Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update: Seems to be available in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: MA, CT, RI, NH, VA, ME
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,000+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Up to $250
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: $10, 90 days
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date: December 31, 2020
Contents
The Offer
- South Shore Bank is offering a $200 checking bonus when you open a new checking account and complete the requirements:
- Receive a direct deposit of $1,000+ within the first 90 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- South Shore Bank employees not eligible for the promotion. One new account per household, must be 18 years old or older.
- Promotion valid through December 31, 2020. Offer is subject to change without notice. These offers are available online for applications completed using the “Apply Now” button on this webpage, or if media campaign and promotion code are mentioned in branch. Applications submitted through other pages on the website will not qualify. Qualifying criteria must also be met to receive the $200 bonus. If a prospect decides to open a different checking account online and mentions the campaign, they will still receive the bonus. Excludes Student Checking and all Business Checking accounts.
- To receive the $200 cash bonus applicants must open and use a new Free Checking account with direct deposit totaling $1,000 or more within the first 90 days of account opening. A qualifying Direct Deposit is defined as a recurring Direct Deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security, or other regular monthly income electronically deposited by an employer or an outside agency into the new Free Checking account.
- Upon requirement completion, South Shore Bank will deposit the $200 bonus into your new account within 30 days after the initial 90 days.
- Bonuses are considered interest and may be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT (or Form 1042-S, if applicable).
- New account will not be eligible for offer if any signer has signing authority on an existing South Shore Bank consumer checking account or has closed a checking account within the past 6 months. Fees and charges may apply, please consult with a South Shore Bank representative for details.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
They offer a free checking account with no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
There is an early account termination fee of $10 if closed within 90 days.
Our Verdict
Given it’s a soft pull and there is a small amount of credit card funding this one is worth doing. Will be added to our list of the best bank account bonuses.
Hat tip to reader nurglefish
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
Bonus posted today
Employer DD Dec 31 2020
Me too. Cheers everyone.
Mine too. Used only Discover Bank ach.
Bonus posted today 3/3/2021. My work DD hit around 1/15/2021
How in footprint were you? I’m not in a surrounding county, but in MA. No bonus 🙁
I am located in Norfolk County, but I did not receive the bonus yet. I am going to wait until the 30 day payout period passes then message a representative.
Woo Guy I followed up with a rep via online this afternoon to confirm that I entered the promo code correctly. They confirmed I was eligible to receive the bonus and it should post in the next month after 90 days from account opening.
Account Opened: December 7, 2020
Bonus (Should) Post: April 7, 2020
I opened early December as well. Opening was a bit of an ordeal so not sure of the exact date they will use. Fingers crossed for the both of us.
Bonus posted today. Woo Guy
Denied by CHEX
How many in the last 12/24 months
Anyone able to sign in to the account? Tried logging in yesterday and today to check my test real DD but keep getting an error message
Eddy Cue I was able to sign a few hours after I opened the account and got an account number. I will say I’ve had at least one time checking for my deposit to go in where the site was erroring. This seems like a somewhat poor online site though it’s better than some. The linking to billpay is particularly annoying since you actually have to verify your account as if it’s external, kinda silly. If you continue to have issues logging in I’d call them. I don’t believe the “don’t call the bank” mantra applies to issues like this. I never setup my DD until it’s been a few days and I can successfully login reliably.
Chuck William Charles They are chex sensitive. I pulled my report today.
newguy Not sure I agree. I have opened 11 accounts this year and even more as secondary with P2. Last year I opened more. For me this went straight through, instant approval. I did apply as soon as it was available though so maybe they’ve locked it down.
Peek I think I may have misstated that I meant to say they pulled my chex system report as I fetched the new report on friday and I see them listed there. It does not mean that they denied the account. I was approved after that.
newguy Ah ok. Sensitive means (to me anyway) that they won’t open the account if you have too many inquiries in a certain time period they look at. I thought most banks did check your report and at least perform an inquiry. Reminds me that I do need to pull my report. I never have. I did get a look at it on the screen during an in person application and it was a very long list.
newguy that’s not what “chex sensitive” means
For MA, this is only available in the following 3 counties: Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk
M M Interesting, my account is opened, funded and I even got a welcome call. I’m not in one of those counties. Maybe they added this limitation recently?
The offer page on the bank’s web site appears to have been removed.
@Yawgoog William Charles Yep, this one looks like it’s dead.
Anyone know if the direct deposit really needs to be “recurring”?
pete ” A qualifying Direct Deposit is defined as a recurring Direct Deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security, or other regular monthly income electronically deposited by an employer or an outside agency into the new Free Checking account.”
If you want to be safe I would do at least two that total $1000. I plan to do several small ones since I can easily change my DD.
I did a one-time $1000 real employer DD, and got the bonus. So datapoint – does *not* need to be recurring if real DD.
Declined due to out of state address. I’m in CT. They said if I went to the branch they could probably open an account for me, but they wouldn’t online or over the phone.
Declined due to chex. Also said my credit score was about 100 points lower than stated elsewhere.