This offer is no longer available.
You can get another $50 for using mobile cash withdrawals currently as well.
Update: According to this comment it has to be a ‘real’ direct deposit and regular ACH transfers do not count.
Reposting this since it was last posted in April of 2014.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $125
- Availability:Â South FL, NY, NJ Only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, three deposits of $500 or more
- Additional requirements: 5 online bill payments
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: $25, six months
- Expiration date: None listed
Update: This deal is now only available in New Jersey, New York, and South Florida. That means CA & IL are no longer eligible.
Contents
The Offer
Direct offer link (bonus is no longer clearly displayed but it is mentioned in the fine print on the linked page)
- Receive $75 when you make three 3 ACH direct deposits of $500 or more
- $50 when you make 5 online bill payments or preauthorized withdrawals
The Fine Print
- Only available to those in FL,
CA, IL, NY or NJ - Bonus requirements must be completed with 90 days of opening account
- Bonus payment will be made within 60 days of completing the requirements, account must open still
- Bonus limited to one per customer per lifetime
- All bank account bonuses require you to pay tax on them
- Minimum opening deposit of $50 ($25 in NY)
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Basic Checking $0
This account doesn’t come with a monthly fee
Basic Interest Checking
- If an average monthly ledger balance of $250 is maintained, the monthly service fee is waived.
Popular 50+ Interest Checking
- Free if you’re over 50 years of age
Popular Investor Checking
- If an average monthly ledger balance of $1,000 is maintained, the monthly service fee is waived.
Early Account Termination Fee
Update: There is an early account termination fee of $25 if the account is closed within 6 months.
It doesn’t appear as if there is an early account termination fee, but as it’s easy to have a free account with the basic checking product it doesn’t matter much if there is one if you close the account within six months.
Our Verdict
Update: Deal isn’t as good now since any ACH transfer won’t trigger the bonus according to this comment.
I like the simplicity of this deal, you don’t need to worry about which methods work as a direct deposit – as it doesn’t require a direct deposit, only an ACH transfer.
Here’s how we’d be doing this deal:
- Open the basic checking account as it does not have a monthly fee
- Do three transfers of $500 or above from my existing checking account
- Complete five regular bill pays
- Wait to receive the bonus (will post within 60 days)
- With until the six month mark at least before closing the account in case there is an early account termination fee
- Close the account
The other downside is that not everybody is going to live within the service area. I’ve added it to our list of the best state specific bank bonuses.
Screenshot of this offer | Direct application link
Hat tip to MIAMIGUY305 from Slickdeals
