Update 3/18/21: Deal now available nationwide with a $10 donation to Bellco foundation. Hat tip to reader Jeff.
Offer at a glance
- Interest Rate: 2.25% APY
- Minimum Balance: None
- Maximum Balance: $25,000
- Availability: Nationwide.
- Direct deposit required: Yes
- Additional requirements: Yes, see below
- Hard/soft pull: Hard
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early Account Termination Fee: Unknown
- Insured: NCUA
The Offer
- Receive an interest rate of 2.25% APY on Bellco boost checking account on balances up to $25,000 when you met the following requirements:
- Make at least 15 debit card transactions
- Have at least one direct deposit per month
- Log in to online or mobile banking at least once per month
Avoiding Fees
They say there is no monthly fees, but if you read the fine print it says there is no fee to use bill pay as long as each enrolled Bill Pay user completes at least one Bill Pay transaction per month.
Membership Requirements
Update: Seems like they will deny you if you apply from out of state.
Bellco is available to everybody by joining consumers united association ($5 annually or $25 for life). Otherwise you need to live or work in the following Colorado counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Garfield, Jefferson, Mesa, Moffat, or Rio Blanco.
Our Verdict
Requirements for the bonus rate are way to high considering it’s a rate of only 2.25%. In my opinion there are better options out there in terms of high interesting savings accounts. The other option is to just focus on accounts with a high sign up bonus instead.
chex sensitive
requires a real DD?
If you invest right, you can earn an annual return of much more than 2.25%. You could literally put half your cash in ETF’s and make more money than that
This has nothing to do with investments.
r🐶uh oh , looks like it’s time to sell when they start thinking it can only go up.
How much (% -wise) can you make under a very low risk environment? Do you know any forum/website (like this DoC -site) for investment tips/ideas/ guides etc? Thanks.
Hmmm, tempting. I’ve recently opened a local account at 3.0%
up to $10,000.
Mind sharing which one?
It is available to a few counties in Connecticut only,
unless you have a relative living there:
https://charteroak.org/personal-banking/checking/
How much $ per month if 25k @ 2.25%?
2.25% of $25000 = $562.5 every year or every month?
This is pretty basic but I’ll let ya run the numbers.
Annual = 0.0225 * X balance
Monthly = (0.0225/12) * X balance
Surprising you can’t do math given you’re a Chinese swe
https://www.bellco.org/open-an-account/become-a-member.aspx
Do you know if it requires a real DD or not?
[Westminster, Colorado] I just got an offer in the mail for a $200 bonus to open this account, valid till 6/28.
Requirements are:
– $250 opening deposit
– must order debit card
– within 90 days of opening, receive EITHER a $250 DD OR make 10 debit card purchases
There doesn’t appear to be any targeted language, so I’m not sure if they’ll ask for the mailer. Seems similar to this: https://www.bellco.org/checkingoffer.aspx
Except that while the link mentions redeeming 2x$100 giift cards, the mailer describes a single $200 cash bonus to be deposited into the new account within 60 days of hitting the DD or debit requirement.
I’m going to be pretty busy for the next two weeks or so, but when I get the chance to stop in to a branch and apply, I’ll report back whether they ask for the mailer.
Ended in 2018
Nope, I’m talking about a new $200 bonus offer on the same rewards checking account. I got around to opening it today. I guess it is targeted. They did request my mailer, but less so out of disbelief than due to the fact that supposedly I was the first person to come in regarding that offer. Everything went fine opening, except they wanted to do a hard-pull on my Experian. I went ahead with it. In addition to the details I mentioned above, there is a $25 membership deposit and a $5 account opening fee. I’ll report back here when & if I get the bonus, unless you create a new thread for this new offer.
5/16 opened in branch, funded $280 (-$5 opening fee) via WF, hard inquiry on Experian
5/25 completed debit requirement
6/25 $200 bonus posted
BTW, the early account termination fee is $25 within 180 days: https://www.bellco.org/-/media/Files/bellco/PDFs/TruthinSavingsRateandFeeDisclosure_8_01_2019.ashx?la=en&hash=88CF536257C3E8172B3D67228FD7738F
Hey Casey, are you still a member of Bellco? They are running a $200 promotion right now for a new account with a referral ($100 for being referred and $100 for the referring person (you)) and I would love to be referred by you. Please let me know how I may contact you! Thanks
Hi Shelby. I am sorry that I did not notice your comment earlier. I do not seem to have been receiving e-mail notifications of comments. The promotion you mentioned seems to still be ongoing. I would be glad to send you a referral if you still need one. If so, please e-mail me at: bellco.referral@doctorcolossus.e4ward.com
Anyone know if they’re Chex inquiry sensitive?
Not sure if it’s new or not, but they claim that OOS people can donate 10$ to their own foundation, and do confirm that CUA is for CO-only:
https://www.bellco.org/open-an-account/become-a-member.aspx
> CONSUMERS UNITED ASSOCIATION: For residents of Colorado
> BELLCO FOUNDATION: For interested parties outside of Colorado
Anyone knows whether CC funding is available?
Sent them a FB message about the inquiry being hard or soft. 2.25% is an extra $26/month better than my 1% account will pay out. 15 debits is easy with Amazon, and logging in is done with Mint and the monthly DD is easy to automate. Good deal if it’s a soft pull. I’ll update when I hear from them.
Hard pull, Experian 🙁 Was hoping for TU.
Not sure an EX inquiry is worth $26/month though. Probably not.
This is a hard pull, please update post.
Updated, thanks