[Expired][WI + IL Only] $150 Northshore Checking Bonus – No Requirements To Get Bonus

This offer has expired, view the best bank bonuses here.

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $150
  • Availability: Must live, work, attend school or have immediate family in Wisconsin or Norther Illinois
  • Direct deposit required: None
  • Additional requirements: 10 debit card transactions
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft
  • Credit card funding: None
  • Monthly fees: $4.95+, waive-able
  • Early account termination fee: $40 if closed within 180 days of account opening
  • Expiration date: September 30th, 2015

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Receive a sign up bonus of $150 when you open a Northshore checking account with the promotional code “September 2015“. There are no other requirements to get this bonus.

The Fine Print

  • Limit 1 new checking bonus per household per yea
  • New personal households only
  • Incentive credit will be posted to the new checking account after January 5, 2015. Account must be open and have a positive balance as of December 31, 2015 to receive the incentive credit
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly fees are waived on all of their accounts for the first three months. If you close your account within 180 days of opening they will charge you an early account termination fee of $40.

eChecking $4.95 Monthly

This is waived with debit card usage and eStatements or direct deposit (wages or social security) and eStatements.

Better-Than-Free $4.95 Monthly

This is waived with an average balance of $750 or $2,500 in relationship balances or any loan or direct deposits or 10 debit card transactions.

Our Verdict

This is a great bank bonus, there are no requirements to get the bonus, it’s easy to keep the account fee free (just park $750 into the better than free account) and it’s a soft pull to open the account. You can’t really ask for much more than that. In the past Northshore have offered bonuses for $100, but this required 10 debit card transactions so this is the best deal they have offered.

If you live in the target area, I don’t see why you wouldn’t sign up for this bonus. As such I’ve added it to our list of recommended bank bonuses.
    William Charles
  • On September 16, 2015, 09:00

View Comments (11)

  • You have to close your account in the branch. I was hoping to be in and out quickly. That was not the case as I had to sit down and talk with the branch manager and then she had to call to have my debit card shut off. The whole thing took about 20 minutes

    • Yep, same here. Now my plan is to wait for 180 days, from when I opened the account, to avoid fees, then close the account.

  • WoW! I bet they do the same thing for Wisconsin, I'm in West Central Wisconsin and it seems there target area might be only in Milwaukee or somewhere close to Il.. even though it says Wisconsin on DOC, we need to have this verified before I apply and have my money locked up for weeks!

    • UPDATE: I was able to get an Account no sweat immediatly and actually logged into their Website Banking, and Mobile Banking App because they gave me the Account Number and Routing Code right after application, no money was even withdrawn yet nor the Verification deposit.. even easier!! I live in Wisconsin and asked in an email beforehand if I qualify in the Wisconsin area, sounds like anywhere in Wisconsin your ok..

  • They only serve McHenry County in Illinois. And the bank is called Illinois State Bank there. If you go to illinoisstatebank.com, you'll see it's a division of North Shore Bank and it uses the same routing number as North Shore in WI. It's because there's another North Shore Bank in Illinois and they weren't allowed to use that name.

    Would like to hear if anyone from another Illinois County gets to keep their checking account.

    And BTW, they withdrew, via ACH, 0.54 out of my other checking account that I using to fund this account, without doing the 2 deposits. They said they would credit me back the 0.54 within a week or two so if you funded with another checking account - check to see if it happened to you too.

      • Yes they took out .50 from my checking account too.

        I'm still waiting to receive my $750 back that I funded the account with.

        Disappointed this was a waste of my time and now I'm waiting for my money. It's been a week already, it better be in my checking account early next week.

        They really need to have a page on their application that clearly states who is eligible for this bonus so that people in Chicago or other IL areas don't have to waste their time applying and then waiting to get their money back once the account is closed.

        As you can tell, I'm still annoyed by this one. Really would've liked to get this easy bonus, but also didn't expect to deal with this hassle and have my time wasted.

  • I had the same thing happen to me. Received an email yesterday. Anything that can be done to have them re-open?

  • Important to note that this is Northern Illinois only. I opened an account online from Chicago and they closed it, claiming I was out of their service area.

  • What a joke. I applied and funded 5 days ago and now receive an email saying my account is being closed for not meeting the location requirement...and I live in Chicago and have family in northern Illinois suburbs as well. Clearly should not be closed.

    Thanks for wasting my time north shore.

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