| One of the things that I have been seeing more and | | | | this because the process of switching my direct |
| more of these days is the teaser offer by banks to | | | | deposit information with my employer was much less |
| open up a checking account with them. The most | | | | than an easy process. You may want to ask your |
| effective ones offer you straight cash, but I have | | | | employer about this before doing so. And if you |
| seen them offer anything from gift cards to just | | | | forget to switch it back, you may find yourself with |
| about anything else you can think of. | | | | not enough money in your regular bank account to |
| Of course, the first thing that comes to my mind is | | | | cover your bills. |
| to open up the checking account, fulfill any | | | | Don't forget about them! As I said, I opened up my |
| requirements they have for the free money, get the | | | | three accounts, fulfilled the requirements, got my |
| free money and then forget about the account. | | | | cash reward, withdrew most of the money out of |
| That's not what the bank has in mind but so what. | | | | the account and forgot about them. Another |
| Several months back, I went ahead and applied for | | | | requirement may be that you leave the account |
| three separate offers for these accounts, and I just | | | | open for a certain period of time to qualify for the |
| wanted to let you know how my experience went. I | | | | reward. Forgetting about them can be dangerous. |
| think I ended up making $250 cash from all three of | | | | With two of these accounts, I recently received |
| them combined. In short, you can obviously make | | | | overdraft notices. They charged me an "inactivity |
| free money with these deals, but you have got to | | | | fee" which put my accounts at less than zero |
| be careful. | | | | balances, triggering more late fees, and two big |
| Listed below are just a few of the things you need | | | | messes in general. It took a lot of phone calls and |
| to be aware of before diving in. When weighed | | | | fast-talking to straighten out. |
| against the $250 that I made, it is worth it, you just | | | | Ease of closing: Do not think that these banks are |
| need to stay on top of it. | | | | unaware of the people out there like me - who are |
| Here goes: | | | | only really in it for the cash reward. They know we |
| Affect on your Credit Score: I did not track this as a | | | | exist, and they will make it as difficult, |
| before and after thing, but there will be a minor | | | | time-consuming and annoying as possible when it |
| effect on your credit rating. Sometimes, these | | | | comes time to close these accounts. In general, it |
| accounts can be opened without a "hard pull" on your | | | | cannot be done with a simple phone call. Plan on |
| credit, but those I think are few and far between. It | | | | investing a good deal of time on the back end to |
| probably takes six months or so for your score to | | | | close this stuff out. |
| recover. In the interim, you may have some difficulty | | | | Overall, I would say it was definitely worth the |
| if you try to open up any other new lines of credit, | | | | money I made by signing up for these offers. I only |
| as I did. No long term and no major effects, just | | | | wish I was a little better informed about a few |
| something to be aware of. | | | | things, and had stayed a little more organized on the |
| Direct Deposit Requirements: Some of these offers | | | | back end. This would have made my life quite a bit |
| require at least one direct deposit to qualify for your | | | | easier. |
| cash reward. I would be wary of these. I only say | | | | |