If you are looking for a checking account with bonus for new customers, here’s one you want to take a look.
US Bank is currently offering a $200 new account bonus if you open a checking account with them before November 30, 2012. The bank has two flavors of checking accounts that are eligible for this promotion: the Easy Checking Account and the Silver Checking Account. The two accounts look a whole lot similar, with minor differences that probably don’t matter too much if you only want a simple checking account without too many fancy features. For example, with either account, you will get
- Free online and mobile banking with bill pay
- Free US Bank ATM withdrawals (fee may be assessed by other banks if you use non-US Bank ATMs)
- Free email and text alerts
- Free US Bank Visa Check Card
For the Silver Checking Account, in addition to the above mentioned main benefits, you can get preferred rates on new loans if you use US Bank, but I doubt how many who are going after the bonus will at the end need a loan from the bank.
These High-Yield Savings Accounts let you earn more with your money:
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I wrote early that, like many other big banks, US Bank no longer offers free checking accounts and that’s true for the two accounts covered in this promotion. Both of them have a monthly account maintenance fee of $6.95 for customers receiving monthly bank statements online ($8.95 for paper statements), but the fee can be avoided if you either
- Make $500 or more direct deposit into the account every month, or
- Maintain an account balance of $1,500 on average during the month
Though you may not like it, it has been becoming a trend among banks, big or small, that you will either maintain a certain level of minimum balance or make direct deposit or pay a monthly fee. Except for some online banks, not many brick and mortar banks offer free checking accounts these days.
For this promotional offer, a minimum of $25 is required to open the account (remember, you will have to maintain the balance to avoid monthly fee). If you are interested, you can use this link to apply and enter promotion code CK1130A. Even though on its website, it says “This offer is restricted to recipients of an offer via mail or email and is not transferable. A $25 minimum balance is required to open a U.S. Bank Checking account. ” using the promo code should be OK.