Citibank has a new online savings account called the Ultimate Savings account. (It’s not the ultimate savings account.) It varies from their e-Savings Account noted in my online savings account comparison in the following ways:

1. You don’t need a linked checking account; It can stand alone, unlike the e-Savings Account.
2. The interest rate is slightly lower, at 4.65% APY instead of 4.75%.

There is no minimum balance and no monthly fees. Citibank is offering a $50 bonus for signing up if have never had any bank accounts with them before. Since you only get one, also consider this $100 bonus for opening a Citi e-Savings + Checking combo with at least $5,000.

Also note that it Citibank usually does perform a hard credit inquiry with account openings (for no good reason). So it may or may not be worth it. I used to have a Citi checking account, so I’m out. Thanks Tanyetta for the tip. Fine print:

$50 Offer is only available for first-time Citibank deposit account customers, and will be paid only once to any individual. Persons who currently have or at any time have had a deposit account at Citibank (or any of its predecessor banks) are not eligible. To qualify for this offer you must apply for and open a new Ultimate Savings Account by 04/30/2007. $50 will be credited to your Ultimate Savings Account within 90 days from the end of the statement period in which your account was opened.

It appears that you can sign up for up to 4 free years of one of these magazines via this Mags4Less link. Add the magazine your cart, select up to 4 years in length, scroll down and enter code “1free“, and checkout without registering. You shouldn’t need to even enter your real name or credit card number. I didn’t.

Options include Latina, Maxim, Working Mother, Shape, Stuff, Blender, Seed Magazine, Computer Shopper, Muscle & Fitness, Western Interiors, Ebony, Jane Magazine, Travel & Leisure Golf, and Jet.

I signed up for Travel and Leisure but didn’t notice it was Travel and Leisure Golf. Doh! Thanks J for the tip.

TD Ameritrade is offering $100 bonus (expired) for opening a non-retirement brokerage account funded by 12 monthly consecutive automatic electronic deposits of $50 or more. First $50 must be deposited within 30 days of opening account. This is called the “Save Yourself Plan” in Suze Orman’s new book Women & Money. The offer code is 701. New accounts only. Trades are $9.99.

TradeKing is offering $100 bonus (expired) for opening a non-retirement account with $1,000 minimum and making one trade within 30 days. A minimum balance of $100 is required in the account for the first six months. The offer codes is ACCESS100 expired!. One offer per household. Trades are $4.95.

Now, these won’t work for everyone, but they are really easy so give them a shot. Remember, Delta miles expire after only two years of inactivity now! Grab your Delta SkyMiles number and try these in order:

1. 250 miles for a 1-question survey.
2. 1,000 miles for signing up for a mailing list.
3. 500 miles – similar deal, less miles.

Now grab your Priority Club number and do this survey for 250 points.

KeyBank is offering a Canon Powershot A460 camera (5.0 MP, 4x Optical Zoom) for opening a checking account. Specifically, you must

1) Open a new KeyBank personal checking account between February 17, 2007 and March 30, 2007, and

2) Set up Direct Deposit and/or Automated Payments and complete two transactions each of $150 or more by June 1, 2007.

Both of these should be of minimal cost, as they have Free Checking with no maintenance fees or minimums, and you can just do two online transfers of $150 from another bank. Offer available only to individuals in a KeyBank-serviced area and also without an existing checking account as of February 16, 2007. Value of camera will be reported on a 1099-INT as taxable interest.

SunTrust Bank is offering a free roundtrip ticket on AirTran (16 bonus A+ Rewards credits) for depositing $10,000 of new money into a Premium Money Market Performance Account by March 9, 2007. You must keep it there for 90 days, and the account currently pays 2.25% APY. Doing some rough math, the interest rate difference from an online savings account paying 5% APY for this period would be about $75. That seems like a good price for those that could use it.

You must also reside in AL, AR, DC, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, or WV. Here’s the rest of the fine print:
[Read more…]

ETrade is offering a $25 bonus for opening a Complete Savings account with at least $1. It is currently paying 5.05% APY with no minimum balance and no account fees. For more information, see my E-Trade Bank Complete Savings Feature Review. Expires February 28, 2007.

E-Trade is my financial arch-nemesis. I still have an IRA there with 18 cents in it that I cannot close. I even tried opening one of these savings accounts, filling out the entire application and getting an account number. A week later, they didn’t withdraw my deposit and nothing showed up online. After another week of multiple e-mails and an hour on hold, still no account. I feel like their money-saving model is “ignore them until they give up”. Am I the only one?

Thanks to K via BankDeals via Shraz for the tip.