This bonus has expired and is no longer available. Click here to view the best current checking bonuses.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $130
- Availability: Most likely MA only [Branch locator]
- Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum specified
- Additional requirements: $10 minimum opening deposit required
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None mentioned
- Expiration date:
July 10th, 2017January 31st, 2018 - Household limit: None mentioned
The Offer
- Open a new Optimum Free Checking Account with Stoneham Bank and receive a bonus of $130 when you complete the following requirements:
- Deposit $10 or more at account opening
- Receive a qualifying direct deposit within 90 days of account opening, no minimum specified
The Fine Print
- Checking offer is not available to existing StonehamBank checking customers. To receive the $130 checking bonus: 1) Open a new Optimum Free Checking Account, which is subject to approval; 2) Deposit $10 or more at account opening; AND 3) Have your direct deposit made to this account within 90 days of account opening.
- Your direct deposit needs to be an electronic deposit of your paycheck, pension or government benefits (such as Social Security) from your employer or the government.
- After you have completed all the above checking requirements, we’ll deposit the bonus in your new account within a month following your 90-day retention.
- The value of the credit is $130.00 and will be reported as interest on IRS Form 1099-INT.
- Offer is valid as of 1/10/2017 through 7/10/2017, and may be withdrawn at any time.
- The Optimum Free Checking Account offer cannot be combined with any other offer.
- All other rules and regulations for checking accounts apply.
- This offer is available through our online account opening and branches.
- You must be at least 18 years old or older to open this account.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
There is no monthly fees on this account. There is a monthly inactivity fee of $10 per month if the account is inactive for 12 months. I wasn’t able to find any early account termination fee though in their fee schedule.
Our Verdict
Not a bad deal considering it’s a soft pull and there are no monthly fees to worry about. Hopefully it’s not too difficult to meet the direct deposit requirement. We’ve added it to our best checking promo page, but it’s down near the bottom as there are much better bonuses out there.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- 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
I just called to close this account and was told by the CSR that if the account is zero balance you can just let it remain at zero for a month and it will automatically close. Just wanted to add this in case it’s helpful to someone else.
I think this promotion is dead.
I finally just got my bonus for this today. Account opened on 1/5, DD on 1/26, bonus paid 5/2. I guess they follow the terms of the offer exactly.
Capital One 360 Savings worked as a DAD requirement
Thanks, added dp
A potential hassle is the fact that the account number is not possible to view online & they refuse to give it out over the phone. I was instructed to mail a cheque with the opening deposit, wait for a statement to post & that would contain the full account number. So this delays my DD by 30 days since all I have is the routing number. They also mentioned they’re seeing a high level of fraud with online accounts so this could get terminated soon or terms might change
This seems to still be active as of 9/10/2017: “Offer is valid as of 9/10/2017 through 1/31/2018”
Updated post, thanks.
Got my bonus. DP: Wells Fargo push worked to trigger it. State messed up and sent me a paper check.
Thanks, added DP.
Does anyone have any further information about this bonus yet?
“a month following your 90-day retention” will be 6/11 for me. Still no bonus posted. Had several real DD from my employer (though small amounts, ~3% of my pay) post to the account throughout the 90 days. Will report back.
$130 bonus posted yesterday, 6/1.
Mine too :). You know, the T&C of the bonus just mention no existing account holders, so I think we might be able to close the account, reopen and get another bonus.
Opened this account online last night (MA resident). They gave 3 options for initial funding: mail a check, ACH push from another account, or ACH pull from another account. I chose ACH pull, which requires the usual verification of trial deposits in the external account, so I’m currently just waiting to complete that. Planning to do an actual DD from my employer to satisfy the requirement – lack of DPs makes me hesitant to try any shortcuts there. Will follow up if/when I get the bonus in a few months.
Thanks for info
Did you get an account number right away? I’m trying to leverage my state tax refund.
Bonus posted June 1