Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: All branches are in AL
- Direct deposit required: Yes, two direct deposits
- Additional requirements: 5 debit card transactions and online banking
- Hard/soft pull: Unknown
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Up to $500
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date: None
Contents
The Offer
- Bank Independent is a bonus of $200 bonus when they open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Have at least two recurring ACH direct deposits posted to your new personal or business checking account within 60 days of account opening
- Maintain the account in good standing for 60 days from account opening
The Fine Print
- One per customer or household.
- To earn the $200 bonus, you have at least two recurring ACH direct deposits posted to your new personal or business checking account within 60 days of account opening.
- To receive the bonus, code should be given to relationship banker at account opening or entered into appropriate field if opened online.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
I wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so I’m unsure if there is an early account termination fee or not.
Our Verdict
Better than the previous $150 business bonus that was offered. It looks like account opening works out of state, but unsure if the bonus will post. Also says you need to enter a code but doesn’t provide one?
Hat tip to Smurfit
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- 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
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
Did some back and forth after applying. Got another email today notifying me I received a message, but when I try to follow the link to the application portal, it says “Upload Portal Closed: This upload portal is now closed or the link has expired”. Anyone else have this happen? Does this mean I was denied and I can’t even see my denial message since they closed the application? Or can this happen after account approval too?
What account type is best? The Basic Checking doesn’t have a monthly service fee but includes overdraft coverage, so I’m worried it could lead to a hard pull. The Value Checking doesn’t have overdraft coverage, but has an unavoidable $5 monthly fee.
Addition: During the application process, there is an option to opt-out of overdraft coverage even for the Basic Checking, so seems like that is best.
I was declined for Chex yet they oddly implied that they would open an account for me if I go to a branch. Due to this, I will consider disputing the Chex inquiry.
What’s really annoying is that they requested several docs from me yesterday only to deny me for Chex over a day later.
Did you get this message as well?
“Unfortunately, Bank Independent is unable to open the requested deposit account online. Please feel free to visit a sales office location if you would like to proceed.”
Yes, I did. It’s a similar situation to what happened with CCCU. 🙁
That was really annoying. They should had looked at the chex before requesting a bunch of documents. What was your chex status before applying?
I’m not sure as I haven’t checked Chex lately but my stats are pretty high as I’ve applied for several accounts in the past 2 or 3 months.
Just applied OOS but nearby. $500 cc funding, trying my cap1 card as I’ve had good luck with them the past few times. Judging from the backend (same as our golden goose, RIP after at least one moron here opened >50 accounts and then cursed them out on here when he got shut down).
Are you referring to the Blupeak savings accounts or something else? Just curious, I haven’t been keeping up with the gossip lately.
declined OOS after asking for DL front/back, DL again with different background, bank statement, and cc statement. Told to visit a retail branch to open, no thank you even if they were local! Bankers are sooooo sloowwww
They allow $500 in credit card funding. I tried a higher amount and the system told me that was the limit.
Thanks, added to post.
I just applied and it went pending. I received an immediate email from OnAlert so they did pull my Chex.
I think you might have accidentally copied this from the template of another bonus as I don’t see those requirements in the terms.
“Additional requirements: 5 debit card transactions and online banking”
That is definitely in the ReferLive $150 biz offer terms, not seeing it on the bank’s $200 offer. https://io.referlive.com/6qzPIF
The referral bonus is not mentioned in this post at all so it’s hard to believe that
William Charles meant to include that term.
The personal referral offer requires 15 debits and most people will be applying for a personal account rather than a business account so even if he did mean to include that, it doesn’t make much sense.
Now I’m tempted to see if they actually enforce the restriction “*One per customer or household.” for P2
Here are the details of my history with Bank Independent
4/30: Account opened
5/3: Trial deposits from Ally both coded as “ACCTVERIFY ALLY BANK PPD”
No actual money transferred from Ally, only trial deposits.
5/15: Real DD coded “DIR DEP XXXXXCompanyXXXXX PPD”
5/29: Pending $200 bonus coded “NEW CUSTOMER CASH BONUS”
Hope it works out for you all as well.
That’s a great DP!
Since you only had 1 “real” DD post, I think that proves that any ACH transfer will work as the offer requires 2+ ACH transfers. Your test deposits from Ally must have counted.
I just reviewed your initial comments in the other post and it appears that there was never any code and the banker simply noted your account. Is that accurate?
I am very tempted to apply as the bonus is just too easy not to.
Do you happen to know your Chex stats before applying?
There was no code and I mentioned the lack of code for the promo to the CSR when they called or emailed me. I asked “Am I still eligible for this promotion without a code?” She said yes I’ll make a note of the bonus on your account. I tried getting my Chex online, but it wouldn’t let me. It’ll be due in the mail sometime next week. My chex score should’ve denied me.
Got my Chex report today. There were 12 chex inquiries reported for me in 2024. Bank Independent was one of them. I looked back at my records and I applied to 30ish banks/CUs in 2024
Looks like OOS is OK. I got this email re my application: “This is _____ with Bank Independent, and I am reaching out about your online account application. I wanted to ensure you are aware that we are a bank local to North Alabama. This means you may not have access to a Bank Independent ATM and could acquire ATM fees. While we do offer online banking, we cannot guarantee that all mobile deposits or electronic transactions will be approved. With this in mind, would you like to proceed with the application?”
So I continued with my application. Then they sent me another email asking me to upload DL and proof of residence. But they don’t accept scanned docs – you have to have a smart phone and photo them.
Did you ask about the code for the bonus though? That’s the snag that
MOTDOC ran into.
I didn’t ask about the code, but I replied to their email that I still wanted to apply for the account if I would be eligible for the bonus even tho I was OOS. They didn’t respond directly to that so I don’t know how that might work out. Near the end of the application there’s a place you can add a comment and I stated that I was applying for the account with the bonus, that I didn’t see anywhere to put in the code in the application, and asked them to pls add it to my application.