Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 9/28/24: Deal is back and valid until October 28, 2024.
Update 5/24/24: Deal is back and valid until 06/24/2024. Hat tip to reader Mark
Update 9/25/19: Deal is back and valid until October 28th, 2019.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $350
- Availability: Must reside in MA, NH, ME or RI
- Direct deposit required: Direct deposit of $250 – $1,000+ required
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Yes, sensitive
- Credit card funding: No longer available
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None, bonus will post by January 28, 2020
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date:
July 8th, 2019October 28th, 2019
Contents
The Offer
- Eastern Bank is offering a bonus of $350 when you open a new checking account. The bonus you receive will depend on the direct deposit received:
- For direct deposits of $1,000-3,999.99 the incentive will be: $200
- For direct deposits of $4,000 or more, the incentive will be: $350
The Fine Print
- A minimum of $25 is required to open Eastern Free Checking, $50 to open Eastern eZ Checking, or $500 to open Eastern Premier Checking.
- To qualify for the incentive, you must open an Eastern personal checking account between 06/01/2019 and 07/08/2019 and have a recurring payroll, pension, or government direct deposit in the amount noted below post to your new checking account no later than October 8, 2019.
- Electronic credits other than payroll, pension or government benefits, such as person-to-person payments, transfers between your accounts at Eastern Bank and other institutions or brokerages, and payments through third parties such as Paypal or eBay do not qualify as a “direct deposit”. Incentive amount will vary. See the table below for details.
- The amount of the incentive paid will be based on the largest direct deposit posted to your account by October 8, 2019.
- For direct deposits of $250-$999.99, the incentive will be: $200
- For direct deposits of $1,000 or more, the incentive will be: $350
- This offer is valid for new consumer checking account customers, only. New customers are primary signers who have not had a consumer checking account since 06/01/2018.
- The account must also meet the following requirements on 10/08/2019 to receive an incentive: (a) Customer must reside in MA, NH, ME or RI. (b) Customer must be age 18 or older. (c) Account must be open and have a positive balance.
- Incentives for qualified accounts will be deposited into customer’s account no later than 10/16/2019.
- No incentive will be paid if the account is closed on the date we attempt the deposit.
- The Bank may, at its discretion, pay the incentive earlier than 10/16/19 if all the qualifying requirements have been met.
- Only one incentive per customer and one incentive per household as defined by a common address.
- Customer will receive a 1099 form for this incentive.
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no early account termination fee, but keep in mind the bonus won’t post until 10/16/2019.
Our Verdict
Previous best bonus was $200, so this is significantly better than that. Only downside is that previously you could fund up to $2,000 with a credit card and that’s no longer available but obviously that won’t be coming back so I’d jump on this offer. I’ll be adding this to our list of the best checking bonuses.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
Tried applying online with Chex frozen since they also use EWS (I believe), but no-go; it just went to review and made a person tell me to unfreeze
Eastern uses Vouched.id for ID verification
Not sure what triggers as a DD for this bank. Used places set up to code as legit DDs (Uber, Doordash, gift card reselling site) but they all appeared as “Preauthorized credit,” and upon explaining that I was paid as a contractor, they sent it into review and it was determined “the company making the deposits into the account were not traditional direct deposits.” Between being super strict on Chex and DDs, I wouldn’t really recommend.
Applied 10/7 and denied due to chex, super sensitive
Online application at/after step 3: Go to branch! We’ll give it a try again… After reading some positive DPs below.
I, too, get the same “go to branch” message. I went to the branch and opened a checking account within 10 minutes. I wasn’t asked about other accounts and 12/24 status.
Great! What’s your more recent Chex stats, if I may ask?
Dont even bother if you’ve ever gotten a bank bonus from anywhere, sensitive as can be
Surprisingly approved with 3 inquiries in last 30 days, 8 inquiries in 2024
This was after getting denied due to Chex in spring.
See my comments on other similar DOC expired thread on previous churning and in person opening from several years ago.
Thanks for posting this. I had said i wasnt going to bother with this because I got denied a few years ago both online and in person. Your dp made me try last night (i have similar stats) and i got the dreaded “in review” screen. However I got an email saying they needed to verfiy my address and to send a document. I did last night and got an email saying my app was approved and to click a link to finish sign up.
Thanks again OP! They may have loosened some of their Chex sensitivity but YMMV
Don’t bother unless your Chex is somewhat empty.
This bank doesn’t like churners.
30+ Chex inquiries, was surprisingly approved
online?
Yes never went in-branch
See my comment above, I was denied by Eastern earlier in the year via Chex and have 3 inquiries in last 30 days and they still approved my account online.
Rejected Chex 7/24
How many total, do you know? There’s an old DP here of there being a 10/report (including their pull) rule
I have about 8 savings accounts from Cambridge Trust CC funding currently at Eastern Bank… Denied last year because of Chex. Might give it a try again now that I am already a customer.