Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $150
- Availability:
- Live, work, worship or attend school in, and businesses and other legal entities located in an eligible area. Eligible areas are select counties in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida.
- You work for (or are retired from) one of our Partners, such as Ingalls Shipbuilding industries.
- You are related to an existing member or a Navigator employee.
- You become a member of the American Consumer Council. There’s no cost to you to join the ACC.
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: 12 debit card purchases
- Hard/soft pull: Unknown
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: No credit card funding Up to $2,500 in debit card funding
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: August 31, 2026
The Offer
- Navigator Credit Union is offering a $150 bonus when you open a new free checking account and complete the following accounts:
- Receive a qualifying direct deposit of $500+ within 60 days of account opening
- 12 swipes of your new debit card within 60 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- New free checking accounts open on or after June 1, 2026 through August 31, 2026 are eligible for $150 bonus.
- To qualify, you must have a total of $500 or more in Qualifying Direct Deposits and you must complete 12 debit card point-of-sale or signature purchases (ATM transactions and transfers between accounts do not qualify) that are cleared and posted to your account within the first 60 days after the checking account opening.
- If qualifications are met, the bonus will be credited to your Primary Savings account within 60 days of meeting all qualifications.
- To receive the bonus, the checking and primary savings account must remain open and in good standing through the date the bonus is credited.
- The promotion may be modified or changed at any time.
Members with an existing checking account or had a recently closed checking account within 90 days do not qualify. - New free checking accounts only.
- Consumer accounts only.
- Qualifying Direct Deposits are defined as deposits from an enrolled member’s employer, payroll provider, benefits provider, pension, or the government (such as Social Security) via ACH deposit. External ACH transfers not from employers, verification or trial deposits from financial institutions, peer-to-peer transfers from services such as PayPal, Zelle, Cash App, or Venmo, mobile check deposits, cash loads or deposits, and any deposit which Navigator deems to not be legitimate are not Qualifying Direct Deposits.
- An ACH direct deposit made available early with Early Payday does not count toward the bonus requirements until it posts to your account and is no longer pending (e.g. the pay date scheduled by your payer). Member must be 18 years of age or older and in good standing
- . Maximum of one bonus per membership.
- Bonus may be considered income and reported on 1099 MISC or 1099INT.
- Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the recipient.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Free checking has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
I wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so unsure if there is any EATF.
Our Verdict
Seems relatively easy to do, they briefly stopped applications due to ‘fraud’ so if it does work nationwide I suspect they will end up cancelling accounts.
Hat tip to reader ShawntheShawn
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- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
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According to this report, it’s Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. https://www.fox10tv.com/2025/03/21/membership-expansion-happening-navigator-credit-union/
I can’t figure it out either, there are no branches in FL to try to figure out the counties.
Any idea of the footprint area in florida?
Debt card* No cc funding.
I applied for this a couple of weeks ago from OOS with Chex frozen. I was declined, with the CSR just saying, “ we are unable to open an account for you online at this time” and inviting me to try at a branch. When I offered to unfreeze Chex, she said they “would still be unable to approve an online application. You would only be able to apply at one of our branch locations.”
I stopped halfway through the application process as it seemed like credit card funding was disabled. On the funding page, there were options to fund from external bank account or “debit card.” I tried 3 different credit cards and it threw and error for all 3, so I stopped. Not sure it’s worth it for just the $150 bonus without the $2500 credit card funding.
Following
Denied due to chex (lol/24). OOS and went the ACC route.
Chex sensitive? Is the cc funding still an option?
FYI, during the application process, you can qualify to be eligible by selecting you want to join their association or whatever at no cost.