Deal has expired, looks like some accounts are being shut down now.
Confirmed as a soft pull, can also fund up to $5,000 with a credit card.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: Must live in one of the following counties:
- Illinois: Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago, Ogle, DeKalb, Kane, Dupage and Cook
- Wisconsin: Walworth, Kenosha, Racine, Rock, Green and Lafayette
- Direct deposit required: No, any ACH deposit will work
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Can fund up to $5,000 with a Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express
- Monthly fees: $10,a voidable
- Early account termination fee: $30, 90 days
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: March 1st, 2020
Contents
The Offer
- The State Bank Group is offering a bonus of $250 when you open a new account and complete the following requirements within 60 days of account opening:
- Pay at least three bills using TSBG
- Make $500 or more of qualifying ACH direct deposits
- Enroll in eStatements
The Fine Print
- Limit one bonus payment per customer, regardless of number of accounts opened.
- Your new account must be open, in the same product, and have a balance greater than zero to receive the bonus payment.
- The $250 bonus payment is subject to 1099-INT reporting and may be considered income for tax purposes for the tax year in which the bonus was paid.
- Please consult your tax advisor about your specific situation. ³
- Bonus qualifications:\ (i) open new Achieve Personal Checking account online between January 1, 2020 – March 1, 2020 with new money. (ii) enroll in online banking (iii) have a monthly occurring “direct deposit” of $500 or more made to your new account within two consecutive calendar months, after the calendar month your new account is open (iii) pay at least three bills using TSBG online bill pay within two consecutive calendar months, after the calendar month your new account is open. (iv) enroll in eStatements within two consecutive calendar months, after the calendar month your new account is open.
- $250 bonus will be credited to the eligible account within 120 days after the promotional period has ended, if all qualifications have been met.
- Account must be open and active to be eligible for the offer. Accounts who do not meet qualifications within qualification period will forfeit the bonus.
- This is a Limited Time Offer and expires March 1, 2020.
- Bonus credit will be identified as “250PROMO” on your monthly statement. New checking account will not be eligible for bonus, if applicant has closed a TSBG account within the past 90 days.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Achieve checking account has a $10 monthly fee, this is waived if you have a $2,500 average balance
Early Account Termination Fee
There is an early account termination fee of $30 if the account is closed within 90 days.
Our Verdict
Definitely worth doing with the large amount of credit card funding and the fact no direct deposit is required. Will add this to our 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
I filed CFPB complaint, which was forwarded to the FDIC for resolution. A couple months later I got a final (and only) response from FDIC telling me to pound sand. State Bank also lied to the FDIC, saying that they sent me a ChexSystem notice the day after they closed my account. In fact they never sent me any notice of closure or a a ChexSystem Adverse Action. Just received a statement a month later showing open/close within 48 hours. Super shady they lied to regulators. Would not touch this bank in the future – shame on them.
We finally got p2’s $5000 conditional credit permanently applied. Took almost 3 months! Shady doesn’t begin to describe this bank.
Anyone pull their chex report/score yet? Anything noteworthy?
Credit for P1 finally posted (or rather conditional credit became permanent credit) – 3 weeks after the fact.
Submitted requested paperwork for dispute on P2, waiting on response.
CFPB complaint submitted along with the bandwagon. To ashes with this bank!
What sort of resolution did you specify in the complaint?
Re-open account with original promotion code re-attached, The complaint has been referred to the FDIC by the CFBP and they have called me a few times trying to find the bank, they apparently can’t find it in their systems for some reason.
Do you really want to do business with such a shady bank? I sure don’t.
I requested a statement. Got one mailed… Well, half of one. There were 4 pages, 2 were missing. Of those 2, one was important, containing transactions. You can’t make this sort of incompetency up.
I did finally get my $5K credit, but P2 is still in dispute.
Funny thing, they sent me a first month statement in mail. Even though they refunded me CC $5000 fund. And I never activated the debit card after receiving.
No refund or statement…. yet. Does your statement indicated the credit and reversal of the funding deposit?
Who here still hasn’t received their refund?
I’ve received refund for myself, but not P2. The State Bank has been of no help and cannot track down where the $3,000 went. I filed a dispute with Chase once they notified me they weren’t seeing any refunds pending. What else can I be doing to get my $ back?
Alert for folks who were dumb enough to be like me and think they were on the ball: despite closing my account and instantly removing access to it, they went ahead and processed bill payments that I had scheduled back when they had welcomed me as a customer (for some days). Then those were retracted, creating fees at the receiving bank (credit card bills). Naturally, I contacted TSB, but have not received a response yet.
They did finally credit the $5,000, but that was going on 2 weeks that they held that money.
I’d request to speak to someone in senior management. They really should be refunding the fees their BS tactics caused. Maybe file a complaint with the CFPB if you get no resolution. If you’re local, go to a brand and speak with a brand mgr. It’s more difficult to discard you when you’re there in person than over the phone.
Still no refunds to either P1/P2 here credit cards. Disputes opened for both last week with conditional credits posting. This experience really does sour the trust in the banking system. They still won’t acknowledge they screwed up, blaming it first on the credit card funding then the chex report. That’s probably the most annoying thing. I’d have some respect for the bank if they owned up to it.
No new google or yelp reviews.
I did receive a response (though one has to register for their secure messaging system to read it, blergh) and they claim they will refund the fees.
submitted a CFPB but unfortuntaely state bank isn’t an option to choose so i don’t think they actaully get hit with the complaint…
anyways, got my cc funding back today. i was one of the people who was approved and hten days later the bank told me i was denied due to chex. so complete bs
these guys should get penalized for handling signups in the way they did.
Did you try reaching out to CFPB at (855) 411-2372 to inquire about how to submit complaint for a bank not in their list?
One of the sites indicated you can submit a complaint over the phone.
State Bank Group merged with Harvard State Bank and I made my complaint to HSB but noted that in my complaint. Unlikely to lead to anything, but may end up in the right hands. We’ll see.
Correction- Harvard Savings Bank.
Still no CC refunds for P1/P2 this morning. Opened up a dispute for each with the credit card bank.
Several points of concern.
* No documentation provided for funding deposit – account statement/ledger would be some form of documentation, but with closed account and without online access there is nothing
* Account cancellation email made no mention of returning funding deposit or mentioned funding deposit in any manner
* Depending who you speak to, you get a different answer. I’ve had statements that funding deposit was returned on 1/23, 1/24, 1/27, 1/28. Which is it?!@#
* $5K ($10K) is a lot of money to be floating someplace.
* Given the incompetency demonstrated by this bank, we must do what we can to protect our interests. I don’t believe any of the above is an unreasonable expectation. This is a bank after all, everything should be documented!
My credit came through this morning. Signed up on 1/20.
FYI: even with online access, there is no form of documentation.
I meant if the state bank account was still accessible online, you’d see a debit line equal to the funding amount. Maybe they’re batching the returns, who knows.
Don’t forget to pull a chex reports in a few weeks to see if anything needs to be disputed.
I also received paper statement that has the credit and debit lines.
Credit card refund came through today. Signed up 1/19.
Opened two account—then closed. Got one card refund last week, the other took several days but two different banks hold the cards. I called the card bank and they say the “see” the refund pending and I should expect credit soon. Sounds like disputes need to go to bank that holds card. I have a ton of these accounts and finding lately my Chex report is working against me. Too many accounts in too short a time seems to be the common issue. That causes red flags I guess. Just learning that banks can deny or close just on that it seems. Happened to me at another bank too—very similar. I suppose we have to be selective on where we go for the bonus hustle. I love getting something for nothing though when it works and then pack up and move the money someplace else.
Funded with $5000 CC to meet CC spending bonus. Account closed, no email, no letter, still no refund after a week. Had to call to find out anything. Anyone know if I pay my CC balance now while it meets the spend amount that the bonus will post?