[Expired] [NY, MA, RI and CT only] Webster Bank Up To $100 Checking Promotion

This deal is no longer available to new sign ups, you can view more bank promotions here.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $100
• Availability: NY, MA, RI and CT only
• Direct deposit required: Optional
• Additional requirements: See below
• Hard/soft pull: Unknown
• Credit card funding: Unknown
• Monthly fees: $5-$21.99, all waivable
• Early account termination fee: $15 if closed within 90 days
• Expiration date: October 3rd

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Receive up to a $100 bonus when you open a new checking account with Webster bank and complete the following. One direct deposit or 10 Visa debit card transactions (PIN or signature) or 5 bill pay payments. These must be completed by the 14th of November, 2014. The bonus you receive will be dependent on what account is opened:
  • $50: eChecking or Value checking
  • $75: Relationship checking
  • $100: Premier checking

The Fine Print

• Valid for new checking accounts opened between September 13th and October 3rd
• Must not have had an open checking account with Webster in the last 60 days
• Bonus will be paid into your account by the 12th of December, 2014
• All accounts have a minimum opening account requirement of $50, apart from Premier checking which is $500
• Qualifying direct deposit is limited to payroll, social security, pension and government benefits. Paypal is specifically mentioned as not counting
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

If you close your account within 90 days then you will be charged a $15 early account termination fee. Each account also comes with a monthly fee which can be avoided if you meet certain requirements, which we have listed below:

• eChecking: $5 monthly fee is waived if you receive a qualifying direct deposit of over $500 and use less than 5 paper checks
• Value checking: $11.95 monthly fee is waived if you have an average monthly balance of $1,000 or more
• Relationship checking: $16.95 monthly fee is waived if you have a monthly average balance of $4,000 or more
• Premier checking: $21.95 monthly fee is waived if you have an average monthly balance of $10,000 or more

Our Verdict

When it comes to bank account bonuses, I look to get at least $100 in value. For this bonus that means I’d need to open a Premier checking account, I’d need to keep $10,000 in funds there for three months to give the bonus enough time to hit my account and also to avoid the early account termination fee of $15.

Because Webster bank offers terrible interest rates (0.01% on balances of $0-$49,999) you’re effectively forgoing interest for that three month period. Let’s assume you have access to a savings account that earns 1% APR, you’d be loosing out on $24.75 in interest. This basically makes this account bonus only $75, rather than $100 plus the hassle of parking the money for three months.

Personally I wouldn’t recommend signing up for this offer as there are much better out there. In fact WebsterBank actually offers a $250 new account promotion which also requires you to hold $10,000 in funds in the second month after account opening, which would be a much better option. We will cover this alternative offer in detail shortly. As always, you can also view other recommended bank account offers by clicking here.

If you do decide to complete this bonus, let us know if you were able to fund with a credit card, how much you could fund and whether it was coded as a cash advance. Also please let us know if this was a soft or hard inquiry. For those wanting to complete this offer then I’d recommend doing the 10 debit card transactions, here’s a list of ideas on how to quickly and cheaply meet those requirements.

Direct link to offer | Screenshot of offer

Hat tip to @danpodheiser on twitter for alerting me to this one.