Update 12/1/24: Extended until December 31, 2024
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Yes, not sensitive
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: November 29, 2024
Contents
The Offer
- Bask Bank is offering a $200 bonus when you open a new checking account. Bonus is broken down as follows:
- Conduct two (2) electronic Bill Center transactions of a combined minimum total of $50, posting each month through March 31, 2025 and receive $50 per month up to $200.
The Fine Print
- Must have a new or existing Bask Interest Checking Account by November 29, 2024.
- Perform qualifying activities between September 2024 and March 2025.
- Conduct two (2) electronic Bill Center transactions3 of a combined minimum total of $50, posting each month through March 31, 2025.
- Qualifying participants will receive a $50 cash reward each month1 from September 2024 through March 2025 with continued qualifying activity. The cash reward will be paid to your Bask Interest Checking Account at the close of each statement period after all qualifying activities are met.
- If one or more of the qualifying activities are not met within a statement period, the cash reward will not be paid for that statement period.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
Unclear if there is any EATF.
Our Verdict
Seems like a nice bonus given no direct deposit is required. It’s possible that it’s ChexSystems sensitive, if it’s not I can see this bonus being pulled early due to the popularity of it.
Hat tip to Gz
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
The link still opens to the bonus, however, the terms say that the account must be opened by Nov 29.
I sent a message to clarify if the SUB is still valid or if they need to update their webpage.
Will report back.
It’s dead. Do not apply even if the banner still shows the offer. They need to update their site.
The $50 Bill Center Reward for November posted yesterday.
Mine too. Started with $250 transfer to the checking account. 2 bills on auto pay to 2 BoA CCs
250
-26
-27
+50
—–
247
—–
Now hoping BoA keeps sending checks for the overpayment without having to call them 🙂
TL;DR: Bask’s privacy practices regarding the retention of sensitive info are sketchy at best. If you provided Bask your ID/selfie at sign-up and aren’t keen on them retaining them indefinitely, you should request they be deleted in accordance with P.L. 115-174, whereby you’ll likely be told to go pound sand (if they even respond), giving you basis for a CFPB claim.
I’ve had Bask Savings accounts (interest & mileage) for several years. I decided to do this checking offer in September but was annoyed that they were requesting a copy of my ID/selfie, particularly since I already have an account with them. Their online Privacy Policy states, “We will retain your Personal Information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Policy,” so I attempted to call them to confirm the images would be deleted immediately after they confirmed my identity.
The Policy gives a contact at Texas Capital, but after calling the provided number, the clueless rep directed me back to Bask’s general customer service, who again redirected me to submit a message through the online portal. This started a month-long back and forth of boilerplate/evasive responses, where they ultimately said that they would keep the images indefinitely per regulations they refused to disclose. I pointed out that the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 115-174) states, “The financial institution must delete any copy or image of an individual’s driver’s license or personal identification card after use,” which is also in agreement with the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act that went into effect this July. After repeatedly requesting to speak to the Privacy department directly, I was finally called by a general customer service manager, who: apologized profusely; concurred that Bask’s requesting the images was excessive in the first place; stated that the Privacy department doesn’t engage with customers directly; and encouraged me to file a CFPB complaint to get a direct answer from the Privacy department (if it even exists) since they wouldn’t provide the requested information—even to him.
Glad I looked at the comments; never would’ve looked twice at the Prodege MyBankTracker offer otherwise (thanks to those who posted about it). Did the MyPoints offer and selected Bask Bank, auto-approved as an existing checking customer with Chex frozen
Just received this…
Your bill payment is delayed by one day.
Due to a technical error, your bill payment that was scheduled to be delivered today, will now be delivered tomorrow. The estimated delivery of your payment has been updated to Thursday, November 14, 2024.
Our team is taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again, and we apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any questions, we’re here to help. Contact Customer Support at 833.260.4320 Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.
Thank you.
That happened for me in October.
fdic
May I ask how much money you are keeping in the checking in general?
I dont have any CC bills to pay as of now, so I thinking of overpaying my 2 BoA cards by $26 each month for the next 4 months. Planning to keep about $500 so that it doesn look that obvious 🙂
I keep a $1 balance.
Put in $60. The $50 credits at the end of each month so you’ll hit a minimum of $2 in the 4th month and end up with $52 when you’re done.
When the $52 4th statement closes withdraw all but $1-$5.
If you want to micromanage it instead and you’ve got Bask Savings (4.85%) you can transfer between Bask accounts instantly.
Thanks. I transferred $220 and set up 2 recurring payments of $26 and $27 each to 2 separate BoA cards for 4 months. I thought lets keep enough money to cover them even if the credits dont hit.
I havent used the 2 BoA cards in years but the good thing is that they automatically send you a check if you have a negative balance for a few months
Just to confirm, you can make two payments per month on the same day to the same biller?
Worked for me.
I opened this account on September 20th. Haven’t done anything with it yet, so missed my bill pay opportunity for October. Am I SOL since I missed a month?
No. You can take advantage of the offer any 4 months through & including March 2025.
Applied on 10/31 late night and got instant approval with Chex frozen. Have to take the photos of DL and selfie at the last step.
i was instant approved too but then they made me thaw chex to finish opening
Probably I already had the savings back to 2022. After the acct approved, I was able to set up bill pay and schedule funding process.
Interesting DP. I wonder if you (
Ozzi) were a current or past customer of Texas Capital Bank (which is who pulls Chex when you apply for Bask Bank). Personally, I let them pull Chex because I figured it was going to be a hassle if I didn’t.
Yes! As the previous comment, I opened the savings in 2022 without any promo. I still keep the account with only a dollar balance.
How funny, my data point is the opposite. I applied with Chex frozen and got a message to contact customer service. They called me today and told me to unfreeze Chex and I had to reapply. Unfroze Chex, reapplied, and instant approval at 9/12.
In OP’s case, Chex was able to be “soft pulled” because they are an existing customer of the bank…
Tanuki
Oops, missed that, thank you! Interesting how another commenter was approved but had to thaw Chex after approval though.
I already have bask savings from 2022 (opened for the rate and not through SB or MP)
Do you think they will still pull Chex for an existing savings customer if I open the checking now?
thanks
QuinStreet is what the savings offer is labeled as in SB when you see your activity tracker.
Not sure about Chex pull, they didn’t double-pull when I opened each account on a different day, but I was only a day or two apart. If you’re worried about it, you can try applying with Chex froxen and see if it works (worst case, they make you thaw to open)?
Thank you. Yes, I will do that today. I recently did the Valley checking $400 and those idiots are sensitive to Chex even after opening the account (they are closing them) so trying to be careful.
The other one on my list is the Valley Direct SB/MP offer. I have the same question for that too and they are already known to be Chex sensitive.
My plan is to do Bask checking today with Chex frozen and while logged into existing account
And then try Valley Direct through MP with Chex unfrozen.
I would go in on both with Chex frozen, because you are a past/current customer of both, and let the chips fall where they may. However, could cause problems with portal tracking. GL!
fdic
thanks
I purposely opened the Savings & Checking on the same day so I did not have to worry about additional Chex pulls. Sometimes banks will let you get away with opening an additional account without pulling Chex or having it frozen, when you are an existing customer. Some times they won’t. I cannot say if that is the case here, but it’s fairly easy to find out.
fdic