Update 9/26/26: Deal is back until October 26, 2026 with promo code FALL26. Hat tip to reader Bockrr
Update 5/30/26: New $350 offer. Valid until 6/30/2026. Hat tip to reader d_duke
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $350
- Availability:Offer available in Hampden/Hampshire/Franklin counties in Massachusetts and former Hartford/Tolland/Litchfield/Middlesex counties in Connecticut
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,500+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: $500 per application
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: 90 days, $15
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date:
September 30th, 202010/21/20226/30/26
The Offer
- PeoplesBank is offering a checking bonus of $350 when you open a new PeoplesBank checking account using promo code fall26 and complete the following requirements:
- Have a minimum of $1,500 in direct deposits within 60 days of the account open date
The Fine Print
- Customers who have received promotional payouts previously are not eligible. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Offer available in Hampden/Hampshire/Franklin counties of Massachusetts and Hartford/Tolland counties in Connecticut.
- Minimum opening deposit of $10 required. The Free Checking account must be opened online at bankatpeoples.com/checking250 with the promotion code of Get250 by 9/30/2020.
- To qualify for the offer you must perform 30 point of sale (POS) debit card transactions and have a minimum of $2,000 in aggregate of mobile deposits and/or direct deposits to the new account within 60 days from the account open date.
- Although not all debit card POS transactions appear in your account immediately or may appear as ‘pending’ due to merchant processing times, these transactions will count toward the total POS debit card transactions.
- Qualifying direct deposits are electronic deposits (such as salary, pension, Government Benefits or other monthly ACH deposits) made into your PeoplesBank Free checking account from third parties.
- If you meet the criteria you will receive $250 in your account within four (4) weeks from meeting the criteria.
- Customers who have had an open PeoplesBank checking account within 12 months of new account opening are not eligible for the offer.
- PeoplesBank associates are not eligible.
- Personal accounts only.
- Limit of one promotional account per household.
- Cannot be combined with any other offer.
- Offer available only to residents of Hampden/Hampshire/Franklin counties in Massachusetts and Hartford county in Connecticut. Offer subject to change without notice.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
The free checking account has no monthly fees to worry about
Early Account Termination Fee
According to comments on previous bonuses there is an early account termination fee of $15 if the account is closed within 90 days.
Our Verdict
Previous bonus was $400. Might be better to wait for that offer to return, but before that bonus the best bonus was $300 with a direct deposit. We will add this to our best bank bonus page even though we’ve seen that bigger bonus in the past.
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
ugh wish I lived in western mass for a couple months hahah
Dont open it if you are not in county footprint. They did not pay out.
Got approved as a CT resident but was denied the bonus after hitting all other conditions for not being in Hampden/Hampshire/Franklin counties in MA or Hartford/Tolland/Litchfield/Middlesex counties in CT.
William Charles
New offer same link for new accounts from September 14 and expires October 26, 2026
I’m OOS and applied online. I was approved without issue ( I do reside in New England, so that may have been part of it) . And, yes, my Chex is high. Will update if I receive the bonus without issue.
I opened Biz and Personal account in Hartford ct branch in Mid May, no Chex pull. I’m lol/chex, and just pulled my report and nothing on it. might be worth a visit!
Denied online instate lol/24 chex
Well the fact that Pablo got it after a manual review — for other reasons — is a good sign…Guess the question is if bonuses would otherwise post automatically or not?
I’d like to know the same. Such an easy bonus I did maybe three years ago. I doubt this is a churn play. 😕
Post history: Deal has expired, there are two lots of codes both Hartford branch only. Hat tip to reader snailrock Personal checking $350: HFD35026 Business checking $650: HFDB65026 Update 11/18/25: Extended to December 31, 2025 Update 11/1/25: Deal is back until 11/17 and now $350 (up from $300). Hat tip to reader snailrock Update 9/21/24: Deal is back until 10/25. Hat tip to reader snailrock Update 3/30/24: Deal is back and valid until 5/5/24 . Requires a direct deposit now so not worth considering. Hat tip to reader ShawntheShawn Update 11/4/23: Good through 11/8/23. Update 8/7/23: Deal is back and valid until 9/13/2023. Update 10/8/22: Deal is back and valid until 10/21/2022. Has also been increased to $350 from $250.
See a new offer coming online: https://www.bankatpeoples.com/home/standalone/checking350 Banking built for peopleGet $350 with a new Free Checking accountOpen a new personal checking account by June 30, 2026 using promo code Spring26350 * But terms say must be opened online or in a banking center between 5/18/2026 – 6/30/2026 . Will wait a bit
New bonus expiring 5/15 for $350 with promo code PB0426. I can’t see it advertised anywhere — maybe a mailer? Nothing in the branch I stopped by — and there’s no dedicated page, but it’s in the truth-in-savings disclosure. They did the same thing with Zynlo I think. Should be available online https://www.bankatpeoples.com/home/fiFiles/static/documents/disclosures.pdf
May pay them a visit on Monday, this is enticing. Doesn’t seem to be any DPs on direct deposits though.
New bonuses with promo codes, say they only apply to accounts opened at the new Hartford branch. Both listed to expire 6/16 William Charles Personal checking $350: HFD35026 Business checking $650: HFDB65026 Two other ones but they suck https://www.bankatpeoples.com/home/standalone/hartford-banking-center
expired
Maybe that he’d been applying for too many accounts recently? Whether the inquiries themselves or that it lowered his Chex score?
DP: Just opened at the Amherst branch, in-footprint. I don’t know exact Chex but I’m sure it’s not pretty. I’d guess I would be rejected online based on other experiences below. However, Chex didn’t come up a single time during the process. Fast and easy, employees seem very nice and competent.
Im just on the border of Franklin and technically not even in its proper border but received the bonus. Hubby got declined. Called in and said nothing wrong with app but very selective in the process whatever that means. And I also believe it’s churnable after a number of years. I got a similar bonus in 2020 right before COVID.
I haven’t tried it. Might at some point
Has anyone confirmed it is non churnable lifetime? https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ma-ct-only-peoplesbank-bankatpeoples-250-checking-bonus-direct-deposit-not-required/#comment-1916969 My DP might be an exception though. I did receive another sign up bonus but also there was about a 6 year gap between account openings.
$350 until 11/17 William Charles https://www.bankatpeoples.com/home/standalone/checking350 Still only those 5 counties, & non-churnable. This is also the bank behind Zynlo
“ Direct deposit required” field needs to be updated – it now requires 1.5k DD in 60 days
Got a targeted mailer to a county not on their approved list. It even says on the mailer that list of counties on the site (mine is not on the list). Do they not even know where their mailers are mailed to?
declined, no reason stated. emailed asking why
got an email saying they are reviewing. will update for y/n chex dp
Do you know the reason for the denial?
Denied: “ Unfortunately, we are unable to open your new account at this time.”
I live in the targeted area, havent signed up for any new checking accounts in years, and was denied. Called the bank (because i was actually trying to sign up for legit reasons, not churning) and after the rep “checked with the back office” all she said was that it was denied. She did add that the system is “very sensitive”, so dunno. She suggested i go into the local branch but i value my time more than that aggravation. Worth noting that the initial deposit page on the signup funnel is now only displaying a debit card option, not credit.
My DP may or may not be useful so it may be more of a YMMV. When I applied, my account was approved and opened a day after the promo ended so they told me I was not eligible because of that. After some back and forth with them on the phone, they decided to give me an exception after getting it approved by the higher ups but we only discussed about getting the account opened a day late due to being stuck in review. So it looks like I will be getting the sign up bonus in about a week when it should post to my account but again, due to an exception being made. They didn’t mention anything about my first time doing the promo with them years ago (6+ years) for being disqualified so it might look like they don’t enforce it strictly but again, YMMV.