Update 7/11/26: Deal is back but this time for $100 instead of $250. Can be opened online now instead of in branch though. Hat tip to reader dealgamer
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: You’re eligible for Membership if you: Live, work, worship or attend school in one of these CT counties (Fairfield, Litchfield or New Haven) Are an employee of one of our Select Employer Group companies (see below for list) Have a family member who is already a Member of MSCU
- Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum mentioned
- Additional requirements: Maintain an average daily balance of $5,000+ for 3 months
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $2-6
- Early account termination fee: None listed
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: November 17th, 2019
The Offer
- Mutual Security Credit Union is offering a bonus of $250 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Establish a direct deposit (no minimum mentioned)
- Make $100 in total deposits
The Fine Print
- Offer only applicable to new memberships opened at MSCU Norwalk with checking accounts.
- Not valid for existing account holders. $250 will be deposited into the checking account after ninety (90) days of establishing direct deposit and maintaining an average monthly balance of $5,000
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Essential has a $2 monthly fee, this is waived if your a minor of 65+. Elevated has a $6 monthly fee, this is waived with Daily average balance in checking of $2,500 or aggregate balance of $20,000 in deposit accounts at the end of the month.
Early Account Termination Fee
I wasn’t able to find any mention of an early account termination fee in the fee schedule
Our Verdict
Has the potential to be a good bonus worth doing, but we need to know if it’s a soft or hard pull to open. As it requires opening in branch it should be possible to ask before opening the account. If anybody goes for this deal then please share your experiences in the comments below.
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
Pudding Hey so just as some DD, my $250 bonus posted today.
Yeah that’s what I am kinda hoping on too, gonna try to meet the average balance requirement and see what happens.
Thanks for the DP, I was gonna go in branch later this week to sign up. The $5000 opening deposit would be a deal breaker for me right now since I have funds tied up for the next couple weeks in other bonuses. I am wondering though whether this is a case of a typical misinformed banker not really understanding their own terms – clearly they do not seem to understand what average daily balance means – and that one might still get the bonus anyway even if they don’t walk into the bank with $5000 to open.
William Charles Ok so I went to this bank today to sign up and have a few notes- – There is no hard pull on credit for opening an account – They require you to also open a savings account when you open the checking account, with a $5 deposit. – They do check your chex score (and asked me why I had so many bank accounts) but that didn’t seem to stop the account opening process. – No CC funding for account opening. Cash only. – They say in all their marketing materials + online that you need to maintain an average balance of $5000 to get the $250 bonus. However, the assistant at the bank told me that was actually incorrect, and that you really need to open the account with a $5000 deposit! So if you cannot open the account with that $5000 deposit, you are out of luck! She tried to spin it as “we didn’t want to confuse people online!”, suggesting that they put deliberately false information online and didn’t tell me about it until I finished opening the account. Pretty scummy to be honest. So overall, a pretty shady bank from that last trick they pulled on me. If you are gonna go here, make sure you can open the account with a check for $5000.
Come on, open a branch in Hartford 🙂