Citibank has tiered $200, $400, and $700 bonus offers when you open a new eligible Citi checking account by 6/30/20 and deposit and maintain a certain balance for 60 to 150 days. There is also a $1,500 bonus if you have $200,000 to move over. This offer is restricted to those who have not had a Citibank checking account within the last 180 calendar days. Here are the highlights followed by a few tips on how to optimize the bonus.

$200 bonus details:

• Open a new eligible checking account in the Basic Banking Package during the offer period 4/01/2020 to 6/30/2020.
• Within 30 days of opening your account, deposit $5,000 in New-to-Citibank funds into the new checking account.
• Maintain a minimum balance of $5,000 for 60 consecutive calendar days.
• You will receive your cash bonus within 90 days after you complete the required activities.
• For the Basic Banking Package, to waive the $12 monthly service fee, make one qualifying direct deposit per statement period and one qualifying bill payment per statement period, or maintain a $1,500 or more combined average monthly balance in eligible linked accounts.

$400 bonus details:

• Open new eligible checking and savings accounts in the Citibank® Account Package during the offer period 4/01/2020 to 6/30/2020.
• Within 30 days of opening your account, deposit $15,000 in New-to-Citibank funds between the new checking and savings accounts.
• Maintain a minimum balance of $15,000 between the checking and savings accounts for 60 consecutive calendar days.
• You will receive your cash bonus within 90 days after you complete the required activities.
• A monthly service fee of $25 and a $2.50 non-Citibank ATM fee apply to the checking account in the Citibank Account Package if a combined average monthly balance of $10,000 or more is not maintained.

$700 bonus details:

• Open new eligible checking and savings accounts in the Citi Priority Account Package during the offer period 4/01/2020 to 6/30/2020.
• Within 30 days of opening your account, deposit $50,000 in New-to-Citibank funds between the new checking and savings accounts.
• Maintain a minimum balance of $50,000 between the checking and savings accounts for 60 consecutive calendar days.
• You will receive your cash bonus within 90 days after you complete the required activities.
• A monthly service fee of $30 applies to the checking account in the Citi Priority Account Package if a combined average monthly balance of $50,000 or more is not maintained. There is no monthly service fee for a checking account in the Citigold Account Package.

$1,500 bonus details:

• Open new eligible checking and savings accounts in the Citigold Account Package during the offer period 4/01/2020 to 6/30/2020.
• Within 30 days of opening your account, deposit $200,000 in New-to-Citibank funds between the new checking and savings accounts.
• Maintain a minimum balance of $200,000 between the checking and savings accounts for 60 consecutive calendar days.
• You will receive your cash bonus within 90 days after you complete the required activities.
• If you do not maintain a minimum combined average monthly balance of $200,000 in eligible linked deposit, retirement and investment accounts, your Citigold Account Package will be converted to the Citi Priority Account Package and your accounts will be subject to the terms and conditions then in effect for that package.

Fine print analysis and value calculations. A tricky part of this bonus is the following fine print:

At the time the Cash Bonus is paid, it will be credited to the new Eligible Checking Account. If the Eligible Checking Account is closed, then the Cash Bonus will be credited to the new Eligible Savings Account. Open accounts must be in good standing.

You explicitly cannot “downgrade” your account to one with lower monthly fees during the 60 day maintenance period, but this seems to also suggest that you need to maintain the package that you opened until the bonus arrives. (It’s not 100% clear, but that is the conservative interpretation.) That means that in order to avoid the possibly hefty monthly fees, you would have to leave a certain amount of money in the account not for 60 days, but up to 150 days until the bonus is deposited.

After the 60 day maintenance period, you would want to withdraw everything not need to avoid the monthly fees, as both the checking and savings account pay negligible interest. Here’s how that would work for each tier:

• $200 bonus tier. Deposit and maintain $5,000 for 60 days, then lower to $1,500 for 90 days.
• $400 bonus tier. Deposit and maintain $15,000 for 60 days, then lower to $10,000 for 90 days.
• $700 bonus tier. Deposit and maintain $50,000 for 150 days.
• $1,500 bonus tier. Deposit and maintain $200,000 for 150 days. (There may be some alternatives like moving over some investments to satisfy the Citigold requirements.)

Bonus will be reported on 1099-INT (as should be expected). Here is the rough equivalent annualized APY earned from each bonus if you followed the schedule above exactly, got the promised bonus at the 150 day mark, and then downgraded/closed/moved your money out:

• $200 bonus works out to ~16.5% annualized interest.
• $400 bonus works out to ~8.0% annualized interest.
• $700 bonus works out to ~3.4% annualized interest.
• $1,500 bonus works out to ~1.8% annualized interest.

I have done Citibank bonuses in the past and haven’t had any issues, although they did wait until the last possible moment to post the bonus. I did not experience a hard credit check upon opening. However, others have reported having to call them up and ask for the bonus, and some have reported that they were denied the bonus improperly. Their above-average complaints of unreliability is a big reason why I would not downgrade the accounts, in order to help maintain proper bonus tracking. For all bank bonuses, be sure to keep track of your promotion details and transaction dates in a Google Doc or other spreadsheet.

Bottom line. Citibank has a set of tiered bonuses for opening a new checking and savings accounts with them, which I have broken down how to optimize based on the fine print. If you were planning on opening an account anyway, this can be a good offer. Be sure you understand the terms and conditions first.

With rates drops everywhere and no end in sight, there are no high APY CDs to open, so I’ve been picking up various cash bonuses while stuck at home instead. Chime is a popular fintech bank app with a $50 cash bonus after a payroll direct deposit of $200+ within the first 45 days of new account opening. To get this offer, you must be referred by an existing user. Here is my Chime $50 referral link. Thanks if you use it! It’s a very simple bonus. Here is a screenshot of my bonus appearing nine minutes after my direct deposit:

Here is the fine print:

*In order for both the referred individual and the referring Chime member to each qualify for and receive the $50.00 referral reward, the following conditions must be met: The referred individual may not have previously opened a Chime Spending Account (“Account”); they must open a new Account between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020; they must open the new account using the referring Chime member’s unique referral link; and they must receive in the new Account a qualifying direct deposit of $200.00 or more within 45 days of opening. The qualifying direct deposit must be made by the referred individual’s employer, payroll provider, or benefits payer by Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposit. Bank ACH transfers, Pay Friends transfers, verification or trial deposits from financial institutions, peer to peer transfers from services such as PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo, mobile check deposits, and cash loads or deposits are not qualifying direct deposits.

Why is Chime so popular? Chime is the second-most popular online-only bank in the US (only behind Ally) with over 3 million customers and a recent valuation of $5.8 billion. Yet, it pays no interest on checking and only a tiny interest on savings (thus my previous lack of interest). I learned that Chime is very attractive to those who are “unbanked” or underbanked”, those people who don’t like traditional banks due to their monthly fees and $35-a-pop overdraft charges. Instead, Chime offers:

• No monthly fees. No minimum balance. No minimum opening deposit.
• No credit check. No Chexsystems check.
• Access to paycheck 2 days early. If you usually get paid on Friday, you can spend the money on Wednesday.
• No overdraft fees, and they may even “spot” you up to $100 until you pay them back.
• Free ATM withdrawals at 38,000+ MoneyPass and Visa Plus Alliance ATMs.
• No foreign transaction fees.

For many folks that have a lot of activity but maintain a low balance, this fee structure is better getting 4% APY or even 10% APY. The key is avoiding those crazy overdraft charges from the big banks and also the various $2 fees hidden inside many prepaid cards. Chime’s only major fee is a $2.50 fee if you make a cash withdrawal at an out-of-network ATM. Chime earns revenue via interchange fees when you buy things on your debit card.

As I opened an account, I noticed that Chime treats you like have never had a checking account before. The sign-up is easily done completely on your phone in a few minutes. You don’t need to deposit a single cent to open. They send basic “Chime 101” emails explaining the effect of bank holidays and how to set up direct deposit.

There is no credit check, so you can have bad credit and even a bad Chexsystems record (meaning you probably left another bank with a negative balance). Nearly every major bank uses Chexsystems to screen new customers. Otherwise, they are referred to as a “second chance” bank account. Chime might have the lowest fees of all such “second chance” banks.

Chime has the most of the usual bank stuff. Debit card. Paper check deposit via mobile app. Optional savings account that helps you save automatically (but pays astonishingly little interest, just like Bank of America and Chase!). FDIC-insured via partner banks, either Stride Bank or The Bancorp Bank. The only major thing missing besides bank branches is that they don’t provide paper checks. Depositing cash is available, but the third-party physical stores may charge a fee.

Bottom line. Chime is an interesting bank startup that targets the underbanked and unbanked by offering a much better fee structure to those with access to direct deposit. No overdraft fees, no credit checks, no Chexsystems. Currently, there is a $50 bonus available only via referral.

HMBradley is another fintech bank startup that differs by offering customers up to 3% APY based on the percentage of their paycheck that they save. Deposits are FDIC-insured through Hatch Bank. What do you have to do to actually qualify for this rate? Will it be worth the hassle? Here’s my review of HMBradley after reading their FAQ, fee schedule, and deposit agreement. Thanks to reader Guarav for the tip.

Rate tiers. Interest is earned on balances up to $100,000 and is set each calendar quarter. The interest rate updates for all customers at the beginning of each calendar quarter: January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st. In order to qualify for a “Savings Tier”, you must receive a direct deposit at least once per month and save at least 5% of your quarterly deposits.

New customers start in Tier 3 and stay there as long as they maintain at least one direct deposit per month. For example, if you open in May, the next reset date would be July 1st and your interest earned for the next 3 months is based on your activity in the previous 3 months. Here are the current rates for each tier:

$100 minimum to open. Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly.

Deposits vs. direct deposits. You must receive some sort of direct deposit each month, as defined below:

For our accounts, we define direct deposits as those deposits made by the customer’s employer or a federal or state government agency or retirement benefits administrator. These generally include payments made by corporations and other organizations. We do not consider deposits to an account that are made by an individual using online banking or other payment provider such as PayPal or Venmo as direct deposits.

However, for the calculations of “savings rates”, all deposits are considered including incoming transfers from another bank account. At the same time, your “spending” will also include any transfer out of your account, even if it’s just to another bank account that you own.

NOW account? No paper checks. It should be noted that HM Bradley’s account is actually a lesser-known form called a “negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) account”, which per the CFPB which gives the bank the right to require at least seven days written notice of a withdrawal. Supposedly, this is rarely done in practice. Like a checking account, there are no limits on the number of withdrawals each month. However, unlike a checking account… there are no checks! You can probably work around most things using the online Billpay feature. I suspect that not having to deal with paper checks saves them a good chunk of money.

The Bank offers Negotiable Order of Withdrawal transaction checking accounts, which allows you to make deposits by check, ACH payment, transfer from another account at the Bank, or wire transfer. NOW accounts only are available to consumers for personal, family, or household purposes. The Bank does not offer business accounts and you agree not to use your HMBradley Account for business purposes. The Bank may request 7 days’ advance notice of a withdrawal or transfer of funds from the NOW account.

Features. No minimum balance, no monthly fees. No paper checks. There is fee-free ATM access via your Debit Mastercard at over 55,000 ATMs in the STAR and MoneyPass networks (or at any store that allows for cash back on debit purchases). There is online Billpay. However, there is currently no ability to deposit checks (including ATM deposits). In the future, they plan on having remote check deposit only. They may close your account without notice if you maintain a zero balance.

My thoughts. In the current rate environment, the ability to earn 3% APY on up to $100,000 is exceptional. I don’t know of any “rewards checking” account has a balance limit that high. However, there are a lot of moving parts here.

First, the short-term concerns. All new customers that open now (May) will earn 1% APY until July 1st, so there is a delay. If their savings rate is determined to be above 20% as of July 1st, then you will reach Tier 1, but will Tier 1 still be 3% APY then? There is no rate guarantee and they don’t promise to provide any set amount of advance notice. Given the recent Fed moves, there is going to be pressure for them to lower it. Their lower rate tiers have already dropped from what they initially advertised.

I’m also concerned about the long-term sustainability. I like the idea of promoting savings, but the system doesn’t seem to benefit “average” savers enough, while leaving it open to “high” savers. For an “average” saver, saving 15% of deposits is a lot especially if you already have a 401(k) plan, which means they’ll only earn 0.50% or 1% APY. Meanwhile, a “high” saver with sizable existing cash assets can qualify for the 3% easily and then park tens of thousands of dollars at HMBradley. All they have to do is switch over some amount of direct deposit and be careful with their withdrawals. Perhaps there will be enough customers satisfied with earning zero to 0.50% APY interest to subsidize the rest, but we’ll have to see.

Bottom line. HMBradley is a digital bank startup that differs by offering customers a high rate (currently up to 3% APY) based on the percentage of their paycheck that they save. The rules are a bit more complex than I’d like, but if the rates hold steady it can be a competitive offer for motivated savers.