Update 7/31/24: extended until 12/31/2024
Update 3/27/24: Extended until 7/31/24
Update 1/14/24: Extended until March 31, 2024
Update 7/4/23: Extended until December 31, 2023.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability:Must be a resident of Illinois
- Direct deposit required: Yes, complete 2 or more direct deposits totaling $500 or more
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $3.95, waivable
- Early account termination fee: $25, 90 days
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date: Offer expires 6/30/2023
Contents
The Offer
- Old Second Bank is offering a $300 checking bonus when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Get $50 when you – Open a new checking account online with promo code EM2 (or open in-branch and mention this ad), get a debit card, and enroll in eStatements.
- Get $100 when you meet the previous requirement and – Complete 2 or more direct deposits totaling $500 or more
- Get another $150 when you meet the requirements for the first $50 bonus, and – Open a Money Builder Savings account with a $1,000 minimum deposit and uild your savings by depositing funds; if your deposited funds total $5,000 on the 90th calendar day
The Fine Print
- An account is not eligible to receive a cash bonus under this offer if 1) the primary account holder currently has an existing personal checking account (Basic Checking, Convenience Checking, Interest Checking, Interest Plus Checking, Military Checking, Minimum Balance Checking, Premier Checking, O2 Checking, Premier Plus Checking, Convenience Plus Checking and Prime Time Checking (“existing personal checking account”) at Old Second National Bank, 2) has had an existing personal checking account open in the 12 months prior to the date of account opening, or 3) the primary account holder has received a personal checking account-related bonus in the twenty-four months prior to the date of account opening.
- The bonuses described in this ad are limited per primary account holder, regardless of the number of accounts opened.
- The new “personal checking account” (O2 Checking, Premier Plus Checking, Convenience Plus Checking, Military Checking, and Prime Time Checking) must be opened during the promotion period with the code and must have a positive balance on the 90th calendar day from the date the new personal checking account was opened in accordance with the bank’s procedures.
- Offers are only available on personal checking accounts and the Money Builder Savings account; business accounts, trusts accounts with EINs, Health Savings Accounts, employee accounts and estate accounts are excluded from this offer.
- To receive the first $50 cash bonus, 1) provide the offer code and open a new personal checking account, subject to approval, 2) apply for, be issued, and activate a debit card tied to the personal checking account within 90 calendar days of account opening and 3) enroll in e-Statements within 90 calendar days of account opening.
- To receive $100 cash bonus, 1) you must first meet the requirements of the first $50 cash bonus and 2) receive two or more direct deposits totaling at least $500 in the personal checking account within 90 calendar days of account opening.
- For purposes of this bonus offer, a direct deposit is defined as any payment made by a government agency, employer, or other third-party organization that is made via an electronic deposit. A direct deposit does not include teller, ATM, mobile, remote deposits, or transfers between accounts at Old Second National Bank.
- To receive the second $150 cash bonus, 1) you must first meet the requirements of the first $50 cash bonus; 2) open a Money Builder Savings account, which requires a minimum opening deposit of $1,000; 3) build your savings by depositing funds; if your deposited funds total $5,000 on the 90th calendar day from the date you opened the personal checking account and your account has a positive balance, you will receive any cash bonuses for which you qualified by the 100th calendar day following the date you opened the personal checking account.
- Offer expires 6/30/2023
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Money connection account has a $3.95 fee if you opt for paper statements, this is waived with paperless statements enabled.
Early Account Termination Fee
According to this comment there is an early account termination fee of $25 if closed within 90 days.
Our Verdict
Previously this was a $200 bonus, but without the savings requirements. This is an extra $100 but does require a deposit of $5,000. The savings requirement doesn’t seem to bad as you only need a $5,000 balance on the 90th day so no real deposit length requirement. We will add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses.
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
07/22: Applied for 02 Checking and Money Builder Savings
07/24: Accounts opened
07/25: Enrolled in estatement, bank pulled initial funding (kept the $1,000 in Savings to waive monthly service fee)
08/08: Received debit card
08/12: ACH $255 from Treasury Direct
08/19: ACH $255 from Treasury Direct
09/19: ACH $50 from Treasury Direct (just to show some activity)
10/17: Deposited $4,050 to Savings (account needed $5k on 90th day)
10/23: $300 bonus ($50+$100+$150)
Chex was 1/1, 3/3, 4/6, 10/12, 16/24 at the time of application
7/12/24: Opened accounts
8/19/24: Venmo as DD
August: Activated debit card (never used)
9/3/24: Venmo as DD
10/9/24: Deposited $5K on Day90
10/11: $300 bonus
Some hiccups with accounts opening, but not bad for $300.
6/6/2024: Account application.
6/12/2024: Account opened after couple of emails and manual banker intervention.
6/28/2024: Activated debit card(Never used).
6/30/2024 – 9/1/2024: A couple of real direct deposits.
9/11/2024: $150 bonus received.
10/9/2024: Account closed via chat.
Overall, it’s lot of work for $150 dollars. I wouldn’t do it again nor recommend it.
any recent DP on what counts as DD?
CHEX sensitive, attempted to open OOS with moving story, were amenable to that.
How many in the last 12/24 months?
Just checking 🙂 … My application was been in pending status so when I came back to check it today I noticed something.
On the last page, it gives option to upload files but I don’t remember the application mentioning to upload any documents. I didn’t miss a step, right?
Sometimes a Brokerage account gets accepted as a Direct deposit instead of a payroll posting. Does a brokerage cash management account transfer work as a direct deposit?
This really blew my mind 🤯. Someone from Old Second called me today and said they were reaching out since I had an account previously (closed in 2022), and they wanted to inform me about their ongoing promotional offer for up to a $300 bonus. They even offered to email me the link for starting an application.
Gadget - Bank Bonus Geek You ever heard of a bank actively promoting churning?
No, I have never heard of this before. I would assume that person is working on a commission. What would be the kicker is that they take your application to deny you for Chex.
Could very well be commission. I still have 3 months to go on my 24 month cool-down, but it would be my luck if they started being Chex sensitive.
A ha… they were trying to bait you in early and then not pay the bonus. LoL
Probably trying to boost their numbers before some big shareholder meeting… “Hey Todd, call up our past customers and get them back, pronto!”
@mothman69, thanks for your post which reminded me of this bank. Applied for both checking/savings and approved two days later (sorry, don’t know my Chex). Will use Treasury Direct for DD and deposit $5k to savings near 90 days.
Haha, you’re welcome!
mothman69 This offer is now extended until 12/31/2024. The above link works William Charles
removed
offer’s been extended to 7/31/24