When to apply for PenFed’s $500 bonus offer

PenFed is offering up to $500 for members who sign up for a checking and/or savings account. Members will receive $250 for opening a Free Checking or Access America Checking account. They can also receive $150 if they open a Premium Online Savings account. If both the savings and checking bonuses are fulfilled, there’s an additional $100 bonus.

The account/s must be opened by 02/15/2024. The checking account must have at least 2 direct deposits that collectively total $1,500. From 02/15/2024 to 06/15/2024, the savings account must have a minimum balance of $10,000. Bonus payments will be issued up to around 60 days after the promotion’s end date, which is 06/15/2024.

Though there’s ample time to fund the account/s and receive any required direct deposits, PenFed’s glitchy site and transfer process are big motivators to apply for the account/s now.

The savings account offer requires a Premium Online Savings account balance of at least $10,000 by 02/15/2014. So, signing up now should give members enough time to discover and work out any kinks that other PenFed members appear to be having with transfers.

Another reason for taking advantage of the offer now versus later is that, like many account bonus offers, PenFed’s bundle offer terms state that the offer can be terminated at anytime. That doesn’t mean that PenFed can cancel the promotion and refuse to pay out the bonus after you’ve started fulfilling the requirements. But, they can stop letting members sign up for the accounts with the promotional codes. So, this is even more reason to sign up now and lock in your promotion. 

The good news is that there’s no downside to applying for these accounts early. For many bonus offers, the timing of your signup is just as important as actually fulfilling the bonus requirements because finding the ideal signup date can help you minimize account maintenance fees and reduce the amount of time that your funds are not held in an account that could yield higher returns. Members eligible for PenFed’s offer can fulfill the offer terms by opening the Free Checking account and/or Premium Online Savings account. Neither of these qualifying accounts have a maintenance fee, minimum balance, or other hoops to jump through to keep the accounts free.