Update 8/28/09: The expiration date has been extended to October 5, 2009.
Comerica Bank is offering a promotion called the Sensible Stimulus Package. The promotion page is at
comerica.com/Sensible. It says you can make up to $230, but based on what I've read and what I've been told by a Comerica CSR, only $120 would be doable and worthwhile for most people. The $120 checking bonus isn't too bad, but it will take some time and some work. To qualify for this promotion, you must have an active Comerica personal checking account and register online at the promotions page by September 4, 2009. Here's a summary of what needs to be done for the $120:
- Open Comerica checking account and register for this promotion
- Use your Comerica Check Card for purchases 8 times a month for 12 months
- Pay 8 bills online each month with Comerica Web Bill Pay for 12 months
For the check card purchases and the Bill Pay, $5 monthly payments will be made to your checking account each month so you won't have to wait to the end of the year to collect.
There's also a $50 bonus for establishing a recurring direct deposit. However, I was told by the CSR that the Comerica checking account must have been opened for at least 6 months to qualify.
Finally, up to $60 can be earned by opening a new Comerica savings or money market account. This requires maintaining a $10K balance. Since their savings and money market accounts pay so little interest, you'll be better off opening an online savings account at another bank that earns a decent interest rate.
Here are some details about the checking account and the promotion that I learned from the CSR:
- Available to people in any state. Account can be opened by mail. This is what the CSR told me. You'll have to call (800.292.1300) and initiate the application on the phone. They'll mail you the documentation. I have a feeling your miles may vary on this if you live outside Comerica's market areas in Arizona, Florida, Texas, California and Michigan.
- According to the bank rep, there's no hard credit pull when you open a checking account. They just do a ChexSystem verification and a soft pull for the check card. Note, CSRs are often wrong about hard pulls.
- Their basic Access Checking Account qualifies for this promo, but it does have potential monthly fees. Fees can be waived if you maintain a $800 minimum balance, have direct deposit, own a house or are a full time college student. There's also a quarterly inactivity fee that you have to watch out for.
Comerica is a large bank with most of its branches in Michigan, California and Texas. There are only a few branches in Arizona and Florida. Comerica is a member FDIC (
FDIC Certificate # 983).
To find other bonus deals, please refer to my
bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.
