How a credit union bonus differs from a national bank bonus
A national bank bonus asks whether you are a new customer under that bank's offer. A credit union bonus asks that, and also whether you are allowed to join. Credit unions are member-owned, with a field of membership. Banks are not. Deposits are insured to the same $250,000 federal limit, through the NCUA at a credit union and the FDIC at a bank. The bonus amount, the deposit test, and the close rule still come from that institution's own page.
The national-bank checklists on this site are readable because those banks publish one page for the country. A credit union bonus is often a page for a membership you may not have. That is the difference that matters. The rest of the checklist is the same shape.
Membership before money
A credit union is a cooperative with a field of membership. Credit union or big bank covers ownership, fees, and branch reach. For a bonus, the practical test comes first: can you join? If the answer is no, the cash amount is irrelevant. A national bank's new-customer test is different. Chase excludes existing checking customers and some recent closures. That is a history test, not a field-of-membership test. What "new customer" means is the bank version.
Insurance does not pick the winner
The NCUA describes at least $250,000 in share insurance coverage for a member. 1 The FDIC standard deposit insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. 2 Choose the bonus by its terms, not by a fear that one insurer is "more real." Both figures are insurance limits. Neither figure is the bonus.
The bonus page is still mandatory
Whatever the logo, copy the same lines: product, deposit definition, window and its start, payout, fee, exclusions, expiry, and any early-close sentence. How to read a bank bonus offer is that list. A credit union that does not define "direct deposit" has not given you a loophole. It has given you a term you cannot enforce. Do not type another bank's deposit threshold into a credit union row because the numbers feel familiar. Type only what that credit union printed, then run the ROI calculator.
Local can be better, and it can be worse
A smaller bonus with no monthly fee and a short hold can beat a national headline bonus that locks cash for half a year. A local bonus that requires you to join, visit a branch, and keep a payroll split for months can lose to doing nothing. When a bank bonus is not worth taking applies to both logos. Is a bank bonus worth it is the arithmetic, and it does not have a credit-union exception.
How to track it
One row in the bank bonus tracker, with the credit union's page and the date you read it. If the page is a scanned flyer, keep the scan. National pages change on a published expiry. Local flyers change when the stack at the branch runs out. Your copy is the offer you can dispute.
Common questions
Is my cash safer at the bank that pays the bigger bonus?
Not because of the bonus. The NCUA states at least $250,000 in coverage for a credit union member. The FDIC standard limit is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. The bonus is a separate, smaller, taxable payment.
Can I join any credit union to take its bonus?
No. Membership follows a field of membership, often where you live, work, or an organization you can join. If you are outside it, the bonus page does not apply. A bank does not have that gate.
Should I assume the credit union bonus has no early-close fee?
No. Silence is unknown at a credit union the same way it is at a bank. Search that credit union's offer and fee schedule, and ask in writing if neither prints a number.
Sources
CardLab tracks the cards you hold and the bonuses you are chasing, with every rate read from the issuer's own page.
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