Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: Up to $1,000
- Availability: Account must be opened in branch, all branches are in Florida. You can see a listing of all the branches here.
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: $10-$15, waive-able
- Early account termination fee: None found
- Expiration date: September 30th, 2016
Contents
The Offer
- Open a FCB Money Market & Checking account and receive a bonus of up to 1% APY and $1,000 cash back. To receive the bonus you must do the following:
- Deposit new funds and maintain that balance for 6 months, the amount you deposit will determine the bonus you receive:
- $10,000 – $49,999.99: $100
- $50,000-$99,999.99: $250
- $100,000-$249,999.99: $500
- $250,000+: $1,000
- Enroll in and receive eStatements for 6 months for both accounts
- Deposit new funds and maintain that balance for 6 months, the amount you deposit will determine the bonus you receive:
The Fine Print
- Promotional rate of 1% is guaranteed for six months, then will drop to normal rates
- Limit one bonus per household
- Opening deposits must be new funds
- Business accounts not eligible
- Budget checking, VEP colleague checking & resident program checking accounts are not eligible
- Limit of six transfers and withdrawals or a combination per statement cycle, $5 fee per transaction after limit reached
- Cash back bonus will post within 30 days after the 6 month qualification period.
- You’re required to pay taxes on the bonus
Avoiding Fees
ECO Checking $10 Monthly
- Sign up for Online Banking; and
- Choose to receive FREE eStatements; and
- Sign up for FREE Direct Deposit
Pinnacle Checking
Monthly fee is waived if:
- Average daily balance of $25,000 or more in your checking or other FCB checking, savings, or Money Market accounts, OR
- An FCB Loan with Auto Pay
This is the best option if you’re going for the $250 bonus or higher.
Our Verdict
The good thing about this bonus is the base earning rate of 1% APY, usually when they offer bonuses like this the APY is truly terrible. These bonuses are easiest to look at when we look at the extra interest you’re basically earning over a six month period (we’ve used the lowest amount for each offer to calculate this):
- $100 bonus: Extra 2% APY
- $250 bonus: Extra 1% APY
- $500 bonus: Extra 1% APY
- $1,000 bonus: Extra 0.8% APY
Obviously the $100 bonus is the best return, but it’s on a lower amount of money. FCB have also offered $200 bonuses in the past, so this makes this offer less attractive. Personally I don’t think this bonus is worth the effort, as the additional APY is relatively minimal. That being said if you have a lot of cash sitting around and don’t want to bother with rewards checking or prepaid accounts then this is a pretty good opportunity. All that being said we won’t add this to our best bonus page.
