Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: Up to $200
- Availability: Must reside within Massachusetts
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+ within 45 days of account opening
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: Avoidable
- Early account termination fee:
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: March 26, 2021
Contents
The Offer
- Fidelity Bank is offering a bonus of up to $200 when you open any new CareChecking account. Regular ‘everyday heroes’ (everybody) get $100 and first responders, healthcare workers and educators get an additional $100 for a total of $200. The requirements to get the bonus are as follows:
- Receive a direct deposit of $500 within 45 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- Open any Fidelity Bank Care Checking account between February 10th and March 26, 2021 to be eligible.
- To earn $100 bonus you must have direct deposits into your new account that total at least $500 within 45 days of account opening and enroll in both online and mobile banking.
- Direct deposit is defined as a paycheck, pension, Social Security or other eligible monthly income electronically deposited by an employer or outside agency into your checking account.
- Transfers done via ATM, online banking, payment apps or websites (such as Venmo or Paypal), in branch, or from a bank or brokerage account are not eligible.
- The value of this bonus may constitute taxable income and will be reported on IRS Form 1099 (or other appropriate form).
- To earn an additional $100, you must provide a valid first responder, health care, or educator ID at account opening or prior to bonus payment. Bonus will be deposited into your account within two weeks of meeting the eligible criteria above.
- Offers valid only for new Care Checking accounts including CareFree, SecureCare, CareMore, and CompleteCare accounts.
- All account applications are subject to approval. Minimum opening deposit for eligible CareChecking accounts are: CompleteCare ($250), CareMore ($100), SecureCare ($25), and CareFree ($25).
- Offer is not valid for Fidelity Bank clients with an existing Fidelity Bank checking account and is limited to new checking account clients only.
- Limit one account per tax reported owner.
- Account must be open, active, and in good standing to receive the bonuses.
- Accounts closed within 6 months of receiving bonus will incur a $100 early account termination fee.
- Promotional offer subject to change or cancellation at any time.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
The CareFree account is eligible and this has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
Bonus forfeit if account closed within six months
Our Verdict
Has been as high as $500 with no direct deposit in the past, but that was only at one specific branch and we’ve never seen an offer like that again. The $200 bonus is probably worth doing for most people, the $100 is less ‘worth it’ but depends on how easy it is to change your direct deposit/how restrictive they are when it comes to determining what counts as a direct deposit. We will add this to our best checking bonus page.
Hat tip to reader Pete B
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
William Charles Not sure how I missed this. Looks like a $250 offer since Sept: https://www.fidelitybankonline.com/250checking/ I have not tried. Bonus clawback if not kept open 180 days.
Open/Funded the account with a CC on 02/20/2021. Single WF Direct Pay from business account 10 days later. Bonus posted 14 days later.
Applied online, denied with 28+/24 Chex inquiries. There appeared to be the option to fund up to $500 with a credit card for the account I was applying for, CareFree checking
2/14 – Applied: Online, MA
2/16 – Denied: ChexSystems (24/12)
Applied OOS. Declined 🙁
“Offer is not valid for Fidelity Bank clients with an existing Fidelity Bank checking account and is limited to new checking account clients only.”
Does anybody know how they’re defining “new”? As in ever, or a certain amount of time?
Sean X I don’t but with most banks it seems to be a year with a few it’s lifetime. I don’t see any particular time period in the terms. Before I applied I tried my old login and got the message “The Username and/or Password you entered does not match our records. Try again.” which made me assume I was no longer in their system, it had been 2 years since I had an account. I got denied with them citing Chex but I have done a lot of accounts recently.
Just want to echo that we’ll never see that $500 promo again, so if you want this, go for it. The bank shut that promo down real quick, and internally it was widely considered a big mistake.
Applied; went to pending. I’m an educator in MA so the $200 bonus is worth doing.
Denied due to ChexSystems.
Me too (lol/24) 🙁
Online application specifically indicates you can fund up to $500 on a credit card…just put mine through