Fairwinds Credit Union Referral Bonus (Step By Step Guide)

Fairwinds Credit Union is a Florida-based credit union that is currently offering new customers a $100 signup bonus after opening an account and doing a direct deposit of $200 or more. It’s unclear how long this offer will last, but if you’re reading this and it’s still available, I highly recommend taking advantage of this offer given how easy the terms are to meet. This post will walk you through the steps you need to follow to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union referral bonus. 

If you’re looking for the brief rundown, here’s what you need to do to earn the bonus: 

1. Open a Fairwinds Credit Union checking account using a referral link (here’s my referral link). 
2. Do a direct deposit of $200 or more within 45 days of account opening.
3. Your bonus will post on the 15th day of the month following the month you complete the direct deposit.

Fairwinds Credit Union is based in Florida, but membership is available nationwide. All you need to do is contribute a $5 membership share, which then allows you to become a member of the credit union. This is standard with any credit union (and I believe you get your $5 back if you ever close your account). 

With all that said, let’s take a deeper dive into how this bonus works and what you need to do to earn it. 

How To Earn Your Fairwinds Credit Union Referral Bonus 

Fairwinds Credit Union is a good bank because it has no fees or minimum balance requirements. This means it’s an easy account to open and earn the bonus. Since there are no fees, you won’t have to spend time managing your Fairwinds Credit Union account. 

There are three steps for you to follow to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union referral bonus. Here are the three steps in detail: 

1. Open A Fairwinds Credit Union checking account with a referral link. First, you’ll need to open a Fairwinds Credit Union checking account using a referral link. Here’s my referral link if you feel like supporting this site. 

When you click on the link, you’ll go to a page that has a message that looks like the one below. Click the “Start Now” button and follow the steps to create your Fairwinds checking account.

The website will say to make sure that you open the account with the “Refer & Earn” code to qualify for the bonus. I didn’t notice anywhere to put a referral code, but if you’ve clicked the referral link, it should track properly. Just in case, however, I recommend saving a screenshot of the page in case there are any issues.

When I applied, they couldn’t verify my identity and asked me to submit a picture of my driver’s license and a utility bill with my name and address on it. My account and membership were approved shortly after. 

You can fund the account with either a debit card or a bank account. The minimum opening deposit is $25 plus the $5 membership share (so $30 total). It’s not quite clear to me if you can fund the account with a credit card. I opted to just fund it with my bank account since I didn’t want to spend the time figuring out if I could fund my checking account with a credit card.

2. Do A Direct Deposit of $200 Or More Within 45 Days Of Account Opening. Once you’ve opened your account, the next step is to do a direct deposit of $200 or more with 45 days of opening your account. The easiest and most surefire way to meet this requirement is to do a real payroll direct deposit. I have access to real direct deposits via Gusto, so it’s easy for me to send a $200 direct deposit to my Fairwinds Credit Union checking account. 

If you don’t have an easy way to do a payroll direct deposit, then you’ll need to try various ACH transfers to see if any trigger the bonus. Unfortunately, at this time, I have no data points about which banks trigger the direct deposit requirement. Since the bonus doesn’t post until the following month of meeting the requirements, you won’t know if your ACH transfer worked until the next month. And since you need to do a direct deposit within 45 days of account opening, you might run out of time to do a real direct deposit if you find out that your deposit didn’t work. 

My advice would be to do a real direct deposit if you can. You don’t need to leave the money in your Fairwinds checking account, so after you do your direct deposit, feel free to withdraw your money back to your main checking account.

3. Your Bonus Should Post By The 15th Day Of the Following Month. The terms state that your bonus will post on the 15th day of the following month after you meet the requirements. Accordingly, if you meet the bonus requirements in July, your bonus would post by August 15th. If your bonus doesn’t post in that timeframe, then it likely means you didn’t meet the requirements.

Refer Your Friends And Get Your Own Fairwinds Credit Union Referral Bonus

Fairwinds Credit Union allows members to refer friends and family. When you open your account, you’ll be able to generate your own referral link. If your friends use your referral link and follow these steps, they’ll earn $100 and you’ll earn $100 for referring them. 

Per the terms, you can earn up to $1,000 in referral bonuses each calendar year. I don’t know if this also includes the referral bonus you earn for opening your account with a referral link, as the terms don’t really make that clear. 

To get your referral link, log into your Fairwinds Credit Union account. Above where your bank accounts are listed, you’ll see a banner that will give you your referral link. Click this banner, copy your referral link, and send it to your friends and family if you think they might be interested. If you’re a two-person household, for example, your best move would be to open an account with a referral link, then refer your spouse or partner. It means an easy $300 without much work.

Other Interesting Features: 2% Savings Account 

Fairwinds Credit Union offers a 2% interest savings account on your first $1,000. That’s far higher than most high-yield savings accounts and makes Fairwinds Credit Union a potentially useful bank to store some of your extra cash. 

Note that several banks offer 3-5% interest, so I’d recommend maxing out those accounts before turning to this one (here’s a guide I wrote that shows you how to get a 5% interest savings account). If you have leftover savings that need to go somewhere, Fairwinds Credit Union isn’t a bad spot. 

Final Thoughts  

The Fairwinds Credit Union referral bonus is a good one that isn’t too complicated. Since the checking account has no fees or minimum balance requirement, there’s really not much that can go wrong here other than failing to meet the terms to earn the bonus. 

I have no idea how long this referral bonus offer will last. My gut instinct tells me that it probably won’t be around for too long, so if you’re in a position to do a $200 direct deposit, then it’d make sense to grab this bonus before it’s gone. 

For more information about bank account bonuses, be sure to check out my Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses. I go into a lot of detail about how to earn bank bonuses and all of the tips and tricks I use to maximize my bonuses. 

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below.