Bank Bonus Offers

[njhowie]

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.

Sorry to hear that. Just goes to show that you need to read all the fine print and verify anything which is not explicitly stated.

Be sure to re-read the terms - your bonus will get credited within 90 days after the 60 days are up. However, do not immediately drain the accounts at 60 days, or you will begin to be charged low balance fees. With Citi, when they say the bonus will be credited "within 90 calendar days", it really means that it will be credited "on the 90th calendar day". By the first quote below, I think (i.e. you should contact and verify) you can close the checking account and leave the savings account open to receive the bonus when it is paid. If correct, you should verify if there is any minimum balance requirement on the savings account to avoid monthly fees.

Cash Bonus
The Cash Bonus will be credited within 90 calendar days from the date you complete all required activities. Your new Eligible Checking and/or Savings Account must be open and in good standing at the time the Cash Bonus is paid or no Cash Bonus will be paid. At the time the Cash Bonus is paid, it will be credited to (1) your new Eligible Checking Account if both your Eligible Checking Account and Eligible Savings Account are open, (2) your new Eligible Checking Account if your Eligible Savings Account is closed, or (3) your new Eligible Savings account if your Eligible Checking Account is closed.

A monthly service fee of $30 applies to the checking account in The Citi Priority Package if a combined average monthly balance of $50,000 or more is not maintained.

 

[Bruno]

Sorry to hear that. Just goes to show that you need to read all the fine print and verify anything which is not explicitly stated.

Be sure to re-read the terms - your bonus will get credited within 90 days after the 60 days are up. However, do not immediately drain the accounts at 60 days, or you will begin to be charged low balance fees. With Citi, when they say the bonus will be credited "within 90 calendar days", it really means that it will be credited "on the 90th calendar day". By the first quote below, I think (i.e. you should contact and verify) you can close the checking account and leave the savings account open to receive the bonus when it is paid. If correct, you should verify if there is any minimum balance requirement on the savings account to avoid monthly fees.

I was considering taking the hickey and closing the account this week. But if my math is correct $50k for 5 months some where else would only be about $350. Thanks for the heads up on having to keep it an extra 90 days to get paid. I will start paying a little more attention before i just jump into the next best thing.

 

[Golden sunsets]

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

Hi Bruno; I found out by calling and speaking to a rep. Not once but twice, as I didn't like the first answer I got. As I said, the website is very deceiving. If you search on their website for "The Citi Package", it references a checking account and an "Accelerate Saving Account", which pays 2.05%. That is if you search for this package WITHOUT also searching for the Bonus offerings. If you search within the bonus offerings pages, there is reference to requiring a new customer to open a checking(either no interest or interest checking AND a Citi Savings), (not an Accelerate Savings) and that savings account pays .04%. In other words it pays nothing.

So seeing this as conflicting info, I called and got the same answer -twice. You can also open an Accelerate account, but it won't be aggregated with your combined balances needed to get the bonus, in my case $15,000.

 

[Golden sunsets]

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 could be wrong, but the regionality of it relates to the rate on the Citi Savings Account, which for my state is .04%. The Citi Accelerate Saving Account rate is 2.05%, but can't be counted as part of the package of checking and savings accounts required for the bonus.

 

[MichealKnight]

Discover was smooth and easy

Just completed the $200 Discover Bonus. Was easy to open the account - and the $200 bonus got credited to me within 10 days of doing it. Will be doing a 2nd one now under Wife's name,,,,

 

[njhowie]

Just completed the $200 Discover Bonus. Was easy to open the account - and the $200 bonus got credited to me within 10 days of doing it. Will be doing a 2nd one now under Wife's name,,,,

 

[fh2000]

Chase sent me a promotion email "Enjoy $1,000 with Sapphire℠ Banking". I think they target those with their Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. The requirement is to open this checking account in their branch; deposit $75,000 and keep it 3 months.

So, I went to our local branch. The rep recommended a checking, and a savings account. He said the total of both count as bonus requirement. I see no harm, so I agreed to both. I wrote a check of $75,000 to the savings, and a $150 to checking. He said $1000 bonus will arrive after 3 months but I need to keep both for 6 months without getting clawed back. I did not verify if it is 3 months or 6 months. Since I keep 3 year's cash for retirement funds, so I just treat this as year 2 or year 3 fund, and close both accounts 6 months from now.

 

[njhowie]

He said $1000 bonus will arrive after 3 months but I need to keep both for 6 months without getting clawed back. I did not verify if it is 3 months or 6 months. Since I keep 3 year's cash for retirement funds, so I just treat this as year 2 or year 3 fund, and close both accounts 6 months from now.

This is correct. We've done the Chase Savings bonus offer multiple times and know the account must remain open 6 months from the opening date (3 months after the bonus date) and additionally meet minimum balance requirements or be assessed monthly fees for low balance. On the savings account that meant $300 balance needed to remain until the 6 month clock ran out. I do not know what the minimum balance requirement is for your checking account - I know for ours, to avoid the monthly service fee, that means $1500 minimum or have direct deposit in the month of at least $500.

 

[fh2000]

This is correct. We've done the Chase Savings bonus offer multiple times and know the account must remain open 6 months from the opening date (3 months after the bonus date) and additionally meet minimum balance requirements or be assessed monthly fees for low balance. On the savings account that meant $300 balance needed to remain until the 6 month clock ran out. I do not know what the minimum balance requirement is for your checking account - I know for ours, to avoid the monthly service fee, that means $1500 minimum or have direct deposit in the month of at least $500.

That is what I missed when opening the 2 accounts. I will check with Chase. Maybe transfer some from savings to checking to avoid the monthly fee.

 

[Sojourner]

I'm thinking of doing the Capital One 360 Performance Savings bonus offer. It pays $1,000 if you open a new savings account and put in $150k for 90 days. Since it's a savings account paying 1.7%, this works out to an APY of 4.4% over 90 days. Seems like an easy way to get a really high yield on cash that would otherwise just be sitting in my Vanguard prime MM funds and another online savings account. Any downsides to this particular bonus offer that I might not be aware of? Are there any hidden fees, like a "low balance" monthly fee if I were to withdraw the $150k after 90 days?

 

[Dtail]

Just completed the $200 Discover Bonus. Was easy to open the account - and the $200 bonus got credited to me within 10 days of doing it. Will be doing a 2nd one now under Wife's name,,,,

Interesting that Discovery credits folks at different day intervals. My DB got his bonus in 1 day, but 7 days for me.

 

[calmloki]

I'm thinking of doing the Capital One 360 Performance Savings bonus offer. It pays $1,000 if you open a new savings account and put in $150k for 90 days. Since it's a savings account paying 1.7%, this works out to an APY of 4.4% over 90 days. Seems like an easy way to get a really high yield on cash that would otherwise just be sitting in my Vanguard prime MM funds and another online savings account. Any downsides to this particular bonus offer that I might not be aware of? Are there any hidden fees, like a "low balance" monthly fee if I were to withdraw the $150k after 90 days?

If you have or had an open account with CapOne on or after 1/1/2016 you are ineligible. I'm out.

 

[Sojourner]

If you have or had an open account with CapOne on or after 1/1/2016 you are ineligible. I'm out.

I've only ever had credit cards with Cap One, so I think I'm good.

 

[njhowie]

I'm thinking of doing the Capital One 360 Performance Savings bonus offer. It pays $1,000 if you open a new savings account and put in $150k for 90 days. Since it's a savings account paying 1.7%, this works out to an APY of 4.4% over 90 days. Seems like an easy way to get a really high yield on cash that would otherwise just be sitting in my Vanguard prime MM funds and another online savings account. Any downsides to this particular bonus offer that I might not be aware of? Are there any hidden fees, like a "low balance" monthly fee if I were to withdraw the $150k after 90 days?

Just keep in mind...

Capital One will deposit the bonus into your account within 60 days after you have completed all the requirements above. If your account is in default, closed, or suspended, or otherwise not in good standing, you will not receive the bonus.

So, at the end of 90 days, you can withdraw almost everything and just leave a few dollars in the account to keep it open until they deposit the bonus, then you can transfer the remainder out. Capital One does not have any minimum balance requirement and no fees, so there's nothing underhanded to watch out for. Alternatively, the 1.7% rate they are offering isn't bad at all, so you might decide to just leave the money there for whatever additional time they take to credit the bonus.

 

[Dtail]

Just keep in mind...



So, at the end of 90 days, you can withdraw almost everything and just leave a few dollars in the account to keep it open until they deposit the bonus, then you can transfer the remainder out. Capital One does not have any minimum balance requirement and no fees, so there's nothing underhanded to watch out for. Alternatively, the 1.7% rate they are offering isn't bad at all, so you might decide to just leave the money there for whatever additional time they take to credit the bonus.

Am looking closely at this one, but for the 10k/200 bonus offer version.
Since the monies would come from Ally which is also at 1.7%, might just leave the whole balance there.

 

[njhowie]

Am looking closely at this one, but for the 10k/200 bonus offer version.
Since the monies would come from Ally which is also at 1.7%, might just leave the whole balance there.

I would also be doing the $10k/200 offer if we hadn't already done a couple with Capital One since 2016.

 

[RetireAge50]

Chase sent me a promotion email "Enjoy $1,000 with Sapphire℠ Banking". I think they target those with their Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. The requirement is to open this checking account in their branch; deposit $75,000 and keep it 3 months.



So, I went to our local branch. The rep recommended a checking, and a savings account. He said the total of both count as bonus requirement. I see no harm, so I agreed to both. I wrote a check of $75,000 to the savings, and a $150 to checking. He said $1000 bonus will arrive after 3 months but I need to keep both for 6 months without getting clawed back. I did not verify if it is 3 months or 6 months. Since I keep 3 year's cash for retirement funds, so I just treat this as year 2 or year 3 fund, and close both accounts 6 months from now.

I’m doing the Chase Sapphire $1,000 bonus now. I put the $75,000 in the investment account and bought VOO. So far am up $1,200 and should get the $1,000 bonus in 90 days. I also opened the checking but have only $2,000 there. It has been handy to use while traveling for no foreign transaction fees and reimbursed atm fees.

 

[njhowie]

I’m doing the Chase Sapphire $1,000 bonus now. I put the $75,000 in the investment account and bought VOO. So far am up $1,200 and should get the $1,000 bonus in 90 days. I also opened the checking but have only $2,000 there. It has been handy to use while traveling for no foreign transaction fees and reimbursed atm fees.

That's definitely the way to do it! Gets around the almost-zero they pay on the savings account.

 

[LRDave]

I’m doing the Chase Sapphire $1,000 bonus now. I put the $75,000 in the investment account and bought VOO. So far am up $1,200 and should get the $1,000 bonus in 90 days. I also opened the checking but have only $2,000 there. It has been handy to use while traveling for no foreign transaction fees and reimbursed atm fees.

Truly not hating or anything - I was wondering the same thing myself. What if this was, say, last year at this time? What if you were down $1200? Would you feel like: "I'm playing with house money..."?

 

[RetireAge50]

Actually I bought the VOO in the Chase account and sold Vanguard prime. At the same time in on my 401k I sold VOO and bought the stable value fund. So no real change in position.

 

[fh2000]

That is what I missed when opening the 2 accounts. I will check with Chase. Maybe transfer some from savings to checking to avoid the monthly fee.

I called Chase. The monthly fee is waved from my checking even though I only have $150 there, because it is the combination of my Checking and Savings that exceed the minimum requirement for both acounts. So I am good for now.

 

[njhowie]

I called Chase. The monthly fee is waved from my checking even though I only have $150 there, because it is the combination of my Checking and Savings that exceed the minimum requirement for both acounts. So I am good for now.

Excellent!

 

[Golden sunsets]

I’m doing the Chase Sapphire $1,000 bonus now. I put the $75,000 in the investment account and bought VOO. So far am up $1,200 and should get the $1,000 bonus in 90 days. I also opened the checking but have only $2,000 there. It has been handy to use while traveling for no foreign transaction fees and reimbursed atm fees.

A few questions Retireat50, if you don't mind answering:

Did you set up the investment account new at the time that you opened the checking account and savings accounts? If so how long g did it take?

Did you confirm with Chase that holding the bulk of the $75,000 in the investment account would qualify for the bonus?

Is the investment account easily linked to the checking account?

Thanks

 

[RetireAge50]

A few questions Retireat50, if you don't mind answering:

Did you set up the investment account new at the time that you opened the checking account and savings accounts? If so how long g did it take?

Did you confirm with Chase that holding the bulk of the $75,000 in the investment account would qualify for the bonus?

Is the investment account easily linked to the checking account?

Thanks

Set up all the accounts new on web and they are all linked together. Made deposits to chase checking in a local branch and transferred to brokerage. Also transferred directly to the brokerage from my outside checking via ACH. All no problems. When I read the fine print it said brokerage combined accounts is fine but did not call to verify.

 

[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. 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.

I might be worse than a woman. I had decided to leave my money at Citibank but the longer i thought about all that small print and extra hoops I gave up and transferred my money back to Discover today. I was feeling better after I transferred it to Discover ...and then i got a email from Marcus with a 1.90% 11 month No penalty CD and a 12 month CD @ 2.05.

https://www.marcus.com/us/en/savings?prd=os&chl=em&schl=emd&cid=DR20191217&lid=EOYC_LearnLink