Update 2/25/23: The rate is now 4.625% on up to $25K and 3.625% on higher balances.
Update 12/14/22: Now 4%
Update 11/1/22: Up to 3.75% now on balances up to $25,000 and 3% above that
Update 9/10/22: This page now shows 3% APY on balances up to $25,000 and 2.5% on balances over $25,000.
Update 6/30/22: Over $25k earns 1% now
Update 1/2/22: $50 bonus no longer available as checkless checking is no longer a valid account and new account name is ‘Advantage Checking’.
Update 11/6/21: $50 bonus is back. Hat tip to Dan
Update 9/16/20: $50 bonus is no longer available. New account is now called Advantage Checking account.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $50 (plus, 2.25% APY on up to $25,000; 1% beyond that)
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500 minimum
- Additional requirements: 7 electronic withdrawals per month
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: None
- Chexsystems: Yes
- Monthly fees: None (with $500 minimum)
- Early account termination fee: None mentioned
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: None mentioned
- Insured: FDIC
The Offer
- Presidential Bank Checkless Checking offers a $50 bonus and 2.25% APY on balances up to $25,000 when the following requirements are met:
- An electronic monthly deposit of $500.00 or more from payroll, pension, social security, or annuity is required.
- Seven (7) electronic withdrawals per month are required (electronic withdrawals include: atm, pos, ach and billpayments).
- Requirements must be met the first 90 days in order to get the $50 bonus.
Amounts greater than $25,000 earn 1.25% .65% .40. Accounts that do not meet the deposit or withdrawal requirements will earn a lower rate as disclosed on the rate schedule. Deposit and withdrawal requirements are waived for the first month the account is in this product. The posting date will be used to determine transaction qualification.
The Fine Print
- New checking account customers only.
- May not have had an active Presidential Bank checking account within the last 12 months to be eligible for the bonus.
- Must meet account requirements for the 90 days immediately after the account opening to receive the $50 bonus.
- Bonus will be deposited directly into the new Checkless Checking account between 90-120 days after account opening.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
No monthly fee if you maintain $500 minimum balance. If your balance falls below the minimum, there is a $5 monthly service charge.
Our Verdict
When initiating the signup process, the system seems to allow applications from any state; let us know if you find out otherwise. There is language there about a credit check, and we don’t yet know if this is a hard pull or soft.
We don’t usually post $50 deals, but in this case there’s also the 2.25% APY on up to $25,000 angle which can make the account somewhat worthwhile on an ongoing basis. If you figure that a regular high-yield account currently offers 1.25%, then you’ll end up with an extra 1%, or $250 per year. There are requirements to get this, though, so it’s not ‘easy money’. Some might find it worthwhile, especially with the initial $50 sweetener. I don’t think most people will find it worthwhile to open this just for the $50 bonus.
If this turns out to work nationwide and people find it worthwhile, we’ll add it to the best checking & savings bonus page.
Hat tip to reader Gadget
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
Presidential pulls EWS.
Presidential Bank Checkless Checking no longer offered. Renamed? Advantage Checking. 4.62% APY up to $25k.
Correct. It’s been gone for years. And, no $50 bonus.
CFG up to 5.07%
I was really considering this, but it sounds like a real PITA and potential clusterf*** with the mail-in cards, ID, etc. I just had major issues with Truist and had I not been able to get into a physical branch, I would likely have been in court to get access to my funds. That experience has left me a bit gun shy with banks that seem trapped in 1995.
This is what CS wrote me in message:
The direct deposit has to be from one of the Unique Direct Deposits from either Payroll, Pension, SS or an Annuity.
Anyone else was shorted on interest in April?
What other banks can you use for DD that works for this bank? I had plenty of withdrawals so that is not the issue
I use service cu for dd and got my interest also.
This is first month I didn’t get interest on my account stating I had no required DD even I had transfers from other banks but no real payroll DD. Anyone else has this issue starting in April?
I only had fake DD’s… but a couple. Schwab brokerage & WF checking were over $500 and my interest was paid out.
Are you sure you did your required seven (7) electronic withdrawals per month: ATM, POS, ACH, and Bill Payments?
Because they haven’t moved closer to 5%, most of my money is elsewhere, but I still like to use this account for bills.
Looks like this now called Advantage Checking instead of Checkless Checking. No $50 bonus anymore. Link to offer at the top is dead.
For some reason, this page just doesn’t get any love. These issues have been pointed out before. You have to read the comment history at the top.
I was eventually able to open a joint Advantage Checking account at 18ish/24 but it was a little cumbersome:
March 11 – Submitted online application. At the end of the application it had me print a signature card to physically sign and mail to them.
March 12 – Mailed signature card
March 15 – Got a call from the bank asking me to submit copies of P1 and P2’s drivers licenses and Social Security cards. Maybe this is because P2 is a permanent resident instead of a US citizen? The phone rep told me to email them asking for an encrypted email to submit my documents to. Did that, got the encrypted email a couple hours later, and submitted documents that evening.
March 22 – I emailed them asking for a status update, never got a reply
March 23 – Received a welcome kit in the mail including my account number. I used this to create an online account on the website but instead of just creating the account this had to be manually reviewed??
March 27 – Finally got access to online account.
Any recent DP’s on whether you still need to mail in a physical form to open an account?
To answer my own question, I just went through the app process and I do need to print and mail the signature card with a wet signature.
And, you do not get access to your funds until they get their signature card, correct? The account is on hold.
Off the top of my head I remember that you won’t earn interest until the signature card is received, but I believe the account itself is on hold until it’s received also.
Just to follow up on this with my experience: Mailed in physical signature card, they had to mail me back a physical welcome package with my account number and whatnot to set up online banking, and then you had to “apply” for online banking and have them review it before it was activated. All in all about 2 weeks functionally access my funds from the time I was approved for my account. (I live on the west coast so mail time there and back slowed this process I’m sure.)
Another DP, applied 03/13/23 and had to mail the signature card. Also got a call today (03/15) asking for a scan of my Social Security card and driver’s license via secure email.