Bank Bonus Offers

[njhowie]

I wonder if it is simple to remotely close the account after the bonus is received?

We will be near a 5/3 bank next week on a trip to our old home town, but don't want to have to return to close it.

It's generally the case that the bank will have a form you can fill out with some required information that can be sent by US Mail. With Citibank and HSBC I was able to simply have an online chat with a customer service representative and they took care of it. With BB&T I mailed the form.

 

[Bruno]

Has anyone noticed the opening and closing of these account have any effect on your credit score?

 

[Dtail]

Has anyone noticed the opening and closing of these account have any effect on your credit score?

In Depositaccounts website, it is spelled out whether it is a hard/soft/no pull on the credit score for each deal.
Most of them IIRC are soft pulls which have no effect.

 

[Bruno]

In Depositaccounts website, it is spelled out whether it is a hard/soft/no pull on the credit score for each deal.
Most of them IIRC are soft pulls which have no effect.

Thanks...Bruno

 

[Sojourner]

A decent bonus with CIT bank, particularly for those with an account there:
https://www.cit.com/cit-bank/savings-builder-account-bonus-direct/

$150 for $25k new money; maintain account 90 days. $300 bonus for $50k. That's on top of the 1.85% they are paying in interest.

After perusing the various bank bonus offers on Doctor of Credit, I think this one has the best ratio of payout to effort. Since I'd be moving money from Ally at 1.7% to CIT at 1.85%, it's a win-win with the additional $300 bonus.

I had been thinking of doing the Citi $400 checking account bonus, but decided against it after reading dozens upon dozens of scathing reviews on Doctor of Credit. Many people having to file CFPB complaints in order to get their bonus money.

 

[njhowie]

After perusing the various bank bonus offers on Doctor of Credit, I think this one has the best ratio of payout to effort. Since I'd be moving money from Ally at 1.7% to CIT at 1.85%, it's a win-win with the additional $300 bonus.

I had been thinking of doing the Citi $400 checking account bonus, but decided against it after reading dozens upon dozens of scathing reviews on Doctor of Credit. Many people having to file CFPB complaints in order to get their bonus money.

The yield on the savings is almost irrelevant in my view when calculating your APY with most of these offers.

We did the Citi checking account bonus last year. I saw the negative reviews and even a news story regarding it, but did not experience any issues myself with it. We followed the terms, had no fees, received the bonus exactly when they said we would. As mentioned above, after ACHing the balance and reward out, was able to simply have online chat with customer service to close the account.

If you shy away from a bonus because it's received many bad reviews, that's completely understandable. However, if the deal is over a period of 3 months or less and you're receiving an effective APY well above 10%, the 2% or less in interest foregone is almost meaningless in my view.

When I look at these, my thought process is entirely about the APY OF THE BONUS, if there is interest on top of it, that's icing on the cake. I want to know how much return I'm going to get and how quickly. Compound interest - how quickly can I churn these offers to grow the money?

Discover has the best payout to effort ratio.

 

[Bruno]

I called Citi banking to see where i could add my Beneficiary and was told it has to be done at a branch or they would snail mail me the paperwork to send back to them... This is disappointing for me but told them to mail me the paper work. I guess Citi Bank has not moved into the 20 century yet. They have a branch 40 miles away and might be my fastest option.

 

[Sunset]

I called Citi banking to see where i could add my Beneficiary and was told it has to be done at a branch or they would snail mail me the paperwork to send back to them... This is disappointing for me but told them to mail me the paper work. I guess Citi Bank has not moved into the 20 century yet. They have a branch 40 miles away and might be my fastest option.

Awwwwkkk ... Thanks I never thought of this.

Being the optimist perhaps or simply dull, I didn't set a beneficiary on my accounts I opened with Fifth Third Bank.
If I suddenly pop off , it will add a tiny but very annoying part to my executor actions..

I'll have to see if I can do it online

 

[Perryinva]

What about the Chase Sapphire checking/savings combo: $1000 for $75k in for 3 months. Any issues? Also, can’t you only do these offers once a year per institution after closing the accounts?

 

[njhowie]

What about the Chase Sapphire checking/savings combo: $1000 for $75k in for 3 months. Any issues? Also, can’t you only do these offers once a year per institution after closing the accounts?

We've had good success with the Chase savings account offers. They pay exactly when they say they will. No issues, no fees. Read the fine print closely to determine if the account needs to remain open for any particular period of time. With the savings accounts, we needed to leave them open for 6 months, otherwise they would take back the bonus which was paid at 3 months. However, we were able to drop the balance to $300 after the bonus was paid, which was minimum to avoid monthly fees.

Depending on the institution you may or may not be able to do it again in the future. With the Chase savings it was once every two years and when we did it last year, it was the second time for one of the accounts. The Discover Savings Account, for example, will only allow you to do it once and never again. Read the terms carefully to be sure if it's your second time around. If in doubt, contact customer service and ask - a chat session is good for this so you can save it in case they tell you something different down the road.

 

[Perryinva]

We did two Discovers last year, and an AMEX the year before. Probably Chase by year end.

 

[Bruno]

When you pull or transfer your money out is it best to close the account? Some of the offers say "open a new account". I guess they will send you a 1099 for the interest and bonus earned.

 

[njhowie]

When you pull or transfer your money out is it best to close the account? Some of the offers say "open a new account". I guess they will send you a 1099 for the interest and bonus earned.

Yes, they will send 1099 at the beginning of the new year for taxes.

If you only opened the account for the bonus and don't plan on banking with them again in the future, I would close the account. Minimally, remove the links to your primary bank as a precaution. As you point out, closing it could also help in the future if you go to do a new bonus and open a new account at that time.

 

[Amethyst]

Paying 24% tax on the "bonus," on top of all the hoop-jumping, definitely puts me off. I prefer credit card points.

 

[njhowie]

Paying 24% tax on the "bonus," on top of all the hoop-jumping, definitely puts me off. I prefer credit card points.

I prefer paying the tax on a bonus which can amount to an APY of 10x, 20x, or more than the 2% APY you'll get on the savings account or CD you're also going to pay the tax on.

I like cash back credit card points as well. However, money in the bank and credit cards are two different animals.

I don't know what "all the hoop-jumping" is you refer to.

https://www.discover.com/online-banking/savings-lng-04/?TPR=069 - please point out any hoops you have to jump through.

 

[Sunset]

Paying 24% tax on the "bonus," on top of all the hoop-jumping, definitely puts me off. I prefer credit card points.

Sure I like CC points too.

But the BIG difference is: to get the CC points I have to spend $3K or $5K.
So now I'm down some Cash.

But to get the bank bonus, cost $0.

So I do both

 

[LRDave]

DW and I opened Fifth-Third checking accounts on consecutive days at different branches. It took DW about 20 mins. and it took me about 35 mins. They have to go through their welcome brochure and try to sell you stuff (savings accounts, CDs, FA services, etc.) I sure wouldn't recommend it if it was for, say, $50 instead of $250.

The 5/3 reps were nice in both cases and they were just doing their job. We could sense that they are opening a lot of these for people with the same motivation we have (and they are getting a little weary of delivering the spiel...).

I can't figure out how to designate a beneficiary on-line.

 

[Dtail]

DW and I opened Fifth-Third checking accounts on consecutive days at different branches. It took DW about 20 mins. and it took me about 35 mins. They have to go through their welcome brochure and try to sell you stuff (savings accounts, CDs, FA services, etc.) I sure wouldn't recommend it if it was for, say, $50 instead of $250.

The 5/3 reps were nice in both cases and they were just doing their job. We could sense that they are opening a lot of these for people with the same motivation we have (and they are getting a little weary of delivering the spiel...).

I can't figure out how to designate a beneficiary on-line.

My rep didn't try to sell me anything, but he was a little green I could see.
I stated that I might meet with the Investment rep, but looking online it appears that they are not competitive with rates.

 

[Sue J]

DW and I opened Fifth-Third checking accounts on consecutive days at different branches. It took DW about 20 mins. and it took me about 35 mins. They have to go through their welcome brochure and try to sell you stuff (savings accounts, CDs, FA services, etc.) I sure wouldn't recommend it if it was for, say, $50 instead of $250.

The 5/3 reps were nice in both cases and they were just doing their job. We could sense that they are opening a lot of these for people with the same motivation we have (and they are getting a little weary of delivering the spiel...).

I can't figure out how to designate a beneficiary on-line.

I did mine last Wed and DH went in last Thursday and did one for himself. My representative insisted that a connected savings account had to be included. When DH did his nothing was said about a savings account! Both of us transferred the additional $1000 to avoid the stupid $11/mo fee and we've both received our debit cards. DH was also offered free checks because he's retired from public employment.

Now we will just sit it out for the rest of the 60 days and when the bonus posts we will close the accounts.

 

[njhowie]

Great job with Fifth Third, folks!

 

[Dtail]

I did mine last Wed and DH went in last Thursday and did one for himself. My representative insisted that a connected savings account had to be included. When DH did his nothing was said about a savings account! Both of us transferred the additional $1000 to avoid the stupid $11/mo fee and we've both received our debit cards. DH was also offered free checks because he's retired from public employment.

Now we will just sit it out for the rest of the 60 days and when the bonus posts we will close the accounts.

We didn't have to establish any connecting accounts or any savings accounts in order to avoid a monthly fee. I asked the rep multiple times, even though he just opened the typical "enhanced" account.
We did open 4 of them though.

On a side note, I told 4 different friends about the deal, as the bank is in a mall 10 minutes from us.
Not one was interested. Comments from too much work/sounds too good to be true/maybe later,etc.

 

[Golden sunsets]

I found out today, as others may have already, that the Citi savings rate is
.04, not 2.05. I feel their advertising is very misleading. At any rate we've decided not to jump through all the hoops just for the bonus money. There were too many requirements and too much required time (effectively 5 months). C'est la vie.

 

[Bruno]

I found out today, as others may have already, that the Citi savings rate is
.04, not 2.05. I feel their advertising is very misleading.

Can you show me where you found this information? Its my understanding the Checking account is only .04 but the savings account is 2.05. I have to say Citibank has been a little disappointing to me since i took the offer. I hope you are wrong but wouldn't be surprised if you are correct. He is where i saw what my interest rate was.

https://online.citi.com/US/ag/curre...-saving-accounts#checkingSavingsPriorityTable

 

[njhowie]

Can you show me where you found this information? Its my understanding the Checking account is only .04 but the savings account is 2.05. I have to say Citibank has been a little disappointing to me since i took the offer. I hope you are wrong but wouldn't be surprised if you are correct. He is where i saw what my interest rate was.

https://online.citi.com/US/ag/curre...-saving-accounts#checkingSavingsPriorityTable

It appears to be dependent on where you live. When I plug in my zip code, the maximum rate shown for any of the savings accounts is 0.15%.

If you have an account, are you not able to access it online? Does it not show you somewhere in the online account what the rate is? If not, as I remember with my Citi account, you can open a chat session with a representative after logging in and they can quickly/easily provide the information for your account to you.

 

[Bruno]

It appears to be dependent on where you live. When I plug in my zip code, the maximum rate shown for any of the savings accounts is 0.15%.

If you have an account, are you not able to access it online? Does it not show you somewhere in the online account what the rate is? If not, as I remember with my Citi account, you can open a chat session with a representative after logging in and they can quickly/easily provide the information for your account to you.

I do have an online account and NO where does it show the interest rate. I did open another chat session and found out mine is paying .10%. If you get the $700 you dont get the 2.05. Sure mine will be gone after the 60 days. Wonder how long it will take to get the bonus?

Thanks for the heads up about being MISLEAD on the Interest rate.