Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $100
- Availability: Must reside in a town with a Middlesex Savings Bank office or in a town contiguous to a town with a Middlesex savings Bank Office (all branches are located in Massachusetts)
- Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum specified
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft (note we only have one data point from back in 2006 and it was a soft pull for opening a CD)
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: $3+ waiveable
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Expiration date: Valid until April 30th, 2015
The Offer
- Receive a bonus of $100 when you open any checking account with Middlesex savings bank with the promotional code “SWITCH2015” and receive at least one direct deposit (no minimum specified)
The Fine Print
- Must not have a checking account with Middlesex Savings bank
- Valid until April 30th
- Minimum opening deposit of $1
- Direct deposit must be received within 45 days of account opening
- $100 will be mailed within 30 days of the first direct deposit hitting the account
- Not valid when combined with any other offers
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
We’re unsure if there is an early account termination fee as we were unable to find the fee schedule. There are a total of five different checking accounts you can open, all of them can be viewed and compared here. There is really only two accounts you should consider:
- Basic $3 monthly fee. It’s not possible to waive this monthly fee
- eBlue $5 monthly fee. Monthly fee is waived if you have an average monthly balance of $100 or more.
Our Verdict
The only downside to this bonus is that we don’t know what is considered a direct deposit. That being said, if I lived in the target area I’d probably complete this deal (it just requires a direct deposit and it’s easy to keep the account fee free). Here is what I’d do:
- Open the eBlue checking account, use a credit card with the cash advance limit set to $0 to initially fund it
- If that is not possible, add $100 in funds via direct deposit (I can split my paycheck online, but if you can’t do that then an ACH transfer usually works). This would trigger the direct deposit bonus requirement and make the account fee free
- Wait for my bonus to post
- Wait six months to avoid any early account termination fees that they might charge
- Transfer money out of the account and then close it
Obviously this bonus is relatively small, so make sure you complete our recommended bonuses first. We’ve added this bonus to our complete listing of all new checking account promotions.
Direct link to offer | Screenshot of offer
https://www.middlesexbank.com/cash200
“To qualify, the debit card(s) associated with the account must be used at least eight (8) times within the first sixty (60) days of account opening. Transactions must post and clear within the 60-day timeframe to be counted. Following verification of debit card usage for qualifying accounts, a $200 check will be mailed to the primary accountholder to the address provided at account opening within 90 days of account opening.”