TCF Bank is offering $100 in free cash to those who open a checking account by June 30 and meet a few minimum requirements. If you're looking for a hassle-free $100 gift, this offer is not for you. If you could use an extra $100, here's what you'll have to do.
I've had my TCF account for a month now, It took about 30 minutes to get the account opened, but I had a newspaper to read while the clerk typed in my information. You can probably do it faster by opening the account online.
What hoops do you need to jump through for $100? You need to use your debit card 10 times within 60 days of opening the account or write 10 checks or a combination of the two.
There's more. To avoid a monthly service fee of $5 to $15, you have to have $500 or more in monthly deposits, or 10 qualifying withdrawals, or a minimum combined balances of $2,500. You also have to pay for checks if you need them. Some accounts, such as Premier Checking accounts, offer the first set of checks free, but you still have to pay $7 in shipping costs. With the account I opened I was unable to refuse the checks and save the fee.
Now that I have made 10 debit card transactions I should be getting two $50 deposits within a few days. I don't know why TCF makes two $50 deposits instead of a single $100 deposit, but I was told by a teller that's how it works.
Will I keep my account open after I get the $100? I doubt it. TCF doesn't make you keep the account for a minimum time period to keep the $100. I don't like having to jump through the hoops every month to avoid a service fee. I could make it easier on myself by resolving to keep at least $2,500 in the account, but it wouldn't earn any interest. (At another bank that $2,500 could be earning a mind-blowing 0.25 percent interest!)
While I know my behavior isn't cheap enough to get me an honorary appearance on TLC's Extreme Couponing, some of you probably think it's too much work for $100.
If anyone else wants to get the $100, rest easy that opening and then possibly closing a checking account won't adversely affect your credit score, according to Gerri Detweiler at Ultimate Credit Solutions. "Checking accounts don't appear on credit reports unless you default on a line of credit or write bad checks," she said.
