[Expired] Simple Finance: Open Protected Goals Account & Earn $150 & 2.15% APY (Up To $450 Between Two People)

This deal has expired, but there is now an offer of up to $500.

Update 10/1/19: They’ve now increased the savings rate to 2.15% on balances above $10,000.

Update 9/6/19: Bonus is now valid until September 30th, 2019. Bonus has been reduced to $150 per account (down from $250). Given how many problems people have had with this bonus and the fact that a bigger offer was so recently available, I would NOT recommend this new offer at all.

Update 8/1/19: Offer has been extended through August. They make you keep the fund there a month longer than prior. Updated below.

Update 7/6/19: There was an error with opening the protected goals accounts, this should now be fixed and you should be able to open these accounts properly.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $250 per account (up to $750 between two people)
• Availability: Nationwide
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: See below
• Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
• ChexSystems: Unknown
• Credit card funding: Unknown
• Monthly fees: None
• Early account termination fee: None
• Household limit: None
• Expiration date:  Must open by July 31st, 2019 August 31, 2019 September 30th, 2019

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Simple Finance is offering a bonus of $150 when you open a protected goals account (either individual or shared. The protected goals is an additional account you need to open after opening the original account) and complete the following requirements:
  • Receive deposit(s) totaling $10,000 or more by 9/30/19 4:59 PM PT. For details on how to deposit funds to protected goals account click here.
  • Maintain a balance of at least $10,000 in each new protected goals account through 10/15/194:59 PM PT

 

The Fine Print

• Eligible customers will receive the bonus credit to their Protected Goals Account by 11/15/19 11:59 PM PT.
• Accounts must be open and in good standing at the time of bonus credit.
• Earn $250 for each qualifying Protected Goals Account (Individual or Shared). Maximum
  of one (1) $250 bonus per eligible Protected Goals Account.
• Employees are ineligible for this promotion.
• BBVA USA may report the value of the bonus to the IRS as required by law. Any client whose tax status would require BBVA USA to impose tax withholding of any sort will not be eligible for this bonus.
• Bonus may be modified or withdrawn without notice.
• US citizenship is required for protected goals account though not safe to spend account
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

These accounts have no monthly fees to worry about

Early Account Termination Fee

According to the fee schedule there is no early account termination fee.

Our Verdict

You can open one individual account and one shared account, each account can get a bonus of $150 (this is per account, not per person for the shared account). This means if you and your spouse opened an individual account each and a shared account you could earn a bonus of up to $450 in total ($150 per account).

This is no longer a great bonus due to it being reduced to $150 per account and the fact so many people have issues with it.

In terms of the bonus itself you’ll basically need $10,000 in the account from 8/15 until 10/31 at minimum (realistically you’ll want to get the funds in there before then just to be on the safe side). That’s roughly 77 days, but I’d say 90 days to be cautious. The nice thing about this account is that it earns 2.02% APY, this competitive with other high interest accounts. This bonus is great if you have a spare $10,000 that can be used, because of this we will be adding it to our best bank bonus page.

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