Update 9/9/23: Bonus is back, now $250 instead of $300 and includes IL now as well. Hat tip to knuds1b
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $250
- Availability:Â IN, OH, IL
- Direct deposit required:Â No
- Additional requirements:Â Use promo code
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding:Â Yes, $1,000+ with Visa/Mastercard
- Monthly fees:
- Early account termination fee: 180 days, bonus forfeit
- Household limit:Â One
- Expiration date:
Contents
The Offer
- F&M Bank is offering a $300 bonus when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Use promo code  BONUS250
The Fine Print
- You may be eligible for a $300 account opening bonus if you open a new Personal Checking Account.
- The account opening bonus will be treated as interest for IRS (Form 1099-INT) reporting purposes.
- No minimum balance is required to obtain this bonus.
- A minimum deposit may be required to open a Personal Checking Account.
- Offer is not available to existing F&M checking account customers or those with an F&M checking account closed within the last six months.
- Offer limited to one account per household and one account opening bonus per account per calendar year.
- If you close your new Checking Account within 180 days of account opening, the account opening bonus will be forfeited and it will be deducted from the account balance at closing.
- F&M employees and their immediate family members residing in the same household are not eligible for the account opening bonus.
- Account specific requirements may apply based on the account opened but would not affect the eligibility for receiving the bonus.
- Health Savings Accounts are not included in this promotion.
- Limited time offer.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Smart checking has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
Bonus is forfeit if account is closed within 180 days.
Our Verdict
Doesn’t look like there are any requirements apart from the promo code. Seems to be a very good deal if that’s the case.
Hat tip to Woody
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
I can’t find any of the terms/conditions language DoC posts above for this bonus. The current link is still active, but it doesn’t mention needing to have no account for six months, nor any bonus forfeiture language. Just one account per household is the only limit I could find? I am hoping to churn this again.
FYI, Cook County is not eligible.
How do you transfer money out from the account? When you go to “Transfer,” there’s no option to add a new bank account or do an external transfer. This is the most basic and simple online banking account I have ever seen.
I am having the same issue. I also can’t seem to add the account through plaid to my hub account. It finds the bank (after guessing which of the 10 F&M banks it actually is), and logs in and has my security questions, but just when you think you can add it, it says try again later. I guess I could always manually connect to one of my other banks but that is twice as many transfers and less liquid funds. I guess that is better than taking a random trip to ohio since I live pretty far away from any branches.
Digging into this one a bit, it looks like it might be specific to their Bucks Back or Loyalty Rewards checking account types (on their comparison chart further down the page, only those two have any info in the “Account opening bonus and other rewards” row, with other account types x’ed out)- both have $5 monthly fee, waivable but with monthly activity requirements.
Do NOT opt for checks…. they charged $15 for the basic checks and there was no indication of such fee.
Otherwise all went smoothly opening the account.
I’m going through account set up right now.
It literally says “Order checks for your convenience. Additional Fees Apply.”
What did you think “Additional Fees Apply” meant?
Obviously I missed it or assumed the most basic option would be nominal or free. Fool me once, that’s on me. Regardless, the warning stands. $15 for one single book of checks is ridiculous. Just letting people know…
Attempted the mothman address trick from OOS – declined due to Transunion. Bummer.
The… mothman address trick?
Read this comment.
Opened account 2/13/24
had to call for PIN for online banking registration
2/21/24 deposited the funding opening deposit of $50 (from Chase, but I don’t believe it matters from where)
2/23/24 $250 bonus added to account!!
not even sure if I have to fund further or bother with direct deposits or any other deposits
the Smart Checking account has no monthly fee and no minimum balance requirement
must keep open for 180 days
Only for US Citizens and PR’s.
Link directs to F&M landing page which states: “Establish one Direct Deposit or automatic payment (ACH) which posts and settles to the account.” Not sure if this means DD is now required.
Used OOS trick. Couldn’t fund account initially and they seem to have no way to add an external account online for transfers. Decided to verify and push from Chase. When I went to do the micro-deposit verification, I noticed they’d closed out my account immediately afterward. The person on chat said it was because my IP address was in IL and told me that was outside their servicing area. If you’re OOS (including IL apparently), you’ll have to use a VPN I guess.
Illinois shows to be one of the targeted areas?? Is the DOC info wrong?