Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $500
- Availability: To be a resident of New Jersey or select Eastern Pennsylvania counties (the zip code provided in your application will receive an error stating “Zip code is not valid for this application” in the event that your zip code is not in an approved area).
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $7, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: 12 months for the full bonus
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: None listed
Contents
The Offer
- Parke Bank is offering a $500 bonus when you open a new checking account with initial funding of $1,000+. Bonus broken down as follows:
- Open this special checking account and receive $250 after having two qualifying direct deposits totaling $500 or more post to your account within 90 day
- On the one-year anniversary of the account (with at least two additional qualifying direct deposits), you will be eligible for an additional $250
The Fine Print
- Minimum deposit to open account is $1,000. If the minimum daily balance falls below $1,000 a $7.00 per month service fee will be charged, and the customer will not be eligible for the $250 bonus.
- New money only.
- (Funds not on deposit with Parke Bank within the last 30 days.)
- A qualifying direct deposit is defined as a recurring direct deposit (paycheck, pension, Social Security or other regular monthly income electronically deposited by an employer or outside agency). Funds that do not qualify are credit card payments, cash advances, wire transfers, person-to-person transfers and deposits made at an ATM or physical branch.
- Product is a non-interest-bearing checking account.
- Offer may be discontinued, extended or changed at any time.
- This product is only for personal accounts.
- Business Accounts are not eligible for this promotion.
- Parke Bank employees and families of employees are not eligible for this offer.
- Limit of one bonus per customer.
- Your account must remain open to receive this bonus.
- Bonus will be credited within 30 days after all conditions have been met.
- All account applications are subject to approval.
- As stated in the Deposit Account Agreement, accounts with a zero balance may be closed, by the Bank, without prior notice.
- The value of the bonus is considered taxable income. Please consult with your tax advisor.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has a $7 monthly fee, this is waived if you have a balance of $1,000+.
Early Account Termination Fee
As far as I know there is no EATF. But account does need to be kept open for 12 months.
Our Verdict
Previously there was a bonus that was $20 per month. This is better as it doesn’t need to be opened in branch and you can get the full bonus quicker as well. We will add this to our list of the best checking bonuses.
Hat tip to ShawntheShawn
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
View Comments (69)
Update from my previous DP: I was approved yday and today got a call stating they are cancelling due to Chex. All they could say was sorry for the mixup. Bunch of idiots and a wasted chex now. FWIW my chex was 2/1, 2/3 and 10+/12.
That's pretty worrisome for me as my stats are worse than that and I haven't heard a peep from them yet. How long after you applied did they contact you? Did they call or email you?
All happened in 2 days. What is worse they did not call initially. I called to check and that is when they informed and later a manager called and mentioned in detail. I would say go to the status page and check what it says.
For P2, it was denied after reapplying with chex unfreeze, but no email or whatsoever. Found out via status page.
I feel like there should be a class action on these banks that are chex sensitive. I cannot fathom # of inquiries being a criteria.
I didn't see a Status page but was able to find it by going to the application page. For anyone interested, the Status link is below.
Anyway, it shows "Application Denied". That's terrible if they don't call or email rejected applicants.
Their initial email shows "Our Online Accounts Team will review your application and follow up with you shortly."
Do you think that I should wait another week to follow up with them to find out the reason for denial?
https://forms.fivision.com/parkebank/sc/#/
Thanks for this -- I just checked and I, too, am denied. I guess these smaller banks are finally realizing many of us are not good candidates for their bank! :(
Don't bother asking them.. It’s a dead end unless u want to hear their nonsense.
I actually do want to hear what they have to say. I probably won't be able to sway them but it never hurts to try. 😉
@2,
Can you add a bolded note to the post that everyone should make sure to do $1K+ (rather than $100) for the initial funding? @guest_1912122 and @guest_1912510 saw the warning in my comment too late, unfortunately.
Made clearer
not too late, as long as the application with $100 deposit is not approved, you can ask to cancel
Unfortunately for me, the account is already open despite calling in twice on the first business day. I will have to withdraw funds and close it. Just one of those things.
Yes, I believe that I saw the comments from you and @guest_1911888 after I made this comment. I hope that I end up getting approved also.
You ended up getting a 2nd Chex inquiry, correct?
no, only 1x, the first one was cancelled before they process
I don't think that a Chex inquiry can be "cancelled". Did you actually check your Chex report? If anything, it would be the 2nd app that wouldn't have an inquiry, I would think.
I mean the first application cancelled so they even did not bother to check the chex
They are small bank without much fancy tech or automation. They even send email to request signature card with a scanned pdf file.
I received an alert from OnAlert that a Chex inquiry was done during or immediately after the app. You followed up much later with them. I was wondering if they pulled Chex for the 2nd app.
Was denied due to chex frozen. Called and checked to check on it and they mentioned to reapply with chex unfrozen. Did that and approved.
My gut is telling me they may be checking DD carefully (based on the customer service response) and the lack of data points? Thoughts?
I funded initially with $100. Got a phone call today telling me I wasn't eligible for the promotion because of it, and he said he'd withdraw it and I could reapply.
That's really decent of them to do that. All you'll lose is an additional Chex inquiry. When did you apply?
If you fund from an external bank transfer, what does it say on the external bank's transaction? Does it mention "Parke Bank"?
my 2nd application got approved
@2,
You can also note that there is no credit card funding. The only option is to fund by ACH.
I was planning on waiting until Monday or Tuesday to apply but there are more comments than I expected in this post, so I decided to take the plunge today instead.
I 1st unfroze my Chex before applying. It was a fairly long application compared to most that I have done.
I haven't read through today's new comments yet so maybe someone else already mentioned this, but I noticed that on the “Select Accounts” screen, if you put your cursor over the “?” by the “Parke Select Checking” account, it will show the bonus details so I did a print screen of that.
Since there is no promo code, I was glad to find that as I'm always worried that something will go wrong and I won't get signed up for the promo.
Anyway, I liked the line "You must click and open each disclosure listed before checking the box and clicking accept." They must be on to people that just agree to terms without actually reading the docs. Of course I would never do something like that. 😉
On the funding screen, it showed a $100 minimum deposit required. Be very careful with this. The offer terms specifically state that a $1K minimum deposit is required or the bonus is forfeited. I bet that they will catch at least some people with that.
My account went pending like others so hopefully I will have a similar success story that @guest_1911861 did.
@2, you can update the post that they DO pull Chex as I received an email from OnAlert before I even fully submitted the app.
uh oh, I funded $100 only as well. Oh well, you win some, lose some. If I do get a call I will ask to either change the funding or close the account. Thanks for pointing out this.
confirmed, has to be 1000 during application
but you can call to ask them to cancel application and re-apply
at least it can save on your ChexSystems
Good detailed write up! Thanks
So did you go back to Chex and unfroze it before you hit submit ?
Yes, I did. Whenever I really want a bonus, I make sure to apply with my Chex unfrozen.
I only funded $100, so what to do?
You might be out of luck. Maybe you can call and request for them to cancel your app and then apply again.
You can wait for a phone call from them to withdraw it, or withdraw it yourself. Then try again.
so how many DD in total needed for the $500? 2 or 4?
confused by this "two additional" in (with at least two additional qualifying direct deposits)
You need to have 2 QDDs for a total for $500+ within the 1st 90 days of account opening for the 1st $250. You then need to have 2+ QDDs post sometime in the following 9 months to unlock the 2nd $250. There is no minimum amount stated for the 3rd & 4th DDs.
I will probably just send $250+ of DDs every month to be safe.
Remember to make sure to always keep your account balance at $1K+ or you forfeit the bonus.
I read as min $1000 balance to avoid monthly fee. I did not see anything about forfeiting the bonus.
Can you clarify?
Sure. See the bolded part of the below line that I pulled from the terms.
"If the minimum daily balance falls below $1,000 a $7.00 per month service fee will be charged, and the customer will not be eligible for the $250 bonus."
Ah so could you do it in the first 90 days than say two in month 4 and qualify?
Yes, per the terms, that should work.
got it
thanks for detailed explanation
I read it as two in the first 90 days for the first 250 and than another two deposits in a year for another 250