Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $400
- Availability: PA only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,000+ within 90 days
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Hard
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None mentioned
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date: November 25, 2026
The Offer
- Univest is offering a $400 bonus when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- have qualifying direct deposits totaling at least $1,000 credited to the account within 90 calendar days of account opening
The Fine Print
- Offer available only to customers who do not currently have a Univest consumer checking account. To receive the $400 bonus, open any new Univest consumer checking account between September 14, 2026, and November 25, 2026, and have qualifying direct deposits totaling at least $1,000 credited to the account within 90 calendar days of account opening.
- Qualifying direct deposits are electronic ACH deposits, such as payroll, pension, or government benefit payments. Transfers between accounts, person-to-person payments (including Zelle®), Real-Time Payments (RTP), mobile deposits, ATM deposits, branch deposits, and deposits made using a debit or prepaid card do not qualify.
- To be eligible, you must not have closed a Univest consumer checking account or received a Univest new checking account incentive within the past 12 months. Existing Univest customers who do not currently have a Univest consumer checking account and who otherwise meet the offer requirements may qualify. Business accounts are not eligible.
- Limit one bonus per household, defined as individuals residing at the same residential address. The bonus will be credited to the qualifying account within 30 business days after the 90-day qualification period, provided the account is open and has a positive balance at the time the bonus is paid. Accounts that are closed, restricted, subject to closure, or charged off before the bonus is paid are not eligible. No partial bonus will be paid.
- The bonus may be taxable, and you are responsible for any applicable taxes. Offer cannot be combined with other Univest checking bonus offers unless otherwise stated. Subject to account approval, disclosures, and applicable fees. Univest may modify or end this offer at any time. Univest Bank and Trust Co. Member FDIC.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Value, basic & cash back rewards checking have no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
I didn’t see any mention of an EATF in the fee schedule.
Our Verdict
There was a $150 checking bonus in the past, but that was back in 2017. Even with the hard pull I think this is worth doing as it’s for $400. We will add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses.
Hat tip to reader Bockrr
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 Calculate And Share Your ChexSystems Datapoints
- 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
Well, I called and they insisted I must have entered a PO box (I didn’t). They supposedly deleted the app, but it seems like they just rolled it back. Got to the ID portion and again, it insisted I had no physical address. Will call again, but she made it sound like I would have to go in-branch, which is a huge PITA because it’s a 75-minute drive each way.
Bonus also not to be on the hook for that million!
Account was still locked 4 days later, today so I called to inquire, the rep didn’t seem to realize why I was calling or that the “back end” needed responses for those 3 questions. Took her a good 10 min to unlock my account but she got it unlocked and I’m good to go now, no holds. My trial deposits were there so it was just a lockout, they reset my password to last 4 and I was able to log in and pick a new password. Bit odd opening procedure, but all seems well now, said she would confirm my enrollment in promo after hanging up(the other rep 4 days ago confirmed it as well).
Rec’d a message yesterday asking me to call CS about my new account. Called back this morning. CSR asked where I heard about the bank and where I bank now. She said she had to ask these questions to “activate” my account, which oddly currently shows $1 million negative balance online. I assume my account would NOT have been activated, if I had not called back and answered the questions. She said my account will be activated in 24 hours and the balance will be returned to zero. These questions are a minor inconvenience for $400.
Same exact issue. Will call them tomrorow.
Yep, that’s what I told the lady when she asked for my DOB. I was like, you called me… I’m not giving you any of my information. I told her I could call the bank back at a time that worked for me, and then she pressed me asking when would be good for me to call. At that point, I told her this whole thing was quite strange and I didn’t understand why she was pressing me for information that was completely irrelevant to my relationship with the bank.
Mine reverted back to my actual balance now – I just thought that was odd.
That’s what it looked like for me and then within 24 hours the account status was changed to dormant and I couldn’t log in until I called.
I signed up the other day, did an initial deposit of $25, and then pushed ACH $1,000. Now my account is randomly showing a balance of -$998,975, haha. I wonder what caused that and if it’ll fix itself by the morning.
They added $10 to my account for enrolling in eStatements (listed as “ESTMT CREDIT”). I probably signed up for eStatements during the application, but in case you did not, another possible $10.
No DP’s are listed on DOC . If anyone does and/or knows of a fake DD that Univest accepts please let me know
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This is why I always wait at least a week or two to switch real DD, or some banks I’ll do a small amount first, like $20. If trial deposits bounce no big deal. Also best practice to never answer the phone when a bank calls, always initiate the call first. Caller ID is easily spoofed. I saw the caller ID come up as this bank but I figured they would leave me a message with directions for whatever they wanted, and they did. From what I was told this info would have been asked if you applied in branch.
I got this same thing and the lady was asking these questions and I asked if this was relevant to opening my account, since I had seen it was open already and had switched my direct deposit to it. She said it was relevant and I asked how, if it wasn’t on the application to begin with? So she sensed my hesitancy to answer questions that felt more like marketing info gathering than anything to do with opening a checking account, and then she said that she had to tell the risk department these answers and they’d make a final assessment. I was like, did you just passive-aggressively threaten to make a recommendation to close my account? If this was required info, why isn’t it on your application? So we had a 15 minute conversation about it, and I told her this is very bizarre and that I don’t give information to people who call me. If I wanted to discuss anything, I’d call the bank directly. She was very professional and I could tell she was getting frustrated but she kept her cool. I also made it clear that it’s nothing personal, and that this is a very strange policy to open an account and then claim the risk department could shut me down for information I may or may not give over the phone. I just don’t want them to hold my direct deposit hostage… I told her I’d file a CFPB complaint if that is what happens. I guess I could have been a bit less direct, but it truly was bizarre to ask me random marketing type questions and then threaten that the risk dept. would shut me down if I didn’t answer the questions. She said if I hadn’t answered the phone call, and got back to them within 24 hours, they’d shut my account down. Wild!
Got a phone call today from 215 area code and caller ID indicating it was them. Voicemail directed me to call an 800 number option 2. Was told they just needed to ask a couple questions for “second level” verification, they were very simple questions: How did you hear about us(targeted FB ad), who do you bank with already(simple answer of my main bank checking account and Sofi, omit everything else LOL), and why did you join(looking for new checking account, might open CDs, blah blah. I did mention that the promo was one of the reasons…) I asked if the promo was applied, they confirmed it was(did not enter a promo code), and also if there is a temp hold on the account for now and was told there is, so my trial deposits might bounce… need to wait a couple days for them to complete their verification, said they would reach out again with update in a couple days. No real cause for concern, thought it was going to be identity/credit report based questions but instead it was just simple softballs that would have been asked/documented if you applied in branch.
Well – Nothing I see, and I can’t afford to be the guinea pig lol
I was having problems getting a picture of my drivers license to be scanned over . I tried for about 15 minutes and it wouldnt get accepted—–it kept says ” analyzing ” but wouldn’t let me proceed …..i finally was able to get it to go thru but my address on my drivers license had my physical address and a po box but i got this message ” Unable to process this application. Please enter a physical address. A PO Box can not be a primary address “ even though my physical address was listed on the application. Anyone have any idea’s on this ?
Just a heads up, successfully opening the account over the weekend means they might want to interrogate you when the back office is, well, back in the office.
4/6mo, 1/90 days, have cooled way down
How do you know nothing counts as a fake DD? It just looks like there’s no good data points.
Make sure to note the user ID that is provided on page that shows your account number (next to your email and phone number). Online banking was already set up for me and I had to select forgot password to create new password. I was logged in immediately from there. You can change your user ID under settings.
Applied 9/20/26 with immediate approval. Live in PA. License and selfie verification. No promo code. NO hard pull. LOL Chex.
Would you mind sharing your chex stats?
Applied on 9/18, from NJ and instantly approved. No promo code needed. NO hard pull. Did have to scan license + selfie. I picked fund later, will link and push something over from my hub. To get online access I had to follow directions in an email after approval which told me to log in using a temp ID and password(last 4 of SSN) instead of registering. Had to change PW immediately and was able to change user ID as well. Should be an easy $400.
& the new ones on your initial comment say no
William Charles No hard pull https://www.doctorofcredit.com/contact-us/#comment-2413098 https://www.doctorofcredit.com/contact-us/#comment-2413226
Keep in mind those DPs are almost 10 years old
Selfie & ID scan required for me
I did
You have to do a selfie to apply for this?