Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: Indiana only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $50+
- Additional requirements: Use promo code and make at least 40 debit card transactions
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: Yes, up to $250 with a Visa or Mastercard
- Monthly fees: Avoidable
- Early account termination fee: $50, 180 days (account must also be open when bonus is received)
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date: December 31st, 2018
Contents
The Offer
- First Merchants Bank is offering a bonus of $250 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Use promo code 1809CKA250 and open an advantage checking account
- Set up and have at least one direct deposit of $50 or more within the first 60 days of account opening
- Have an FMB debit card and make at least 40 point of sale transactions that post to your acocunt within 60 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- Present the $250 promotional offer when opening a new First Merchants Advantage Checking Account.
- A $100 minimum deposit is required when opening an account.
- To receive the $250 Reward the following conditions must be satisfied: 1) set up and have at least one direct deposit of $50 or more within the first 60 days after account opening; and 2) must have an FMB debit card and make at least 40 point-of-sale transactions processed within 60 days after account openings; and 3) your account must remain open with a positive balance once the above conditions are satisfied.
- Then, your $250 Reward will be credited to this open account within 60 days of all conditions being met.
- Offer valid in Indiana only and for new Advantage checking accounts opened before 12/31/2018.
- Offer subject to change without prior notice and may be terminated or extended.
- Offer does not apply to multiple checking accounts. Existing FMB checking accounts or accounts converted to another personal checking account are NOT eligible for this offer.
- You can receive only one new checking account reward related offer per household per calendar year.
- Bank employees and members of their household are not eligible for this promotion.
- Checking accounts closed by customer within 180 days of opening are subject to a $50 account early closing fee.
- To the extent required by law, First Merchants will report the value of this reward to the IRS on Form 1099-INT. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the account holder.
- In the event that we determine in our sole discretion that your account does not meet the eligibility criteria or the activity on your account does not qualify to meet the required conditions, we will not be obligated to credit your account with the reward payout.
- Offer is non-transferable and may not be combined with any other offers.
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has a $15 monthly fee, this is waived if you do any of the following:
- Make one direct deposit of at least $500 monthly, OR
- Make 15 debit card transactions per month, OR
- Maintain $1,500 minimum combined personal deposit balances OR
- Are 62 years or older
Early Account Termination Fee
There is an early account termination fee of $50 if the account is closed within 180 days of account opening.
Our Verdict
Previously they offered a bonus of $200 that was briefly available nationwide. This one specifies Indiana only in the fine print. Having to do 40 debit card transactions is a bit extreme, you can read some tips on how to hit that many here. Still it’s a $250 bonus and worth doing if you’re eligible. I’ll be adding this to our best bank bonus page.
Hat tip to DDG
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
After CFPB complaint and being told it was IN only by a rep I was randomly credited the $250 today. Dan is a very happy man today.
Finally received my $250 today. Opened 12/3 and used paycheck dd. Most of my 40 transactions were $1 charges to my cricket and AEP bill. 5 were amazon gift cards.
Has anyone received their bonus yet, mine is due Feb 4th and I even used a legit DD.
Mine has not posted. Opening deposit hit 11/15, I completed 40+ transactions (mostly Amazon GC purchases) and an employer DD by 12/14. I have continued the transactions and employer deposits since then but with no luck.
Did either of you receive your bonus? I’ve completed the requirements but it hasn’t yet been 60 days. Wondering what I have in store once the 60 day mark comes.
Funny, I just got off the phone with them, denied bonus due to Indiana only.
Thanks. That’s unfortunate. I’m in Indiana so hopefully it won’t be a painful process with them.
Opened the account online, deposited $150 and received my debit card in the mail a bit over a week later. Went to enroll in online banking but need my account #. Called the bank, they stated it would be sent on my first statement. First statement received in the mail a few days later and only the last 4 of the account # is listed. Called Bank back and they said there was no way to mail/email or give my account # over the phone.
I asked the rep if everyone was required to stop by the branch to enroll in online banking. She said ‘no’ so I asked how come this was so hard to do on my account. Eventually she ‘figured out’ she could enable it on her end. Am finally allowed to bank online lol. Staff was super nice & friendly but enrolling in online banking was a joke.
Did you get your bonus yet?
applied on 11/10 and still no email notifications or updatse that account has been approved..
11/11 and same. Applied for online banking same day and got this email on 11/16 (only communication from them thus far):
“We’ve received your enrollment request for First Merchants Online Banking. Unfortunately, the information you entered does not match the information we have on file for you, so we were unable to successfully validate your request.”
My experience with this bank in the past has been piss poor, so this is par for the course for them. Applied for online banking again, if it doesn’t go through again I’ll call them.
Same applied 11/10
emailed them for an update and they said im denied. told me to visit a branch with 2 forms of ID. im from IL so i guess technically out of state, but IL was a valid option during signup. these idiots werent even gonna give me an email update even though the app email says ‘will contact you within 24-48 hours’. it had already been ove ra week and i had to reach out to them for them to confirm i am denied. what a joke
No update yet but I just received a debit card in the mail wtf is going on?
Chex sensitive now.
What is considered a “point-of-sale transaction” and why would Amazon reloads not work for that? Another option I can think of is splitting filling up a tank of gas into 5-10 transactions. Does that count as point of sale?
Yes, they most likely work. However, if they went to manual review they most likely wouldn’t work.
afaik, POS means swiping or inserting chip card at a B&M store. Amzn reloads does not qualify. Filling at the gas pump should qualify since one swipes their card to pay.
Works in IL and OH.
Read the fine print, says IN only
The fine print say Indiana but its very possible they post for IL and OH. But Will should not update the post and mislead other readers into thinking they will get the bonus for sure.
would $0.50 amazon reload or comcast online payments trigger the 40 debit transactions?
No experience with this bank, but this works for 99% of all the banks that require debit transactions
According to the terms, no
>>Have an FMB debit card and make at least 40 point of sale transactions that post to your acocunt within 60 days of account opening.>>
Gasp! 40 POS transactions which means amzn reloads won’t work? WM SCO to the rescue but that’s still too many for me.