Checking Account Promotions: TOP 10 in 2010! …so far

We’ve seen a great number of phenomenal checking account promotions, bonuses and deals roll through our inbox so far this year so we decided to publish a top 10 list to extend some credit to the top offers. The following types of bank accounts come in the form of either: free checking accounts with cash bonuses, cash back checking accounts, or high interest checking accounts. The promotional accounts listed below are not ALL available everywhere. Several of the bank promotions we’ve listed are available nationwide, however, a few are exclusive to a limited number of states.

These are the top 10 checking account promotions uncovered in 2010…so far. If you feel we’ve missed a deal, please let us know by leaving a comment!

TOP 10 Checking Account Promotions in 2010:

(all offers available at some point in 2010)

1) PerkStreet Checking Account: Coming in at the #1 spot with a 2% cash back offer for the first 6 months followed by 1% after the promotional period is over. After savings rates (certificate of deposit, money market and checking) have ALL taken a horrendous nose dive, cash back checking accounts have attempted to step in and fill the void. And PerkStreet Finacial is doing a fantastic job. Why is this account so valuable? Because, for example, if you spend $500/month from this account you will receive dividends of $10/month in the form of cash back ($500 X 2.0% = $10). Nothing like a recurring cash bonus from a checking account!

2) Capital One’s Checking Account Sign up Bonus: $300 – When we originally published this deal it was not confirmed, however, a number of reader comments did confirm the offer worked in several states throughout the country. The coupon code(s) for this account was RC3 and one reader suggested another coupon code (RC2) worked for a $200 bonus as well. We suggest trying the RC3 code first!

3) Citizens Bank Checking Account Promotion: Up to $220 in cash bonuses. This account is only available in certain states and the bank is headquartered out of Rhode Island. The bonus structure with this checking account promotion is set up in tiers. You earn a certain amount of cash for meeting various criteria. You get $50 for setting up the account and funding it via direct deposit, $25 after the completion of 5 bill payments, $25 after the completion of 5 debit/credit card purchases, and the final $120 when you enroll in their “greensense” or paperless program.

4) SunTrust Checking Account Bonus: up to $150 in cash bonuses. Similarly to Citizens Bank’s checking bonus, this one is set up in tiers as well. In the first tier you receive $50 for setting up the account. The second tier pays $100 and involves a 3 month process of bill payments.

5) Banco Populars Checking Account Promotion: $125 in cash plus a free “gift.” You received the $125 upon the completion of 3 very easy steps. The gift part, however, is a little vague. Supposedly individual branches were doing their own thing in regards to the gift giving, but we do know they gave out binoculars as the gift last year!

6) ReliaBank’s Ultimate Checking Account: 4.07% APY on balances up to $25k. This is a rewards checking account and requires you to make 12 monthly debit card transactions as well as setting up a monthly, recurring, direct payment of some sort. You can receive 4.07% APY on balances up to $25,000. This account is ideal for those looking for an alternative to low interest money market accounts.

7) Huntington Bank’s Checking Account Bonus: $100 in cash. This checking promotion is simple and available everywhere besides California. You receive a $100 cash bonus for opening up any one of their numerous forms of free checking accounts.

8 ) Harris Checking Account: $150 in cash bonuses. To receive this bonus you must open their interest checking account with a minimum of $100 AND set up a monthly direct deposit. They are a bit deceiving in calling this an “interest checking account” when their interest rate is just 0.05% APY.

9) Chase Bank Checking Account Promotion: $100 in cash. This promotion NEVER seems to get old. Chase seems to continually renew this offer time and time again. Although some readers have submitted negative comments about this account for various reasons, it still seems to be fairly popular among the majority.

10) Bank of America’s MyAccess Checking Account: $75 sign-up bonus. Use the coupon code CH75OL1 and fund the account with $125 within 90 days and the bonus is yours. This account is available online and in local Bank of America branches.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Review

The following is a press release that was sent in to us by Capital One Bank highlighting their new Venture Rewards Credit Card:

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) today announced the launch of Venture (www.capitaloneventure.com), a premium travel rewards credit card offering double miles on every purchase, without the restrictions frequently found in rewards programs.

There are no limits on when, where or how you earn double miles, no retailer specifications or spending categories, no separate rewards enrollment or re-enrollment requirements, and no limit on the number of miles cardholders can accumulate. Plus, cardholders enjoy easy redemption by booking on any airline at any time, with no blackout dates, no advance booking required, and no expiration.

Rewards can be redeemed for any travel related expense, such as airline, hotel, cruise line and rental car transactions. And of course, as with all other Capital One cards, there are no foreign transaction fees. “Not only does Venture allow consumers to earn miles twice as fast, it also addresses key consumer pain points associated with earning and redeeming rewards,” said Pam Girardo, spokesperson at Capital One. “Consumers are tired of restrictions that limit how they earn their miles and frustrated with redemption roadblocks like blackout dates and expiration’s that make it challenging for them to take advantage of the rewards they’ve earned.”

Features of the Venture Rewards Credit Card:

• Earn 2 miles per dollar on all net purchases, every day
• Rewards don’t expire; no limit on how many miles you can accumulate; no special spending categories; no separate rewards enrollment requirements
• No foreign transaction fees
• Get 10,000 bonus miles when you spend $1,000 in the first three months
• Fly free on any airline, any time, with no blackout dates
• Redeem for any travel purchase (air fare, hotel room, rental car, etc.)
• Simple redemption schedule: multiply the travel purchase by 100 (simply add two zeros to the cost) and trade in that number of miles to pay for it
• Exclusive customer service
• Access to benefits, including preferred access to popular entertainment, sporting and dining events and special offers from leading hotels and retailers

Top 5 Least Trusted Banks in the United States

An interesting poll was conducted by The New York Times and reiterated on Yahoo’s Finance section yesterday regarding the level of trust consumers place in their current bank. Perhaps not surprisingly, the larger banks fared much worse than the smaller institutions.

The Report: (As seen in Yahoo’s Financial Section)

Forrester’s annual Customer Advocacy rankings, ranks nearly 50 financial services firms in the United States by the percentage of each firm’s customers who agree with the statement: “My financial provider does what’s best for me, not just its own bottom line.” The results are based on a survey of about 4,500 consumers.

The Results:

As we mentioned above, the largest institutions performed terribly in this study and have apparently been performing poorly in these regards for the last seven years (even before the bank collapse of 2008).

“…large banks have generally been at the bottom of the list since the survey was initiated seven years ago, and many of the banks have alternated between the bottom spots year to year…”

Top 5 Least Trusted Banks in the Country:

1) HSBC – Among HSBC customers, only 16 percent said they agreed with the statement.

2) CitiBank – Among CitiBank customers, 26 percent said they agreed with the statement.

3) Fifth Third – Among Fifth Third customers, 27 percent said they agreed with the statement.

4) TD/Commerce – Among TD/Commerce customers, 28 percent said they agreed with the statement.

5) Capital One – Among Capital One customers, 29 percent said they agreed with the statement.

These results coincidentally came out only a couple of weeks after President Obama’s proposal to send the repaid TARP money to small banks.

Capital One Rewards Checking Account sign up bonus: $300?

Over the weekend, two people submitted a substantial checking account deal being offered by Capital One Bank and we would like to quickly highlight this bank deal although we have not yet verified it’s authenticity.

Apparently Capital One branches in Connecticut, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, and Texas (potentially more as well) are offering new checking account members a whopping $300 bonus upon owning the account for at least 6 weeks and making a few qualifying actions.

Supposedly, to qualify you must make a initial direct deposit of at least $50, hold the account for 6-8 weeks and sign up in a physical branch (not an online offer). When visiting the branch use the promotional code RC3.

This seems like a rather “to-good-to-be-true” offer considering the potential return one could incur upon opening this account ($300 bonus on a $50 deposit) and we don’t usually make note of speculated offers, however since this has been reported twice and seen on other financial blogs, we thought we’d give it mention. We have contacted Capital One and will post full details upon there arrival.

If you have tried opening this account (with success or failure) please share your experience by leaving a comment!

Capital One’s online savings account sign-up bonus: $50

Capital One has a pretty decent promotion going on with their online savings account. Thanks to BankVibe reader James for tipping us off on this one!

When you sign up for Capital One’s online savings account and fund it with at least $10,000 they will toss in an extra $50 into your account. This account is also yielding a fairly respectable 1.60% APY. 

Click here and use the promotional code: SAVER50DF

…so if my math serves me correct, this account essentially yields an APY of 2.10% APY for the first year when you add in the $50 bonus (assuming you only fund it with the minimum balance required -$10k). 

Quick breakdown:

$50 is 0.50% of $10,000.

add the 0.50% to the 1.60% they already provide and you have just netted yourself a 2.10% APY.

The national average for money market rates sits at roughly 1.25% APY to put this offer in perspective…

SmartCents Checking Account with Capital One

Every national bank seems to have their own checking account promotional offer these days. Capital One’s is slightly different than the $100 promotional offers being made through Chase Bank and Sovereign Bank (among others). It actually seems to be more of a distant relative of the “keep the change” offer through Bank of America.

Capital One’s “Smart Cents” Checking Account Deal:

• every time you make a debit card purchase or pay a bill online, $0.50 is transferred from your checking account to your savings account
• SmartCents transfers are free and the checking is free with no minimum balance required
• for the first three months they match your eligible smart cents transfers. For example, you save $100 in eligible SmartCents transfers and they will give you $100 to match it
• After 3 months they continue to match your eligible SmartCents transfers at a rate of 5%
• Additional bonuses are available as well. They will give you a $15 bonus for your first direct deposit and another $15 bonus for your first online bill pay

There is a maximum of $300 in contributions and bonuses from Capital One bank per year.

Visit this promo page for further details.