[Northeastern PA only] Fidelity Bank $525 Checking Bonus

Update 8/25/25: Deal is back active at $525. Hat tip to reader Gorb

Update 1/15/22: Deal is back, now $525.

Update 9/19/20: Deal is back, no end date listed. There is now a savings requirement as well. Hat tip to Gadget.

Update 4/20/20: Bonus increased to $500. Direct deposit required increased from $2,500 to $3,000 per month. eSatement and debit card transactions also added. Hat tip to reader Yo

Offer at a glance

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Fidelity Bank is offering a bonus of $200 when you open a new checking account and complete the following requirements within 150 days of account opening:
    • Set up your account with direct deposits or recurring credits of $2,500 per month for three consecutive months
    • client is enrolled in EZ Statements and
    • 15 point-of-sale debit card transactions per month are completed
  • Use your Fidelity Visa® Debit Card at qualifying merchants an additional 60 times over a 3 consecutive month period and earn $100
  • Open a new Fidelity Bank savings account at the same time with a minimum of $15,000 and earn an additional $200.
  • Open your new Fidelity Bank checking account online and earn $25

The Fine Print

  • Offer valid for new personal checking account customers only.
  • A $500.00 deposit will be made into your Fidelity Bank checking account when direct deposits or recurring credits of $3,000.00 per month are received for a minimum of three (3) consecutive months.
  • Requirement must be satisfied within one hundred and fifty (150) calendar days of account opening.
  • Deposit will be made on the first (1st) business day after one hundred and fifty (150) calendar days from account opening.
  • Minimum deposit to open a checking account may range between $25.00 and $1,000.00, minimum balance requirements and monthly service charges depend on which checking account is chosen.
  • Please consult your Fidelity Banker for specific product information. Minimum balance requirements and fees may reduce earnings.
  • The annual percentage yield (APY) for Performance Checking or Platinum Checking accounts is 0.05% if balance requirement of $2,500.00 is met. APY is current as of May 20, 2019 and may be rescinded or changed at any time.
  • Rates are variable and may change at any time.
  • Bonus will be reported on IRS Form 1099-Misc.
  • Cannot be combined with any other offer.
  • Customers may only receive one new checking account and savings account opening-related bonus per calendar year.
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Reliance Checking $7 Monthly Fee

This account is the easiest to keep fee free, the $7 monthly charged is waived if you do any of the following:

  • $1500 average daily balance OR
  • $400 aggregated monthly direct deposit
  • or ten (10) signature based Fidelity Visa® Check Card transactions

Early Account Termination Fee

There is a fee if closed within 180 days, but I’m unsure what this fee is.

Our Verdict

Previous best bonus was $200, that required a savings account but lower direct deposit/recurring credit. This new bonus is significantly better because the bonus is $400 and the direct deposit/recurring credit isn’t that difficult to meet. Because of that we will be adding this to our list of the best bank bonuses.

Hat tip to reader Jeff L

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On August 25, 2024, 23:20
Tags: credit card fundingdirect deposit requiredpa bank bonusessoft pull

View Comments (68)

    • If you have a self-checkout at Aldi, split transactions 50 cents at a time. That's what I do for my Citi Rewards+ anyway :) (up to 10 split payments, then I pay off the remainder in one swipe).

  • It seems like not 1 person has posted a successful or negative DP since the new offer came out. Did any of you try and are just shy?

    • @guest_1899503,

      Is that for online or in-branch also?

      @guest_1899494,

      What made you think to ask the rep if it's limited to certain counties?

      • Two things:

        1. This post has the [Northeastern PA] tag.

        2. From their website: "Fidelity Bank has branches throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley to serve your banking needs."

        In my experience, smaller banks are more strict with georestriction and aren't quite as flexible as credit unions with eligibility.

        Worst case scenario is I apply, receive a Chex hit, get denied with some bogus rationale *cough* Altra CU *cough* but still have no clear idea why in case I want to try again. Just nice to have the facts beforehand.

        • @guest_1899494,

          #1 doesn't mean anything. Check out On Tap, BluPeak, KeyPoint, Valley, among many others for evidence, if you don't believe me.

          #2 also has no relevance for the most part. That only mentions where their branches are located, not where their footprint resides.

          Now based on what you and @guest_1899503 heard from reps, it seems like @2 might be correct in the restricted tag this one time. 😀

          BTW, did you see the other comment that I tagged you in about going in-branch? I'm curious how you feel about that.

          • Sorry, but I don't follow you on either point here. You asked what made me wary of blind applying for an account and I told you. Of course there are exceptions to what I pointed out, so that's why I would confirm.

            How are you going to say negate #1 and in the same post, point out that it's something valid to consider?

            On #2, there are plenty of banks where their eligibility footprint is the same as their branch service area, especially for a small financial institution. That's absolutely something that would make me ask a rep.

            I saw your comment but I don't travel into their branch counties every week or every month. I'm typically opposed to spending any extra fuel and time going into a branch. This is a time-killing hobby for me while at my day job. If I can do it from my phone, awesome. If not, I'll keep an eye for the next one.

            Browsing through this blog, following a bank's promotional terms, and maintaining my bank bonus workbook is just about as much work as I want to put into this. If I have to research and talk to a supervisor to figure out I'm eligible, I mostly draw the line there.

          • When I wrote "What made you think to ask the rep if it’s limited to certain counties?" I meant that I wanted to know if you saw actual DPs of a limitation as I didn't see any in this post or in the terms of the offer. That's my mistake for not being clearer in my initial question.

            When I wrote "@2 might be correct in the restricted tag this one time." I was being facetious. I thought that the " 😀 " would give that away but I guess not. Most (probably 99%) of the people on DoC do not get my sense of humor at all so I guess that was my mistake again.

            I respect that you don't want to spend a lot of time on bank bonuses so I won't bother you again with any more questions. 😉

  • Bryan from their live chat says:
    "I do not have permission to disclose our exact service footprint, but I can verify if the county you actively reside in falls within the category. We would base your location on your primary residence."

    Lol wut. And they continued to dance around answering the question even though he said there was a list of counties. Big secret, huh? Not going to bother with a bank that won't even give a straight answer.

      • I own properties in several counties. And have family and friends in PA that would be interested in $550 as well.

        I get what you're saying, but why not just provide a customer with the approved service area county list? Me asking each individual county and them saying yes or no in chat or an application gets the same result without the murder mystery scavenger hunt.

        • I don't understand it either. They probably have their reasoning but it might not make logical sense to you and me.

          When Firstrust denied me for Chex recently, I asked the woman if she would tell me how many inquiries and in what time frame would have been acceptable. She wouldn't divulge it but admitted that they have certain criteria and they aren't allowed to budge from that. No harm in asking though, right?

          • No harm at all.

            Sorry about your denial. I did Firsttrust last year for some rewards points and got a headache from trying to do the redemptions, haha. Going to skip them for a while.

  • For the savings bonus..."opening a new personal savings account simultaneously"

    I don't see a way to add a savings account to the application; it looks like savings has to be opened separately from the checking. How is this done simultaneously then? Just opening them separately on the same day?

  • @will Opened this OOF early last week. Update and current status: This "fall" promotion is still ongoing, even though they've removed it their website, good through the end of year for sure. No longer possible to open in person as all their branches are now closed/open for special case appointments only, so that rules out any OOS/OOF. However, if in footprint, should open account through regular checking links on their website, customer service will follow up to confirm all and that's the time to make sure the "500checking" promo is attached. They will honor it.

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