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Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200 checking bonus, $240 cash back bonus
- 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
- Credit card funding: Up to $500
- Monthly fees: None/$10 and avoidable
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: One per lifetime
- Expiration date: December 31st, 2019
Contents
The Offer
- Citadel Bank is offering a bonus of $200 when you open a new checking account and receive qualifying direct deposits totaling $500 or more posting to the new checking account within 60 days of account opening
- In addition if you open the cashback rewards checking account you can earn up to $120 cash back (1% cash back on debit or credit card purchases. $10 maximum per month), they will match the 100% of the cash back earned in the first year. To earn 1% cash back you need to do either of the following:
- Average daily balance of $5,000
- Qualifying direct deposits of $1,000+
- You can also get an additional $100 by opening a credit card.
The Fine Print
- Open a new Checking account and earn a $200 bonus deposit for qualifying direct deposit(s) totaling $500 or more posting to the new Checking account within 60 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.
- New Checking Account Bonus available to qualified new checking customers only and may not be combined with any other offer. Customer must not have closed a Citadel checking account within the last 12 months and/or received a checking sign-up bonus previously. Limit one new account offer per household per lifetime. Bonus offer expires December 31, 2019. This limited time offer may be withdrawn or modified at any time.
- Earn up to an Additional $240 with Citadel’s Cashback Rewards Checking: To earn Cashback Rewards and avoid $10 monthly service fee, one of the following criteria must be met: Receive monthly qualifying direct deposit(s) totaling $1,000 or more OR maintain average daily balance of $5,000 in your Cashback Rewards Checking Account. Account must be active and in good standing in order to receive Cashback Rewards Checking offers. Not available for business accounts or public funds.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Free checking account has no monthly fee to worry about. Cashback rewards checking account has a $10 fee that is waived if you received $1,000 in qualifying direct deposits.
Early Account Termination Fee
Citadel bank does not charge any early account termination fees from what we could find.
Our Verdict
Previously it was a $110 bonus with the $240 cash back max, this is basically an extra $90 and you can just do the checking bonus with a free checking account if you’d like. Last year they had a $300 bonus which was much easier, given that this is once per lifetime I’d wait for a bigger bonus to come along and for that reason I won’t be adding this to our best checking bonus page.
Hat tip to reader IS250
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- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
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- 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
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- Bank Bonus Posting Times
This bank is a PIA to deal with and never gave me the last bonus, but maybe that works in my favor this time since I will qualify for the bonus (since I never received it).