Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 2/7/21: Terms have been updated and now state:
- Available only to residents of these counties in Kansas: Sedgwick, Kingman, Reno, Harvey, Butler, Cowley and Sumner
- There is another link Boone, Howard, Randolph, Monroe, Audrain, Calloway, Cole, Moniteau and Cooper counties, Missouri ($200 & $500)
Update 2/3/21: Links working again and valid until April 30, 2021. Hat tip to reader AllwaysLearning22
Links no longer working unfortunately. View more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Warning: People with a lot of ChexSystems inquiries have previously been approved and then had their accounts closed at a later date. Read previous posts for more data points. This deal is public whereas older deals have been targeted so it’s possible things have changed
This time it’s being advertised on Facebook, so they shouldn’t be able to say that this was a mailed offer. But I’d also recommend reading the comments on the last post as people did have issues with this bank in the past.Â
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $300
- Availability:Â Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Colorado
- Direct deposit required:Â Optional
- Additional requirements:Â Direct deposit or 10 debit purchases
- Hard/soft pull:Â Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Yes, sensitive
- Credit card funding:Â None
- Monthly fees:Â $20, avoidable
- Early account termination fee:Â None
- Household limit:Â One
- Expiration date:Â January 29, 2021
Contents
The Offer
Direct link to offers: $200 Bonus | $500 BonusÂ
- Commerce Bank has two checking bonuses:
- Earn $200 when you open a Free Checking account with the promo code WI200
- Make 10 debit card purchases within 60 days.
- Have at least $25 in your account at the end of daily processing 60 days after account opening
- Earn $500 when you open a CommerceRelationship account with the promo code WI500
- Make 10 debit card purchases within 60 days.
- Have at least $2,500 in your account at the end of daily processing 60 days after account opening
- Earn $200 when you open a Free Checking account with the promo code WI200
The Fine Print
$500 bonus:
- Limited time offer. Only one offer per household. To qualify for the $500 bonus: a) You must provide the promo code from the advertisement at the time of account opening; b) You must complete at least 10 PIN Point of Sale or signature-based purchases using your associated debit card within 60 days of account opening. ATM withdrawals, pending transactions and withdrawals at a branch using your debit card are not qualifying transactions. Transaction must post to the account within the 60-day period; c) Your CommerceRelationship Checking account must be opened and funded by January 29, 2021; d) 60 days after account opening, the account must have a minimum balance of $2,500 (or the next business day, if 60 days falls on a weekend or bank holiday). The balance will be verified after all transactions, fees and charges have been applied at the end of daily processing; and e) You must be a new customer, meaning one who has not owned a Commerce Bank deposit account in the 60 days prior to account opening. We will determine whether all requirements for the bonus have been met 60 days after account opening (or the next business day, if 60 days falls on a weekend or bank holiday). If you have completed all of the above requirements, your bonus will be paid within 8 weeks by crediting your CommerceRelationship Checking account. Maximum total bonus $500. The bonus will be reported as interest to the IRS. Commerce Bank reserves the right to determine eligibility for offer, and offer may be revoked, restricted, or changed at any time at Commerce Bank’s sole discretion. Monthly service charge waived for first 60 days after new account opening. This 60-day grace period does not apply to existing or converted accounts. To avoid a $20 monthly service fee on the CommerceRelationship Checking account, the primary account holder must maintain a $5,000 average daily balance in that account OR $15,000 in combined Commerce deposit account balances (checking, savings, money market, CDs, and IRAs). The annual percentage yield for CommerceRelationship Checking is 0.01%, as of September 22, 2020. There is no minimum balance requirement to earn the APY. Minimum opening deposit $100. Rate may change after account is opened. Fees could reduce earnings on the account.
$200 bonus:
- Limited time offer. Only one offer per household. To qualify for the $200 bonus: a) You must provide the promo code from the advertisement at the time of account opening; b) You must complete at least 10 PIN Point of Sale or signature-based purchases using your associated debit card within 60 days of account opening. ATM withdrawals, pending transactions and withdrawals at a branch using your debit card are not qualifying transactions. Transaction must post to the account within the 60-day period; c) Your Commerce Free Checking account must be opened and funded by January 29, 2021; d) 60 days after account opening, the account must have a minimum balance of $25 (or the next business day, if 60 days falls on a weekend or bank holiday). The balance will be verified after all transactions, fees and charges have been applied at the end of daily processing; and e) You must be a new customer, meaning one who has not owned a Commerce Bank deposit account in the 60 days prior to account opening. We will determine whether all requirements for the bonus have been met 60 days after account opening (or the next business day, if 60 days falls on a weekend or bank holiday). If you have completed all of the above requirements, your bonus will be paid within 8 weeks by crediting your Commerce Free Checking account. Maximum total bonus $200. The bonus will be reported as interest to the IRS. Commerce Bank reserves the right to determine eligibility for offer, and offer may be revoked, restricted, or changed at any time at Commerce Bank’s sole discretion. Annual percentage yield 0.00%. Fees could reduce earnings on the account.
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Free checking account obviously has no fees to worry about ($200 bonus). Commerce Relationship ($500 bonus) has a $20 monthly fee. This is waived if you do any of the following: $5,000 average daily balance in this account OR $15,000 in combined deposit balances (checking, savings, money market, CD, and retail IRAs)
Early Account Termination Fee
According to this comment no early termination fee is charged.
Our Verdict
The actual bonuses are great, the $200 bonus is very easy to meet the requirements for as is the $500 bonus. Main downside to the $500 bonus is needing to have $5,000 balance to keep the account fee free but even that isn’t that bad. The main issue with this bonus is how chexsystems sensitive this bank is and the issues people have had in the past. If you’re willing to take the risk this could be a great bank bonus but I suspect there will be a lot of issues with this unfortunately.
Hat tip to Andrew M
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
There’s a $300 bonus promo going on. got the below link on Instagram
https://www.commercebank.com/personal/2023/11/NMLE-free-checking-DO?utm_campaign=consumer-free-checking-nmle_cb_b2c_dep&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_conent=newmovers&fbclid=PAAaZCD_wLDEZHkUBD055d-xyfZieQYaXSZXHdmPykdV_kx_YPF-w8HVz0uK8_aem_AWlxDVSDr_LGMqOuZPcSR5nhAlw75PwjpwBmbMIs336eptkcXAQ7GUhlA5V8ySju3UYGdA9LwpzNh7kFPk_bSD2I
*This offer is not intended for the general public. Limited-time offer. Offer and promo code are not transferable and is only valid for recipients of mailed offer.
The $200 promo is code – e200oct22
I’m in the kansas city area
yea, they are chex sensitive
Any link?
http://www.commercebank.com/e200oct22
or call 800-453-2265
or visit a branch near by
promo code is e200oct22
They are chex sensitive
commerce free checking account is the one you need to open
10 debit card purchases by feb 27,2023
have at least a $200 balance on feb 27 2023
4-14-21 Account Opened
4-20-21 $2600 ACH Push
4-23-21 $2500 ACH Push (To Avoid Monthly Fees)
5-24-21 10 Various $2 transactions at gas stations completed
8-16-21 Called bank to request status of bonus and I was told I would need to wait until 9-13
9-14-21 Called bank to check status of bonus and I was told the bonus was only for Whichita residents. I indicated that I had documentation that did not indicate any residency restrictions. I was then told that the bonus would be investigated by the research department.
9-16-21 I received a phone call indicating that the deal was never posted online and it was only available to Wichita residents who received a mailer. I asked if I can send in proof where no residency requirements was listed and I was told there is no way to send them an email. I then indicated I would be filing a formal complaint with the CFPB and I was told I could file a complaint with the bank itself. The representative took down my complaint and indicated I would be hearing back from someone about my complaint. Later that day I received an email indicating the promotion was only for people who received a mailer who lived in the Wichita area. I replied with documentation showing that there was no residency restrictions.
9-23 After receiving no response I sent another email asking if my documentation was reviewed and if the bonus will be paid out. I also indicated I would be filing a complaint with CFPB.
9-23 Filed a complaint with CFPB
9-27-21 CUSTOMER BONUS 1099-INT $500
10-6-21 Received email from CFPB indicating the company is still working on the issue
11-19-21 Received response from Commerce (through CFPB). They admitted at one point that there was no targeted language at one point but they indicated they updated the terms of the promotion to be location specific on January 28, 2021 but they said since I sent in a copy of the terms that I received that did not have any location specific language they honored the bonus and paid me out.
I do not believe I was paid because of the CFPB complaint but it did help. I am also thinking that the bonus paid out automatically on 9-27-21 instead of them saying they manually credited me. In the end I got my $500 and that’s all that matters.
i brought my acc to a zero balance last week and now i cant login. get a message “invalid customer ID or password” but i know im entering htem correctly.
did commerce probably just completely cancel/close my account? if so thats fine with me but im just not sure what happened
Emptied the account to zero balance with a pull from another bank, alled the next day to close. They asked if the account had zero balance and then closed without issue.
If your account reaches $0, Commerce Bank will not charge fees as long as it’s at $0 according to representative. If your account says at 0 for a month, the account will be automatically closed, according to representative.
Best way to close is an ACH pull from another bank to empty the account. No fees.
Or you can visit a branch, write a check against your account (lol as if you ordered checks), make several small transfers out thru Commerce for $1 fee each (default daily transfer limit 1k, also has a monthly limit), or you can send a notarized letter to the bank and they will cut a cashiers check and close your account.
scares me to zero out my account intentionally and then have a bad feeling that commerce actaully will not follow what u said and ill start going negative due to them hitting me with a monthly $20 maintenance fee…
im not anywhere near a branch and dont think ill bother with a notary so i guess this my only option. ho’e you’re right!
Opened – 01.11.21
10+ transactions via Amazon, Best Buy, in person (no PIN used) through – 01.27.21
Transactions show as DEBIT CARD PURCHASE…
$200 posted – 04.13.21
bonus posted! is commerece difficult to close with, or will they close account no hassle over a secure message?
Account opened 1/11/21. $500 bonus paid 4/13/21. I did 11 or 12 small debit transactions around town. Like Pete’s Dragon below I also was inflicted with a $20 service fee due to misunderstanding of terms but it was credited back by asking. I am in the Denver area.
Got payout in Colorado, 500. Applied before terms were updated I believe to just the small counties.