Offer is back but there is currently a better bonus for $150/$250.
- Maximum bonus amount: $150
- Availability: Must open in supermarket branch [Location finder here]. Not sure if all states have supermarket branches, but they operate out of the following states: CT, DE, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull as long as you opt out of over draft protecton.
- Credit card funding: Up to $1,000, Visa & MasterCard only (most likely cash advance due to have to opening in branch)
- Monthly fees: $9.99, waive-able
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None mentioned
- Expiration date:
February 24th, 2017June 9th, 2017(New bonus valid July 29th until September 1st)
The Offer
- To receive the $150 bonus, complete the following:
- Open your first new personal checking account between July 29, 2017 and September 1, 2017 at a Citizens Bank supermarket branch
- Set up a single direct deposit of $500 or more that posts to your new account within 60 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- To qualify for the $150 bonus you must open your first new personal checking account between 5/6/17 and 6/9/17 and have at least 1 single direct deposit of $500 or more post to your new checking account within 60 days of account opening.
- Primary signer on the new checking account may not be or have been a primary or secondary signer on any personal checking account within the previous six months.
- Offer only available in select branches.
- The new account must be open and in good standing to qualify for this offer.
- Offer may be withdrawn without notice and cannot be combined with any other checking offer.
- $150 Bonus will be deposited into your qualifying checking account within 90 days after the first qualified direct deposit has posted and will be labeled as “Balance Builder Bonus.”
- One bonus per customer.
- Bonus will be reported to the IRS.
Avoiding Fees
- One Deposit Checking Account: $9.95 fee is waived with any deposit (according to this comment they really do many any deposit, even a transfer from another Citizens Bank account will trigger this)
- Citizens Bank Platinum Checking: $25 fee is waived with $25,000 in combined deposits
- Citizens Bank Platinum Plus Checking: $25 fee is waived with $25,000 in combined deposits & either $5,000 total deposits posted to the primary checking account before the end of your statement period OR $10,000 average daily checking balance
As far as I know there is no early account termination fee.
Our Verdict
It’s annoying that this bonus is in branch and requires a direct deposit for the bonus, at least any deposit will keep the account fee free. That being said it’s probably still a good option for those that live near a branch as we do have some datapoints on what counts as a direct deposit. They have offered a similar $150 bonus online in the past as well. I’ll be adding this to our best checking promos page, but it won’t be one of the top bonuses listed.
Big thanks to reader, Don who let us know. Please consider sharing bank bonuses with this site so we can make it even better.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- 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
DP
Opened chk & sav end of Oct 2023 for $300/$300 offer. Offer reqd 1 $500+ DD to chk in first 60 days and 3 months of $500+ deposits to sav (DD not reqd for sav)
Regular ACH Cap 1 Sav coded as “Direct Deposit” on statement
Recvd $600 bonus mid Feb 2024.
Hello, me and my friend both did bank account bonus here I used capital one 360 in February 18’to succesfully trigger DD. He more recently used Capital One 360 May 18’ so please add these two data points we both received bonus. It currently says that Capital One 360 does not trigger bonus.
I just tried to do a transfer from Capital One 360 last month and it did not trigger the bonus. I also tried having someone send me money from Venmo earlier this week and I haven’t gotten the bonus yet. How long did it take for you to get your bonus?
Capital One 360 was April 27th and bonus posted May 23rd for my friend. He was the most recent DP. Venmo should work fine though that has only positive DP’s.
February 2018 Capital One 360 worked for bonus. Please update to reflect because it currently says it did not work.
How do you transfer funds from your bank account to your Venmo account balance, in anticipation of DDing to citizensbank? I can’t figure this out. Seems the only way is to send payment yourself, which venmo’s ToS prohibits.
DP
7/21 – Opened
08/02 – $500 – Venmo
9/27 – Bonus Posted
DP:
1) Opened account online 2/2/17 and funded $1,000 with CIP (coded as a purchase)
2) Venmo direct deposit 2/10/17
3) Bonus paid 4/13/17
Also – I did a transfer from my Wells Fargo account to keep the account fee-free and it appears the Wells Fargo ACH push is also coded a direct deposit (transaction online reads ‘Direct Deposit Wells Fargo Dda to Dda’)
Success DP for me and my Wife:
Opened 4/4
4/25 $500 Paypal Transfer coded as Direct Deposit
5/10 $500 Santander Bank Payment coded as Direct Deposit
6/28 $150 Balbldr bonus posted
I used the promo code from the Post Office movers packet.
Has anyone experienced issues with chexplus sensitivity?
Received a targeted mailer today. $400 for one $500 DD with the platinum checking. Online signup and $1000 cc funding allowed.
so if someone had an account and closed it recently they would not be eligible or what is the terms on that?
12 mo