$50 Checking/Savings Account Bonus at Sovereign Bank

Sovereign Bank is offering a $50 bonus for opening a new checking and savings account by April 24th. This bonus doesn't seem to be listed at the bank's website. It was advertised in yesterday's Providence newspaper. The ad is available online here. The nice thing about this bonus is no direct deposit requirements. However, it does have some hoops to jump through.

You must open both accounts with a minimum deposit of $500 and request a Sovereign Visa CheckCard. A minimum of $500 must remain in the savings account for 45 days after account is opened. The bonus will be credited to the savings account within about 45 days after the accounts are opened. The bonus is only available to those who haven't had a Sovereign Bank deposit acccount within the last 6 months. The bonus will be reported to the IRS as interest.

Sovereign Bank does have a free checking account with no minimum balance requirements and no monthly fees. However, the Statement Savings Account requires a minimum $400 to avoid a $3.50 monthly fee. You won't want to keep much money in this savings account since it only earns 0.35% interest.

Branches are mainly located in the Northeastern US in the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Sovereign Bank is FDIC insured (cert. # 29950).

Tags: Sovereign Bank, checking account