inquiry should be dropped or moved. My success ratio for disputes is really low, and I blame it on not being able to access the normal Dispute tab.
mothman69 , BTW, can you let me know how your Chex dispute goes? I’ve used the “branch” excuse twice (both were true) and the 1st dispute was denied by the FI and the 2nd dispute never reached the FI because Chex told me that it’s not a valid complaint.
The most surprising aspect of your DP is how (relatively) low your Chex stats are. I’m disappointed. 😀
Eric 🔗 I decided to try applying again yesterday with Chex unfrozen and received an immediate OnAlert notification that they had pulled Chex. Early today I received a DocuSign email to review account documentation, but then received another DocuSign email 10 minutes later that the request had been voided with the reason being Member service request has been voided for the following reason: Contacting applicant-need them to come in branch . I then missed a call about 7hrs later and they left me a voicemail that said “Unfortunately we will not be able to move forward with your application at this time”. I’m still not sure if I was denied or if I could still go into a branch to open (although I don’t plan to). I will dispute the Chex inquiry to get it removed. Chex stats as of 11/13/2024: 0/1, 1/3, 5/6, 22/12
Make sense…. Bordering states.
I didn’t try. See my comment here for the reason: #1937783 .
Did this work for you?
No, the nearest branch is a 3.5hr drive.
Do you live within driving distance of a branch?
Eric 🔗 I applied last night with Chex frozen and received an email today from one of their financial services officers. They stated that they noticed a freeze on my Chex and due to that freeze would need for me to come into a branch to verify my identity before proceeding with my application. I asked if I could just remove the freeze and reapply online, but they said that unfortunately I would still need to come into a branch. I also asked if being in Illinois would be an issue with eligibility even though I am a member of the American Consumer Council. Their response was that I do qualify for membership through ACC because I live in a surrounding state (which verifies the surrounding Kentucky theory). If we get some DPs on whether they are Chex sensitive or not, I might try removing the freeze and reapplying just to see what happens.
They did. Just checked my report.
Hey thanks for the tag, I’ll check it out.
mothman69 , Want to give it the old college try?