$25 Sign-up Bonus for Opening Online Account

HTH Worldwide Bank is offering $25 for opening one of its online accounts. The account must be funded with at least $50 to obtain the $25 bonus. Bonus will be deposited within 6 weeks of account funding. Enter the code "25FREEHTH" on your application. Offer expires 4/30/2006.

For an internet bank the interest rates are low (even lower than ING Direct). The bank's OnePoint Savings accont's interest rate is only 2.02% APY. The Premium Money Market account earns a maximum of 3.05% for balances over $25K. The CD rates are also low.

The bank does have a decent free checking account with no minimum balance requirements or monthly service fees. You can get up to $10 per month in rebates on ATM fees that other banks charge. However, you are required to mail in your ATM receipts for the reimbursement.

The list of fees is not easy to find. The bank does have ACH transfer capability. However, outgoing ACH transfers are charged $1.50. Incoming transfers are free. The fee for closing an account within 90 days of opening is $30.

HTH Worldwide Bank has been around for a while. It had a similar promotion way back in 2002 although in that case it required a $500 deposit. This MSN message thread listed the promotion in 2002 along with a customer's bad experience. This MoneyBB thread listed the promotion in 2003 along with more bad experiences. One interesting thing I noted was a mention of HTH's interest rates being better than ING Direct. That sure has changed.