Santander is sending out a mailing to inform their Extra20 Checking accountholders that the monthly $20 bonus program will end in June.
Extra20 to End
The Extra20 program allowed us to get $20 per month when having $1500 direct deposited monthly and doing two bill pays monthly. They stopped taking new applications back in November 2015, and they are now ending it for the rest of us. We’ll probably all get this mailing soon.
On July 1, all Extra20 Checking accounts will be converted to Simply Right checking, and Extra20 Savings will become Santander Savings. Account numbers will not change.
HT: Reddit
Savings Account Promo
They are offering a promotional 1% APY rate on balances up to $10,000 in the savings account until January 1. Starting in 2017, the rate will revert back to the standard rate (currently, .03% APY).
Update 8/3/16: The 1% APY rate is only if you have less than $10,000 in the account. Don’t put more than $9,950 to leave room for any future interest earnings.
Keeping Accounts Fee Free
After the change, you can simply close down the accounts if you don’t want them. You can close over the phone, there may be other options as well. Best would be to close it out between when you get your bonus in June (for me, it will be around June 22) and July 1 when the accounts switch over.
If you plan on keeping the account, be sure to keep them fee free.
- Simply Right Checking has a $10 monthly fee. Fee is waived if you make at least one financial transaction (deposit, withdrawal, transfer, or payment) during the calendar month.
- Santander Savings has a $1 monthly fee. Fee is waived if you have a personal checking account with the bank or if you have $100 in the savings account.
Basically, if you keep both the checking and savings, the savings will be free and you’ll have to do one transaction per month to keep the checking free.
Related: Santander $150 Checking Bonus – Available Nationwide
