[Expired] [MI, and OH] Charter Bank $100 Checking Promotion, No DD + Fund 1k With CC

There is now a new bonus for $200, view details here. This bonus is now over, you can view more checking promos here.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $100
• Availability: MI, and OH (if you live in CT, DE, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, and VT then you can sign up for the Citizens bank version of this offer)
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: Two bill online bill pays
• Hard/soft pull: Soft pull if you apply at branch, hard online (YMMV). Read the linked data points for more information.
• Credit card funding: Up to $1,000 
• Monthly fees: $9.99, waive-able 
• Early account termination fee: Unknown
• Expiration date: February 27th, 2015

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Open your first personal checking account with Citizens Bank at a participating supermarket location, enroll in online banking and schedule two qualified online bill payments and receive $100.
• View all supermarket locations by clicking here and clicking “supermarket branches”

The Fine Print

• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
• Online bill payments must post and clear before April 30th, 2015.
• Your considered a new customer if you haven’t been a primary or secondary signer on any personal checking account with Citizens bank in the previous six months.
• Valid until February 27th, 2015

Avoiding Fees

Monthly fee of $9.99 is waived if you have a deposit of any amount to the checking account that month. We couldn’t locate their fee schedule so I am unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not.

Our Verdict

It might be worth waiting for a higher sign up bonus to come instead of going for this one (as they’ve offered $150 and $200 bonuses in the past), that being said this still isn’t such a bad offer. Here is what I’d do if I lived within the service area and didn’t want to wait:

• Open account, using a credit card that earn 2% cash back to initially fund $1,000 (+$20)
• Schedule two bills that I needed to pay anyway
• Withdraw all my funds to a high interest checking account
• Deposit a bit of money each month to keep the account fee free
• Wait for my bonus to post (+$100)
• Wait six months to avoid any early account termination fees
• Cancel account and transfer money out

In total I’d profit $120, which isn’t bad but it’s not nearly as good as the best checking sign up bonuses. I’ve added this bonus to our complete list of bank account bonuses which can be found here. If you know of any that aren’t listed, let us know and you could win up to $225.

Direct link to offer | Screenshot of offer