DOC Compass — Offers, decoded

[Expired: This deal has now expired and is no longer available. You can view the best checking promos here]

The Offer

Receive a $150 bonus when you open a Premier or Prestige checking account with First Citizen’s Bank, receive a debit card and meet one of the following requirements:
- Receive a qualifying direct deposit
- Make 5 debit card purchases
- Have 5 qualifying electronic payments

Opening this account will result in a hard credit pull. Multiple people have reported that they received a hard credit pull for opening a bank account with First Citizen’s bank.

We don’t recommend opening bank accounts that require hard credit pulls as they temporarily lower your credit score and make it harder to get approved for credit cards. You can easily find credit cards offering $150+ in value in sign up bonuses and as such you should be sticking to these.

The Fine Print

A qualifying direct deposit is a deposit of $500 or more from an employer or outside agency (social security benefit, paycheck or any other regular monthly income)
A qualifying electronic payment is a completed payment using BillPay or PopMoney
Bonus will be credited to an account 60 days after all of the conditions have been met
Minimum opening deposit is $100

Avoiding Fees

Premier Checking Monthly Fee $16

The monthly fee of $16 is waived if any of the following conditions are met:

$5,000 combined daily balance in Premier Checking, Together Card, Regular Savings, Bonus Savings, e.savings, Tiered Money Market Savings, Premium Tiered Money Market Savings, CDs, IRAs or an Investor Services Accounts OR
Direct deposits totaling $4,000 or more per month OR
An EquityLine of at least $25,000 OR
A home EquityLoan OR

Prestige Checking Monthly Fee $20

The monthly fee of $20 is waived if any of the following conditions are met:

$25,000 combined daily balances in Prestige Checking, Together Card, Regular Savings, Bonus Savings, e.savings, Tiered Money Market Savings, Premium Tiered Money Market Savings, CDs, IRAs or an Investor Services Accounts OR
Direct deposits totaling $6,500 or more per month OR
An EquityLine of at least $100,000 OR
A home EquityLoan

Early Account Closure Fee $25

This early account closure fee is waived if you keep the account open for a minimum of 180 days.

Our Verdict

Because opening this account requires a hard credit pull I won’t be taking part in this offer. I think most people will also struggle to keep their account fee free as you’ll need around $5,000 in spare cash to avoid any monthly fees. Fortunately the requirements for actually hitting the bonus are pretty easy, with only 5 debit card transactions required.

How I’d Complete The Requirements

Open Premier checking account
Do the initial opening deposit ($1,000) with a rewards earning credit card (e.g Barclays Arrival), this will earn you another $22
Send an ACH transfer of $4,050 to keep the account fee free (this will bring your balance of $5,050, which is more than the $5,000 necessary to keep it fee free)
Purchase 5 amazon $0.15 gift cards to trigger the bonus requirements (5 debit card transactions) +$150
Wait 180 days to avoid early account closure fee
Transfer money out to your regular checking account
Close account

In total you’ll make $172 in profit (possible a bit less depending on which credit card you use to fund the account). I personally value my hard credit pulls at more than this (especially considering you have to pay taxes on these bonuses) so I won’t be taking part. This would be a much better deal if no hard credit check was done.

Will you be taking part in this deal? If so, let us know in the comments section.

Direct offer link | Screenshot of the offer