Fairwinds Credit Union is a Florida-based credit union that is currently offering new customers a $100 signup bonus after opening an account and completing 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:
- Open a Fairwinds Credit Union checking account using a referral link (here’s my referral link).
- Do a direct deposit of $200 or more within 45 days of account opening.
- 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 within 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.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($10) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (5 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 5 free stocks (usually worth around $75-$100) if you open an account using a referral link and deposit $2,000. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (5 free stocks) – Webull also gives you 5 free stock valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free stocks using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($100) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Upgrade ($100) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you open an account and complete three debit card transactions. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Importantly, this bonus says that it’s now scheduled to end on January 31, 2023. As long as you get your account opened before January 31st, you should be eligible. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $100 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- OnJuno ($60) – OnJuno is a fintech/neobank that is currently offering a $10 referral bonus if you open an account using a referral link and make a deposit of $50 or more. You will also get 1000 JCOIN. The 1000 of JCOIN is cryptocurrency. At the time I'm writing this, it'll be worth about $50. Check out my OnJuno referral bonus guide here.
- Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Albert ($150) – If you can manage to do a real direct deposit, Albert is an easy account you can use to earn a referral bonus. Here’s a review about Albert I wrote. And here’s a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Albert referral bonus.
- Netspend ($20 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $20 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $20 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
- Novo Bank. Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. It’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Kevin, can Gusto be used by individual just doing side gigs and bank account bonuses?
Said I was ineligible to join but wont tell me why. SHADY
I signed up using your referral link, stashed $1K into the savings acct. @ 2%, hooked up a $200 direct deposit through work and got the $100 bonus within a day. So far dealing with them has been very smooth. I’m very happy with them so far.
Referral Promo concluded December 31, 2021.
https://www.fairwinds.org/referral/
FYI: It looks like Fairwinds is now requiring a $25 minimum balance to open plus a $5 “membership share” fee. It makes the offer a little less appealing. It is probably still worth doing but wanted to let everyone know.
Freedom Spending Account
Minimum amount to open: $25
Membership Share
Minimum amount to open: $5