Key Bank is offering $100 checking account bonus for new customers. This promotion is the latest bonus promotion from Key Bank which is famous for offering iPod Nano as sign up bonus for its customers. I have reported the situation of some regional banks some days ago. National City Bank was acquired by PNC Bank. The future of other banks including Key Bank is till not clear. Key Bank reported a 36 million loss in the 3rd quarter. But the good news is Key Bank together with other major regional banks have just accepted the bailout money from federal government. Key Bank received 2.5 billion while PNC got 7.7 billion. Capital One got 3.6 billion.

With the money from US government, I personally think the situation of Kay Bank might be better in the 4th quarter. I reported a similar $100 bonus promotion in this March. The latest mention of sign up bonus from Key Bank was in July. Apparently, there is no other promotion from Key Bank for a while. So this $100 bonus is a good offer for those who want to open an account at Key Bank now.

As the promotion indicates:

Get a $100 Key Possibilities Card when you open a qualifying checking account and make one debit card transaction plus a combination of two direct deposits or automated payments each of $100 or more. Offer ends November 7, 2008.

The recommended checking account is the Key Express Free Checking Account which features:

• No monthly maintenance service charge
• No minimum balance requirement on your checking account
• No per-check fees or limits
• No monthly or annual KeyBank Debit Card fee
• No fee for using your KeyBank Debit Card on purchases when using a PIN or signing for a purchase
• Free, unlimited use of Key’s nationwide network of ATMs
• Free Key Bill Pay to pay your bills quickly and easily online
• Transfer funds between your Key checking accounts and accounts at other banks

The promotion page can be found here.

No hard pulls were reported at the account opening process.

ING Direct, the branchless direct bank with operations via the Internet, phone, ATM or by mail, is thought to be one of the most popular high rate savings service providers. ING has a very famous sign up/referral program for its Orange Savings Account from which two customers can get $35 ($10 & $25 for each) from ING. I personally got about $100 from ING for referring new customers to open a new Orange Savings Account with $250 initial deposit.

Today I read about a very scaring story about the famous ING referral program. ING Direct is going after someone who got the bank too much bonus!

According to the report from Boston Herald, ING Direct is suing a 24-year-old for allegedly abusing ING’s corporate trademark and manipulating a program it sponsored to drum up deposits for the bank.

The lawsuit indicated that John B. “Breck” Yunits referred 918 new customers to its online banking operations via its “Refer a Friend” program which requires each new client to deposit a minimum $250 in an account a the account opening process. As a reward, Yunits received a $10 bonus for each successful referral, for a total of $9,180.

I have never heard that there is a limit of the number of the referral can be made for an individual. ING claimed that the maximum number of referral bonuses is supposed to be 25. However, Yunits set up an unofficial web site using ING Direct’s name in its address, took prospects’ e-mails and manipulated the company’s online program to exceed the maximum limit for referrals.

It’s interesting to see what the final result for this lawsuit. But it also provides us some hint that the maximum number of referral bonuses is supposed to be 25 which I believe is not very clear on ING’s web site.

The Orange Savings Account is an online savings product offered by ING Direct. Users  can deposit money to their savings account  via two possible methods: electronic transfer from a checking account at another institution, and direct deposit. Customers can link up to three external checking accounts for electronic deposits and withdrawals and make 6 online transfers each month for free. The super easy online interface and excellent customer service support make the ING Orange Savings Account a top choice for many customers.

If you want to shop for a savings account, you can refer to this post.

National City Bank is running another huge checking account bonus promotion which will give you $200 bonus for opening a checking account online with qualified direct deposit. One week ago, I reported that National City Bank was offering $150 bonus for opening a checking account online with direct deposit. That promotion was scheduled to end on October 22, 2008. But now National City Bank extends this checking account promotion to October 31, 2008 and increases the bonus to $200.

The promotion page can be found at www.nationalcity.com/cash. This is a web-only promotion and not available in the local branches. If you want to open a new checking account at National City Bank, you have to apply for a National City checking account online.

Details about this promotion:

• Open a new personal checking account online by 10/31/2008 with a minimum initial deposit of $50
• Establish a direct deposit to your checking account of at least $250 or more and a Visa® CheckCard* issued to you within 60 days of account opening
• Limit of one bonus per household and available only to households without an existing National City checking account
• $200 bonus will be credited to your account within 60 days after all conditions have been met
• Your account must be open to receive the bonus

National City checking accounts feature:

• Unlimited transactions
• Free Visa® CheckCard
• Free Online Banking
• Free Online Bill Payment
• Personal savings account (with no monthly maintenance
• fee and no minimum balance)
• Free online statements
• Free banking rewards program - points from National City®

National City Bank is one of the largest regional banks, so this promotion is limited to the residents of states where National City has business. National City branches located in IL, MI, IN, FL, KY, MO, OH, WI and PA.

This is no hard inquiry during the account opening process. But National City will check the ChexSystems.

National City Bank is seeking more capital from US government and other sources. Running checking account bonus with direct deposit is a way to attract more new customers and thus increase the deposits. I doubt whether there will be a $250 checking account bonus in the near future.

Update: National City Bank was acquired by PNC Bank today.

US Bank, the Minneapolis based commercial bank, is again offering $75 free gas bonus for opening a new checking account and make gas purchases with visa check card. This promotion is pretty nice if you want to open a checking account at US Bank because this promotion doesn’t require direct deposit.

I reported the same promotion in September. At that time, US Bank was also offering $75 gas credit for using their check card at gas stations. This promotion is listed at here. But it is not listed at US Bank website.

Some requirements for this promotion:

• Visit your local branch by 10/31/2008 (bring your printed ad to your local branch)
• Open a new Free Checking Account (depend on what kind of service you want)
• Spend up to $75 at pumps with your new check card (Non-PIN purchase is required and you must use the card up to $75 within 30 days of account opening. Gas receipts must be brought into the branch where the account was opened by 12/05/2008.)
• Minimum $50 initial deposit required
• No direct deposit required

For example, the free checking account doesn’t require any direct deposit, no minimum balance required, and no monthly fees. It’s a great checking product!

U.S. Bank has locations in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. It’s said that Warren Buffet owns stake in US Bank.

US Bank also has credit card business. Its REI Visa Credit Card offers $40 REI gift card for applying for a new REI Visa Credit Card and get approved. This credit card also offers 5% cash back for shopping at REI. Probably the most famous credit card from US Bank is the WorldPerks Visa Rewards Card which offers frequent flyer miles from Northwest Airlines. The WorldPerks Visa Signature Card offers 20,000 one-time Enrollment Bonus miles and the WorldPerks Visa Platinum Card offers 10,000 one-time Enrollment Bonus miles. US Bank also offers SkyBlue SKYPASS Visa Credit Card which is co-branded with Korean Air.

As I pointed out in my post “How can Wall Street Crisis Affect Main Street“, the number one result is we will see more banking promotions. And this is true. Most banks have to attract more customers to deposit money in their institutions to meet the requirement from FDIC.

$25 bonus from Citi Ultimate Savings Account

Citibank has a $25 bonus for opening its Ultimate Savings Account with a minimum initial deposit of $1,000. To get the bonus, you have to apply online or via phone call at 877-695-9400 with the promotion code CYA8. The $1,000 initial deposit must have to be maintained in the account for 3 months before the $25 bonus deposited to your account.

The promotion page can be found here. You should remember that:

• This offer is only available for first-time Citibank deposit account customers
• $25 bonus will be credited to your account within 120 days
• This bonus payment will be reported to the IRS as interest earned in the year credited
• NO hard pull any longer for opening a deposit account at Citibank

As a reminder, Citi has a very low ACH outbound transfer limit: $2,000 per day and $10,000 per month.

$50 bonus for opening a Capital One Online Savings Account

The $50 bonus for opening a Capital One Online Savings Account can be found here. Capital One always gives out sign up bonus for this savings account but the typical amount is $25. So I personally think this is a good catch if you want to open a savings account at Capital One.

To get the $50 bonus, you have to open an online savings account at www.capitalonedirect.com/osa1 with promotion code: BONUS50 before 10/31/2008. Of course, you have to fund this account with $25,000 within 30 days of account opening. The bonus code must be provided at the time of the application. The $50 interest credit will be deposited to your account 4-8 weeks after 11/30/2008.

This account has a very competitive rate of 3.55% APY for balance over $10,000. So far there is no nagetive reports about Capital One.

Everyone knows that current American economy is under a very bad situation. There are a lot of economists, politicians, financial advisors and bloggers talking about how the Wall Street finance crisis will hit our main street. The truth is the failure of Wall Street has already hit our main street. You would never believe that Lehman Brothers, AIG, WaMu and Merill Lynch will fall down some years ago. The question is how the finance crisis will affect our average Americans?

Based on current credit card and banking news, I think there are 5 aspects that the finance crisis will be directly related to your personal finance.

1. More Banking Promotions: this has been proved to be true! Before WaMu was acquired by JP Morgan Chase & Co, it was running 5% CD promotion. The 5% 1-year CD rate is pretty high considering the current banking status. Bank of America is offering $100 sign up bonus for opening a MyAccess Checking Account. Wells Fargo Bank is offering $50 bonus for its new customers. Chase is currently offering $125 to open a free checking account with direct deposit. (More banking deals.) The reason is very simple: banks are trying to attract more customers to bring more deposits!

2. Credit Card Limit is Reduced: I heard some of MyCardBlog.com readers complained that their credit card limit was reduced. The most ridiculous thing is that Citi sent a mail to my friend about his Citi Dividend Credit Card. The credit limit was $8,100 before he received the mail and the mail was stating:”Congratulation, because of your excellent history with us, we’re increasing your credit line to $3,800. It’s our way of saying thank you.” American Express recently cut the credit for 10% of its cardholders. All of these are indicating that your spending power might be reduced because of the bad economy.

3. Easier to Get a Loan with Good Credit but Harder to Get a Loan with Bad Credit: Even banks are suffering the finance crisis. They are still in business. They want to make money from you. If you can still maintain a good credit, this means that you are a responsible consumer and banks are willing to do business with you. I have heard many friends got instant approvals recently. However, if you are with a bad credit. You should face more rigorous credit check. Your credit performance will dramatically determine your loan rate as well.

4. Harder to Get A Student Loan: The bad news comes with the message that Bank of America and Wachovia is stopping issuing student loans. Because not only banks and mortgage companies are in crisis but also student loan industry is under crisis. Many private lending companies will also decrease the amount for issuing student loans.

5. More Deals and Ad Campaigns: It’s no doubt that your family budget has tightened due to the finance crisis. The price of every product seems going up day by day. Retailers are anticipating the tough holiday sales season ahead. You would see 42″ and up plasma and LCD TVs starting at $499 during the Black Friday! You might even see a laptop for only $99! Of course, retailers are going to spread their names more often than before. eBay working together with Microsoft is offering 30% cash back for buying qualified items on eBay. (Go to live.com and search for wii, wii cheap, xbox 360, PS3 etc. and you can see the offer link.)

There are not many credit card promotions out there but as you might discover that there are many banking sign up bonus opportunities recently. Today one of MyCardBlog.com readers sent me a link which offers up to $500 free gas for opening a checking account with direct deposit. I was shocked and wanted to share this huge promotion to many of you (This promotion is only available at many states.).

The Flagstar Bank is offering up to $500 free gas card for opening a new checking account with direct deposit. However, this is not the offer that you can redeem your $500 gas card all at a time. Instead, you can only get $25 each month and it takes 1 year and 7 months to get the $500 gas cards. Some details about this promotion can be found at www.flagstar.com/gasoffer.

Banking requirements for the $500 gas card:

• Open a primary checking account with an automatic, recurring direct deposit of income of at least $250 per month.
• Direct deposit must be established within first 60 days of account opening to be eligible.
• Minimum opening deposit is $50.
• All accounts must remain open and active for a minimum of six months.
• Offer is limited to new customers only.

How to get the $500 gas card?

As a pointed out, the redemption process takes about 19 months to get the $500 gas cards. Basically, you have to mail your receipts (>$100) to get a $25 gas voucher each month. But it’s still a good offer since you can save $25 on gas each month.

To take advantage of the offer, you have to register at www.freegasward.com which operates the promotion. After completing the registration process, you can print out your fist gas voucher which can be used immediately. Then you have to make a minimum monthly purchase of $100.00 in gasoline each month and mail the original receipts (not photocopies, or receipts collected on the same day) with your redemption voucher to: Free Gas, 14100 Walsingham Rd., Suite 36, Largo, Florida 33774.

You can only select one brand of gasoline and collect the receipts from that brand of gasoline. Receipts from other brand will be voided.

The details of the promotion can also be found at local Flagstar Bank branches.

Flagstar is the largest publicly traded savings bank headquartered in the Midwest United States (Troy, MI). The bank currently operates 171 banking centers (as of September 2008) in Michigan, Indiana and Georgia. The website of this bank is www.flagstar.com.

These days I have seen a lot of sign-up promotions from many US banks. Here are some new banking bonuses other than I previously posted two days ago.

The first one is the $50 checking account bonus from Wells Fargo. The second one is $100 checking account bonus from Provident Bank. And the third one is $150/$100 from Sovereign Bank.

I only reported one banking bonus from Wells Fargo Bank in 2007. And this one is similar to the one in 2007. The $50 bonus is a really easy free money. Because Wells Fargo doesn’t require you to maintain minimum balance with this checking account. At the same time, you don’t have to make direct deposit to this account to receive the $50 bonus. There is no monthly fees associated with this account.

To get the $50 bonus, you have to open a new Wells Fargo checking account with a minimum initial deposit of $100 (not including the $50 bonus) by October 17, 2008. The $50 bonus will be deposited to your account in 45 days after account opening. To apply online, you can go to here. Or you can call 866-245-3452 to open a new checking account.

Please note that: The $50 bonus is available with all Wells Fargo checking accounts, including non-interest-earning checking accounts, except for Wells Fargo College Checking^®, Wells Fargo Teen Checking^SM and Wells Fargo Opportunity Checking^® accounts.

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Provident Bank has a $100 checking account bonus for opening a checking account with direct deposit. The new checking account should be opened before Nov. 21, 2008. And you must have direct deposit and a Provident Master Money debit card by 12/31/08. The minimum opening deposit is $25. Offer only available to residents at DC, MD, PA, VA or WV.

The promotion page can be found here. Please remember that you have to make direct deposit to qualify for this offer.

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The Sovereign Bank is also running 2 checking account promotions.

If you open an Interest Checking Account with at least $10 and making a direct deposit into the account within 90 days of account opening. You will receive $50 bonus. If you use their visa check card and make 6 purchases, you will be awarded with another $50 bonus. The Interest Checking Account doesn’t requrie minimum balance but you have to make direct deposit to avoid monthly fees.

If you open a Premier Checking Account with a combined balance of $15,000 in 90 days, you will be awarded $100. Another $50 is awarded when you make 6 qualifying visa check card purchases within those same 90 days. The Premier Checking has a $25 monthly fee if your combined balance falls below $15,000. Please consider this before you pull the triger.

Recently, I have seen some great banking bonus offers from some major US banks. Does this mean that the economy is becoming better? I hope so.

US Bank is offering $75 bonus (gas card) for opening a free checking account in branch and using the check card associated with the account to make gas purchases. This promotion is listed in the Oakland Tribune.

Here is how to get the $75 bonus:

• Visit your local branch by 9/26/2008 (I suggest you print out the ad and take it with you. The ad can be found here.)
• Open a new Checking Account
• Spend up to $75 at pumps with your new check card

The Free Checking Account at US Bank has a $50 minimum opening deposit requirement. No minimum balance requirements. And no monthly maintenance fees. Yes, you don’t have to alter your direct deposit which is often required by some prmotional offers.

You have to pay attention on the specific requirements of the promotion offer:

• The gas purchases must be non-PIN
• The gas purchases must take place within 30 days of the new checking account opening
• Gas receipts must be brought into the branch where the account was opened by 10/31/2008

You will receive the $75 bonus in your checking account after you give them the gas receipt as required.

There is another banking bonus which I think might be of some interest to the residents at Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California.

Bank of the West is offering $100 bonus for competing a series of checking account activities.

In order to earn the full $100 bonus, you have to:

• $25 for opening a new free checking account
• $25 for using your debit card 10 times
• $25 for signing up for direct deposit
• $25 for using online bill pay

This offer requires a monthly direct deposit higher than $100. The checking account must be opened before Novmber 1st, 2008 with $100 initial deposit. This is an in-branch only offer. The pomotion page can be found here.

National City Bank just released a new checking account promotion—”the best promotion“—as rated by one of the National City branch manager. I received this information from one of the local branch manager in an email. From what I can tell, you can get $163 bonus for opening a new National City Work Perks Checking Account with at least $250 direct deposit.
Following is the email I received:

I wanted to see if you would pass some information on to your readers concerning the best promotion I have seen in my 4 years here at National City. We are now offering $163 to any customer that opens up a Work Perks account and has at least $250 direct deposited. This offer is better than any other bank that I have seen so I wanted to ensure that I let you know so I can give as many of your readers $163 as possible. This is only for new relationships to National City so anyone who has already opened there accounts are not eligible unfortunately. I have attached a flyer that tells a little about it……..Of course with this account they can get the free savings, check card, online banking, online bill payment, free checks, and Credit Card.

According to the flyer, you can get $163 bonus in 60 days after you open a work perks checking account and make first direct deposit (>$250).

Some of you might be not familiar with the Work Perks Account which I currently have. There are three Work Perks Checking Account: Work Perks Interest Checking, Work Perks Preferred Interest Checking, Work Perks Elite Checking. Only the Work Perks Interest Checking doesn’t require monthly maintenance fees and there is no minimum balance requirement for this account. Both of the preferred and elite accounts require minimum balance to avoid monthly fees. The Work Perks Interest Checking account also provide free checks. However, this account requires you to maintain direct deposit from your employer to your account. Otherwise, your account will be converted to Free Checking account. You can visit www.nationalcity.com/workperks to get more information.

Fine print about this offer:

$163 offer available for new Work Perks checking accounts opened within two weeks of a National City onsite event at any qualifying company location. Offer limited to one per household and available only to households without an existing personal checking account at National City. A Visa® Check Card must be issued, and an ACH direct deposit of your paycheck for at least $250 must be received within 60 days of account opening to qualify for this offer. Your account must be open to receive the bonus. $163 will be credited to your checking account within 60 days after all conditions have been met. $163 credit is subject to 1099 reporting. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer and may be withdrawn at any time. Rates and minimum balance to earn interest may vary, depending on Work Perks checking account opened. For example, Work Perks Interest Checking requires a minimum balance of $1,500 to earn interest. 0.10% Annual Percentage Yield for Work Perks Interest Checking is accurate as of 8/8/08 and may change before and after account opening.

It seems this is an in-branch only offer. You might have to print out the flyer and take with it to your local National City Bank. The flyer about this promotion can be downloaded from MyCardBlog.Com.

As of 2007, National City Corp. ranked number 188 on the Fortune 500 list, and 9th in terms of revenue in the commercial banks industry with total assets of about $140 billion and a market cap of $24.542.1 billion.