[DE, MD, NJ, PA] Firstrust Bank $250 Checking Bonus, Direct Deposit Not Required

Update 1/12/23: Bonus has been increased to $250 on both accounts + bonus points. Spend requirement is now $200 instead of $100. Valid until 2/15/23 now.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $250
• Availability: Must be a resident of DE, MD, NJ, PA
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: See below
• Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
• ChexSystems: Unknown
• Credit card funding:  Can fund at least $500 with a credit card
• Monthly fees: Yes, $10 or $25 monthly fee (avoidable)
• Early account termination fee: $25, 1 year
• Household limit: One
• Expiration date: December 31, 2020

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Firstrust Bank is offering a bonus of $250 + 5,000 points when you open a FirstPaySM account or $250 + 10,000 points FirstPaySM Premier Eagles Checking and complete the following requirements:
  • Make a purchase of $200 or more

The Fine Print

• Bonus points will be paid to all new FirstPaySM and FirstPaySM Premier Eagles Checking accounts opened from 10/16/2020 to 12/31/2020. FirstPaySM Eagles checking customers will receive 15,000 bonus points. FirstPaySM Premier Eagles checking will receive 20,000 bonus points.
• Limit 1 per household.
• Bonus points may be redeemed for advertised gift card value. I.e. every 5,000 bonus points can be redeemed for $50 gift card.
• New customers will be eligible after first Visa® purchase of $100 or more is made within 60 days of new account opening. Bonus will be paid within 60 days of purchase.
• Points can be redeemed through scorecardrewards.com. Points will be eligible to be redeemed for gift cards 60 days after new account opening. Card must be registered to redeem.
• Offer can be withdrawn at any time without notice.
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

FirstPay Checking Account

To avoid monthly maintenance fee ($10), account is required to have one of the following each month: $500 minimum daily balance, monthly direct deposit, 10 debit card purchases or 5 online bill payments.

FirstPay Premier Checking

To avoid monthly maintenance fee ($25), account is required to have one of the following maintain $5,000 combined balance in deposits accounts or have $50,000 in consumer loans and lines of credit balances.

Early Account Termination Fee

There is an early account termination fee of $25 if closed within a year.

Our Verdict

We’ve previously seen a $276 checking bonus, that required a direct deposit but was easier to keep fee free (same requirements as the current $150 bonus). This offer might be worth considering for those that don’t like to worry about meeting the direct deposit requirement, otherwise it could make sense to wait for a bigger offer to return. We will add this to our best bank account bonus page.

Hat tip to Novacat05

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 7/15/22: Deal is back to $150/$200 and valid until 03/31/2023.
• Update 5/12/21: Deal has been reduced to $50/$100.
• Update 1/31/21: Deal has been extended until May 31, 2021. Hat tip to reader Vlad