Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: California only & Need to be a cornerstone client, with requires a Fremont Bank personal checking account with an Automatic Loan Payment to your Fremont Bank first mortgage
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: 100 debit card transactions for full bonus
- Hard/soft pull: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: $18, waive-able
- Early account termination fee: Account must be kept open for 180 days or you will forfeit the bonus
- Expiration date: None listed
The Offer
- Open a cornerstone checking customer and receive up to $250 in your first year. This is how the bonus is broken down:
- Open a new checking account and receive $100 account bonus for joining with automatic loan payments
- $1 for each qualifying debit card transaction within the first 45 days of account opening – up to $50!
- $25 each quarter you use your debit card for 75 qualifying transactions. Year after year!
The Fine Print
- Cornerstone clients must maintain a Fremont Bank personal checking account and a Fremont Bank first mortgage with automatic loan payment from their Fremont Bank personal checking account. If at any point in time, the Cornerstone client (i) closes their personal checking account or the account is closed for any reason by anyone or (ii) no longer has their first mortgage with Fremont Bank or (iii) their automatic loan payment is cancelled by the client or the Bank for any reason, they will no longer be considered a Cornerstone client or be eligible for the program benefits.
- Loan payment must be set up within 30 days of account opening
- You must not currently have a personal checking account with Fremont Bank. You are not eligible for this offer if you were a signer on or owner of a Fremont Bank personal checking account within the last 6 months.
- Bonus will post within 90 days of meeting the requirements
- Account must be kept open for 180 days after it’s opened, otherwise you will forfeit the bonus
- For debit card transactions earning the $1 bonus, they must be at least $5 each. No minimum for the 75 card transactions/$25 per quarter bonus.
- Quarters are defined as (1) Jan 1-Mar 31, (2) April 1-June 30, (3) July 1-Sept 30, (4) Oct 1-Dec31
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
You need to keep the account open for 180 days, otherwise you will forfeit your bonus, obviously you’ll want to keep it open longer than that to earn the full $250 bonus anyway. Your best option to keep the account fee free is to open the Freedom checking account, it has a monthly fee of $18 which is waived if you do any of the following:
- Recurring $500 direct deposit* to your checking account
- $2,500 minimum daily balance
- $5,000 with Combined Balance Option
- Automatic Loan Payments to a Fremont Bank First Mortgage (required for $100 bonus anyway)
Our Verdict
It’s a shame this deal requires a mortgage with Fremont bank, because otherwise it would be a great deal. It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: you shouldn’t be choosing where you hold your mortgage based on a $250 checking bonus as that makes absolutely no sense at all. We’ve included this bonus in our complete bank bonus page, but it hasn’t made our best of list due to this mortgage requirement.
Hat tip to Maximizing Money
