Chase Checking $200 bonus - FREE

[madage]

I received a mailer with a $200 bonus from Chase for opening a new checking account. That's great, but my wife and I each already have checking accounts with Chase (signed up for the bonuses). I believe this promo requires a direct deposit. We avoid monthly fees by direct depositing $500 into each account once per month. PM me if you're interested and can open a Chase account in your area.

[dragoncar]

Haha I just closed my account after meeting the requisite 6 months.  Literally sitting here with the $1500 minimum balance (to avoid fees) in my pocket contemplating if they would sell me 1500 mcdoubles at once

[kudy]

I was able to "fake" a direct deposit every month by pushing money from my Sallie Mae money market to my chase account. Seemed to be the better option, rather than tie up $1500 for 6 months. My account is now closed, and I am eagerly waiting 6 months until I can open a new account for another free $200! FYI, they will send you a 1099 so you need to report the bonus as income :(

[dragoncar]

Good to know the fake direct deposit works since you can't usually tell in advance whether it will.  Do they tell you "you had X direct deposits last month" or do you just hope that no mo they fee appears on our statement?

[madage]

I have, and regularly use, a Chase credit card, so I just pushed the $500 direct deposit towards my credit card bill every month. Direct deposits are trivially easy to mange through my employer's electronic system, which may not be the case for all.

Yes, I'm going to cancel my wife's account, which has been open 6 months, and get another bonus late this year.

[icefr]

I have, and regularly use, a Chase credit card, so I just pushed the $500 direct deposit towards my credit card bill every month. Direct deposits are trivially easy to mange through my employer's electronic system, which may not be the case for all.

I didn't even think of that! I should have done that instead of tying up the $1,500. Tying up $1,500 seemed the simplest of the options though.

Yes, I'm going to cancel my wife's account, which has been open 6 months, and get another bonus late this year.

My coupon code only allowed one account to be opened per calendar year. I guess your wife opened hers in November though so that's fine.

I thought it was a pretty sweet deal!

[dragoncar]

Yeah it's still a 26% APY on the $1500 so I figured it was worth it.  I'd like to have the account for other purposes though (extra $.1 back per CC transaction + .1%).  I may set up conflicted direct deposit next time they offer the bonus.

[madage]

I'd like to have the account for other purposes though (extra $.1 back per CC transaction + .1%).  I may set up conflicted direct deposit next time they offer the bonus.

The extra bonus for having the Chase Freedom card is a nice perk, though it used to be better. I used to get an extra .1% on all my purchases (though that didn't include bonus points) plus 10 bonus points per transaction. That, unfortunately, was too easy to game by running lots of very small ($0.01, $0.02) transactions.

[kudy]

Good to know the fake direct deposit works since you can't usually tell in advance whether it will.  Do they tell you "you had X direct deposits last month" or do you just hope that no mo they fee appears on our statement?

I know that they recognize some transfers, and don't count them. I can only vouche that a Sallie Mae transfer is treated as a direct deposit. I had text alerts enabled, so I would receive a "your direct deposit was received" text when it arrived.

[dragoncar]

I'd like to have the account for other purposes though (extra $.1 back per CC transaction + .1%).  I may set up conflicted direct deposit next time they offer the bonus.

The extra bonus for having the Chase Freedom card is a nice perk, though it used to be better. I used to get an extra .1% on all my purchases (though that didn't include bonus points) plus 10 bonus points per transaction. That, unfortunately, was too easy to game by running lots of very small ($0.01, $0.02) transactions.

But that's what I get.  Or are you sayin they took it away from you because you abused it?

[madage]

My abuse was pretty mild. I ran 10-15 very small transactions per statement. I'm saying they're phasing that particular rewards structure out for everyone in favor of a once a year 10% bonus on the total points earned. This means you get the bonus on top of the quarterly 5% categories as well as any extra points earned through the Ultimate Rewards Mall. You may not have received the notice yet, but it's coming. My account switched at the end of March.

[dragoncar]

My abuse was pretty mild. I ran 10-15 very small transactions per statement. I'm saying they're phasing that particular rewards structure out for everyone in favor of a once a year 10% bonus on the total points earned. This means you get the bonus on top of the quarterly 5% categories as well as any extra points earned through the Ultimate Rewards Mall. You may not have received the notice yet, but it's coming. My account switched at the end of March.

Oh I guess it's not really a factor any more.  I figured I was close to breaking even on the bonuses (around $6/mo based mostly on the per-transaction bonus) vs. the opportunity cost of the $1500 or the monthly fee ($10/mo).  If they are losing the per-transaction bonus, it will definitely not be worth keeping an extra checking account around.

[m8547]

I saw this thread and I wanted in, so I searched and found a link that gives you a coupon code:
https://www.chase.com/ccp/index.jsp?pg_name=ccpmapp/shared/marketing/page/51513_216746_frdm_lg&ID=0000015379&jp_aid_a=rb/xlob_200d_lib15379/int/r%E2%80%A6
(I think this expires today)

I just signed up, so now all I have to do is wait for the free money! I can't believe so many banks and credit card companies just give away free money, but I guess in this case Chase can make it back quickly enough in $12/month fees on some accounts.