No current working links, let me know if anybody finds one.
Update 2: Bonus is back!
We’re re-posting this deal because it’s now possible to get a total of $350 by taking advantage of the referral bonus as well.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $350
- Availability: Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Austin, and Dallas only
- Direct deposit required: $500+
- Additional requirements: 10 checkcard purchases
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: Up to $1,000 (and another $1,000 when you open a free savings account)
- Monthly fees: $5-$18, waive-able
- Early account termination fee: $25 if closed within 180 days
- Expiration date: None listed
Contents
The Offer
- Receive a sign up bonus of $300 (and another $50 referral bonus) when you open any LifeGreen checking account using the promo code 300P2 and complete the following requirements:
- Make 10 purchases with a Regions Visa Checkcard
- Make $500 or more in qualifying direct deposits
Finding your account number can be tricky. To do so, following these instructions:
- Log in
- Click customer service
- My profile
- Edit Account Name
The Fine Print
- Qualifying direct deposits are payments from the government or payroll
- Requirements must be completed within 60 days of account opening
- Bonus will be credited within 120 days of completing the requirements
- New customers only
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
There is an early account closure fee of $25 if you close your account within 180 days of account opening. There are four checking accounts that are currently offered, but there are only two that should be really considered. You can compare all four by clicking here.
LifeGreen Checking $8-$10 Monthly Fee
This account can have it’s monthly fee removed if you do any of the following:
- Have an average monthly balance of $1,500 or more
- Receive a single qualifying direct deposit of $500 or more per cycle
- Receive cumulative direct deposits of $1,000 or more per cycle
LifeGreen eAccess Account $8-10 Monthly Fee
This account can have it’s monthly fee waived if you make 10 or more Regions card purchases per cycle
Referral Bonus $50
Note: One reader mentioned that on the refer website that this referral bonus does not stack with the $300 promotion. Can anybody confirm?
There is also a referral bonus you can receive in addition to this $300 bonus (bringing the total to $350). You need to mention the full name and e-mail address of the person who refers you to get this bonus (they’ll also receive a $50 bonus). Thanks to reader Vijay for mentioning this, you should consider using his information so you both get an extra $50:
- Name: VIJAYARAGHAVAN NATARAJAN
- E-mail: [email protected]
Our Verdict
In the past Regions bank have offered a $165 bonus with the same requirements, although it was open to more areas (this offer has since expired). I recommended that bonus because it ticked all of the right boxes (e.g soft pull, easy to meet requirements and you can also fund a little with a credit card) and this one is even better because the bonus is almost double.
Unfortunately I don’t live within the target area, otherwise I would have jumped at this deal. If you plan to complete this deal, here’s what I do:
- Open a lifegreen checking account, using a credit card with it’s cash advance limit set to $0 to fund $1,000
- Open a free savings account, using the same credit card to fund it initially for another $1,000
- Transfer the $1,000 from the savings account to the checking account, this will give me a monthly balance of $2,000 (this is more than $1,500 required to waive the monthly fee)
- Make 10 card purchases (here are some ideas on how to easily and cheaply fulfill this requirement)
- Make an ACH transfer of $500+ from an existing account to trigger the direct deposit requirement (if it’s easy to change your payroll I’d recommend doing this instead – it’s important to note that only your payroll and government benefits officially count when it comes to the fine print. In reality any ACH has worked in the past)
- Wait 120 days for the bonus to post, if it doesn’t post contact customer service
- Wait another 60 days (a total of 180 days from account opening) to close the account and avoid any early account termination fee
In total you’d make $300 and whatever credit card points you earned on the $2,000 in funding. I haven’t added this to our list of the best bank bonuses, because it’s geographically restricted but if you live within the area then it’s definitely one of the best deals out there. You can view a full list of all current checking bonuses by going here.
Direct link to offer | Screenshot of offer
Hat tip to pprogram on FWF
