Whitney Bank $300 Checking + Savings Bonus – no direct deposit required [LA, MS, FL, AL, TX] [Targeted]

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $300
• Availability: LA, MS, FL, AL, & TX only
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: E-statement enrollment and 5 transactions
• Hard/soft pull: Soft
• Credit card funding: None
• Monthly fees: Waived with $250 balance
• Early account termination fee: Unknown
• Expiration date: 3/31/16

The Offer

Direct Link to Offer   Branch Locator

• Open a checking account with Whitney Bank and receive a $200 Visa gift card after enrolling in e-statements and using your debit card 5 times before 4/30/16.
• Open a Silver Savings account and receive an additional $100 Visa gift card when you deposit a total of $20,000 or more in new money and maintain your $20,000 balance through 6/30/16.
  

Account must be opened in-branch or possibly over the phone. No option to open an account online. Note that in the previous offer, some bankers weren’t able to get the offer, depending on the area etc. It may be worth calling in first to verify before making the trip.

The Fine Print

• Offer expires 3/31/16
• The checking account must be opened with new money not currently held by Whitney or Hancock Bank
• Limit one gift card per household
• New accounts must make five debit transactions (Checks, Point of Sale Purchases, or Bill Pay and excluding ATM withdrawals) and enroll in online statements by 4/30/16
• Gift cards will be sent to customer at the address of record within 4-6 weeks of offer expiration date of 4/30/16, if offer requirements are met
• The $200 VISA gift card is valid for any personal checking account
• Limit of one new bonus per calendar year

Avoiding Fees

The basic checking account (called the ‘Access’ account) comes with a $10 monthly fee, waived with a $250 daily balance and waived for those under age 24 or over the age of 64.

We don’t know if there is an early termination fee. Usually, after 6 months it’s safe to close the account, in any case.

Our Verdict

The checking offer sounds very good; it doesn’t need a direct deposit and the two requirements of e-statements and 5 transactions should be easy enough to meet. The downside is that it can’t be done online, but hopefully it’s possible to do it over the phone so you don’t have to physically go into the branch.

The savings offer is a little trickier since their interest rate is just .01% APY. You’ll need to leave the $20,000 in the account until 6/30/16, giving you an effective interest rate of like 1% – not worth it at all.

As always, you can view a full list of all the current bank bonuses by going here.

HT: CrediblePHD on Reddit