[PA] Citadel Bank – $400 Checking Bonus

Update 2/9/25: Deal is now $400.

Update 1/12/25: Deal is back until January 31, 2025

Update 9/9/24: Bonus now $350, but requires $2,000 in direct deposits.

4/20/24: Deal is back until December 31, 2024

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $400
• Availability: Must live, work, worship, or study in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia Counties, or the city of Lancaster, PA or if  a member of your family or household is already a customer, no matter where you live.
• Direct deposit required: $500+
• Additional requirements: See below
• Hard/soft pull: Soft
• ChexSystems: Unknown, sensitive
• Credit card funding: Up to $500
• Monthly fees: None
• Early account termination fee:
• Household limit: One per lifetime
• Expiration date: July 21st, 2018 September 15th, 2018 None listed March 16th, 2020 January 8, 2022

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Citadel Bank is offering a bonus of up to $400 when you open a new checking. Bonus is broken down as follows:
  • Earn a $200 cash bonus deposit for qualifying direct deposit(s) totaling $2,000 or more posting to the new checking account within 90 days of account opening. A qualifying direct deposit is defined as a recurring electronic deposit into checking account of payroll, pension, Social Security, government benefits, or other eligible regular monthly income made through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network.

     

  • After meeting the direct deposit requirement, earn an additional $200 cash bonus by maintaining a daily balance of $5,000 or more in your new checking account during days 61 – 90 after account opening

 

The Fine Print

• All standard account requirements apply.
• The Cash Bonus offer may not be combined with any other offer. Offer available to new checking customers only.
• Customer must not have closed a Citadel checking account within the last 12 months and/or received a checking sign-up bonus or award previously.
• Limit one offer per household per lifetime.
• To qualify for $300 Cash Bonus, a direct deposit of $500 or more must post to new checking account within 60 days of account opening. Direct deposit transactions are limited to payroll, social security, and government benefits.
• For the additional $100 Cash Bonus, checking Cash Bonus offer requirements must be met, and customer must open any Citadel credit card with a limit of at least $1,000 and/or open a Citadel High Yield Savings account.
• Minimum balance required to open Citadel High Yield Savings – $10,000.
• Minimum balance must be maintained in the High Yield Savings account for at least 30 days after account opening in order to receive the additional $100 bonus.
• Limit one additional $100 Cash Bonus per account.
• To receive Cash Bonus(es), customer must contact Citadel by calling (877) 780-1615 or visiting a branch after completing requirements for each bonus.
• Checking account must be open for 60 days before Cash Bonus is awarded.
• Cash Bonus will be awarded after sixty days, once Citadel confirms the requirements have been met.
• Account must be in good standing at time of incentive processing in order to receive Cash Bonus.
• Cash Bonus must be requested within 60 days of meeting the promotion requirements.
• Cash bonus may be reported on a 1099-INT.
• Offer expires July 21, 2018.
• This limited time offer may be withdrawn or changed at any time.

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

They offer a free checking account with no monthly fees to worry about.

Early Account Termination Fee

Citadel bank does not charge any early account termination fees from what we could find.

Our Verdict

Opening a credit card will almost certainly result in a hard pull, so that isn’t worth doing. The high yield savings account earns 1.5% APY, so it isn’t worth keeping long term but it might make sense to open and keep funds in there for 30 days to trigger the $100 bonus. Previously they had a $250 checking bonus with no direct deposit requirement. Personally I’d take $50 less to not have to deal with the direct deposit requirement, but no gaurantees that bonus comes back and some people might prefer the extra $50. I do think this is worth doing if you live in an eligible area, so I’ll be adding this to our list of the best checking bonuses.

Big thanks to reader, Z Nut who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.

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

Post history:

• Update 2/3/24: Deal is back but $300 this time. Valid until JAN243008. Valid until March 12, 2024
• Update 6/28/23: New link for $325.
• Update 3/15/23: Extended until December 31, 2023
• Update 1/12/23: Extended until March 14, 2023. 
• Update 4/17/22: Deal is back and valid until December 31, 2022. Hat tip to alopez14
• Update 1/13/22: Deal is back and valid until March 31, 2022. Hat tip to reader Jim
• Update 11/14/21: Deal is back and valid until 1/8/22.
• Update 2/2/20: Deal is back, but this time the $100 savings bonus not available.
• Update 09/16/18: As far as I can see, there is no end date listed anymore.
• Update 08/26/18: Deal is back and valid until September 15th, 2018. Hat tip to reader Tyler.