Update 7/18/26: New link here for $500 bonus. Hat tip to reader Theo
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: Membership open to anyone who lives, works, or worships in WA, or related to someone who’s eligible for membership, or CWU, Evergreen, UW or WSU student.
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,000+
- Additional requirements: Use promo code and 15 debit card transactions
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown, sensitive
- Credit card funding:Up to $1,000
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: None listed
The Offer
- WSECU is offering a $500 checking bonus when you open a new cash back checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Receive $1,000/month in direct deposits.
- Swipe your debit card 25 times in the first 90 days
The Fine Print
-
Eligibility restrictions:
- Offer available to new WSECU members who open a Cash Back Checking account within 14 days of becoming a member.
- Existing WSECU members, or those who closed a WSECU checking account within the last 24 months, are not eligible.
- Limit one bonus per member.
- Offer cannot be combined with other promotions.
- Offer may be modified or withdrawn at any time without notice
- All accounts must be in good standing in accordance with our Consumer Account Agreement to receive the bonus.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account 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 or not.
Our Verdict
Sadly looks like they are very Chexsystems sensitive so I suspect most readers won’t get approved. Good bonus and worth doing if you can though and will be added to the best bank bonus page with a ChexSystems warning.
Hat tip to reader BonusVault
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
they actually agreed to add me to the list of eligible members after I pushed back on there being no mention of a code 🙂 Will see if the bonus ends up posting
Landing page doesn’t mention that?
The article body needs to note adding WELCOME500 during application.
You can do an ACH pull and transfer funds from your outside banks just fine. I agree with you that they are a bit of a clown show otherwise though.
Warning: they don’t let you electronically transfer funds out for 90 days after creating the account. I also never received the welcome letter with my account number, and never received a debit card to make debit transactions. Upon notifying them, they gave me the account number but I never received a new card. I decided this one isnt worth the hassle and now I need to go in a branch to get a check or have them mail me a check to get my funds out. What an absolute pain in the ass.
did you try it and not get the bonus?
It seems if you aren’t instantly approved you lose any chance for CC funding. Pretty whack.
you wont get the 500$ ifd you didnt receive the mailer, better to use the cashback300 code
Real direct deposit through my workplace. I did the 25 debit card transactions and had one DD and the bonus posted.
I paid my utility bills in small increments. I did $1 to $3 to be safe. It worked.
how long in the past do they check for Chexsystems inquiries? 12m or 2 yrs? any no for max threshold of inquiries allowed?
8/5 Applied online in-state. Added WELCOME500 promo. Chex was pulled, approved with Chex: 2/1, 3/2, 4/12. funded account with Physical Apple Card coded as services 1% back.
I used the promo code WELCOME500, which Spring shared below in the comments.
I was delined due to Chex. P2 got the bonus.
did you get the bonus?
did you put in some kind of code?
Yes, three inquiries in last two years.
Only three inquiries in the last two years? Nice. I wish there was a way to know if they looked at just the last three months or longer than that.
Applied in-state on 07/28. Application went under review. Received email on 07/30 to lift Equifax freeze for a soft pull. Lifted freeze and got approved. Asked to visit branch for debit card printing. Received DocuSign link with account number. Did not see any option for credit card funding in this process. Chex: 1/3, 3/24.
How did you finish the 25 debit transactions? I tried the PayPal 0.01 recurring charge by days but it posted as bill pay which WSECU lists as ineligible debit transactions…..
did you receive the bonus it without doing 25 debit card transaction?
Can you open this at this branch?
Ugh…typical customer service. My agent even told me very confidently lol . Did you receive bonus confirmation email after signing up?
I got the code through chat. The agent was confused at first when I asked for the promotion and the code.
not sure what others got, but I was told there isn’t any promo code for this $500 offer when I chatted online with cs.
Anyone verified this $500 offer?
Promo code: WELCOME500 I would confirm with an agent through chat before opening an account.
Although my application was denied, it looks like WSECU wants me to go to the branch to verify my identity. Based on the information provided, we are unable to offer you membership with WSECU at this time. What can I do now? Identity verification required If you feel you have received this decision in error, please visit your nearest branch and provide supporting documentation to verify your identity.
3+ months ago
How recent were your 2 Chex inquiries? They could be sensitive to recent inquiries.