Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $150
- Availability: CT, NY, NJ, PA. While you can open online, you have to verify in branch. (no longer necessary?)
- Direct deposit required: None
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None listed
- Expiration date: None listed
The Offer
- Open a new My Choice Checking account with Valley National Bank and receive a bonus of up to $150, broken down as follows:
- $75 when you enroll in mobile banking
- $75 for completing a minimum of 20 debit card transactions of $5 or more (note $1 fee for each that is processed with a PIN) or $75 for enrolling in online banking and completing three online bill payment transactions
The Fine Print
- Requirements must be completed within 60 days of account opening
- Direct deposit is payroll, Social Security or other government benefits
- Bonus will be paid out within 90 days of account opening
- At age 26, the account automatically converts to a Perfect Checking Account
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
There are no monthly fees on this account and no early account account termination fees.
Our Verdict
It’s a shame this bonus is only open to people under 25, as it looks quite easy to receive the bonus and there are no monthly fees to worry about. I did some more research on this bonus and there are two things to be aware of:
- One FatWallet user said they don’t approve accounts with more than three ChexSystems inquiries within the past six months
- There are also some reports of people saying you have to go in branch to complete the bonus. Update: This is now confirmed in the comments.
Because of this we haven’t added it to our best bank bonus list just yet, but if you have any experiences with this bonus then please let me know in the comments below. There is also a bonus of $20 per month that Valley National Bank is offering for people that can get to a Brooklyn branch.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To 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
(x posting from the savings page)
Not sure what happened here with Chex. Applied for Valley Direct Savings through the BankBonus.com link end of Jan, insta-approved. Applied for their checking account same-day using that login hoping 1) they’d use the same Chex pull, which they did, and 2) an existing login would help, and it was sent to review. After ten days or so I emailed them at the address listed on the application status page, [email protected], and quickly after that they sent a denial email for the checking. But the denial was based on my Chex score (669 from the email, lower when I pulled a few weeks later) explicitly from 1/26, and I checked my report and the email listed a bunch of things that weren’t on my Chex score report? Namely:
NO EVIDENCE OF PROPERTY OWNERSHIP
TIME AT CURRENT ADDRESS
NON-DEROGATORY PUBLIC RECORD HISTORY
ASSET OWNERSHIP HISTORY
Not sure that it was in relation to this bank, but Gadget commented on the savings page about Transunion. Wonder if that was what they pulled…? If so, maybe freezing Transunion would make a difference for this bank, and maybe savings vs checking?
Chex stats were 0/1, 1/3, 5/6, 10/12, 20/24, 36 total
Your Chex report used to show information about your property and estimated wealth index, which is from LexisNexis. They no long show such information in the report, but it does not mean financial institutions do not pull or use it.
snailrock
Hmmm. Are you saying you think they’re pulling LexisNexis, which still has that information, or that Chex itself provides information pulled from LexisNexis, which is not on the Chex report proper (and thus not shown to the consumer when they pull their report)?
I think they have pulled your LexisNexis. This is just my untested theory: your property/asset and wealth information from LexisNexis is a necessary component for generating a valid Chex score. If a bank uses your Chex score as part of their approval decision, they will pull your LexisNexis. In this case, if you have LexisNexis frozen, ChexSystems will generate an abnormal Chex score and notify the bank. Then the bank will most likely decline your application citing frozen Chex (which actually is due to frozen LexisNexis) even if they can pull your Chex report fine.
If a bank only uses your Chex report but not your Chex score for making a decision, they do not need to pull your LexisNexis.
snailrock
ah—took a few read-throughs ngl, but I see your logic. But then why would the list of adverse factors be so different between the email and the score report Chex gave me a week and a half later? (I still don’t own any property…)
Could be different scoring algorithms (similar to FICO), or could be that the listed reasons for rejection based on Chex score provided by the bank are just picked from a longer list.
The all access rewards $240 over the first year seems promising.
Can confirm you do not need to go into branch to verify identity.
William Charles
Thanks
This is also open to AL, FL, DC, VA, WV,
And MD
It’s not because you can’t open the right account type can you?
It appears to me you can. You can click the open account button through your link. And then the other states are in the drop down menu. Gonna attempt to open for SO in Alabama and will report back
Thanks
Can confirm this works VNB My Choice Checking
2/10/17 – Account Opened – enrolled in e-statements and mobile banking
2/23/17 3 Bill payments of $1 to three diff CC
3/1/17- 75 Bonus posted as 2-$75 My choice CK ATM BP Reward
3/2/17 5 bonus posted as estatement incentive
3/8/17 – 75 Bonus posted as 1-$75 My Choice Ckg MB Reward
Total Bonus $155
Nice
Dave, thanks for DP. Any news on the limit of 3 Chex inquiries in past 6 months? How many inquiries did you have when you opened? Everything seems great but if this is a real concern I’m not gonna waste an inquiry!
Terms of offer appear to have changed slightly:
Open a new account and receive $75 for activating Mobile Banking; plus $75 for completing a minimum of 20 debit card transactions of $5 or more or $75 for enrolling in online banking and completing three online bill payment transactions.
According to the schedule of fees:
https://www.valleynationalbank.com/About/ScheduleFees.aspx
there is a $1 charge for each debit processed using your PIN.
Thanks, updated post.
what is merchat bill pay exactly?
Just paying any bill pay.
would a subscription cost qualify ?
If you can pay it with bill pay, it should work.
Can I open the account in a NYC if I live in NJ? Asking because I go to school in NYC and there’s a branch a few minutes away.
According to phone rep, it’s not an issue.
Thanks, pcgeek! Make sure you let us know you’re experience with them.
Got the “go into branch” message 🙁
Got this message on application: “To open your new VNB My Choice Checking account, visit your local Valley National Bank branch with your $0.00 deposit check to open your account, and remember to bring your valid photo driver’s license or passport for each person signing the application.”
Ain’t gonna happen… it’s a couple hundred miles to the closest branch :/
Updated post to say you gotta verify in branch.
“Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, the account cannot be funded with a credit card. You can fund it with either cash or a check. If you have any further questions, please call Customer Service at 800-522-4100.”
^Can’t fund with credit card
Thanks, Amos.