Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 3/27/23: Deal is now good through 3/31/23.
Update 1/18/23: Offer is back and valid until March 20, 2023.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $500
- Availability:
- Offer valid only in FNBO branded branches in CO, IA, IL, KS, NE, SD, and TX.
- Offer valid online in CO, IA, IL, KS, NE, SD, TX, MO, and limited areas of WI and WY
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+ for three months
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown, sensitive
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date: October 17, 2022
Contents
The Offer
- FNBO Bank is offering a bonus of up to $500. Bonus is broken down as follows:
- Open a new checking account with promo code 700 and receive a $50 bonus
- Open FNBO Savings account the same day as your checking and receive a $10 bonus
- Set up and receive qualifying direct deposits in your new checking account (direct deposits totaling $500 must post to your account three 31-day periods in a row) and receive a $250 bonus
- Maintain a $3,000 balance for 90 days and reach the checking account requirements above and get a $190 bonus
The Fine Print
- The $50 new checking account opening bonus will be credited to your account within 30 days of account opening.
- The $250 direct deposit bonus will be credited to your account within 30 days of the date we receive your qualifying direct deposits.* Qualifying direct deposits must be received within 124 days of the account being opened and the account must be open to receive the bonus.
- Account bonuses are subject to IRS reporting and will be reflected on a 1099-INT statement.
- The customer is responsible for entering the promo code “JOIN” (not case sensitive) during online account opening or mention the promotion to a banker.
- The account must be open to receive a bonus. Offer valid only in FNBO branded branches in CO, IA, IL, KS, NE, SD, and TX. Offer valid online in CO, IA, IL, KS, NE, SD, TX, MO, and limited areas of WI and WY. Offer valid for new checking customers on one new account and limited to only one opening bonus and direct deposit bonus. A new checking customer is defined as an applicant who does not have an open Access Debit, Free Checking, or Premier Checking account at the time of campaign launch. FNBO has discretion to determine what constitutes a new checking customer. Accounts must be open by 10/17/22 to be eligible.
- A qualifying direct deposit is defined as a deposit, such as a customer’s salary, pension, Social Security, or other regularly monthly income, electronically deposited through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network to this checking account by your employer or an outside agency. To receive the bonus, a minimum qualifying direct deposit or deposits totaling $500 must post to your checking account for three (3) consecutive 31-day periods for a total of $1,500, or through a minimum of nine (9) credits posting to your checking via a debit card transaction for a minimum of $500 for three consecutive 31 day periods for a total of $1,500. The deposits must post to your account within 124 days of account opening. Transfers and/or deposits made via ATM, online or teller, and transfers from a bank or brokerage account do not constitute a credit or direct deposit.
- Savings account must be opened the same day as checking account. $10 opening bonus will be applied within 30 days of account opening. Savings account must be a Basic Savings, Savings, or Premier Savings product type. Ownership roles must match between the checking and savings accounts.
- Offer valid for new savings customers on one new account and limited to only one opening bonus and one secondary bonus. The savings product opened directly after the new checking will be considered for eligibility. Subsequent savings products opened will not be considered for eligibility. A new savings customer is defined as an applicant who does not have an open Basic Savings, Savings, or Premier Savings account at the time of campaign launch. FNBO has discretion to determine what constitutes a new savings customer.
- The $190 bonus paid to the savings account will only be available once the checking account qualifications have been met and all bonuses paid out. Additionally, an average daily collected balance of at least $3,000 must be maintained in the savings account for 90 days from account opening. The $190 bonus will be paid to the savings account within 30 days of meeting all requirements.
- Account bonuses are subject to IRS reporting and will be reflected on a 1099-INT statement.
- The customer is responsible for entering the promo code “JOIN” (not case sensitive) during online account opening or mention the promotion to a banker.
- The savings account must remain open to receive the bonus. Offer valid only in FNBO branded branches in CO, IA, IL, KS, NE, SD, and TX. Offer valid online in CO, IA, IL, KS, NE, SD, TX, MO, and limited areas of WI and WY. Offer valid for new savings customers on one new account and limited to only one opening bonus and secondary bonus. Accounts must be open by 10/17/22 to be eligible.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
There is a free checking account with no monthly fees.
Early Account Termination Fee
According to the fee schedule there is no early account termination fee.
Our Verdict
Looks like it’s available in more states than it was before. Unfortunately doesn’t look like you can do the savings bonus without the checking bonus, but I suspect most people would be doing both anyway. Previous checking bonuses didn’t always require a direct deposit, but the savings bonus is new and fairly easy to meet the requirements for so I think this is the new best bonus from FNBO and will be adding this to our best checking bonus page.
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 10/18/22: Offer extended to November 15, 2022
Did your 1099-INT from FNBO include the savings bonus? Mine included the checking bonus, but for the savings it only included the interest and the $10 but not the $190 bonus. Wonder if they will send out a correction before the tax filing deadline.
Mine is the same way. Total of $310 on 1099-INT. I’m including the $190 anyway because most likely they’ll be correcting.
Of note: The transactions for checking and savings in my account for the bonuses that are on the 1099-INT state: “THANKS FOR BANKING WITH FNBO” and “THANKS FOR SETTING UP DIRECT DEPOSIT”
The $190 portion of the bonus(es) that was not reported states “CONGRATULATIONS & KEEP ON SAVING”.
My bet is someone filtered to anything with “THANKS” only. Whoopsie.
If we file tax including the $190, and it doesn’t match the 1099-INT, would IRS ask us to correct it later?
Don’t think so. You’re required to report all income even if you didn’t get a 1099 on it. In my tax software, there’s a section for reporting interest income when not reported to you on a 1099-INT.
If you are outside of FNBO footprint, they can’t even open an account for you if you travel to a physical branch. FYI
Thanks for this info. I have a credit card with them but I guess that doesn’t help either. Also outside of their footprint.
I was able to open accounts in branch as an OOS resident in fall 2022.
3/31 opened checking and savings
3/31 $50 checking bonus received
3/31 $10 savings bonus received
4/4 deposited $3250 in savings
Deposited real dd of $250 in checking every 2 weeks for 3 months
6/29/2023 $250 checking bonus received
7/6/2023 $190 savings bonus received
1/25 Opened checking and savings account
1/26 Deposited $3500 in savings
2/2 $50 bonus
2/17 First $500 DD, $500 DD every 2 week after
4/6 $250 bonus
6/16 Messaged bank online stating that I should’ve received $200 bonus for savings account
6/20 $200 bonus
I didn’t do this exact bonus listed on this page, I did the trio-bonus where you’d get $300 checking (have $500+ DD), $200 credit card (spend $1k in 90D) and $200 savings bonuses ($3k for 90D).
1/20 – opened checking, $3k into savings and opened CC
1/26 – $50 checking
2/18 – $200 CC bonus
4/6 – $250 checking
Still waiting for the $200 savings bonus, a few days left for the 30-day period after the 90D.
01/29/2023 – Opened Checking and Savings account for a total of $500 bonus.
02/02 – Pushed $3.5K from Chase to Savings.
02/09 – Received $50 Checking and $10 Savings bonus
4 biweekly DD’s of $500+ from employer.
04/20 – $250 Checking bonus posted.
05/04 – $190 Savings bonus posted.
fidelity cash management didnt work. got a whopping $60 instead of $500
Prior FNBO checking bonus received 2021. I applied online using existing login and received message stating “We regret to inform you that we are unable to process the application at
this time. Watch your inbox for an email containing additional information on the application.” Email stated “We experienced an internal system error while setting up your account which resulted in it not being opened. Please give us a call…”
Called and opened with a personal banker. I am in their footprint. Process took about 20 min and I had to send in identification verification via secure link. Both accounts opened, $50 and $10 immediately credited to respective accounts.
My old checking account (though closed) still shows when I login. This is probably why the online application didn’t go through on its own. No mention of chex, but I’ve only opened one other account in the last 12 months and it was 2 weeks ago.
Wouldn’t let me join from the Houston area. Wouldn’t go past zip code. So not all of TX is covered.
All of TX is covered if you open in branch (and possibly over the phone).
Opening online is limited to service areas of branches and there is a workaround for prior/current customers who are out of service area.
Tried to apply online and got this message. “Thank you for your application. Unfortunately, due to the inability to identify you with the information you provided, we were unable to open your account at this time.” Not sure whether it was because I am not a citizen or permanent resident or because of something in Chexsystems. Anyone else got this message?
It could be chex
Update. I went to a local branch, the banker opened the checking and savings for me in less than 10 mins, it was the fastest in-branch account opening I ever had.
The banker forgot to have me sign the agreement for the checking account though (I asked her where is the agreement for the checking after I signed the agreement for the savings but she said all required documents were signed.) I did not think much into it as she gave me the account numbers of both checking and savings right away and I was able to deposit into them on the spot.
Two days later I received email asking me to sign the agreements for the checking, it turned out it was indeed needed to sign. I signed it two days after my accounts were open. But the delay in signing did not seem to affect the eligibility to the promotion as both the $50 and $10 were credited to the accounts when I opened the accounts in the branch.