Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: Up to $500
- Availability: TN, in branch only [Branch requirements]
- Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum mentioned
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Unknown
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: Unknown
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: None listed
Contents
The Offer
- Bank of Tennessee is offering a bonus of up to $500. To receive a bonus you must meet the following requirements:
- Open a new Pay Back checking account in branch
- Set up a direct deposit into your account
- Make 15 debit card transactions during the promotional period
- Sign up for eStatements
- The bonus you receive depends on the minimum daily balance ( To qualify for the reward payout, the account must maintain the required minimum daily balance from day 31 through day 120 after the account is opened):
- $100 Bonus for $5,000 minimum daily balance
- $200 Bonus for $10,000 minimum daily balance
- $300 Bonus for $25,000 minimum daily balance
- $500 Bonus for $50,000 minimum daily balance
The Fine Print
- Offer valid for new personal Pay Back Checking accounts opened on or after June 26, 2019.
- Funds to open the account must be considered new funds to the bank.
- The promotion period is defined as 120 days after the opening date of the Pay Back Checking account.
- To qualify for the reward payout, the account must maintain the required minimum daily balance from day 31 through day 120 after the account is opened.
- The Pay Back Checking account will automatically convert to an Everything Perfect Checking account 121 days after the account is opened and the promotional period has ended.
- Offer only available on new personal Pay Back Checking accounts opened on or after June 26, 2019 using new funds.
- Existing customers are eligible if they open a new Pay Back Checking account and meet all the criteria, using funds outside of Bank of Tennessee, Carter County Bank and Mountain Community Bank divisions.
- Primary account holder must be 18 years or older.
- Bank of Tennessee employees and their families are eligible if they meet all the criteria.
- Offer available to U.S. residents with a valid I.D. and Taxpayer ID inside the state of Tennessee and neighboring counties of states bordering Tennessee.
- Reward amount will be based on the lowest balance maintained between days 31 and 120 after account opening.
- The reward will be automatically credited to your checking account within 7 days after the promotion period has ended.
- “Interest Adjustment/Bonus” will appear as the description on your monthly statement.
- Bank of Tennessee will report the value of any reward received as part of this promotion to the IRS as required by law. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the recipient.
- Reward Forfeiture: If the Pay Back Checking account is converted, closed, or does not meet all criteria requirements, no reward will be earned.
- The Pay Back Checking account must remain open and in good standing after the promotion period has ended and until the reward is credited to the account.
- a qualifying direct deposit is a recurring or one time ACH deposit i.e. payroll, social security, or other regular monthly income deposited in to your Pay Back Checking account from an outside entity within the promotion period.
- Transfers from one account to another, or deposits made at the branch or ATM do not qualify.
- at least 15 qualifying PIN or Signature based transactions that post to the account within the promotion period to qualify. Pending transactions, ATM withdrawals and branch withdrawals do not apply.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Not sure if this account has any monthly fee or not
Early Account Termination Fee
Doesn’t look like there is an early account termination fee but you do need to wait for the bonus to post before closing the account.
Our Verdict
Really need to know more about opening this account before deciding if it’s a good or bad deal to open the account. Return gets worse as the bonus increases which is a shame. For most people it’ll be too much work to be worth seriously considering, especially with better savings account bonuses being available.
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
Locations are more toward east Tennessee although I did see two locations in the Mid region. Outside of Nashville off I-40 east, they are Hendersonville and Mt. Juliet.
The latter is actually where the former First Tennessee Bank operated in that area, so this one building went to other than Horizon Corp. Bank Holdings. In other words, a different banking company than what took over the FTB. Should be clear there.
Always interested in this area because of family close by. But, would agree the funding and the limited bonus amount lowers any enthusiasm.
Should say “Availability: TN, in branch only” in the summary info. (Not TX).
Thanks, let me fix
Assuming a perfect 120 day bonus, the marginal APY would be:
25k->50k bonus: $200 for $25k = 2.4% APY
10k->25k bonus: $100 for $15k = 2% APY
5k->10k bonus: $100 for $5k = 6% APY
5k bonus: $100 for $5k = 6% APY
Only the 5/10k bonuses are worth it, for the others you’re better off with a HY savings.
Thanks for the breakdown ycx ! From what I’m seeing, the bonus for 25K is $300 and bonus for 50K is $500 which makes it (accounting for 120 days)
$500 for 50K = 3% APY
$300 for 25K = 3.6% APY
One could time it so it’s only from day 31 to 120 which boosts the APY a little bit more during that period but yeah I agree with your analysis that the lower bonuses have the better APY
You’re right re: 90 vs 120 days, however I’m calculating the *marginal* gains for each tier of savings. For a more extreme example, you would not deposit $51000, even though it will still give you $500 and an overall 2.9% APY, because the final $1000 has a marginal APY of zero (or whatever basal interest rate is given for that account).
Ah I see, thanks!