As mentioned in the Rewards card thread: The Flagship Rewards offer is back with the 50,000 points ($500) after $4K spending in the first 90 days (and 2% rewards).
Most of the other cards also have bonus offers and the 17 month add-on CD at 3.25% is still available.
The checking account is free and has no minimum. I’ve had one for over five years and nearly all the time there’s been a zero balance.
NFCU is by far the largest credit union in the world with over 8 million members and $95.31 billion in assets. The next closest credit union has $38 billion in assets. I don’t think they feel crippled.
Also:
NFCU online lets me push transfers out from checking to an external institution;
When I deposit to CDs I call and they take it from an external account and deposit in savings, then to the CD;
I can pay credit cards via Navy’s site by ACH from an external account
Yes, I mentioned that workaround.
That requires calling in, navigating phone menus, and communicating routing and account numbers by voice. Hardly fitting for an online bank.
But not automatically for the payment due amount like every other credit card.
Look, I like NFCU and in fact helped Player Two in my house open an account there yesterday (for the $500 Signature VISA bonus). But in a discussion of pros and cons of a financial institution, these things bear mention. Having said that, “crippling” is an overstatement.
No, it doesn’t. My external account is already linked. Just the name should be mentioned but, in my case, I have only one outside link.
NFCU is not just an online bank. They do business by phone, mail, fax, and in 328 branches.
I like their methods. It’s more secure than other institutions.
You don’t need to call them. I just ACH into checking and then do a transfer on the NFCU site from checking into the CD.
I realize that’s a workaround. That’s why I included that in my post.
This is the second year in a row NFCU is paying the 2nd property tax installment a month after the due date. Technically, it’s not a late payment but it makes me nervous. They pay the 1st installment a week after it’s due but for some reason, they can’t seem to do the same for the 2nd.
An interesting outcome for me today as I discovered, totally through accident, over $500 in points waiting for me at NFCU. It was like finding $500 in the street!
Q: Shin we all told you about the necessity to WAIT the required amount of time for your $500 bonus. You didn’t believe us, eh?
No, I believed all of you. I knew you were right. But here’s the thing:
The spend I had done WAY back, in effort to earn the $500, was disallowed by NFCU. They said my spend did not qualify for any rewards. They also specifically told me my spend, again WAY back last fall, would not qualify me to garner the $500 bonus.
And note I never was paid the 2% reward on that spend.
Q: Yeah, so that’s why you were so pissed off way up thread. Your bellyaching went on endlessly. So what did you end up doing?
Well, that’s just it. I ended up doing nothing whatsoever . . . after they told me I had been completely shut out. I set the card aside. There were no more charges (I have other rewards credit cards that PAY . . lots of 'em).
Q: All right. So why did you go back and log in today?
I was preparing to cancel the card before being required to pay the yearly fee. I had no clue I would find the $500 they owed me. And I was unable to locate the date they credited me with the points.
Q: Call 'em and ask. No?
Not a chance in hell. Sleeping dogs. I will not be speaking with anyone at NFCU until my $500 is safely stored away in my Alliant account. 
But bottom line it is sweet to locate over $500 you did not know you had.
I don’t think anyone else noticed. 
Glad it worked out.
Thanks. Actually a number of other posters noticed . . including you!
But it was last November so . . . . . . . . .
I got pretty sore. Never expected to see the money.
Patience wins the prize . . . . even when they tell you there will not be a prize.
Following up on the above-reported outcome except a little less personal and a tiny bit more general regarding NFCU:
I see a sort of Heisenberg problem looming, and your thoughts would be welcome. To wit:
Given they specifically told me there would be no bonus, and then paid the bonus anyway, I would like to know why the situation changed. Heck, if policy at NFCU has changed regarding my sort of spending, I will readily and happily opt to keep my Flagship Rewards card.
Course problem comes if my asking about possible policy change results in them discovering they rewarded me through error, and wanting to claw back my $500. That would be most unwelcome!!
I suppose instead of calling them I could do a test spend, of vastly reduced magnitude, and see what eventuates. Maybe that is the way to go before cancelling the card.
Why not put the money in your NFCU 3.25% CD?
I’m takin’ that money and getting the heck out of Dodge as quickly as I’m able. Do not want the money to be where they could easily claw it back.
Remember, they assured me in no uncertain terms that I would not be receiving that bonus. Period. Same with the $100 reward they owe me and still have not paid.
I’ve no clue why I ended up being paid the bonus, but I’m not one to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth. “Take the money and run” is the solution which works for me! Meanwhile I will be keeping my mouth shut tight where NFCU is concerned, certainly until the $500 is safely in my Alliant account.
I really do not know. The triggering purchase happened near to the end of last October. I tried, but I was unable to learn on what date the points finally were awarded.
When was the 90 days from account opening?
A little difficult to reconstruct since all happened a while back. As best I’m able to tell, account was opened circa the middle of October in 2018, so 90 days later than that would put us around the middle of January this year.
Credit Karma shows the date opened. I also record the date on my calendar for cards that have such offers. For my card, 90 days from account opening was yesterday.
Yes, OK Argyll. I use Chase for that but I did not think to check Chase until seeing your post. So to answer your earlier question with more precision:
My NFCU Flagship account was opened last October ninth. Adding on ninety days would put us at roughly January ninth of this year. Why did you request to know this?
The procedure for the Flagship Rewards Bonus is to pay it sometime after 90 days from account opening, regardless of when you reached the $4K spending mark.
They say it can take up to eight weeks after the 90 days from account opening.