Update 2/8/25: Deal is back, direct deposit optional this time.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: MA only. Eastern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire residents only
- Direct deposit required: Yes, two $250+ within 60 days
- Additional requirements: Use promo code
- Hard/soft pull: Unknown
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None. Says up to $1,000 but doesn’t seem to work
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None listed
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: October 31, 2021
Contents
The Offer
- North Shore Bank is offering a bonus of $300 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements:
- $150 promotional offer is for enrolling in eStatements and having a minimum of $1,000 in aggregate direct deposits posted to the account OR enrolling in eStatements and conducting a minimum of 25 point of sale (POS) debit card transactions of $10 or more posted to the account within the first 90 days of account opening. The bonus will be credited to the account by the last day of the statement cycle following the 90th day the account was opened.
- $150 loyalty bonus will be paid after the account has been open for 12 months if the account is still enrolled in eStatements and has an active recurring direct deposit posted to the account within the last statement cycle OR if the account is still enrolled in eStatements and has an active debit card (defined as 5 point of sale (POS) transactions of $10 or more posted to the account within the last statement cycle). The loyalty bonus will be credited to the account by the last day of the statement cycle following the 365th day the account was opened.
The Fine Print
- Customers who have previously received a bonus on a checking account from the bank are not eligible.
- To qualify for the $300 bonus you must not currently have a personal checking account with North Shore Bank.
- Accounts must be opened between August 1, 2021 and October 31, 2021 at the 31 Harnden Street, Reading Branch, or online at northshore-bank.com/ready with the code READING300 and must receive a recurring direct deposit of at least $250 within 60 days of account opening.
- Direct deposits may include salary, pension, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits or other regularly scheduled electronic deposits.
- Accounts that are overdrawn during the promotional period will be ineligible to receive the bonus.
- Once the offer criteria is met, and after at least two direct deposits are credited to the account, the $300 will be paid no later than 90 days from account opening.
- We may change or discontinue this offer at any time without notice.
- We will report the $300 bonus to the IRS as interest for the year in which it is received.
- One bonus per individual as identified by Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
There is a free checking account with no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
I wasn’t able to find any EATF in the fee schedule.
Our Verdict
Not to be confused with the other North Shore Bank. Bonus looks to be relatively easy, just need to know if it’s a hard or soft pull.
Hat tip to Michael R
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
Auto-approved in-state, OOF. They pulled Chex as “Abington Bank.” My Chex inquiry numbers were:
1/1 (near a month ago)
2/2
3/3
9/6
12/12
22/24
29 total
Here is the status center for the app: https://forms.fivision.com/nsb/sc/
It asked some security questions, what counties you’ve lived in, etc — I forget what those are, Equifax? It had $1000 max cc funding, Visa/Mastercard/Discover, but that also could have been per account.
They sent me a Notice of Delayed Availability in the mail about the cc deposit. Never had that happen before. Better than getting it closed I suppose!
Still zip code restricted with online app – tried to apply OOS since last DP was from 2021. Input my address and received a message that I’m ineligible.
It doesn’t seem like this is in-branch only, does it? There’s an “open now” button soon after it’s mentioned on the page, and all it says is “Specials available at any North Shore Bank office“
edit: nevermind, there’s a whole thread on it
Added
I’m assuming that you can’t get this in addition to the Abington Bank bonus? (now that Abington is listed as ‘a division of North Shore Bank’)
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ma-only-abington-bank-200-checking-bonus/
Maybe you can if you closed your Abington before it merged with North Shore.
Also wondering this. They have separate log ins online so the systems may not fully be synced up yet?
New offer 300 back for opening checking account
https://www.northshore-bank.com/landing/north-shore-bank-personal-checking/
It doesn’t look like there’s an in-branch requirement, unless I’m missing it. Anyone see otherwise?
This is why I have trust issues and never listen to the DoC headers
Does this mean it might be nationwide?
Might be old information, initial post was in 2021.
William Charles
William Charles
Capital One did not trigger the DD requirement for this bonus
Can anyone share a screen shot of the offer terms showing online opening was eligible back in August?
I emailed the bank asking about my eligibility since it was past 90 days since account opening. They confirmed I met the requirements and manually credited the bonus. The terms changed mid-afternoon EST on August 24th.
Thank you, I had the same experience. Had to call them and ask to get manually credited. Applied on August 24th under the old terms on the website.
I opened an account on 8/24 with the code READING300 before the T&C changed to in-branch only. I completed 2 $251 direct deposits from my employer, but I did not receive the bonus like the two datapoints below. I guess I will wait until after 90 days from account opening, per T&C, to see what happens.
Bonus posted today for me as well.