Update 4/16/22: Deal is back and valid until 6/30/22. Hat tip to reader Gadget
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Need to live near a branch according to this comment [Branch locator]
- Direct deposit required: Direct deposit or automatic draft of at least $25
- Additional requirements: Yes, 15 debit card transactions
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: Up to
$1,000$250 - Monthly fees: $8, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: $25 if closed within 90 days
- Household limit: None mentioned
- Expiration date:
September 29th, 2017 November 30th, 2017 May 31st, 2018July 31st, 2018November 30th, 2019November 30th, 2019March 31, 2022
Contents
The Offer
- South State Bank is offering a $200 checking bonus when you meet the following requirements within 60 days of account opening:
- Use promo code EARN200
- Have total qualifying direct deposits of $250 OR monthly automatic draft of $25
- Make a minimum of 15 debit card purchases or payments
The Fine Print
- Eligibility & Qualifications for the Promotional Rebate Offer: To receive the $100, you must meet each of the following criteria:
- At account opening, you cannot be a current owner or joint owner of a SouthState personal checking account, or have been an owner or joint owner of a SouthState personal checking account in the past 12 months.
- You must open the account with a minimum opening deposit of $25.00 (excluding the Promotional Rebate amount).
- Within 60 days of opening the checking account have either: monthly cumulative direct deposits of at least $250 which includes salary, pension, Social Security, or other regular recurring monthly income. (Note, however, that internal account transfers, deposits made at banking locations, by mobile deposits and ATM deposits do not qualify as a direct deposit.) OR one or more automatic draft of at least $25 to a non-South State Bank account.
- Have 15 or more posted and cleared debit card purchases/payments from the account.
- Promotional Rebate Payment: If you meet all of the Eligibility and Qualifications above, we will credit the Promotional Rebate to your Account within 2 business days of the completion of the 60 calendar day qualifying period. The Promotional Rebate will be reported to the appropriate taxing authorities, as required by law or regulation.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
South State Checking
This account has no monthly fees when you enroll in eStatements
Choice Checking Account $8 Monthly Fee
This is the easiest account to keep fee free fr most people. It has a $8 monthly fee that is waived if you do any of the following:
- 5 debit card purchases/payments per statement cycle or
- $250 in combined direct deposits, or
- $1,000 average daily balance
Early Account Termination Fee
Our Verdict
Reasonably good deal as no direct deposit is required, obviously not the biggest bank account bonus but still worth doing if you’ve done the more lucrative bonuses. As always if you have any experiences with this bank or bonus then please share them in the comments below.
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
Post history:
- Update 1/15/20: Deal is back and valid until March 31, 2021.
- Update 9/16/20: Deal is back and valid until November 30, 2020. Hat tip to reader Ben
- Update 2/3/2020: Bonus is back and has been increased to $200 from $100.
- Update 9/22/19: Bonus is back and valid until November 30th, 2019. Hat tip to DDG
Anyone else getting the error message “Something went wrong”. getting this for myself and P2, opened accounts 3 days ago.
Easy bonus. My DP’s:
4/20 Opened account with $50 debit card funding
5/2 to 6/13 Did 14 Amazon reloads ($0.50) spread out and one other random $2.99 debit purchase
5/6 $25 CC payment (initiated from Capital One)
5/9 $250 ACH push from SoFi (coded as “Transfer” – not necessary for bonus but did it anyways to add funds)
6/7 $64 CC payment (initiated from Amex)
6/22 $200 Bonus posted “Promotional Rebate”
Used Scwhab for my DD and then 15 Cashapp deposits. Got scared it wouldn’t work and prepared to do amazon reloads but ran out of .50 cents after 11 reloads. Got the $200 bonus today. Cashapp works!
My DD from Wells Fargo was showed as WELLS FARGO IFI DDA TO DDA. Wondering if that’s counted as qualified direct deposit.
3/31/22 – Opened account, funded with Cardless
4/19/22 – Real DD from employer
5/2/22 – 15 $1+ transactions with Amazon gift card reload
6/1/22 – Bonus deposited into bank account
I applied and was approved for the South state checking account today, but when I chose to fund with debit/credit, I got a pop up message saying that option was not available.
Does it need to say ACH for it to count? I did an automatic draft from IRS (routing and account # used), and it’s saying debit. Not sure if it qualifies now.
Thanks for the help!
4/6/22 account opened, funded with chase.
4/18/22 made 250$ of deposits from fidelity and PLYNK brokerages.
4/18/22 made 15 1$ transactions at a gas pump
4/26/22 no bonus yet, decide to try schwab brokerage +250
4/30/22 no bonus yet. i’m going to try sending money in from wells fargo and keep you guys updated, anyone have a successful DD yet?
I used Schwab brokerage in Nov/Dec and got the bonus. Good luck!
anyone knows if amazon $0.50 reloads count for the 15 debit card purchases?
i went to the gas station and did 15 1 $ transactions at the pump
still have not gotten my bonus yet
Initially denied about 2 months, but application was approved on 4/14. Funded with Chase freedom flex, coded as purchase.