CHASE Banks Giving Away Money

[OAG]

I recently have received 3 mailings (one addressed to me by name and 2 "Resident" ones). They all offer "free" money for opening a Checking Account with them. Criteria is open the account (with at least a $100 deposit of "new" money), no monthly fee if you have monthly "a direct deposit" made (with 60 days to get that going) AND keep the account open for 6 months. In return they will "give" you either a $100 or a $200 deposit depending on which mailing you choose to use (guess which one is better).

Question has anyone actually taken them up on the plan and seen any other loopholes or hoops one would need to jump through?

[maddythebeagle]

I opened an account with them last year...it has to remain open for 6 months, you have to go to their B&M location and be talked to about other products for a half hour....other than that, it is free money...BTW, paypal or push from HSBC, etc. qualifies for the direct deposit requirement....at least it worked for me...and dont forget, the 100 is reported as taxable interest...

[FinanceDude]

They've been doing it for years. You'll get a 1099 at the end of the year, but they're trying to get customers, since they bought Bank One out, they've been losing them like crazy to other banks...........

[saluki9]

Is it really worth $100 to do all of that though?

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saluki9 Is it really worth $100 to do all of that though?

I'm tooooooooo lazy.

[CuppaJoe]

I'm cheap enuf and have enough time on my hands* that I have done five or six of these kinds of deals, I've never gone in person and have only been taxed once, $75 as interest income. They are legit; I've heard it costs $200 in advertising expenses to acquired a new customer, so the bank saves $100. I'm the proud owner of an old-style (original collectible?) iPod courtesy of a new checking account.

When I do those zero interest offers from credit cards, I'm very careful to pay it off on time--I've heard Bob Brinker say not to do it because you need to keep track of the rules (so I do [keep track]). The last one I did, I wrote a zero interest check for about $9,800 to my Ginne Mae account; paid the minimun due each month; and then eight months later paid off the balance from a Ginnie Mae check.

*Maybe I should get a real job?

[audreyh1]

Interesting - they've been losing Bank One customers? They lost me, but that was mainly because I needed a bank with more branches in the areas I was traveling, and a quick visit to Bank of America showed me they did better customer service anyway.

Audrey

[maddythebeagle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saluki9 Is it really worth $100 to do all of that though?

And how much do you get paid to post on this forum?

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Interesting - they've been losing Bank One customers? They lost me, but that was mainly because I needed a bank with more branches in the areas I was traveling, and a quick visit to Bank of America showed me they did better customer service anyway. Audrey

They've been losing them in droves in the smaller markets Bank One covered, like Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Ohio.

Apparently Midwestern folk aren't too keen on questionable policies like branches NOT being allowed to have X-mas trees in their lobbies or not allowing the employees to have personal family pictures up in their cubes.

And they fee people to death on accounts.........

[Achiever51]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude They've been losing them in droves in the smaller markets Bank One covered, like Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Ohio. Apparently Midwestern folk aren't too keen on questionable policies like branches NOT being allowed to have X-mas trees in their lobbies or not allowing the employees to have personal family pictures up in their cubes. And they fee people to death on accounts.........

I started my career eons ago at one of the predecessor banks of Chase/Bank One/First Chicago/NBD/et al. Back then, the staff was trained to treat the customer as if he/she were the most important customer to the bank -- whether they deposited $100 or $100 million. Boy, those were the days.

After banking with them for my entire adult life -- mortgages, credit cards, savings, checking -- and getting my entire family to do so as well, I pulled every $$ out when THEY made a major "computer?" error that caused a number of checks I'd written (I think it was between 20 and 25 checks) to bounce...and then they tried to stick me with NSF charges of $20+ per check!! Their customer service department was of no use at all -- I had to fight this mess for weeks before prevailing...and then I bailed (as did most of my family members.)

[saluki9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddythebeagle And how much do you get paid to post on this forum?

Nada, but I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a toothpick that spend 1 more minute dealing with a bank than I have to.

Some things aren't worth the money.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddythebeagle And how much do you get paid to post on this forum?

I've both saved and earned thousands of dollars from the things I've learned on this board. Although technically neither cap gains nor dividends count as "earned" income.

Before I chased down this offer, so to speak, I'd have to make sure that I'd stoozed at least as many credit-card offers as JG. But wait, I have a life, enough money, and many better things to do with both...

[maddythebeagle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords I've both saved and earned thousands of dollars from the things I've learned on this board.

I wouldnt say that I earned anything from some of your argumentative 1000 word responses in some threads...but yeah, make yourself feel good about yourself, by crapping in another thread...and saying your time is so valuable....At least you didnt waste your normal half hour in response this time...

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddythebeagle I wouldnt say that I earned anything from some of your argumentative 1000 word responses in some threads...but yeah, make yourself feel good about yourself, by crapping in another thread...and saying your time is so valuable....At least you didnt waste your normal half hour in response this time...

My goodness, no personal offense intended, but $100 is a good bit less than the "I've made thousands from $100K in credit-card zero-balance transfer" stuff that JG used to post.

IMO Chase seems to want a lot of work for $100 and maybe there are easier ways to save or earn that amount. Saluki & Dawg seemed to raise good points.

But, hey, no need to be thin-skinned about it... especially if you have to sit through half-hour sales pitches instead of my posts!

[chinaco]

It is basic marketing... an incentive to use their service. They will make the money back on an interest rate spread. We are at a point in time where everyone that needs an account has one (Except for young first-timers... although is could draw them in also). The only way to significantly increase the customer base is to take customers from a competitor. By the way... when Banks do M&A... they rarely care about the physical assets (other than to offset cost)... In some cases, banks may not have branches in a local area (so they do care about the branch location). The branch really means customer service location. They don't even care about the brand name the the acquired company (it is often retired). In most cases, they do not need the technology (they already have it). What they are buying is the customer base!

Paying up $100 is probably cheaper than M&A (in an area where the bank has a local presence with branches).

[saluki9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddythebeagle I wouldnt say that I earned anything from some of your argumentative 1000 word responses in some threads...but yeah, make yourself feel good about yourself, by crapping in another thread...and saying your time is so valuable....At least you didnt waste your normal half hour in response this time...

Wow, talk about being nasty for no reason at all. All Nords did was make the very valid point that not every $ is worth what you have to do for it. Isn't that basically the central point of this whole forum ?

Are you in some way trying to say that your time doesn't have value? I would hope not. Anyway, I think personal attacks on one of the forums major contributors is pretty much uncalled for.

[OAG]

Gee how do you delete your post? Simple question, I thought, convoluted (love that word) response. I got a $200 letter (besides the 2-$100 ones), the bank is down the street, it is raining here this morning, I think I will go down and see what they say. Believe me if gets to be more than a 5 minute discussion -- I will split.

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saluki9 Nada, but I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a toothpick that spend 1 more minute dealing with a bank than I have to. Some things aren't worth the money.

In my best DAD'S voice: "Boys, play nice, or I'll box your ears"............

[Goonie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by R Wood I recently have received 3 mailings (one addressed to me by name and 2 "Resident" ones). They all offer "free" money for opening a Checking Account with them. Criteria is open the account (with at least a $100 deposit of "new" money), no monthly fee if you have monthly "a direct deposit" made (with 60 days to get that going) AND keep the account open for 6 months. In return they will "give" you either a $100 or a $200 deposit depending on which mailing you choose to use (guess which one is better). Question has anyone actually taken them up on the plan and seen any other loopholes or hoops one would need to jump through?

I haven't gotten any from Chase, but I did get a few from ING Direct for their 'Orange Savings' accounts. They offered $50 if you opened an acct with them, and there was no minimum amount or no monthly deposit required. Like the Chase offer, you had to keep your money there for 6 months.

I opened an account, and they put in the $50, plus they pay 4.5% interest on the acct. I use it for my 'vacation' fund, and also for any extra cash that comes in until I can decide what I want to do with it.

I got another one from ING a couple of months ago...same offer....so I opened an acct for my Mom. She uses her acct for the same as I do.

It was the easiest $50 that either of us have ever made!

I've called and talked to their customer service reps a couple of times (I had a question or two about other "products" they offer) and they were very friendly and courteous, and had the answers that I was looking to find. AND they spoke fluent American English, making them easy to understand....it wasn't some 'off-shore' call center half way around the globe!!!

As a side note....ING's 12 month CD is paying 5.35%.

[RedHawk]

Quote:

And they fee people to death on accounts.........

I had an account with Bank One and now Chase and have never been charged a fee of any kind. I am only 20 and have been with them since I was 12 so its not like I have tons of money with them.