DOC Compass — Offers, decoded

Update 6/10/23: Deal is back and also available in RI & NH.

Update 10/16/22: Deal is now $325 for customer appreciation week.

Update 9/27/22: Checking bonus will be $325 for customer appreciation week (10/15-10/22).

Update 1/19/21: Same deal also available at sister bank for CT & other parts of MA. Hat tip to reader G

Update 4/4/19: Deal is back again. Hat tip to reader ellisder

Update 01/24/18: Only available in MA now unfortunately. No longer available in CT, RI (it will show the MA only restriction on second page of sign up). Hat tip to reader Sarah.

Maximum bonus amount: $200
Availability: MA (Hampden, Hampshire or Franklin County), CT, RI
Direct deposit required: Optional
Additional requirements: See below
Hard/soft pull: Soft
ChexSystems: No
Credit card funding: Can fund up to $1,000 with a credit card, Visa, MasterCard or Discover are all accepted
Monthly fees: None
Early account termination fee: Need to keep account open for 365 days to get full bonus, $10 early account termination fee if closed within 6 months
Expiration date: None listed

The Offer

Direct link to offer: MA | CT & MA, RI & NH

Open a new checking account with bankESB and receive a bonus of up to $300. Bonus is broken down as follows:
- $150 promotional offer is for enrolling in eStatements and having a minimum of $1,000 in aggregate direct deposits posted to the account OR enrolling in eStatements and conducting a minimum of 25 point of sale (POS) debit card transactions of $10 or more posted to the account within the first 90 days of account opening. The bonus will be credited to the account by the last day of the statement cycle following the 90th day the account was opened.
- $150 loyalty bonus will be paid after the account has been open for 12 months if the account is still enrolled in eStatements and has an active recurring direct deposit posted to the account within the last statement cycle OR if the account is still enrolled in eStatements and has an active debit card (defined as 5 point of sale (POS) transactions of $10 or more posted to the account within the last statement cycle). The loyalty bonus will be credited to the account by the last day of the statement cycle following the 365th day the account was opened.

The Fine Print

$100.00 promotional offer is for opening a personal checking account and activating direct deposit (of at least $25.00) or signing up for online banking and conducting 5 debit card transactions using your debit card within the first 60 days of account opening ($100.00 will be credited to the account by the last day of the statement cycle following the 60th day the account has been open).
$50.00 promotional offer is for making 5 bill payments using online banking and enrolling in eStatements within 60 days of account opening ($50.00 will be credited to the account by the last day of the statement cycle following the 60th day the account has been open).
Minors (anyone under the age of 18) are not eligible for Online Bill Pay.
$50.00 loyalty bonus will be paid after the account has been open for 12 months ($50.00 will be credited to the account by the last day of the statement cycle following the 365th day the account has been open).
All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

The basic checking account doesn’t have any monthly fees, it makes sense to just keep this account open for at least a year so you get the $50 anniversary bonus as well. There is a $10 early account termination fee if the account is closed within six months.

Our Verdict

This is a great bonus, it’s a soft pull and you can fund with a credit card and there is no direct deposit requirement. Only downside is that you have to wait 365 days to get the last $50, but not really a big deal because there is no monthly fee on the basic checking account. We’ve added this to our list of the best bank account bonuses because of how good it is.

They’ve previously had a similar $200 deal, but it required referring somebody so this is a lot less hassle for people.

Big thanks to reader, Dave who let us know. Please consider sharing bank bonuses with this site so we can make it even better.

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