[Expired] First Tennessee $250 Checking Promotion – Nationwide Bonus

Update 4: This promotion is now only for TN & SC only. Read our new post here.

Update 3: Direct link is not working, but according to this comment using the promotional code ‘ONLINE’ will still work. I’d personally confirm this before signing up.

Update 2: They have removed the “Must be a U.S. citizen” requirement.

Update 1: Giving this a quick repost because it’s now been confirmed to be Nationwide and we have some more credit card funding data points.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $250
• Availability: TN, FL, NC, SC, VA Only. This might be nationwide, reader Eric was able to sign up without living in one of the listed states. Let us know your experiences in the comments. Danny reports receiving the bonus outside the service area, service area is not mentioned in the fine print and it allows you to sign up outside it, so they won’t be able to deny the bonus on these grounds. I’d recommend signing up now, before they change the fine print to make it state specific.
• Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum specified
• Additional requirements: Use promotional code “ONLINE”
• Hard/soft pull: Soft
• Credit card funding: Up to $300
• Monthly fees: $5-$9, waive able
• Early account termination fee: Six months, otherwise bonus is clawed back
• Expiration date: March 31st, 2016 

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Receive a sign up bonus of $250 when you open a new checking account with First Tennessee and complete the following requirements
  • Use the promotional code ONLINE
  • Direct deposit (no minimum specified) is required within 60 days of account opening

The Fine Print

• Offer is good from September 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016
• To receive your bonus, you must open the checking account online and ensure the code ONLINE appears in the online application where “Offer/Promo code” is requested
• Opening deposit of at least $300 is required
• At least one direct deposit must post to your account within 60 days of account opening. Opening deposit cannot be transferred from existing First Tennessee accounts
• The $250 bonus will be credited to your account within 6 weeks of meeting all requirements
• Limit one bonus per household. Cannot be combined with other checking offers. This offer is for new checking households only, or for households who have not had an open First Tennessee consumer checking account in the previous 12 months. Update: Danny Deal Guru reports he was able to get two bonuses at the same address. This is not a sure thing though, so user beware. Update 2: Reader Bob says he only got one bonus.
• Account must be kept open and in good standing for at least six months
• Account openings are subject to bank approval and may be declined based on certain factors. Must be a U.S. citizen
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

There are four accounts that can be opened for this bonus: Express Checking, Premier Checking, Classic Checking, Select Checking.

Express Checking $5 Monthly Fee

This is waived as long as you have at least one direct deposit in the month.

Premier Checking Account $9 Monthly Fee

This is waived if you have a minimum of $5,000 in combined monthly balances (checking, savings, bank IRAs or CDs).

Classic Checking $6 Monthly Fee

Cannot be waived

Select Checking $9 Monthly Fee

This is waived if you have at least one direct deposit and 15 customer-initiated debit transactions.

Early Account Termination Fee

Fine print states that the account must be kept open and in good standing for six months, I assume they take the bonus back if you don’t fulfill this requirement.

Our Verdict

This offer is far better than the $150 and $200 offers that we’ve previously written about, you get a higher $250 bonus and you can open online and open any of the four accounts ($200 offer was in branch and also required you to open the Premier checking account, while the $150 bonus is for $100 less for the same requirements).

I’m waiting to see if this bonus is actually opened nationwide, or it was just a glitch that reader Eric was able to sign up for an account. If you live within the service area then this is a great bonus that you should jump on.

Update: It looks like you can apply for this account nationwide. Because of that, the size and ease of the bonus I’ve added it to our best checking bonuses page.

You can view a full list of all the current checking account offers, by going here.

Direct link to offer