MyCardBlog

Sovereign Bank is running sign-up bonus for opening a personal checking account or business checking account there.

$75 bonus for opening a Free Interest Checking Account:

• No monthly maintenance fee
• No minimum balance requirement
• Free Online Banking with BillPay
• ¼% rate discount on secured consumer loans and lines of credit^*
• No fee to use other banks’ ATMs in the U.S.
• No-annual-fee Gold Visa^® CheckCard
• Free Graystone-style checks
• Access to 2,300 Sovereign ATMs and 750 Community Banking Offices

How to get the $75 bonus?

• Open your account with a $100 minimum deposit
• Request a Gold Visa CheckCard
• Set up and receive direct deposit within the first 60 days

$300 bonus for opening a Business Owner Banking Account:

• No monthly maintenance fees
• No minimum balance requirements
• 300 basic transactions^**
• Free cash deposit processing
• 1½% discount on regular business loan rates
• More personal attention

How to get the bonus?

• Open a Free Business Checking account
  with a $500 minimum deposit
• Request a Sovereign Business Visa^® CheckCard
• Open a Business Owner Premier account
• Reach your relationship balance

Sometimes the bankers will need you to present your business license in order to open a business account for you. Sometimes you can tell them that you’re a solo proprietor and want to use your SSN as ITN. It seems it’s easier to get a business card than to open a business checking account. (check out how to apply for a business card)

Actually, Sovereign Bank is also offering $150 bonus for opening a Premier Checking Account. However, this account requires you to maintain at least $15,000 balance at Sovereign Bank. Details can be found here.

All of the promotions end on May 30, 2008.

I think the Chase “Picks Up The Tab” is another promotion that Chase Check Card holders can take advantage of. Chase first launched this promotion in the November and December of 2007. At that time, Chase expected that this promotion will make an estimated 50,000 purchase free for Chase check card customers. What’s “Picks Up The Tab”? Briefly, “Picks Up The Tab” means Chase will pick up the cost for every 500th check card purchase made without using a PIN up to $500. Obviously, our 10 million Chase check card members have to enroll in the program and make purchases without using a PIN.

This time Chase lowered the maximum amount that they will cover from $500 to $200. The odd is still 1 in every 500. The promotion will last from 04/01/08 to 06/30/08. During this time, if you are lucky to be the 500th purchase made using Chase Check Card without putting the PIN, Chase will pay the bill for you! At the same time, if you have already enrolled in the other Chase Check Card Promotion, you can take advantage of the “500th free” promotion. Because in order to get the bonus, you have to use the check card to make qualifying purchases. What’s more, the official rules for both promotion are essentially the same. You can get both promotions working on the same check card!

To enroll in this program, click here.

I was just notified by a reader at Washington DC area. He told me that there’s a Wachovia branch offering new-branch special promotions to the new customers. If you sign up for any checking account with minimum deposit of $100 before April 15 2008, you can get a $75 gift card from Wachovia after 45 days of account opening. The reason why I want to mention this sing-up bonus here is NO Direct Deposit is required to get the $75 bonus. All you have to do is open a new checking account with $100 new money and wait to receive the $75 gift card. The location of this branch is 1804 Adams Mill Rd NW, Washington DC 20009. The phone number is 202-232-1605. You can also find the location at Wachovia’s website.

As the fourth largest banking chain in the united States, Wachovia is offering new-branch specials now and then. If you have a friend who has already had an account with Wachovia, you can stack this $25 referral coupon with this $75 bonus. This will give you $100 bonus without direct deposit requirement. Of course, your friend can also get $25 bonus.

I also mentioned that a Florida Wachovia branch is also offering $75 bonus for opening a new account there until this April 15. (see this post) You might also be interested in the Wachovia Way2Save Account.

According to my “hard pull and soft pull“, a hard inquiry may hit your credit report.

Last October Chase launched the famous “get $50 for spending $500″ promotion. I believe most of us have already received the promotion bonus at the beginning this January.

Today Chase launched a new check card promotion which is similar to last time. Here is the detail:

You can get $25 for every $250 in qualifying purchases made with your Chase Visa Check Card—up to $75. (United Mileage Check Card, Leisure Rewards Check Card are also qualified for this promotion.)

All you have to do is to register your Chase Check Card through this link. Use your Chase Check Card to make qualified purchases between April 1 and June 15. Then you will receive $25 bonus in your checking account for every $250 spent on that card within 14 days.

Attention: Qualifying purchases include all debit card purchases made without using a PIN. Such “non-PIN” purchases include purchases you sign for, contactless “blink” purchases, Internet purchases, phone or mail-order purchases, small dollar purchases that do not require a signature, and bill payments (where billers process the transaction as a credit card). Cash advances and cash transactions do not qualify. If asked “Debit or Credit,” always select “CREDIT” and sign for the purchase. The money for your purchases is always deducted from your checking account when you use your debit card, even if you select “Credit.” When paying bills (e.g., utilities, cable television, telephone) with your debit card, always select “credit card” if prompted or ask the biller to process your debit card as a credit card; do not provide your PIN. The money for your bill payment will still be deducted from your checking account.

As always, if you can’t spend $750 before June 15, you can purchase some gift cards for future use. This is equal to 10% off for everything in your future purchases.

You can get more information about this promotion here.

update: I attach the screen shot after I registered my check card through above link.

I’d like to thank John for reminding me of the promotion from Key Bank. As far as I can recall, Key Bank is famous for the previous banking promotion which offered a free iPod for opening a new account with them. This time, Key Bank is offering $100 Key Possibilities gift card for opening a new Key Express Free Checking Account with direct deposit or automated payments. In order to get the $100 gift card, you have to open a Key Express Free Checking Account between 03/29/2008 and 04/25/2008. You can open an account at Key Bank local branch, www.key.com or by phone at 877-888-3658. To qualify for this bonus, you have to make a combination of two direct deposits and/or automated payments each of $100 or more by 6/27/08. If you close your account within 180 days of account opening, you will be charged a $25 account early closure fee.

Fine Print:

Must open a qualifying checking account at a KeyBank branch, Key.com or through 1-877-888-3658 between 3/29/08 and 4/25/08 and make a combination of two direct deposits and/or automated payments each of $100 or more by 6/27/08. Free checking only applies to a Key Express Free Checking account. Qualifying accounts include Key Express Free Checking (this is the basic banking account in NY) and Key Advantage®. You will receive your $100 Key Possibilities MasterCard® card within 90 days of meeting requirements. The gift card can be used at locations that accept Debit MasterCard cards. Direct deposit transactions are limited to: payroll, social security, pension and government benefits. Automated payments exclude Key Bill Pay, debit card automated payments, PayPal® transactions and account to account balance transfers. Offer available to individuals without an existing checking account at KeyBank as of 03/28/08. Offer not available to individuals who have opened a KeyBank checking account in the last 12 months. Employees of KeyBank, its affiliates and subsidiaries are not eligible for this offer. Limit one $100 Key Possibilities Card per qualifying account. Limit one $100 Key Possibilities Card per individual. Offer valid while supplies last. The $100 value of the Key Possibilities gift card received for opening a checking account with direct deposit and/or automated payments will be reported on Form 1099-INT. If you close your account within 180 days of account opening, you will be charged a $25 account early closure fee.

Features of Key Express Free Checking Account:

• No monthly maintenance service charge
• No minimum balance requirement
• 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 24-hour access to your accounts with Online Banking
• Free Key Bill Pay to pay your bills quickly and easily online

NO hard pulls were reported for opening this account at Key Bank. They need your personal information to identify you. Details of this promotion can be found here. Key Bank is the 16th largest bank in United States based on total deposit and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2007, key Bank was ranked 319 on Fortune 500.

FNBO Direct has just stated a promotion for its BillPay Account. FNBO Direct is famous for its high interest rate and easy money transfer. I believe many readers have the FNBO Direct savings account. This $25 bonus is a very easy money to get as long as you open a BillPay Account and make an online billpay in 90 days. This promotion will expire on 04/30/2008.

Details of the promotion:

* Limited Time Bonus Offer: If you are a current FNBO Direct Online Savings Account customer, you can earn a $25.00 bonus for opening a new FNBO Direct BillPay Account. We will credit the bonus to your BillPay Account within 30 days after it is opened. In order to earn the bonus, your BillPay Account must remain open for 90 days and you must make at least one BillPay payment during that period (we reserve the right to deduct the amount of an unearned bonus from any account you have with us). This offer is only applicable to BillPay accounts opened on or after 03/25/08 and is limited to one bonus per household. This promotion is set to end on 04/30/08, however, we may change or discontinue this offer at any time. The FNBO Direct BillPay Account pays an annual percentage yield of 2.50%. The APY is accurate as of 03/25/08 and is subject to change. Fees may reduce earnings.

You can find the promotion page here.

Features of the BillPay Account:

• No minimum balance required to open
• There is no monthly fee
• Paper checks cannot be used
• BillPay payments from your BillPay Account may not be less than $5 or more than $10,000
• Your ATM Card can be used at any PLUS networks ATM without a foreign ATM charge.

As far as I know, FNBO launched this account in November, 2007. It’s designed to be like ING Direct’s Electric Orange account in that there are no paper checks. The BillPay account has a current yield of 2.50% APY.

Note: NO hard pull has been reported for opening an accout at FNBO. You can always check my “Hard Pull and Soft Pull” to see whether the banks will pull your credit report when you want to open an account there.

Right now, we can find the official promotion page for the previously mentioned (this post) banking promotion from CitiBank.

If you are a new customer to Citi, you have to do the following steps to get the 40,000 ThankYou points.

1. Open a regular checking account with $1,000 deposit and then make one direct deposit or 2 bill payments for 3 consecutive months.

2. Open a Citi Ultimate Savings Account an deposit $25,000 in this account.

3. Enroll in ThankYou Network and wait for the 40,000 ThankYou Points appear in your account.

You can apply for the new account online or by phone at 866-458-9212 and mention the promotion code: CSZL.

If you are already a Citi Bank customer, you can still qualify for this promotion.

If you currently have the Ultimate Savings Account, you should open a checking account and finish the necessary activities as mentioned above. And fund this Ultimate Savings Account $25,000.

If you currently have a checking account, you should open a new Ultimate Savings Account and finish the necessary activities as mentioned above.

Read this post and then you can figure out how easily you can earn a free ticket to Asia or Europe by combining this promotion and getting extra bonus points by applying for new credit cards. Details of the promotion can be found here.

Suggested post: A Proposal—Earn ThankYou Points for A Free Trip to Europe or Asia.

PNC bank has a check card promotion in which you can earn 5% rebate on check card purchases made through July 31, 2008. You can find the promotion page is at pnc.com/offers. It seems the only requirement is that you should open a personal checking account with a PNC Bank Visa Check Card by March 31st. You’ll earn a 5% rebate on your qualifying Check Card purchases through July 31, 2008. But the rebate is capped at $100. Following is the terms and conditions:

5% rebate will be credited on a monthly basis to your checking account and will appear on your statement as Check Card Rebate. Rebate is paid at the account level, regardless of cardholder making the purchase. 5% rebate is only paid for Qualifying Purchases posting to the account through 7/31/2008 and is capped at $100 in total rebates. A Qualifying Purchase is any signature based purchase, Internet purchase, phone or mail-order purchase, bill payment, or small dollar purchase for which you are not required to sign, made with an enrolled PNC Bank Visa Check Card, which is processed or submitted through the Visa U.S.A. Inc. payment system. A Qualifying Purchase does not include a purchase made using a Personal Identification Number (PIN) or purchase you initiate through identification technology that substitutes for a PIN. Offer not available for Foundation Checking.

This promotion is available to any state. And the most existing news it that there’s no hard pull during the application process. This is like the 5% Citi CashReturns Card which will give you 5% cash back on everything for the first 3 months (only 1% now).