Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $150
- Availability: MD & PA only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $200+
- Additional requirements: Use promo code
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: $100, 90 days
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: None listed
The Offer
- Open a new PeoplesBank checking account and receive a bonus of $150 when you complete the following requirements:
- Use the promo code PB150
- Receive a direct deposit of at least $200 within 45 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- One bonus will be credited to an eligible new PeoplesBank checking account for new or existing clients who do not have an existing checking account relationship with the bank.
- To qualify, a minimum of one direct deposit in the amount of $200 or more must occur in the account within 45 days of account opening and the account must be in good standing with a positive balance.
- Qualifying direct deposits include electronic deposits from payroll, Social Security, or retirement benefits and do not include electronic transfers or credits such as account-to-account transfers or those made with internet payment services.
- Bonus will be paid in the form of a statement credit to the account.
- Limit one bonus per client regardless of the number of accounts opened or titling of accounts.
- Offer does not apply to employees of PeoplesBank and their immediate family members. Offer does not apply to Second Chance Checking.
- Bonus paid to the client is reportable for tax purposes.
- A premature account closure fee of $100 will be assessed for accounts closed within 90 days of account opening.
- All checking accounts require a $25 minimum opening deposit.
- Offer may not be combined with any others and may be withdrawn at any time.
- Other terms and conditions may apply and are subject to change without notice. See a PeoplesBank representative for details.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
This account has no monthly fees, according to the fine print they do charge an early account termination fee this fee is $100 if closed within 90 days.
Our Verdict
They have offered a similar bonus in the past, but you got $75 for direct deposit and $75 for one Visa check card transaction of $50+. Basically the same deal (maybe slightly worse if you didn’t want to do the direct deposit but I don’t think it’s worth signing up for for only $75 and slightly better if you do the direct deposit). I do think this bonus is worth signing up for as there are no monthly fees and fairly easy to trigger the bonus as well. I’ll add it to the best checking sign up bonuses.
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
DP:
7/28 – Opened account
8/2 (?) – Mailed signature card printed out from website
8/23 – $200 ACH Ally
9/8 – $150 bonus posted
I think I have at least 7 Chex inquiries over the past year, and likely a few more than that. The nearest People’s Bank branch is about 35 miles away from me.
DP:
7/24 – Opened account
8/20 – $200 ACH BBVA Compass
8/31 – $203 ACH Ally
9/8 – $150 bonus posted
DP:
9/1 – Schwab brokerage deposit $201
9/8 – $150 bonus posted
So it looks like my Ally deposit did not work, but my Schwab brokerage deposit did.
Ally worked for me.
What did the Schwab brokerage code as?
Denied citing Chex. What? I don’t think I’ve opened that many accounts in the past 12-36 months.
Is this an online only offer? I’ve a branch within 5 miles!
I just realized I recently received this bonus. I don’t know exactly when it actually showed up. Mint doesn’t show any transaction history at all. Logging directly into my account shows no transaction history as well. My balance is $380 though so $150 bonus definitely got deposited.
7/29: opened account with $25
8/2: discovered my account was disabled and sent them a SM about it
8/3: they responded saying account is disabled until they receive the signature card
8/4: employer DD of $205 and mailed out the signature card
8/18: still no online access so sent them a SM inquiring about the account and to confirm they received signature card. They responded same day saying they received the card and I now have full account access
Some time in the past 2 weeks the $150 bonus posted as I now have a $380 balance ($25 initial deposit + $205 DD plus $150 bonus). For some reason, no transactions are listed for my account. Maybe it’s just a temporary glitch with their system.
7/28 – Applied /w Code (when it finally started working)
8/5 – Mailed Signature Card (some confusion on their end having trouble finding it…)
8/10 – Account Access (got locked out once and had to reset once the signature card was processed)
8/14 – Company expense reimbursement posted (no idea if this qualifies as a ‘real’ DD)
8/18 – PAYROLL DD posted
Bonus TBD…
For what it’s worth email customer service has been very friendly and responsive. Have avoided having to call them so far
Update:
Rewards Earned: Dir Dep Rwd $150
Has been shown pending since 9/9. My assumption is this will officially post 9/11 as the next business day.
So as a datapoint that would be 3 to 4 wks post DD for bonus to trigger. Less than a month seems good to me
Opened account 8/3.
Received signature card 8/10.
Mailed signature card 8/11.
No account access through 8/15, so I called and asked for an electronic signature card. Received and returned that day.
8/17, still no account access, I sent an SM. Account accessible on 8/18.
8/21 – $200 ACH from Ally
Will update again once/if bonus posts.
Has anyone officially opened their account yet? Sent in my signature card two weeks ago and still can’t access my account.
Yes I have. My comments are above. I sent signature card in last week but still don’t have online access enabled. And they ended up mailing me a copy of the form to sign and return on Friday after they should have already received it. I’ll be calling them this week.
Peoples Bank was the first decline I have hit. They declined my wife and I both due to Chex, citing recent inquiries.
Only ~6 or so each in the past 60 days. Approved for a Fulton afterwards, so it may just be PeoplesBank is sensitive to recent accounts.
How many in past 6 months/12?