$200 Bank of America and $250 NetBank Bonuses
Here are two bank offers that are both worth at least $100 in free money, but do have some catches that will keep me from participating myself:
#1 - Bank of America Offer - $100 for opening a personal checking account, and another $100 for opening a business checking account.
Offer expires July 15, 2006… The $100 or $200 reward will be delivered by mail in the form of a gift check within 60 days of account opening.
You can open up a business account with just your Social Security Number. You just have to be a Sole Proprietorship and use your name as the name of the business (unless you have a DBA filed with the state). Perhaps worth the extra $100?
I already have both personal and business BofA accounts, so I’m afraid I can’t get in on this offer. I did get $50 when I opened my business account, which showed up in 7-8 weeks, about 1-2 weeks later than they said it would. At least it showed up. A hard credit pull will be performed if you don’t already have a personal account with them.
#2 - NetBank Offer - $75 for opening a checking account, $75 for opening a money market account, and up to a $100 gift card for opening a 1-year CD.
Tons of fine print with this offer, but if you can follow the rules, it seems to be a pretty nice bonus. In addition, pay attention to the multitude of fees in their Fee Schedule, which include:
- Online Bill Payment Inactivity - $5.00 per month after 3 successive months of inactivity on accounts with average monthly balance less than $3,000.
- Early Closure - $25 for Checking or Money Market Account Closed Within 6 Months
- Dormant Checking Account - $5.00/month beginning 12 months after most recent activity
- Account closure - $7.50
I have never done a NetBank bonus because from what I have read the customer service is sub-par. Reportedly a hard credit check is also performed. And any bank that charges that many fees is just a headache waiting to happen, so I’m passing again.
Still, if you have the patience there’s up to $450 in free money lurking. Thanks to Nicholas and Mike for the respective links.
Find more in Deals & Offers | 5/30/06, 2:04am | Trackback
May 30th, 2006 at 10:51 am
I’d consider BofA, but I can’t remember if they are good or bad.
If I remember correctly, don’t you have to pay a fee to have it automagically download into Quicken?
Do they have free online bill pay.
My current online bill pay removes the money from my account the day the check is written (or electronically transferred). What this means is that if I write a 5k check to my mom using the online bill pay, and she doesn’t deposit it for 4 weeks, I loose 4 weeks of interest.
Do other banks do the same, or just E*trade (my current bank)?
May 30th, 2006 at 11:19 am
I didn’t see it in the fine print, but is there any restriction on the bonus if you have recently closed a checking account at B of A?
May 30th, 2006 at 11:39 am
there was an offer for citibank: open their checking account get $100, link your citi CC and get another $100. Code: CEPM exp 5/31
Since you can only get the bonus once, I’d go for highest paying bonus. After CEPM code expires, I’d wait until they run the promotion again.
FW thread
May 30th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
I posted about the BofA bonus on my website on 5/24. I already have a personal checking account with them which I received a $50 bonus for. I’m not sure if I’ll try to open a business account.
I just closed my Netbank account this month. I didn’t have any problem with them and received my bonuses on time. I wasn’t charged $7.50 for closing my account either. Must be a new fee.
May 30th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
what did it mean when they do a hard credit check, it won’t lower your credit score right
May 30th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
Corey:
B of A’s bill pay is completely free, and has recently been “upgraded” to NOT take the money out on bill pay checks until the payee deposits or cashes the check.
May 30th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
I’ve completed and received the netbank $75+$75 bonus without any problems. The customer service dept. actually called me up to make sure everything worked so I guess they’re trying to improve their image. I also tried the $1000 and $2000 CDs with $25 and $50 bonus. It took about 2 months to get the giftcards, but that was what the fine print said. I haven’t checked my report recently, but I believe there was a soft check when I opened the checking.
May 30th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
For those of you who don’t use BofA, I highly recommend them:
1. Their Online Pill Bay is free and outstanding. I use it for all of my bills. About 90% of my bills get sent directly to BofA as “eBills” and BofA emails me when I have a new bill. They usually arrive via email before I get it in snailmail. I can view the eBill on the BofA website and select what amount I wish to pay and on what date. They have only delivered one late bill in the last year (I think it was my fault). I called them about it and the penalty fee from the vendor was posted to my account the same day.
2. They use Yodlee in a ?My Portfolio? section that is very helpful in tracking your net worth and all other financial accounts (link). All I have to do is log into BofA and check out ?My Portfolio? to see out how much I have in Checking (BofA), Savings (HSBC), Credit Card (BofA, MBNA, CapitalOne), my 401K (Hewitt), my wife?s 401K (Hewitt), IRA (Fidelity), and stock holdings (CompuShare). From there I can see a history of balances back 6 months from each account and a net worth history. I can also ?auto login? to each account. By far my favorite feature.
3. You can setup email alerts on various aspects of your account. I have it email me when my balance drops to a certain level and when large checks have been withdrawn.
If you know someone who is a BofA customer you can both get a $25 bonus when signing up. I am not sure if you can pair it with any other offers.
May 30th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
When I click on the Bofa link it just goes here:
http://www.bankofamerica.com/s....._checking/
and I don’t see any info about the $100/200 deal. I already have a prima account with them but want to open a business account. Does the link work for everyone else?
May 30th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
i can’t get to the promotion using the link.,,,
any idea?
May 30th, 2006 at 10:45 pm
Same experience as Josh. When I clicked on open an account for any of the business checking accounts, I see a promotion for a $50 gift check. I suppose the $100 bonus deal is over.
May 30th, 2006 at 11:26 pm
That’s weird. It still works fine for me. Maybe it’s different for each state?
May 31st, 2006 at 6:00 am
But doesn’t BofA have 20/month checking fees so, despite the $100 bonus, after 5 months you have earned nothing? - looks like it from the website
May 31st, 2006 at 7:09 am
Doesn’t work in California. It automatically redirects you to http://www.bankofamerica.com/s....._checking/.
May 31st, 2006 at 9:26 am
I thought BOA’s checking isn’t free….
May 31st, 2006 at 11:13 am
My BofA account is free with direct deposit. No way I’m paying $20 a month in fees!
May 31st, 2006 at 7:52 pm
How to avoid the $20 monthly fee?
June 3rd, 2006 at 11:44 am
To avoid the fee’s for their Regular Checking you must keep a minimum of $750 and the Regular Savings must be $300. If you go below those amounts, you will charged the fee. One great thing is you can open your accounts using your Credit Card (it is treated as a purchase). So if you have rewards on your CC, use it to fund the account!
Do you have to prove a business license for a Sole Proprietorship, and would it show on taxable interest for the business at the end of the year?
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Hey guys, here is a related question:
I got $100 from B. of A. for opening their account. It was in 2007. Just now (2008), I got 1099-INT that says:
REWARD/GIFT INTEREST INCOME $100
my question is: should I include this amount with my tax return.
I know for sure, that bonuses that I get from my Citi Divident master cards are not taxable. I feel, since I got 1099 from B. o A., the $100 must be taxable, just wanted to make sure.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
P.