Best Bank Deals

First Federal is offering a bonus of up to $75 for opening a checking account online. To receive the $75, you must complete the following:

• Complete 2 or more online bill payments
• Make 10 or more debit card purchases
• Keep $500 or more in your account
• Sign up for electronic e-statements
• Make two or more in-branch transactions
• Make a $50 opening deposit

Their “Moolah” checking account is eligible for this offer, and it currently has a yield of 4.26% APY on balances up to $25,000.

Keybank currently has a iPod giveaway promotion where you can get a free iPod Nano or iPod Touch for opening a checking account with them.

To get the iPod nano, you need to complete the following:

• Open a qualifying checking account by 8/15/08
• Make one debit card transaction
• Make 2 direct deposits or automated payments of $100 or more by 10/31/08

To get the iPod Touch, you must open the Key Privilege, Key Privilege Select, or other business checking accounts with KeyBank, and complete the same steps.

You can apply at a KeyBank branch, Key.com or through 1-877-888-3658. However, based on the online application, it appears you have to live in a state where they have branches. This includes the following states: AK, CO, ID, IN, KY, ME, MI, NY, OH, OR, UT, VT, or WA.

Bank of America is currently running a promotion with their checking account:

Quick Steps to $75:

1. Open your new MyAccess Checking account online with offer code CH75TAD
2. Fund your new account with $25 within 30 days
3. Receive your $75 within 90 days of account opening

You will receive your $75 credit to your new account within 90 days of opening your new personal checking account online. Limit one $75 incentive per household every 6 months. This is a special offer to existing Bank of America credit card customers and only valid only for new MyAccess Checking accounts. This offer does not apply to current checking customers or student checking accounts. You must use the Offer Code CH75TAD and fund your account with the $25 minimum opening deposit requirement within 30 days in order to qualify for this offer. This offer expires on 11/30/2008.

Citibank currently has a promotion with a $150 bonus in gift cards if you open a checking account and complete the qualifying activities.

To qualify for the 16,000 bonus ThankYou Points offer, you must open a new qualifying regular checking account in the Citibank Account, Citibank Everything Counts or Citigold account relationship package by 8/31/08 and deposit at least $1,000 in account between account opening date and 9/30/08.

You must (1) enroll your new checking account in ThankYou® Network and (2) complete one direct deposit per month, two electronic bill payments or five signature debit card transactions and continue for three consecutive months. Electronic bill payments are those made using Citibank® Online, Citi MobileSM or CitiPhone Banking, excluding bill payments made to Citibank credit cards and transfer payments made to accounts with Citibank or its affiliates. 16,000 bonus points will be rewarded within 120 days of your satisfying all offer terms; points can be redeemed for $150 in gift cards or other rewards currently available through ThankYou Network.

HSBC Direct recently raised the rate on their online savings account to 3.50%, which is higher than both E*Trade (3.15%) and Wamu (3.30%). This new rate applies to both new and returning customers.

The account features no minimums or fees, and only requires a $1 deposit. The rate is guaranteed through 8/15/2008. ATM cards are available, and unlimited links to external accounts can be set up.

In addition, HSBC is also offering a $25 bonus for completing the following steps:

• Apply for an HSBC Interest Checking Account online
• Open and fund your Interest Checking Account with $2,000 in new money
• Get $25 credited to your account*

This offer ends on June 15, 2008.

You can exchange 17K AA miles you get from UFB Direct for a $100 BestBuy gift card or a gift card for many other stores via Points.com. Of course you can keep the frequent flier miles and apply them towards a ticket as well.

Get the following miles rewards from Union Federal Bank:

• 1,000 – Open Your Mileage Checking Account with at least $200
• 5,000 – Bill Pay Annual Bonus. You are eligible for miles on 12 month anniversary of participating in bill pay service
• 5,000 – Direct deposit on mileage checking account. You are eligible for miles after 3 consecutive months of direct deposit activity.
• 1,000 – Open Your Mileage Savings Account with at least $200
• 5,000 – Direct Deposit on Mileage Savings Account. You are eligible for miles after 3 consecutive months of direct deposit activity.

I found this post over at budgetcents.net:

I stopped off at Citibank this morning to pay my Home Equity Loan and saw a promo card at the counter for $200 free when opening Checking Account. Unfortunately Citibank only allows one bonus per person per lifetime and I have already used mine on a similar promo to this one. This is a good one to get in on if you haven’t had a checking account with them before. $200 is one of their higher bonuses.

 

Here is what you need to do:

 

* Call their new accounts line @ 1-800-374-9500 or go to a local branch (The rep said that you can also go to offer.citibank.com and enter the code, however you will not see a description of the promo)
* Tell them you want to open a new checking account and reference offer code CEMX
* Make a $1000 initial deposit by June 30th. (previously you could use a credit card to do this online, I did and it was treated like a purchase)

 

Bonus Payout Details:

 

* You will receive $100 after 3 months having direct deposit or using online bill pay for 2 bills per month.
* You will receive another $100 after 3 more months of direct deposit or bill pay usage.

 

This promo expires 6/30/08 so be sure to jump in on this one. Not a bad deal for only 6 months of using bill pay!

State-Investors Bank in Louisiana is giving-out bonuses of up to $100. A one-time $25 reward will be given for each repeating direct deposit and/or repeating automatic draft established within the first four months of opening a new checking account. Customers can earn a maximum bonus of $100.

To qualify for the reward, customers must open a new checking account and set up a direct deposit and/or automatic draft. After five months from account opening, the account will be reviewed and $25 will be credited to the account for each repeating direct deposit and/or automatic draft up to a maximum of $100.

State-Investors Bank offers Totally Free Checking and a N.O.W. Checking Account. Both accounts require a minimum deposit of $50 to open.

Bank of America’s Keep the Change Promotion has been around since 2005, but is worth taking another look at especially after Bank of America has announced that over 8 million customers are enrolled in the program. The promotion allows customer enrolled to have every purchase made with a Bank of America Check Card to be rounded up with the difference transferred to a Bank of America savings account.

While a forced program of savings is always a good idea, the best part of the promotion is that Bank of America will match 100% of the contributions to the savings account for the first three months and continue matching 5% a year thereafter up to a maximum total match of $250 per year. Let’s take a look at how a typical consumers with a check card might benefit:

Bank of America Keep the Change Math

Average Check Card Transactions per Month = 20

Average Automatic Rounded-Off Savings Amount = $0.50

Total Amount Transferred to Savings in a Year = $120.00

Bank of America’s Match for the First Three Months = $30

Bank of America’s Match for the Last Nine Months = $4.50

Total Bank of America Match = $34.50

Effective Savings Rate = 28.8%

The effective savings rate does not take into account the token rate of interest paid on the savings account. In addition, because Bank of America will match up to $250 the effective savings rate could be much higher than the example where only $120 was transferred to the savings account over the course of the year. Another footnote to the Bank of America deal is that the bank will allow up to five checking account per household to participate, which would mean that the total match could be up to $1,250 for a household with multiple check cards used actively.

Members who open a new checking account at Patelco Credit Union with a $100 minimum monthly direct deposit can earn a $50 bonus. The bonus will be deposited into the checking account after three months of direct deposit activity.

Patelco Credit Union’s Free Checking and Interest Checking have a minimum deposit of $10 to open. The Premier Interest Checking has a minimum deposit requirement of $5,000.

Anyone who joins the California Association for Older Americans, regardless of age or geographic location, can join Patelco Credit Union.

Branches are located in: Novato, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Windsor, Daly City, Redwood City, San Mateo, Milpitas, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Fairfield, Folsom, Roseville, Sacramento, Concord, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, Pinole, Pleasanton, San Leandro, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, Atwater, Bakersfield, Eureka, and Deerfield.