Easy Bank Bonuses: Virtually Double Your Money With No Risk
Sounds like an informercial, huh? I feel that I’ve gotten a lot of new readers who found out about my Emigrant Direct bonus, but don’t forget there are many others for those that are new to the game:
ING Direct Bonus: $1 now $250 to open, $25 bonus
VirtualBank Bonus: $100 to open, $20 bonus
Emigrant Direct Bonus: $1 to open, $10 bonus*
HSBC OnlineSavings Bonus: $1 to open, $35 bonus
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Total: $103 to open, end up with $193. Almost double your money! $90 in bonuses with $352 upfront which is still your money and earning decent interest.
The best thing about these are each of them have no minimum balance requirement and no monthly fees, and you get an FDIC-insured bank. If you don’t like the current rate, just take your money out and keep it open until you do. No fees means I can leave $0 there. Also, I have accounts at the first 3 (applying for the 4th now), and there was no credit check. The 4th one reportedly does not do one either. There are other banks with bonuses for sure, but they have minimum balances or direct deposit requirements. These are the lowest hanging fruit by far.
*quantities limited
[edited on 10/13 due to ING changing the terms of their referral program]
October 11th, 2005 at 3:10 pm
To each his own, opening those accounts takes little effort and the money is FREE. You can open each one while taking breaks from reading a financial book
October 11th, 2005 at 3:58 pm
Why are reading investing books and getting free money mutually exclusive? I’ve done and do both.
October 11th, 2005 at 4:50 pm
Does Virtual Bank’s bonus work just like ING Direct? (with an email sent by the bank and initiated by the referrer?)
I was wondering if people may be worried about phishing scams. When they receive an email from ING Direct or Virtual Bank with a link, will they be worried about clicking on it and then giving them all of their personal info?
Do the emails have a link? Or do they tell the people to go the site and then enter a code?
October 11th, 2005 at 4:59 pm
It does work like ING Direct, with a special referral link. Your phishing scheme worries are legitimate, and people should check the link indeed goes to the correct site https://xxx.ingdirect.com or https://xxx.virtualbank.com. The e-mail will also be sent from a specific unique sender, and I will start telling people the name of the sender so that they can expect it.
October 11th, 2005 at 7:48 pm
That is always my concern - that opening these savings causes problems with my credit because of inquiries. How do you know for sure these don’t? How do you find out beforehand for others?
October 12th, 2005 at 5:46 am
I recently opened a savings account with HSBC and didn’t get any sort of bonus, even though I used the code you posted.
October 12th, 2005 at 9:09 am
HSBC clearly states the bonus will be deposited 45 days AFTER openning the account. Make sure you read everything before openning accounts…
October 12th, 2005 at 10:37 am
I recently signed up for emigrantdirect and they did do a credit check. I know this because after I gave them my social, they asked me specific, multiple choice questions such as: you lived in which address, or how much is your student loan payment.
October 12th, 2005 at 10:45 am
Marc, there is a difference between a “soft pull” where they verify your identity, and a “hard pull” where they rate your creditworthiness. The former is does not hurt your credit, the latter does make a minor hit for 6 months.
Every time you get some “pre-approved” offer from a credit card company, that is the result of a “soft pull”, and is not what I consider a “credit check”. I hope that helps. EVERY bank does a soft pull when opening an account because they have to per the Patriot Act.
October 12th, 2005 at 11:54 am
Just curious what your take is on the American Express One card that’s linked to a savings account (I placed the link in the URL field). Basically, 1% of the purchases on your card get dumped into an AMEX savings account with 3.15%APY, with a $25 bonus.
October 12th, 2005 at 8:05 pm
Miyoshi - It’s a mediocre card in my opinion. It’s good for people who won’t save automatically for themselves, but 1% is pretty puny. You can do much better if you look at the rewards cards I use. Also there is an annual fee after the 1st year.
May 6th, 2007 at 10:37 am
I am new to this money promotions. What you are doing is great. Great information and pretty accurate information. How can I purchase one dollar stocks, referring to offer just read where ther is a $50 bonus.
May 18th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I opened that Emigrant Direct and have not heard from you. A rip off other that the great APY
June 19th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
My husband and I both opened checking accounts at the Metropolitan Bank in New York and each of us got a $200 bonus. They also gave us atm cards that we can use anywhere without having to pay anything.