This offer has expired, you can view more checking promos by clicking here. There is also a $150 bonus this bank is now offering.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $100
- Availability: WI, IL, IA, MN only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: UnknownÂ
- Monthly fees: $5-$20, waive-able
- Early account termination fee: 6 months, bonus clawed back
- Expiration date: December 31st, 2014
Contents
The Offer
- Receive a $100 bonus from AnchorBank when you open a personal checking account and receive a direct deposit of $500+ within 60 days of account opening.
The Fine Print
- Their examples of direct deposits are payroll, pension, Social Security or other government benefits
- $100 bonus will be deposited automatically within six to eight weeks of receiving the first qualifying direct deposit
- Only new customers are eligible for this offer
- Offer expires on December 31st, 2014
- Account must stay open for six months and be used for the primary checking account
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Essential Checking $4.95 Monthly Fee Non Waive-able
This is $6.95 if you don’t enroll in eStatements. There is no way to waive the monthly fee on this account and as such we wouldn’t recommend opening this (remember the account has to be kept open for six months which would cost you at least $29.7)
Choice Checking $9.95 Monthly Fee Waive-Able
This account has a $9.95 monthly fee ($11.95 with paper statements) but there are multiple ways to keep it fee free, doing any one of the following will do so:
- Have $750 minimum monthly balance over your statement cycle OR
- Have $2,500 minimum combined deposit balance on your statement date OR
- Make 10 debit card purchases per statement cycle OR
- Direct deposit $500 or more, either single deposit or multiple OR
Reward Checking $14.95 Monthly Fee Waive-Able
This card earns 5¢ for every debit card transaction you have. I wouldn’t recommend this account as it’s much harder to keep fee free than the choice account, plus Discover offers 10¢ for every debit card transaction. You need to complete all of the following requirements to keep it fee free:
- Make 20 debit card purchases per statement cycle, and
- A total relationship of a minimum of $5,000 in any combination
of personal deposits or outstanding loan balances, including
outstanding first mortgage balances
If you’re a student and under 24 years of age there is also the student account which is fee free. There is also the advantage checking account which a $19.95 fee and much harder requirements to keep it fee free which I wouldn’t recommend.
Early Account Termination Fee – 6 Months
The fine print states that you must keep your account open for a minimum of six months, I imagine if you close it before this time they’ll report a negative balance with ChexSystems.
Our Verdict
AnchorBank has offered bonuses as high as $150 in the past, from previous reports it seems like they can be difficult to deal with and you’ll almost certainly have to follow up with them regarding the bonus. That coupled with the fact that we don’t know if anything other than a legitimate direct deposit will trigger the bonus makes this deal not worth it to me.
AnchorBank also has a referral program where you can both get a $50 gift card, because this $100 bonus is better I wouldn’t recommend referring friends (unless you want to take $50 of theirs). If you’ve had any experiences with this bank, please share them in the comments section below. You can find more checking bonuses here and the best ones here.
Direct link to offer | Screenshot of offer