Bank of America Small Business Checking $200 Bonus

Posted on September 24, 2010 // 2 Comments

I logged out of my Bank of America business account and saw this $200 bonus for new business customers with relatively achievable requirements. (New means you don’t have an existing business account, and must have closed your old account at least 90 days ago.)

  • Earn $150 when you deposit at least $750 per month into your new small business checking account for 3 consecutive months between September 20, 2010 and November 21, 2010.
  • Earn another $50 when you pay at least 2 bills during one of those same 3 months through Online Bill Pay, accessed through Online Banking. You can pay virtually anyone, anytime, anywhere in the United States.

Offer expires 11/21/2010 and is available only when you open a new business checking account using SBESP10. The $17.00 monthly maintenance fee can be avoided with one of the following:

* Enrolling in Business Fundamentals and making a monthly qualifying purchase with your Business Check Card
* $3,000 minimum balance
* $10,000 average balance
* $10,000 combined minimum balance with other biz accounts
* $20,000 combined average balance with other biz accounts

By the way, the same rules about sole proprietorships being valid businesses here also apply to business checking accounts.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Amazon Mom: Free 3 Months of Amazon Prime + Diaper Discounts

Posted on September 7, 2010 // 5 Comments

Amazon is promoting their new Amazon Mom service, which is aimed at all moms, dads, and primary caregivers. (They don’t make you send in a picture of your kid or anything.) It’s free to join, and here are the benefits:

  • 30% off select diapers and wipes when you use their “Subscribe & Save” option, which is basically an automatic recurring purchase plan. It’s pretty flexible though, you can choose your interval (every one, two, three, or six months) and you can cancel any time, even after just one shipment. I personally have no idea if this makes them a good deal or not, having never bought diapers before.
  • Free Amazon Prime for the first 3 months of your membership, which includes free 2-day shipping on lots of stuff. For each $25 you spend within a single order in the Baby store, you get an additional month. You can earn up to one year from the date you joined Amazon Mom. If you already pay for Prime, you can cancel and they’ll refund you the pro-rated cost.
  • They’ll send you “exclusive” discounts and offers via e-mail.

Seems like it’d be worth checking out, if only for the 3 free months of Amazon Prime. (Students with a .edu e-mail get an entire year for free.)

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Continental OnePass Plus Card: Free 25,000 Miles, Free Checked Bag, Primary Rental Car Insurance

Posted on September 2, 2010 // 13 Comments

Continental Airlines OnePass Plus CardNow that I’m flying a lot more again, I’m back in the hunt for some frequent flier perks. I just came across the new Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Card from Chase, which has a pretty nice mix of perks for travelers.

Sign-Up Bonus: Free Flight

  • 25,000 Bonus Miles after first purchase (no minimum amount) for first-time Continental Airlines personal Cardmembers. That’s enough already for one free round-trip airfare within the continental US.
  • No annual fee the first year. The regular annual fee is $85, but is waived the first year.
  • 5,000 Bonus Miles for adding an authorized user to your account. This is another easy one to get. Remember, just because you add someone doesn’t mean you have to give them the card. 😉
  • If you spend $25,000 on the card annually, you’ll get another 10,000 bonus miles. Since you earn 1 miles per $1 spent as well, this works out to 1.4 miles/dollar when you reach that mark.

Travel Perks

  • Free checked bag. If you fly on Continental, you and up to 9 travel companions will all each get your first checked bag for free. That’s a savings of $50 round-trip, per person.
  • Primary rental car insurance. Almost all personal credit cards only offer secondary rental car insurance, which means you have to file a claim with your own auto insurance first, which means you have to pay the deductible and possibly face higher future premiums. With primary collision damage waiver (CDW) even for personal use, you get coverage for damage or theft without having to make a claim.
  • More travel insurance that isn’t on all cards, like trip cancellation insurance up to $1500 for a illness with doctor’s note , delayed baggage coverage up to $300 if you have baggage delayed more than 18 hours and need to buy items to get by.
  • If you decide to keep this card past the first year, you’ll get two free passes to their First-Class airport lounge.

As you may have heard, Continental and United are merging, and the resulting airline is supposed to have the name United. Here’s a chance to rack up some miles that will eventually merge together – this card and bonus may not be available in the future. Until when they actually do merge, I should also note that Continental’s OnePass is known as one of the better programs when it comes to redeeming miles for trips.

Besides the Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Card, you can get a more flexible $625 travel bonus from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, as well as other cards worth $500 in airfare.

“Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. This site may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program.  “The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.”

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Google Offers Free PC-to-Phone Calls To US & Canada

Posted on August 27, 2010 // 14 Comments

There was a lot of media coverage yesterday when Google announced that they would offer PC-to-Phone calls to US and Canada numbers for free from their Gmail interface. To try it out if you haven’t already, just log into your Gmail email account.

But wait… Google Voice (GV) has offered free US long-distance for a while already, and they’ll call your landline or cell phone so that you don’t have to sit by your PC and use a headset. Much more convenient in my opinion, even though I still love my Ooma. I primarily use GV for their voicemail transcription feature.

On top of that, let’s say you live in Texas and a big chunk of family and friends live in San Francisco that use landlines. Sign up for a Google Voice number with a San Francisco area code, and have your friends call that number. It’ll count as a local call for them, and will be forwarded for free to your existing phone.

However, this does make it more convenient to use, since Google’s service works within a web browser (plugin required) instead of a separate application. Skype might have to drop their prices as well, since they charge 2.1 cents a minute or $3 a month unlimited for the same features. Another perk is for international residents that want to call into the US for free, it appears you just need to have Gmail and have the default language set to “US English”.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Frugal Living //

$4 Movie Ticket at Fandango via Groupon

Posted on August 25, 2010 // 5 Comments

Groupon is currently offering any ticket on Fandango.com for $4 (up to $12 value including all fees and charges). If the value is over $12 (NYCers?) then you just pay any additional difference. If you don’t have a Groupon account already, please use my sign-up link. Then visit the deal link.

Only about 4 days left on the deal or until quantities run out. Over 40,000 already sold. The coupon expires Feb 28, 2011. Limit 1 per person. Not valid for IMAX or 3D movies.

Groupon is a popular group-buying site where in major metro areas you get one deal per day from a local retailer as long as enough people sign up for it, along with occasional nationwide offers.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

SmartyPig BBVA Compass $150 Checking Account Bonus

Posted on August 11, 2010 // 3 Comments

While clicking around on the SmartyPig site, I saw that their new partner BBVA Compass Bank has a $150 bonus for new accounts. It doesn’t seem to be limited specifically to SmartyPig users, although it is “only available in AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, NM & TX where BBVA Compass has a market presence.” More details:

  • Open a new “Build to Order” checking account.
  • $75 bonus for setting up recurring direct deposit of at least $300.
  • $75 for paying 5 bills via Online BillPay every month for 90 days.

“Build To Order” checking account have no monthly service charge, no minimum balance requirement, no direct deposit requirement (besides the stuff required for the bonuses above). Minimum $25 to open. Then there are several “premium” options to choose from, and you get two for free. Account must be opened online between 8/1/2010 and 08/31/2010. I am not sure if ACH transfers count as direct deposits.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Chase Checking Bonus: 100 Bucks For New Accounts

Posted on August 11, 2010 // 2 Comments

Chase has an online offer for a $100 bonus for opening a new Chase Checking account with $100 and either setting up direct deposit or making five debit card purchases within 60 days of opening. You can either open online or in-branch.

Ongoing, you keep the account open for 6 months and must continue either the monthly DD or 5 debits to avoid a monthly fee. Still, not a bad deal if you want to try out another megabank. Expires soon though – 8/14/10.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus: No Promo Code or Referral Required

Posted on August 2, 2010 // 2 Comments

Online discount broker TradeKing has brought back their $50 sign-up bonus for new accounts, no promotional code or referral required. You must open with $2,500 and make one trade within 30 days. Offer expires 1/31/11.

To qualify for this offer, new accounts must be opened and funded with $2,500 or more. Account funding must occur within 30 days of account opening, and one trade must be executed within 180 days of account opening, for account to qualify. Offer is not transferable or valid in conjunction with any other offer. Open to US residents only. One offer per household. TradeKing can modify or discontinue this offer at anytime without notice. The minimum funds of $2,500 must remain in the account (minus any trading losses) for a minimum of 6 months or the credit may be surrendered.

If you transfer an account of $2,500 value or greater over to TradeKing, they will also refund up to $150 in account transfer fees charged by your old broker.

TradeKing will credit your account transfer fees up to $150 charged by another brokerage firm when completing an account transfer for $2,500 or more. Offer applies to new non retirement accounts funding for the first time. Credit will be deposited to your account within 30 days of receipt of evidence of charge.

TradeKing offers $4.95 trades with no minimum balance requirement or inactivity fees. I’ve been using them for a while, they are a good basic broker for ETFs and dollar-cost-averaging. For more information, please check out my TradeKing Review. One recent development is that they now require a 5 business day hold on incoming ACH bank transfers before you can trade, if the transferred amount is greater than your existing balance. If you have a $5,000 balance and transfer in $1,000 then there is no hold.

Alternatively, it’s more hassle but if you only want to open up with only $1,000, you can also get a $50 opening bonus with a a referral from an existing member with their Refer-a-Friend promotion. The referrer gets $50 as well. I have an account and if you’d like a referral, please contact me.

If someone you refer funds a new account with at least $1,000 and executes a trade, we’ll deposit $50 into both of your accounts.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Investing //

Equifax.com Promotional Code: Free 3-in-1 Credit Report & FICO Score

Posted on August 2, 2010 // 14 Comments

Visit the 3-in-1 Credit Report with Score page at Equifax and click on “Buy Now”. You’ll have to register on the website or log in with a previously created account. There is no need to enter credit card information. When you are able to, enter the promotion code NOC431 and the price will show as $0.00. Via littlepenguin of SD. Users have reported mixed success with many people getting some sort of error, but it worked fine for me:

You will end up with your credit reports from all three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) as well as your official FICO score based on your Experian credit report. (You know you have 3 different FICO scores – one from each bureau – right?) A pretty good deal, although I wouldn’t say it’s worth the $39.95 retail price. I wouldn’t wait too long on this, the code could expire at any time. (Update: Appears to be expired, some people are calling in manually and applying the code with success.)

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

EverBank Yield Pledge Money Market & Checking: Good Offer For $10k+ Balances

Posted on July 23, 2010 // 3 Comments

Everbank has 6-month bonus rates for their Yield Pledge Money Market and FreeNet Checking accounts. Both of these offers are targeted at new customers opening with at least $1,500, but in the end do offer some of the top rates available for an FDIC-insured bank account with these terms.

Yield Pledge Money Market

With a 6-month guaranteed introductory rate of 1.10% APY, this is higher than any available 6-month CD out there, which again is better than any 6-month CD offer out there.. After that, it is like other online savings accounts with a variable ongoing APY (currently 0.86%).

This online savings account “pledges” to keep the yield on your account in the top 5% of competitive accounts as tracked by Bankrate. (Everbank has indeed ended up on lists of best banks with consistently high rates.) Since it is a savings account, you are still limited to 6 withdrawals or outgoing transfers each month. There is a minimum average balance of $5,000 to avoid a $8.95 monthly fee.

FreeNet Checking

A checking account version, this also has a a 6-month guaranteed introductory rate of 1.10% APY, with a tiered interest rate afterward. (Current tiers and ongoing Annual Percentage Yields are: $100,000 at 0.86% APY, $50,000 – $99,999.99 at 0.83% APY, $25,000 – $49,999.99 at 0.78% APY, $10,000 – $24,999.99 at 0.76% APY and under $10,000 at 0.70% APY). There is no monthly fee.

Again, if you do the math this effectively extends the bonus rate of 1.10% out to between 5 and 6 months on a $10,000 balance, which is still better than any other CD offer of the same length. This account also pledges to keep the yield on your account in the top 5% of competitive accounts, but remember in this case that checking accounts in general have slightly lower rates.

If you are looking to get high FDIC-insured interest rates on a sizable balance for between a couple months to a year, without having to jump through any hoops like required monthly transfers or 15 debit card purchases a month, then this continues to be one of the best rates out there.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Citibank Back-to-School Student Credit Cards

Posted on July 19, 2010 // 5 Comments

Going back to school? Citibank has some good card options for college students:

  • Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Card
  • Citi Forward Card for College Students – $75 Statement Credit

Both the mtvU and Forward cards offer 5x rewards on bookstores, movies, music, and restaurants – boy do they know students. 5x ThankYou points amounts to 3.45% cash back or 5% back in the form of gift cards from certain retailers. Great deal if you can handle credit responsibly. I’m pretty sure I applied for my first credit card in college in exchange for a cheap t-shirt with a Cal logo on it and no rewards whatsoever. Good thing I’ve always hated owing other people money…

As noted previously, 5x points on bookstores also includes anything bought at Amazon.com (a bookstore!). Would go perfectly with your free year of Amazon Prime.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Free Year of Amazon Prime For Students (.edu email)

Posted on July 13, 2010 // 11 Comments

Amazon Student LogoAmazon.com has a new program called Amazon Student where you can get “exclusive deals”, the best of which is a free one-year subscription to Amazon Prime. This allows you to get the convenience of free 2-day shipping on most products (including textbooks and even some used books) with no minimum order amount. Usually costs $79 a year.

You can even keep your existing Amazon.com account, just click here, enter your .edu e-mail address, and click on the confirmation e-mail to activate. If you have an .edu e-mail, try it!

This is a really nice perk, and would go great with the Citi Forward® Card gives you 5 ThankYou® Points for every $1 you spend at restaurants and on entertainment, like bookstores, of which Amazon.com counts regardless of what you are actually buying at the bookstore. Up to 2% APR reduction when using credit wisely. This equates to 5% back in the form of gift cards at select retailers, or a 3.45% pure cashback return. Really, I’ve done it.  2,500 bonus ThankYou Points after spending $500 within the first 3 months of cardmembership and up to 1,200 bonus ThankYou Points for paying on time and staying under your credit limit. Watch your interest rate go down and your ThankYou Points go up.

See my Citi Forward review and rewards follow-up for more details.

Filed Under: College & Education, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //
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