Deal has expired, view the best current checking bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $250
- Availability: In branch only, all branches are in CA [Branch locator]
- Direct deposit required:Â Optional
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull:Â Unknown
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding:Â Unknown
- Monthly fees:Â $5, avoidable
- Early account termination fee:Â Unknown
- Household limit:Â None listed
- Expiration date:Â April 14th, 2019
Contents
The Offer
- Desert Community Bank is offering a bonus of $250 when you complete the following requirements:
- Visit a branch and open a DCB Value Checking account with $50 or more
- Maintain a positive end-of-day balance for the first 90 days (no minimum balance required)
- Set up a recurring direct deposit OR schedule three or more recurring electronic payments within 60 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
DCB Value checking has a $5 monthly fee, this is waived with an average daily collected balance of $1,500+
Early Account Termination Fee
According to the fee schedule there is an early account termination fee of $15 if closed within 180 days of account opening.
Our Verdict
Always good to see bonuses with no direct deposit requirements, we still need to know if it’s a hard or soft pull to open. If anybody goes for this bonus then please share your experiences in the comments below.
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
Had the same experience as Looney Tunes trying to close my account remotely.
– First called the national Flagstar customer service line, they told me to contact my “local” branch.
– Called the Hesperia branch, they first told me to come into the branch, but when I explained I live almost 2 hours away, they closed over the phone for me too.
Anyone close their account? Tried by SM but was told to go to the branch. Going to call to see if it can be done that way.
UPDATE: Was able to close by calling but they still wanted me to come into the branch if possible. Told them I’m no longer in the area and had zero’d out the account so they went ahead and closed for me.
Has anyone received their bonus yet? I opened my account April 13th, and set up $25 DD through my employer starting 4/26…
Just received the $250 bonus today showing as a “Descriptive Deposit Promotional Credit”.
Account opened on 4/12, $100 transferred from Chase on 5/15 (also on 6/15 and 7/15 to show a recurring deposit) and did three bill pays each month (to show recurring bill pays) and kept $1500 for 90 days to avoid fees and meet the final requirement on 7/12.
Will call and PC to Diamond Club Checking for those over 55 to avoid fees for the next 3 months before closing account.
Thanks – my bonus came in yesterday!
Cool
Are there any other bank bonuses in the Riverside/Ontario I-15 area along the way that accepts in branch applications from out of town churners? I’m considering driving up there, a multi-stop drive would make it more worthwhile.
Called to get some further info from the bank since they are about an hour away from me.
1) This promotion goes until April 30
2) You have to bring the ad in when opening the account, a copy of the ad is sufficient
3) They only do a hard pull if you authorize it when opening the account
4) They do pull Chexsystems, didn’t know how to ask if they are Chex sensitive so that’s unknown
5) They do not allow using a credit card for the initial funding, cash or check only
6) The direct deposit can be an ACH transfer from another bank in any amount, she read that to me
I might give it a try before the end of the month, just worried about their Chex sensitivity since there aren’t any DP’s on this bank and I have quite a few accounts this past year. They are a division of Flagstar Bank and the DP’s for them are mixed so not sure if that helps.
Doesn’t sound too bad if you are near one of their branches or passing through the area to give it a try.
3) They only do a hard pull if you authorize it when opening the account
Is this a overdraft protection vs no overdraft protection type of thing? It sounds like it’s purely elective, like “do you want a hard pull?”
Thanks for checking, btw.
Regarding HP and ODP enrollment:
A lot of FIs may not do HP if one opts out of overdraft protection; it is best to clarify with the banker regarding this matter. I consider ODP in favor of the bank since I get charged penalty fee PLUS whatever amount I didn’t have that they paid for me for transactions to go through. Whereas without ODP, transaction is declined if I don’t have sufficient funds and no penalties for me.
Yes, I think along these lines as well. Just wondering if that’s the context of “only hard pull if authorized.” I will probably try for it this weekend myself, or next, depending. But if someone already can verify HP can be avoided…
@Closertothesun the person I spoke with said they ask for your permission to run a credit check so they can target you for a credit card or loan, things along that line; and yes, it sounded as easy as “do you want a hard pull”. She didn’t mention overdraft and I didn’t think to ask that question.
Might go to that branch tomorrow so will update once that’s done.
Thanks for clarifying. Also planning on going tomorrow.
The person I spoke with said the ad as linked by DoC would work, as well.
Opened account at the Phelan branch without any problems. They can’t be too chex sensitive since I opened 5 accounts in the last 4 months and close to 15 in the past year.
She did ask if I would allow a “soft” credit check in order to offer me information on credit cards and loans but I refused without any problem, didn’t mention a “hard” pull
Was able to opt out of overdraft and something they call Bounce Protection.
Confirmed that the bonus is available until April 30.
She also said that once the bonus is received and since I’m over 55 years old, that I can upgrade the account to the DCB Diamond Club Checking that doesn’t have any maintenance fees or minimum balances. Since the account has to remain open for 180 days or she said the bonus would be taken back, would make sense to do the upgrade to avoid the fees for the last three months.
She said that the bonus should be paid within 10 days after the 90 day requirement is reached.
She also said that even if you live out of state you can open the account if you are in the area.
Did have trouble getting the online banking to work and the chat agent said it was because the branch didn’t complete the process for registering the account so suggest setting that up at the branch to get it working correctly. I had to spend some time with the chat agent to get it corrected but finally did.
They are a division of Flagstar Bank and their websites are strangely aligned together so think they have some work to do on that. In fact, when you logon from the DCG.org website, you first see Flagstar before it gets to the DCB site and then when you log off from the DCB account, it takes you to the Flagstar login screen where you can also logon from, I just find it annoying.
One final thing, their site is browser sensitive. I couldn’t get Firefox, Avast or Chrome to let me login though Opera and Microsoft Edge does work.
One other thing I forgot. The first month’s fee is not waived automatically but was told if the fee is received that I could call her and she would manually waive it.
Barstow?! Dang do they live up to their name!
Found their fee schedule here: https://dcbk.org/content/dam/dcb/customer-support/home/pdfs/DisclosureGuide.pdf
They do have a $15 early account termination fee if account is closed within 180 days of opening.
Thanks, added.
Well, if you’re driving to vegas from socal it might be worth the stop
to save a lot of excited people a click, all branches are in san bernardino county north of the mountains.
No kidding. I thought there might be something near San Bernardino but nope, all Victorville area
I always assume whenever doc posts a (CA only) link it’s going to be outside of my geographic area. People should probably know by now that this is what happens 99% of the time lol. Not that I blame him, but I think something like (Select CA only) would be a good warning. Just a suggestion though 🙂
Good suggestion, updated