[Expired] [LA, MS, FL, AL, TX] Hancock Whitney Bank $500 Checking Bonus

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Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: $500
Availability: LA, MS, FL, AL, & TX only. In branch only [Branch locator]
Direct deposit required: Yes, $250+
Additional requirements: None
Hard/soft pull: Soft
ChexSystems: No
Credit card funding: None
Monthly fees: $21-$25, avoidable
Early account termination fee: $20, 180 days
Household limit: One (this is enforced)
Expiration date: October 31st, 2019

Contents

1 The Offer
2 The Fine Print
3 Avoiding Fees
- 3.1 Monthly Fees
  - 3.1.1 Priority Checking $21 Monthly Fee
  - 3.1.2 Priority Money Market $25 Monthly Fee
- 3.2 Early Account Termination Fee
4 Our Verdict

The Offer

Direct link to offer

Hancock Whitney Bank is offering a bonus of $500 when you open a Priority Checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Receive a qualifying monthly direct deposit of at least $250 by 12/31/19

The Fine Print

Bring the promo code referenced above to your nearest financial center and open a new Priority Checking account with money not currently on deposit at Hancock Whitney Bank by the offer expiration date of 6/30/19.
The promo code is required at account opening.
The following criteria must be met by 8/31/19: set up and receive a single, qualifying monthly direct deposit of at least $250. A qualifying direct deposit includes a salary, pension, social security or other recurring, monthly income amount of $250 or more, electronically deposited by your employer or outside agency.
Transfers from one account to another or deposits made at a financial center or ATM do not qualify.
Limit of one new consumer checking related bonus per household per calendar year.
The Bank may change or discontinue the offer at any time and without notice.
This offer is non-transferable and cannot be combined with other offers.
The email given at account opening must match the email address submitted to get the offer promo code.
If your account meets the criteria, and remains open and active, we will deposit the earned bonus into your new Priority Checking account within 6 weeks after the qualification period of 8/31/19.
Bonuses may be considered interest and may be reported on IRS Form 1099.

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

Priority Checking $21 Monthly Fee

Priority Checking account has a $21 monthly fee, this is waived if you do one of the following:

a minimum daily collected balance of $10,000 or more;
$25,000 in combined deposits (excluding CDs and IRAs) or consumer loans (excluding mortgages) or credit card balances;
$250,000 or more in a Trust account or account (excluding annuities) with Hancock Whitney Investment Services.

Priority Money Market $25 Monthly Fee

This account has a $25 monthly fee, this is waived with a minimum daily collected balance of $25,000

Early Account Termination Fee

$20 fee is charged for each account if the account is closed within 180 days.

Our Verdict

It doesn’t look like you need to actually open the Priority Money Market account, but if you do then you’ll get 2% APY. I think the best option would be to open both the checking & money market accounts, put $25,000 into the money market to avoid the monthly fees on both accounts and earn 2% APY. Then you could set up the direct deposit and after the bonus posts close both accounts (and pay the fees) and move your funds back over to a high yield savings account. It might be worth keeping the accounts open for the full six months to avoid the early account termination fees depending on how long the bonus takes to post.

Hancock Whitney often offers a $300 checking bonus, personally I think you are best off just waiting for that offer to return. It’s easy to keep fee free and can be opened online instead of in branch. Because of that I won’t be adding this bonus to our best checking bonus page.

Hat tip to carl_global

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