Bank of the West is paying a $100 bonus for opening a new checking account.
Although the offer is available nationwide, we wouldn’t recommend it to anyone outside the 20 states where Bank of the West has more than 700 branches.
That’s because it doesn’t provide free use of ATMs at other banks — a great perk many of the best checking accounts now offer.
Without a Bank of the West machine nearby, ATM fees could gobble up your bonus in a matter of months.
To quailfy you must deposit at least $100 that is not currently in a Bank of the West account, establish a monthly direct deposit of at least $250, or pay 10 bills online, all within the first 60 days of opening the account.
You can choose from one of two types of personal checking accounts, and “Free Checking” seems like the best deal to us. No monthly fee. No minimum balance. Free online bill payment.
The other option is a “Choice Interest Checking Account,” which offers the same benefits, but in order to have the $10 per month service fee waived you have to:
- Establish a monthly direct deposit of at least $250.
- Maintain a $2,500 average monthly balance.
- Maintain a $5,000 average monthly balance in all Bank of the West accounts, including personal savings, CDs and IRAs.
- Make five or more online bill payments per statement cycle.
That seems like a lot of effort to get the miserly interest rates this checking account pays — 0.10% APY on balances below $10,000, 0.25% APY, for balances from $10,000 to $50,000, and 0.50% APY for balances above $50,000.
If you want to earn serious interest on your checking account balance, look into the rewards checking programs from Bank of the Sierra or Royal Banks of Missouri.
Bank of the West’s bonus offer ends Dec. 11.
(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
Loading ...
Add New Comment