This bonus has expired, you can view a list of the best current checking bonuses here.
- Maximum Bonus: $50 + $50 donation to Kids’ Food Basket
- Interest Rate: 5.00% APY
- Minimum Balance: none ($100 initial deposit)
- Maximum Balance: up to $5,000 (beyond that the rate is .10% APY)
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: Yes, see below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: Yes, up to $100
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Yes, bonus forfeit if closed within 120 days
- Insured: FDIC
- Household Limit: One per household
- Valid until: December 31st, 2016
The Offer
- Northpointe are again offering an exclusive promotion limited to Doctor of Credit readers. If you sign up for their UltimateAccount you will receive a bonus of $50, in addition they will also give $50 to Kids’ Food Basket. There are no requirements for this bonus.
- This account also earns an APY of 5% on balances up to $5,000 (balances over this earn 0.1%) when you complete the following requirements:
- Be enrolled in eStatements
- Use your debit card to make 15 or more purchases per month in the amount of $500 or more
- $100 or more in direct deposits or automatic withdrawals per month
- In addition to this you’ll also receive ATM fee reimbursements of up to $10 per month when the above requirements are met
The Fine Print
- New accounts subject to approval.
- Bonus offer applies to accounts opened on or after 03/24/16.
- Offer expires 12/31/16
- $100 minimum deposit required to open account must be received within 30 days of account opening
- Value of bonus will be included as interest on your year-end Annual Statement of Earnings
- Bonus will be deposited within 30 days of initial funding deposit
- An early closure penalty equal t the amount of the new account bonus will be assessed if the account is closed within 120 days
- Limit one bonus per household
- Existing customers or former customers within the past 365 days are not eligible for this offer.
- Offer only eligible on consumer account
- Maximum one promotion redemption per new account
- You’re required to pay taxes on all bank account bonuses
Avoiding Fees
This account has no monthly fees to worry about. You do need to keep the account open for 120 days otherwise you’ll forfeit the bonus (also keep in mind they will close the account if it’s inactive for a period of 30 days or more with a $0 balance).
Our Verdict
Normally I don’t recommend bank account bonuses under $100 but this account also earns 5% APY (one of the best high interest accounts) and Northpointe are actually a bank I like dealing with on a regular basis. For example Bill Clancy VP/Deposit Banking is always extremely active on this site listening to readers and making improvements to the site and bank, they recently overhauled the application process and streamlined it making it much easier to sign up than before based on readers input. He has also answered questions people had for bankers (here and here). I’m sure he will also be in this post answering any questions you have as well.
Because of all that I’m adding it to our best bank account bonus page, although I think it’s only really worth signing up if you plan on using the account long term otherwise you’ll be much better off with one of the bigger bonuses.
Also normally Northpointe will give bloggers a commission for getting sign ups to these accounts, we don’t like doing this (see our reasons why here). So instead they will be donating $50 for charity ($50 for you and $50 for charity) so this is also a good way of doing a bit of good in the world as well! In the past we were able to do a $100 bonus directly for our readers, but I highly doubt that offer will becoming back so if you’re interested this is probably going to be as good as it gets.
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
