Update 4/2/25: Extended to July 1, 2025
Update 2/23/25: Deal is back through April 1, 2025. Hat tip to reader Peek
Update 7/7/24: Extended through October 1, 2024
Update 4/2/24: Extended through July 1, 2024.
Update 1/14/24: Extended through April 1, 2024
Update 1/12/23: Extended through December 31, 2023.
Update 6/23/22: Deal has been extended until December 31, 2022.
Update 5/5/22: Deal has been extended until June 22, 2022.
Update 3/3/22: Deal has been extended until May 4, 2022
Update 12/16/21: Deal has been extended until March 2, 2022.
Update 10/14/21: Extended until December 15, 2021
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: Only available for those in Colorado, Arizona, or Riverside County, California (possibly only Palm Desert). This is a bit YMMV, so just hope for the best.
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+ per month for three months $500+
- Additional requirements: Enroll in internet banking
- Hard/soft pull: Soft according to a reader via e-mail. Report of a hard pull here. and another report of hard pull. Another hard
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding:
- Monthly fees: Avoidable, $12
- Early account termination fee: 12 months, bonus forfeit
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date:
June 24th, 2018 August 17th, 2018 October 12th, 2018 December 7th, 2018 March 6, 2019 April 30th, 2019 June 26th, 2019 August 20th, 2019 October 15th, 2019 December 6th, 2019March 4th, 2020April 29th, 2020 August 3rd, 2020September 30th, 2020 December 4, 2020March 3rd, 2021June 23, 2021October 13, 2021
The Offer
- FirstBank is offering a bonus of $300 when you open a new Anywhere account and complete the following requirements:
- Have at least one qualifying direct deposit of $500 or more for 3 consecutive months.
The Fine Print
- Cash offer is not available to existing FirstBank consumer checking customers or those whose accounts have been closed within 90 days or closed with a negative balance.
- Past customers who ever received a gift from FirstBank are ineligible for this offer.
- Offer valid for new personal checking accounts opened between April 28, 2018 to June 24, 2018.
- The account must be opened online at efirstbank.com/offers or bring in this advertisement to any FirstBank location to receive the $300 offer.
- Limit one gift per household, per lifetime.
- Limit one gift per account.
- The cash offer will be given if the account opened is in good standing, and the customer enrolls for online banking, and one direct deposit greater than $500 posts to the new checking account.
- Direct deposit must be new to FirstBank and must be payroll, pension, Social Security or other recurring government benefits.
- Direct deposit cannot be multiple direct deposits combined that exceed $500.
- Requirements must be met within 60 days of account opening and the cash offer will be deposited into the new checking account within 90 days of account opening.
- We reserve the right to substitute gifts offered at any time with an item of similar value. Limited time offer.
- The $300 cash offer is considered interest and is subject to IRS and other tax reporting.
- The cash offer is considered a bonus that can be revoked if the account is closed within six months of opening.
- FirstBank employees are not eligible to receive the offer.
- Online Banking plus direct deposit or Visa Debit Card purchases required.
- The Visa Debit Card is free for the first year after which an annual fee (currently $10 per card) applies
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
This account has a $12 monthly fee. Waived if you do any of the following:
- Maintain a daily $1,500 minimum balance.
- Maintain $5,000 in combined average monthly balance across your FirstBank personal accounts.
- Receive $500 per statement cycle in qualifying ACH direct deposits.
Early Account Termination Fee
If the account is closed within 12 months the bonus can be revoked
Our Verdict
Deal isn’t as good as it previously was as you now need a direct deposit. Because of the reports of it being a hard pull, I don’t think it is worth doing but that depends on how much hard pulls matter to you. Because of that we will not be adding this to our list of the best checking accounts.
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
Post history:
- Update 6/24/21: Extended until August 18, 2021
- Update 5/2/21: Extended until June 23, 2021.
- Update 3/4/21: Extended until April 28, 2021
- Update 10/7/20: Extended until December 4, 2020.
- Update 8/3/20: Extended until September 30th, 2020.
- Update 6/25/20: Extended until August 3rd, 2020
- Extended until June 24th, 2020.
- Extended until April 29th, 2020.
4/21/25 Approved with 5/12 Chex and OOS but had existing MM savings opened in state. I don’t see any DPs for DD other than real ones. I did one push from FID so far and description in history doesn’t took promising. Have to do one qualifying DD per month x 3 so gotta decide quick if I should try Wise. Anybody out there do a simulated DD?
it seems like they dont accept application from Riverside CA now
There is a hard pull, and note of footprint now not including California areas? — email from rep: “Thank you for your inquiry regarding opening a new account with FirstBank. Yes, when you open an account with FirstBank it will be a hard credit pull. You may open a personal account at any of our branch locations, by phone, or online at http://www.efirstbank.com. If you would like to open a personal account over the phone, please call our Centralized Accounts and Loans Department at 303-235-1102, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (MST). We are happy to open accounts for new customers that reside within our trade areas of Colorado and the Phoenix-Metro area of Arizona.”
Tried to open account online, but it says my AZ zip code is not within their service area.
Definately Chex sensitive, initially approved and transferred 25 in…got a call from banker later in the day. I called back and denied due to Chex, so they are sending me a cashier’s check. I had an account with them for 15 years a few years back as well. Decent bank, but some inconvenient things like an annual fee for a debit card? Might try again when I’m not so active.
Yes they are quirky. They charge $3 per outgoing ACH and call it an “enhanced” transfer. I asked if it’s faster but it’s not. Guess they have to call it something fancy to justify the charge? They no longer have the annual fee for the debit card. Used to be every year, then moved to a waiver for first year, now gone.
Few years ago, I made a cash deposit in branch in the morning to cover a debit card purchase I was going to make at noon that same day. Wound up being rejected. Turns out credit for cash was not instant but processed later in the afternoon in a big batch. If the situation arose again I was told to request a manager to manually post the funds. Mind you, banks in the 1980s were showing funds available immediately after cash deposits and 40 years later these rubes couldn’t figure it out! They finally updated that system but I’ll never forget it. With banks you can never assume anything. Read, read, read, then read it again.
Looks like this is extended to July 1st
This has been an ongoing bonus for years. However, it is not churnable.
This promo expires April 1st does that mean it’s gonna get extended? Has that been the pattern with this particular bank?
Thinking about applying but recently applied for some banks that pulled Chex and letting it cool down a bit.
Based on DPs, Chex score don’t seem to matter since you have to go in branch to finish.
They always have had this promotion for years so, even if there is an expiration date at some point, they will extend or bring it back in a couple months. They have it all year around because they won’t qualify any previous bonus customers.
So this bank is unchurnable?
CA locations are very targeted (Indio and Palm Desert). Those branches are also being divested soon and will be sold to California Bank & Trust pending regulatory approval.
The account DOES HAVE FEES
https://www.efirstbank.com/products/checking-savings/personal-checking/anywhere-account.htm
They changed it.
Updated
https://www.efirstbank.com/_jensen/pages/bloom/bloom.htm
I don’t see the geographic restriction on the page you linked. Possibly they removed it?
I am outside of the area. Will try it and see what happens.
I saw it when I tried to open, put in a MA Zip and clicked next and that message shows and the app cannot continue.