Deal has expired, view more bank bonuses by clicking here
Update 03/17/18: Offer is back for 2018.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:
- Availability: Must live near a branch. Branches are located in Dedham, Westwood, Needham, Walpole, Norwood, and Sharon in Massachusetts. [Locations here]
- Direct deposit required:Â Yes, no minimum specified
- Additional requirements:Â None
- Hard/soft pull:Â Soft
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding:Â None
- Monthly fees:Â None
- Early account termination fee:Â Unknown
- Household limit:Â None mentioned
- Expiration date:Â
June 30th, 2017December 31st, 2018
The Offer
- Dedham Savings Bank is offering a $100 checking bonus when you open a new Free & Easy checking account. You’ll receive the bonus after receiving your first direct deposit into the account.
The Fine Print
- Offer good for one Free & Easy Checking account per customer.
- Offer expires December 31, 2018.
- Must be a new checking account relationship, defined as not having a checking account at Dedham Savings within the last six months
- Must be opened with funds not currently on deposit at Dedham Savings.
- Open the account for as little as $1.
- One $100 bonus per customer: $100 cash bonus will be deposited 90 days after the customer’s first direct deposit is received.
- The value of the bonus is interest and subject to IRS and other tax reporting.
- No minimum balance required to receive bonus.
Avoiding Fees
This account doesn’t have any monthly fees to worry about. I wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so I’m unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not.
Our Verdict
Not the biggest bonus, but might be worth it for some people – especially depending how strict they are on the direct deposit requirement. I will be adding this to our list of the best checking bonuses despite the small bonus as there is no monthly fee as well. As always please share your experiences in the comments below.
Big thanks to reader, Frank L who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
Warning: the bank was adamant that they would NOT pay the bonus a second year, and had even been sued and won in court. Terms say “one free & easy checking account per customer” even though it then says “can’t have had an account in last 6 months.”
Opened this account in their new South Boston branch. I received the $100 bonus on approximately the business day following the 90th calendar day after my first (and only) direct deposit hit the account. Small but easy bonus to get.
Was it an employer DD or something else?
No credit card funding offered. If you need that data point.
Thanks, updated
Couple of updates – no cc funding option, minimum to open is $10 online (transfer from other account)
Cap one 360 looks promising from a DD requirement perspective, logged in transaction record as a Direct Deposit with only micro deposits and my DD deposit. Will report back if bonus hits as expected mid July,
Has the bonus been posted? I haven’t seen mine after 2 DDs from tax returns.
The fine print says “offer good at Dedham Savings’ South Boston branch only.” Must be a new branch they just opened.
I’m always so sad when there’s no thumbnail and just the Xed out camera. Maybe you should use the DoC Dollar-Cross logo when there’s no pic?
Fixed it, there should always be a pic. Sometimes we just forget, if you notice it let us know and we will update.
Opened online about a week ago. Initial funding was $10 via ACH pull from outside account. So far no evidence of $50 opening bonus. Employer DD will happen later this week, so we’ll see about $50 DD bonus after that.
Tried to open this account online, declined. Called the number they provided. The first person said the generic thing about “a letter will be sent to you with the reasoning. It has to do with ChexSystems, you can call them to find out more.” When people say this on the phone I say “ChexSystems is a reporting company, it does NOT make the decisions on whether to approve an application, the bank does.” Asked to be transferred to someone who knows what’s going on. I’m partly playing dumb but also trying to determine whether this is due to excessive inquiries, whether it’s worth it me going in to branch or not, etc. Next I get someone who explains “in an online application there’s a score, and if your score isn’t high enough, it can’t approve you online.” FYI my Chex score is 538. In the end he DID suggest I go into a branch because there is an override mechanism. Then I go into a branch (en route got free Amex Delta donuts lol) and the process was ultimately successful but a little curious. The CSR said hmm there’s a bit of a problem, have you opened a bunch of accounts? Then she makes a phone call to… someone in the bank, and says “I’ve got a customer here…. no derogatory marks, everything’s fine, but he does have a lot of inquiries… something something Qualifile score…” They do some override and approve me, great. But here’s the thing I’m interested in. Even after a million Chex inquiries (20/6) my Chex score is fine and probably more affected by “very low evidence of wealth” and no property ownership etc. However I’ve seen my Qualifile score. On a range of 100-9000 my score is 101. ie Qualifile punishes people heavily for inquiries. I conjecture in fact that a bank is inquiry sensitive if and only if it uses Qualifile. Perhaps we can ask for readers making applications in person to ask which consumer reports will be pulled, especially regarding Qualifile, to determine whether a bank is sensitive. Eg Bank of the West denied me and showed me my Qualifile score in person. After that all was well. The $50 bonus was put into my account immediately, ie I deposited $10 at opening and then the balance was $50. They also gave me a free T shirt. It’s green and has the zip code of the South Boston location so might be exclusive to that branch. It’s a decent T. I’ll report back when my dir dep posts. I’ll try Alliant first then real DD. TLDR: denied online due to Chex inquiries. Approved in branch. $50 bonus deposited immediately. Got nice T shirt. Typed this up on the train on the way back lol. I think whether Qualifile is used is the secret to inquiry sensitivity. PS: There is also a $200 business checking bonus. This bonus sounds awesome, $200 deposited after 30 days with no requirements and no fees. However I think… Read more »
Thanks for the info
Any link or other information for bank bonus? Was there a flyer? If so did you happen to snap a pic?
Oh sorry I never noticed this followup. For the biz bonus? It was in branch. I imagine it might still be there now, worth a call to find out.