Deal has now ended, view the best current checking bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: NJ & PA, in branch [Branch locations]
- Direct deposit required: Yes, ACH debit also accepted
- Additional requirements: Deposit $50 at account opening
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Up to $2,500. Visa or Mastercard only. Likely cash advance in branch/not possible to fund with a credit card
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: $15, six months
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: October 12th, 2019
Contents
The Offer
- Provident Bank is offering a bonus of $250 when you open a new free $mart checking account in person and complete the following requirements:
- Deposit $50 or more at account opening
- Have your direct deposit or one ACH automatic debit made to your account within 60 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- Open a new Provident FREE $mart Checking account in person at any Provident branch; deposit $50 or more at account opening; have your direct deposit or one ACH automatic debit made to this account within 60 days of account opening.
- After you have completed all the above requirements, including keeping your account in good standing and not overdrawing your account, we’ll deposit the cash bonus in your new account within 75 days of the last day of the promotion, which is Saturday October 12th.
- Please note Teacher’s Village (Newark) and Metropark (Iselin) are closed on Saturday, October 12, 2019.
- Current personal checking customers are not eligible for this offer.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
According to this comment there is an early account termination fee of $15 if closed within 6 months.
Our Verdict
Biggest bonus we’ve seen previously was $200 and that was targeted. This is an extra $50 and publicly accessible. It’s a nice offer as well as you don’t need a direct deposit, an automated debit will work as well as per the terms. I’ll repost this offer and add it to the best checking promotions page once the offer goes live on October 7th.
Hat tip to reader YS
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
Provident Bank saved me the trouble of calling/visiting a branch and closed my account this week after about a year of minimal activity and zero statement balance.
Typical for any bank accounts with zero balance. Some banks also don’t waste time to close your accounts at the beginning if you have a zero balance
called to close the account and was told to have go to branch. anyone tried closing over sm .also i guess if sm /call works, i have to make balance 0
What did you end up doing? No one wants to go in branch.
Nothing so far. Will wait till everything is normal. Call times too high so just waiting
$250 bonus posted on 12/27/19
I did not qualify for the bonus; I got it last year. Last year I did one transfer from Fidelity and that qualified; this year I did one transfer from Wells Fargo and it did not. I called the banker and she said there was no recurring DD; nothing in their flyer says anything about recurrence.
I did not do an ACH debit; I guess I should have…
I did ach debit from ally and haven’t seen the bonus yet
Also debit card purchases.
Thinking about it, I did ach deposits from ally and didn’t get it either but on their monthly email for statements it listed an Ach direct deposit so I can’t imagine that not working.
update: I got the bonus on 12/24. I did Ally debit not deposit. Per the terms, it has to be Direct Deposit or ACH debit.
P2 has not got it yet. P2 did ACH debit from Amex Savings.
i got it today via ally transfer, I had to call twice to inquire about it but it worked.
I didn’t get the bonus but I just realized that I did utility bill pays using debit card number not as ACH (i.e. account number and routing number). Should’ve read the terms better.
Bonus did not post for me today despite the opening banker telling me I was eligible. Will call on Monday and resort to CFPB if they refuse to credit previous customers.
$250 bonus posted today.
[Smart Checking October Promo Bonus]
Pending bonus payment for me and p2. It says “smart checking October promo bonus” . I did bill payments (ach debit) and p2 paycheck got deposited few times.
If anyone has an account here, they are sending an offer to open a savings account and they give you $20 within 10 business days. Front of letter mentions you can open with a dollar but the back mentions $50. Also, they will charge you the $20 back if you close before 6 months. “Bring this letter to your branch” to get promotion. Runs until 2/7/20.
William Charles 
Chuck
$20 for a hard pull is a terrible idea.
I’m personally passing this.