Could you use a new checking account at one of the big banks? Reader Susie provides some incentives for two accounts with no minimum balance or direct deposit requirements:
$100 Bonus from Bank of America for opening a MyAccess Checking account. The fine print suggests that you need a BofA credit card to qualify.
You will receive your $100 credit to your new account within 50 days of opening your new personal checking account online. […] This is a special offer to Bank of America credit card customers and only valid only for new MyAccess Checking? accounts. You must use the Offer Code CH100CTA and fund your account with the $25 minimum opening deposit requirement within 30 days in order to qualify for this offer.
$50 Bonus from Wachovia Bank for opening up a Free Checking account.
To be eligible for the offer, you must open a new Free Checking account online in good faith between 6/30/2007 and 10/31/2007 by clicking the ?Get Offer? button on this promotional landing page. By doing so, you are eligible to receive a $25 bonus for depositing at least $100 in new funds into the account as well as an additional $25 bonus for posting $100 in direct deposits into the same account, within 90 days of the account opening date.
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On Bank of America offer, The fine print also says that you must be in a state that has no Bank of America Banking Centers in order to avoid monthly fees (this is in the special addendum). I have not confirmed this. Caveat Emptor
B of A is notorious for high fees for it’s personal accounts. Could this $100 incentive be wiped out by 6 months of fees?
I have already received my $100 from Bank of America for opening up the MyAccess Checking account. I deposited $30 and got $100 credited to my account just recently. I live in MN and already had a BoA Account (old MBNA).
Monthly maintenance fee is $5.95, unless (as Steve stated), you fall under the addendum:
Addendum to: Personal Schedule of Fees
Effective July 7, 2006
This Addendum amends the Personal Schedule of Fees. It applies to MyAccess? Checking accounts opened online by customers who reside in states with no Bank of America banking centers.*
MyAccess? Checking
Monthly maintenance fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fee waived
Banking at ATMs
Non-Bank of America ATM fees
Withdrawals, transfers and balance inquiries at a non-Bank of America ATM located in the U.S., each. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fee waived**
*As of the effective date of this addendum, Bank of America has no banking centers in AK, AL, CO, HI, IN, KY, LA, MI, MN, MS, MT, NE, NE, OH, SD, UT, VT, WI, WV and WY.
** When you use a non-Bank of America ATM, you may be charged a fee by the ATM operator or any network used and you may be charged a fee for a balance inquiry even if you do not complete a funds transfer. Non-Bank of America ATM fees still apply to ATMs located in a foreign country.
Regarding the fees that Steve mentions…I had called BoA about their fees when I opened the account. Basically, the bonus lands after 50 days and there is a 90 day grace period on fees. So close the account between the 50 and 90 day period. You need to tie up only $25 to get the $100 bonus…that’s pretty good.
This in 50 days, citibank $100 bonus in
My husband opened the BoA checking acct. after applying for a credit card. When he got the checking acct. info, he noticed the fee. So he called to close the acct. immediately, and the CSR said they would wave the fee for a year. It hasn’t been 50 days yet, so no bonus, but his first statement was fee-free.
I am applying online right now, and the website says “Special Online Only Offer – free with no direct deposit requirement. No minimum balance required.” Those of y’all who saw notices about fees, had you also seen this same description when applying?
Do either of these banks do Hard Credit Pulls?
Good question, I believe BofA does when you apply online, but not when you apply in person.
I’ve never had an account with Wachovia, so I don’t know.
wachovia is great. I love my account there, BofA skrewed me overy BIG TIME (well $820 time) and so I put all my money in wachovia. I got my ($25?) sign up bonus pretty fast, and if I had any friends who lived near wachovia I would def. recomend it, not only so i could get $25 but because they have charged me NO FEES and their phone support is great.
According to Fat Wallet, Wachovia does do a hard pull when opening a checking account.
I always research before doing any “free” offers, to see the actual effect.
I’m now 20 years old with a credit score of 780-790… guess I’m doing something right.
Just signed up for the BoA checking account for the $100 deal. Was waiting for them to offer one 🙂
And as an added bonus, they let you fund your account by credit card (and the customer service rep I talked to insists that it will show up as a purchase, not a cash advance, I sure hope she told the truth), which means I get cashback and free interest for 5 months (since I have a Chase card with 0% on purchases for the first 6 months). They limit the opening deposit to $1,000, though. Still, $100 + Interest for 5 months on $1,000 + 1% of $1,000 for the opening charge is a pretty good free deal 🙂
According to an Online Chat with a BoA CSR this offer expired 7/19/2007. Andrew, explain that one to me.
I applied after 7/19/07. I did not see any deadline on the promo page and my application went though fine using the promo code. My only concern is that I called CS to verify that they had received the promo code with my application or if the promo code was attached to my account and they said it wasn’t possible to verify the code with my account. They told me that the $100 “should” be automatically deposited to my account. So I will just wait the 50 days and either have an extra $100 or I will be closing both this checking account and my BofA credit card.
So, has anyone confirmed that this offer @ BoA has officially expired? I’d prefer to not waste my time and a hard pull for nothing, ya know.
Here is another $100 offer… but requires a $100 deposit and I don’t see anything about needing to be a current card holder.
link
I think BofA should be sued in a classaction over some of their behavior. I had a big fight today with BofA over this offer. I applied on line and wanted to open the account by trasfering $25 from WAMU. BofA wanted me to either give them my password to my WAMU accoutn, saying that once they confirmed my account they would immediately delete their knowledge of my password, OR I could have them make some trial deposits into my WAMU account for small amounts (and not provide password). This 2nd process they said would take a few days. I went with the second because I think to give my password, for them to even request that access, should be illegal.
So, a few days later I see the two deposits from BofA into my WAMU and I complete the application online giving them the deposit amounts. They say after this that my new account will be set up in a few days and the $25 will be withdrawn.
Well, over a week goes by. Nothing. No withdrawl, no account. So I call…
Do I get the runaround! I speak to many people, some who can’t find any record of my account, some who can and so on. Up the line of supervisors I go. And all the time I keep getting put on hold and hearing a recording that tells me this is BofA–the bank of “higher standards” and I’m getting angrier every time I hear this.
I talk to people and get told things like, my credit check didn’t verify but I can walk into a bank with two forms of i.d. and open an account, no problem. (I also have two credit cards with BofA and they’ve loaned me large amounts of money and I am in good standing with them. I don’t have any credit problems). But I can’t get the $100 if I go into the bank.
So then I get this guy –third supervisors up, and calmly, this time, I explain the situation. He then tells me that the offer expired on the 19th. And I ask him about how they could be processing me on the 30th if the offer was expired etc. And he says it was a mistake. And so I ask him about BofA being the bank of “higher standards” as the recording says.
He says to me, completely seriously, “Oh we don’t have higher standards anymore.”
And I crack up. I can’t stop laughing and I try to explain what he’s just said, but he’s not getting it. He says that’s a mistake, that message shouldn’t be playing on the recording anymore.
Well, I have to agree. It shouldn’t and their standards stink. And I feel really conned by their offer. Who wants to go for a class action law suit here?
p.s.
BofA told me it was a soft pull because I had accounts with them already, but I don’t know that I can believe anything they say!
Nice! Got my $100 bonus tonight on the 50th day. No fees as of yet. I did contact them via their online mail to ask to make sure that I get the $100 bonus.
Deposited $25 on 7/31/2007 and received my $100 bonus 8/17/2007. No phone calls, just entered the code online and everything went through smoothly. After reading some posts, I guess I should thank my lucky stars. Now to walk into a branch and close the account… There’s not a 6 month requirement attached to this is there? I know the Chase bonus requires that the account stay open for 6 months, but I didn’t see anything for BofA.
This also went smoothly for me as I got my $100 bonus within the first statement. I am also wondering if there is an account closing fee or not… anyone know?