Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $125
- Availability: Must apply in branch, branches are all located in IL & IA (branch locator here)
- Direct deposit required: No
- Interest Rate: Up to 2% APY
- Additional requirements: None for bonus, 10 debit card transactions, enrolled and log into online banking and receive eStatements
- Deposit requirement: $5,000
- Deposit length:Â At least 90 days
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: Unknown, unlikely due to in branch openingÂ
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None found
- Expiration date: None listed
The Offer
- Receive a sign up bonus of $125 when you open a rewards checking account with BankOrion and complete the following:
- Deposit at least $5,000 in funds and maintain that balance for at least 90 days
- Account also earns 2% APY up to a maximum of $15,000. To receive this rewards rate you must:
- Must have at least 10 check card purchases that post and settle (within the qualification cycle, not the statement cutoff date)
- Be enrolled and log into online banking (must be registered for online banking)
- Be enrolled and receive eStatement notice (at least one time during the qualification cycle)
The Fine Print
- Bonus will be deposited on the next business day following the 90 day time frame
- $125 bonus is limited to one per household
- Limit two Rewards Checking Accounts per household
- A Rewards Checking Qualification Calendar is located on the following website: www.bankorion.com
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
This account has no monthly maintenance fees, I wasn’t able to find their fee schedule so I’m not sure if there are any early account termination fees or not.
Our Verdict
This is really a savings bonus, rather than a checking bonus. So we’ve treated it as such. This deal is pretty annoying because you have to go in branch (which also likely means you can’t fund with a credit card), the plus side is you should be able to find out if it’s a hard or soft pull to open (please let us know when you do). If it’s a hard pull it’s not worth doing as you’d be better off opening a credit card with a cash sign up bonus. So let’s assume it’ll be a soft pull to open:
- If you put $5,000 into a 1% account, you’d obviously be better off than this deal. So let’s assume (again) you’d instead put it into a high interest checking account or prepaid card that earns 5% APY. You’d be loosing out on ~$40 in interest, so this bonus would be worth $85.
Not really worth it for most people, I wouldn’t think. Of course if you’re not bothering with the 5% accounts or they are already maxed out and you have spare cash, then the 2% on offer here is certainly a lot better than the 1% most other accounts offer. Because of these reasons we haven’t added it to our best saving account bonus article, but we have added it to the complete listing of all saving account bonuses.
Hat tip to Maximizing Money
it is just a chex system inquiry! will probably keep this open as it pays 2% with no dd required. I have 2 more setup with direct deposit that earn 1.75 and 2% too, up to a certain amount.
Awesome, thanks! Were you able to fund with a credit card? Pretty good bonus for those who live near.
I’d check it out for you, but their branches are in the middle of nowhere. I’d venture it’s a hard pull (most small banks and CU seem to, even when the bankers themselves tell you otherwise).