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.
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, 2018September 15th, 2018 None listedMarch 16th, 2020January 8, 2022
Contents
The Offer
- Citadel Bank is offering a bonus of up to $300 when you open a new checking. Bonus is broken down as follows:
- Receive $300 when you receive a direct deposit of $500 or more within 60 days of account opening. Use promo code JAN2330013
Receive $100 when you open a Citadel High Yield Savings account (minimum balance of $10,000, also must be maintained for 30 days ) or Citadel credit card (minimum credit limit of $1,000)
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 2/2/20: 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.
DP:
9/12/23 Opened, CC funded $5500
9/19/23 pushed $501 from Chase Biz
10/25/23 pushed $501 from Fidelity
11/11/23 $300 promo
Received $50 giftcard from referral as well in mid October.
I am looking for a Citadel customer that wants to be my uncle or family member. Email me allmydomainz@gmail.com
How strict are they for 1 in the lifetime? anyone tried to churn?
Got flyer in mail for $250 on $500 in spend on a few of their credit cards (I have an existing bank account).
Found the generic offer online here: https://www.citadelbanking.com/borrow/borrow-credit-cards
DP: Tried to fund with my U.S. Bank Business Altitude Connect but it coded as a cash advance
IME, USB cards are a bit different in that cash advance needs to be turned on, and the transaction amount needs to be 25% of your credit limit or lower. I had success funding with this card with two other banks (not this one as I’m OOS). See my comment here for more background. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ca-only-keypoint-credit-union-200-checking-bonus/#comment-1619017
The transactions (I attempted several for varying amounts above my CA limit) were all declined.
Thank you for the info!! I’ll have to test your theory when I get a chance
@ntn
Are you applying OOS!
Expired
It is worth for OSS? Can I say that I am near relative of referrer?
Successful Bonus Data Point
5/24/23: Account opened
6/23/23: $501 real direct deposit
7/24/23: $300 bonus posted (I opened the account before the bonus increased to $325)
Other Thoughts:
I actually really like this credit union! Customer service is great. They have live chat, video call, and they are responsive to phone with representatives who actually help you. Easy bonus, 10/10 would do again.
They sent my ReferLive gift card and already have $50 loaded on it. I am happy to refer any others as long as you are in the footprint or can become eligible. You do need to show proof of eligibility during account opening.
I will say I thought they had good customer service, until I had a problem. A merchant double charged my credit card. I understand the customer is supposed to work with the merchant to get it resolved, but the merchant kept insisting my card was not double charged. I raised a dispute, and the Citadel Dispute Team did absolutely nothing. They kept telling me to get a letter from the merchant. Well, many small merchants don’t have the time or resources to create a letter, especially inept merchants who double charge a customer’s credit card. I kept asking Citadel to please contact the merchant on my behalf, or at least do a chargeback of the double charge to get the merchants attention, but they did nothing. Imagine how frustrating it was for me dealing with that thinking I was going to be on the hook for hundreds of dollars of a bogus charge. Again, Citadel did nothing. It was eventually resolved, but I felt like they treated me like shit.
In the footprint also, can I get a referral please to gwalker2928@gmail.com
in footprint. plz send referral to ost0023@gmail.com
Sent
OST
4//27: applied
5/5: approved after phone call. $500 Chase Ink funding, also did savings account for another $500.
5/22: Wells Fargo $550 push
7/5: $300 promo deposit posted