Update 8/15/26: There is now a $1,000 bonus as well. Note it looks like this is targeted ( Bonuses are available only to new members who do not have an active checking or savings account with Verve at the time of account opening and who have been invited to open a new Verve Essential, Premier, or Optimum Checking account with the Promo Code. )
Bonus is broken down as follows:
- Receive $200 when qualifying ACH direct deposits totaling at least $1,000 are deposited into your new checking account within the first two full calendar months after account opening.
- Earn an additional $400 by maintaining an average monthly balance of at least $10,000 in qualifying Verve deposit accounts during your first three full calendar months.
- Earn a final $400 by maintaining an average monthly balance of at least $10,000 in qualifying Verve deposit accounts through your first 12 full calendar months.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $600
- Availability: WI, MN, IL
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,000+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Up to $2,500
- Monthly fees: $0-$15 avoid
- Early account termination fee: $25, 90 days
- Household limit: Unknown
- Expiration date: December 31, 2026
The Offer
- Verve, a credit union is offering a bonus of $200-$600 when you open a new checking account.
- Receive $200 when qualifying ACH direct deposits totaling at least $1,000 are deposited into your new checking account within the first two full calendar months after account opening
- Earn an additional $200 by maintaining an average monthly balance of at least $10,000 in qualifying Verve deposit accounts during your first three full calendar months.
- Earn a final $200 by maintaining an average monthly balance of at least $10,000 in qualifying Verve deposit accounts through your first 12 full calendar months
The Fine Print
- Only one bonus offer available per person. Bonus only available to new members who have not had a Verve Checking or Membership Share account within the past 18 months. You must be eligible and qualify for membership at Verve, a Credit Union. You must purchase and maintain one required share at par value of $5.00 in a savings account.
- To earn up to $600, meet the following requirements:
- $200 Opening Bonus: Open a checking account and complete qualifying ACH direct deposits into checking totaling at least $1,000 within two full calendar months of account opening. Payment will be made within 30 days following the end of the qualification period.
- $200 Three Month Balance Bonus: Maintain an average monthly balance of at least $10,000 in qualifying deposit accounts (checking, savings, money markets, certificates, IRAs, and HSAs) for the first three full calendar months. Balances will be reviewed monthly. Payment will then be made within 30 days following the end of the qualification period.
- $200 Twelve Month Balance Bonus: Maintain an average monthly balance of at least $10,000 in qualifying deposit accounts (checking, savings, money markets, certificates, IRAs, and HSAs) through 12 full calendar months. Payment will then be made within 30 days following the end of the qualification period.
- Verve checking account must be open and in good standing at time of payment. Bonus payment is considered interest and reported on IRS form 1099-INT. Offer valid for accounts opened from July 1, 2026, to December 31, 2026. Please consult a Verve team member for full disclosure of membership accounts and bonus offer. Verve reserves the right to modify or discontinue this offer at any time.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
- Essential checking has no monthly fees, best option if you’re just doing the $200 direct deposit.
- Optimum checking has a $15 monthly fee, waived with Verve Credit Card or $10,000 Combined Deposit Account Average Balance
Early Account Termination Fee
$25 EATF fee if closed in 90 days
Our Verdict
Optimum checking earns 2.5% APY if you meet the following requirements each month: Monthly ACH Direct Deposit Totaling $1,000, Valid Email Address, + Enrolled in eStatements. If you put the $10,000 into an account earning 5% you’d earn $500 (or $250 more if you meet the requirements for optimum account) so the extra $400 in bonuses that require deposits aren’t really worth doing. Although they do have a 4.1% APY 13-month CD that can be used to get that last $200 as well as the second $200 so that makes it worth doing if you can tie up the money. 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
Also got the $200 today. Opened mid-July for just the first tier, 2 $1k+ Chase Biz DDs end of August and September.
7/9: account opened 7/16-8/13: real DDs totaling $1000+ 10/5: $200 bonus posts
Worked for me just now for $1k on Citi Strata Premier. No Chex pull (yet). Usually I get an immediate OnAlert email if there is Chex. I had to use the Google Pay option has the regular CC funding option was not working.
Able to add a new savings account as an existing member with Chex frozen (credit bureaus unfrozen). No pull attempt as of a few days later. Last Chex pull from them was two months prior. Bank of America Customized Cash funding coded as Online Shopping and gave 3%.
For 600 offer. Manually.. applied on Friday, oddly got email for denial on Saturday.
For the 1k offer or the 600, & auto- or manually? If it was a manual denial with the targeted 1000 promo code maybe that was why.
It looks like they have gotten stricter lately after the initial DoC attack on their $600 bonus offer.
Seeing a lot of denials coming in… I was approved at Verve on 7/10/26… Using my Chex Report dated 07/17/2026, my Chex Inquiries/Months on 7/9/2026 were: 1/1, 1/2, 2/3, 9/6, 14/12, 32/24, 49/36 .
Denied, OOS via ACC. Chex before applying, 1/1, 1/3, 4/6. Thought this CU was not chex sensitive based on DPs
So are my real DD’s… Uncategorized
what your Relay push categorized as?
Does it categorized as PAYROLL? or PAYROLL displayed just from Relay memo?
Current push with “PAYROLL” memo also shown as “uncategorized”, wondering if it counts as DD?
im using relay also :D.
Both Relay and Fidelity CMA “other person” xfers show as “External Deposit” on my statement. Fidelity in particular said “- ACH” at the end.
I decided to play it safe and doing $1k chase Bix for 2 months (Aug./Sept.) I originally was going to do a total of 1k ($500 month), but now will err on side of caution. Chase Bix payroll shows as “uncategorized”, as do pushes from CFG.
Super thanks
Complete qualifying ACH direct deposits into checking totaling at least $1,000 within two full calendar months of account opening. Payment will be made within 30 days following the end of the qualification period. So, two COMPLETE calendar months from your opening day is your qual period… then add up to 30 days for payout. The 1st partial month doesn’t count, unless you open on the 1st of the month.
Can anyone clarify on the qualification period for first $200 please
Can anyone clarify what the qualification period is here for $1000 deposit portion of the promotion? Thank you
First off what an extremely long URL…….I thought promo code would be at end like many others. So everyone entered 1000BONUS in the application process I am guessing. Wonder if Ken perhaps forgot to do that. ShawntheShawn
I’m in footprint, but hesitating on applying with the get1000 offer. I’m trying to parse this language: “Bonuses are available only to new members who do not have an active checking or savings account with Verve at the time of account opening and who have been invited to open a new Verve Essential, Premier, or Optimum Checking account with the Promo Code. You must be eligible and qualify for membership at Verve, a Credit Union.” Does this mean that you have to be a *non-member* who gets targeted (implied by the “eligible and qualify for membership” clause), or someone who is *already* a “new member who does not have an active checking or savings account … who has been invited open” one? Is the move to join, open the CD, and then wait to be invited, or would the act of joining disqualify someone from getting the bonus?
I used a Chase Ink Unlimited Visa last month for my opening deposits and it coded as a purchase. I also used a Wells Fargo Signify Mastercard to fund a couple of CDs which also coded as purchases.
what Chase CC did you use? Is it VISA or MC?
yes i can confirm they allow $2500 for funding of CD using Chase card, which codes as purchase. And you can open more than 1 CD. also worked with Capital One CC, but no Amex
Makes sense. Given the “Bonus denied” statement, another possibility is that OP did not read the terms, completed DD, and asked why they haven’t received the $200 for it.
I’d assume they mean they asked the credit union if the $1,000 offer was attached, or they were proactively told they weren’t qualified for the offer… but hopefully Ken will clarify. The first bonus isn’t due until after 2 full calendar months (qual period), PLUS up to 30 days after that. The offer hasn’t been around that long AFAIK.
you should still qualify for the 600 bonus, right?
For the $600 promo?
Bonus denied as account was opened via link not direct mailer. I am ok with the policy though just wondering the link on DOC don’t mentioned direct mailer required I know the actual post says so but should the link say that too?