[AZ, IA] Bankers Trust $100 Checking Bonus

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $100
• Availability: Must be a resident of Iowa or Arizona
• Direct deposit required: Yes, see below
• Additional requirements: Yes, see below
• Hard/soft pull: Unknown 
• ChexSystems: Unknown 
• Credit card funding: Yes, up to $10,000
• Monthly fees: Up To $10.99, avoidable
• Early account termination fee: $50, 12 months
• Expiration date: None listed

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Open a new Bankers Trust Direct Checking or Max Checking account and receive a bonus of $100 when you do the following:
  • Make a deposit of at least $200 within 30 days of account opening
  • Account must be established as your primary checking account. A  A primary checking account means the account in which you routinely deposit the majority of your income or benefits from any source and against which you routinely authorize payment of the majority of your expenses each calendar month

The Fine Print

• A primary checking account means the account in which you routinely deposit the majority of your income or benefits from any source and against which you routinely authorize payment of the majority of your expenses each calendar month
• Bonus exclusions. Account owner(s) must not have had an account with Bankers Trust within the last six months. Not available with any other offer. Employees of Bankers Trust and/or its affiliates are not eligible for the bonus. Account must meet the primary checking account requirement as noted above and determined by Bankers Trust. Limit one bonus per household.
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Direct Checking – $10.99

The monthly fee on this account is waived if you have direct deposits or mobile remote deposits totalling $500 or more per month or you’re over the age of 55.

Max Checking

There is a $5 paper statement fee (avoided with eStatements) and also a monthly maintenance fee of $7. You can offset the monthly maintenance fee when you use your debit card, for each debit card transaction they will deduct $0.25 (28 debit card transctions to offset fully).

Early Account Termination Fee

An early closing fee of $50.00 will be charged if your account is closed within 12 months of opening.

Our Verdict

I don’t like this bonus at all, you need to keep the account open for twelve months and it’s hard to keep the account fee free. To make matters worse, the bonus requirements of it having to be your primary account are vague enough that they can deny you for almost any reason and most likely mean they will be manually checking each account. The only upside is the ability to fund with a credit card, but I still wouldn’t consider this bonus unless the maximum you could fund was high.

Because of the above reasons, we won’t add this to our page with the best checking sign up promotions.

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:

• A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
• 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