If you’re an existing credit card member of Bank of America, you can still get a $75 bonus for signing up for a Free MyAccess Checking account through March 31, 2010.

There is a minimum initial deposit of $125 to gain access to the free account and get the $75 bonus.

Even though there is that minimum requirement, there is no minimum balance required to be maintained, although you do have to keep the account opened for at least 90 days to receive the bonus offered.

There is also no  monthly maintenance fee associated with the offer or the requirement of a direct deposit.

Other benefits include: 

• Manage your accounts easily with free Online Banking service with free Bill Pay

• Access to Customer Service 24/7 online or by phone

• Free Bank of America Visa Check Card with Total Security Protection Package

• No Bank of America charge for using non-Bank of America ATMs located in the U.S.

If you’re looking for a checking account that bears interest, this won’t be the one for you, as it’s not an interest earning checking account.
 
Remember that you must be an existing Bank of America credit card customer to take advantage of this offer, and is only applicable to the new MyAccess Checking accounts. If you have another checking account with the company but don’t have a credit card, you don’t qualify for this particular offer.

On the heels of its successful first quarter strategy of offering new checking account customers signing up for a Premiere or Interest Checking Account, Sovereign Bank is again offering $100 during the second quarter for those successfully opening a new checking account with them.

There are several thing a potential customer must do in order to qualify for the $100 bonus for opening an Interest Checking Account or Premiere Account. Here is what those steps to take are to get the incentive:

1. To qualify, you must open a new Sovereign Premier Checking, Business Owner Premier Checking, Interest Checking or Partnership Checking account by October 30, 2009, with a minimum opening deposit of $100;
2. The next step you must take is to ask for a Sovereign CheckCard (”CheckCard”) and make a minimum of 2 CheckCard purchases within 60 days after you open your account;
3. If you already have a savings or money market savings account, this next step won’t be necessary, but if not, you need to open any Sovereign savings or money market savings account with a minimum opening deposit of $100;
4. Finally, you must enroll in Online Banking at the time of the account opening. When you qualify, you will receive a credit of $100 to your new checking account within 75 days after you open your checking account. There is only one $100 credit allowed per customer.

No matter whether we’re living in tough or good economic times, it’s always best to take advantage of every type of additional source of income and interest we can in our personal finances and bank accounts, and even though a checking account interest rate will never be that high, it’s something we get for simply following the terms of service from the financial institution or bank.

In this case, the $100 dollars also has a great incentive to grab a checking account from Sovereign Bank. Another reason? According to Global Finance Magazine, Sovereign Bank is among the ten most safe banks in the world, another reason to seriously consider opening an account with them.

For new customer’s opening a free checking account and meeting a direct deposit requirement through Metropolitan National Bank, a bonus of $200 will be added to your account. The bank is nationwide, which means you can open an account from any state using their online application. People who have applied reported they require a copy of your driver’s license and a utility bill or other evidence of your name and address.

In order to qualify for the $200 bonus, you must open a free checking account and set up a direct deposit that is at least $500 per pay period. The direct deposit must be from a payroll check, government benefits or pension disbursements, and must be the full amount of the pay. About 30 days after you open the account with the qualifying direct deposit, the $200 bonus will be credited to your account. In order to keep the bonus money, you have to keep your account and direct deposits for at least six months – or you will owe the bank the $200 back. (They will remove from your account – and if there is not enough money in the account, they’ll send you a bill). In addition, the $200 bonus is reported to the IRS on form 1099-int and is treated as an interest payment.

The bank will perform a hard credit pull of your credit report when you apply to open the account, which could potentially lower your credit score if you’ve had numerous credit checks recently.

The free checking account lives up to it’s name and provides free service with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirement to maintain. Online bill pay is offered for free to account holders. As an added bonus, Metropolitan National Bank refunds foreign ATM fees when you use the Visa check card.

If you prefer an interest checking account, maintain a minimum balance as required by Metropolitan National Bank and your account will accrue interest without transaction limits that many other banks impose on interest checking accounts.

The bank is located in New York City and has been FDIC insured since 1999. It offers other banking products, including a business money market account with 2.25% APY, and Certificate of Deposits that can be opened online with rates of 2.85% APY on 12 month CDs and 3.00% APY on 18 month CDs.

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When you open an Ultimate Savings Account through Citibank with a minimum deposit of $1000, you’ll receive $25. This promotional offer is available until January 31, 2009. You do have to maintain the $1,000 minimum balance for 3 consecutive months to earn the $25 bonus. You can apply online or by calling 1-877-695-9400 (mention code CYA8 to get the promotion) and it is only available for first-time Citibank deposit account customers.

While $25 is not that much, if you’re looking for a reasonable yield interest savings anyway, the Citibank Ultimate Savings Account is a good option with a current yield of 2.75% APY – and the $25 is a nice bonus. There are no monthly maintenance fees, which helps you keep more of the money you earn through interest and your own deposit amounts.

The Ultimate Savings Account has what some people consider to be a low ACH outbound transfer limit of $2,000 per day and $10,000 per month. If this is a problem for you, you can work around it by opening another Citibank savings or money market account and moving money through internal transfers before doing the ACH transfer. Alternatively, if you initiate the ACH transfer from the other bank you’re looking to move the money to – you are not bound by Citibank limitations for ACH transfers.

It’s possible that opening a Citibank account will result in a hard pull of your credit report – although some people have reported a new policy by Citi that does not require hard credit pulls on deposit accounts without overdraft protection. If a hard credit pull is something that concerns you, verify the policy with Citibank before filling out the account application.

The Small Print:

• $25 offer available only to first-time Citibank deposit account customers
• $25 credited to account 120 days from the date you satisfy the offer terms (maintaining a $1,000 minimum for 3 consecutive months upon opening the account)
• $25 bonus payment will be included in the report to IRS regarding amount of interest earned in the year that it is earned.