Checking Account Promotion at Flagstar Direct - Available Nationwide
Flagstar Direct is offering a nice promotion on its free Interest Checking Account. First, it's offering an into rate of 1.50% APY for the first 4 months. Second, it's offering an additional $100 bonus for establishing direct deposit within the first four months. Only one promotional account is allowed per household. This promo is listed at Flagstar Direct's Interest Checking Account page as of 9/17/2010.
This Interest Checking Account has some nice features:
- No monthly maintenance fees
- $1 minimum opening deposit
- Free checks
- Fee-free access to ATMs in the Allpoint and Presto! networks in all 50 states
The standard interest rate isn't the best, but it's competitive for regular checking accounts (non-reward). As of 9/17/2010, the rate is 0.85% APY on all balances.
Flagstar Direct continues to offer two very competitive short-term CD deals: 1.25% APY for 6 months and 1.55% APY for 12 months. These rates are listed in Flagstar Direct's CD page as of 9/17/2010. I reviewed these CDs and Flagstar Direct in this July post.
Flagstar Bank currently operates around 165 branches in Michigan, Indiana and Georgia. The bank has been hit hard by mortgage problems that started during the financial crisis. It has made some improvements this year with an increase in its Tier 1 Capital Ratio.
Flagstar Bank has an overall health score of 2 out of 5 with a Texas Ratio of 70.87% (below average) based on 6/30/10 data. It is also operating under an OTS supervisory agreement which was issued last January. Please refer to our financial overview of Flagstar Bank for more details. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1987 (FDIC Certificate # 32541).
Other Bank Bonuses
This Flagstar promo is similar to what EverBank has been offering. EverBank continues to offer an intro-rate of 2.25% for 3 months on its checking account (as of 9/17/2010). There's also a cash bonus. Please refer to my EverBank bonus review for more details.
To find other bonus deals, please refer to my bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus blog posts. Additional bonuses are listed in the checking discussion forum.
adityanm - #1, Friday, September 17, 2010 - 8:40 AM
what about ACH?
Anonymous - #2, Friday, September 17, 2010 - 9:22 AM
Is it safe to put money in this bank?
AtlantaWolf - #3, Friday, September 17, 2010 - 12:43 PM
> what about ACH?
Flagstar offers cashedge ACH, up to 5 links, and takes 3 business days.
> Is it safe to put money in this bank?
Absolutely, but as with any bank, stay below FDIC insurance limits. If all your family's accounts combined are less than $250k at Flagstar, you're fully covered. Otherwise see https://www.fdic.gov/edie/index.html for various ways to extend your FDIC coverage.
IndyPat (anonymous) - #4, Friday, September 17, 2010 - 1:15 PM
Flagstar is trying to get more capital from private investors. This is a bad sign for a bank. Yes funds are safe because of the FDIC but I predict there will be a change in ownership in the next 18 months. You have to wonder if we are over banked. There are 11 brick and morter bank branch office on a major corner near my home and a new one under constrution.
Anonymous - #5, Friday, September 17, 2010 - 6:55 PM
1.5% fir four months and then downshift to 0.85%. No thanks.
adityanm - #6, Friday, September 17, 2010 - 10:55 PM
to #5
only reason to open an account would be $100 bonus but if they insist on employer payroll only deposit the it is too much of a hassle.
Anonymous - #7, Friday, September 17, 2010 - 10:59 PM
Does this bank require a certain number of direct deposits before the bonus is credited to my account, or just one? Also do I have to maintain the account for a certain period of time to keep the bonus or can I close it right after I get it?
Anonymous - #8, Saturday, September 18, 2010 - 4:21 AM
is it a hard or soft pull?
Anonymous - #9, Saturday, September 18, 2010 - 9:15 AM
It is HARD pull, must be third party deposits, personal ACH does not count, must be open 6mo minimum.
Anonymous - #10, Sunday, September 19, 2010 - 5:25 PM
I opened an account with this bank and did not receive a hard pull, I deposited $150 in the account, used Discover to withdrawl $125 of it. 2 days later received the $100 bonus and then withdrew it from Discover and currently has $25 sitting in the Flagstar account.
No complaints from me.
SamL - #11, Tuesday, September 21, 2010 - 1:33 PM
CSR confirmed soft pull
Anonymous - #12, Wednesday, September 22, 2010 - 6:59 PM
is ACH free?
Anonymous - #13, Wednesday, September 22, 2010 - 7:01 PM
sb said it was a hard pull, can anybody acatually opened this account confirm that?
SamL - #14, Saturday, September 25, 2010 - 7:23 PM
Dear Sam,
Thank you for contacting Flagstar. I would be happy to assist you with your inquiry in regards to opening an account online.
When you apply online for any account, there will be a soft pull on the credit report which will not effect the credit score.
If you have other questions, please feel free to e-mail bankingsupport@flagstar.com or call Banking Support at (800) 642-0039. Our hours are listed below. Please refer to your case number 5548381 so we can better assist you.
Thank you for choosing Flagstar.
Monday–Friday: 7:30 a.m.–9 p.m. (Eastern time)
Saturday: 8:30 a.m.–6 p.m. (Eastern time)
Sunday: Noon–4 p.m. (Eastern time)
Sincerely,
Tim
Banking Support Customer Service
Flagstar Bank
Phone number: (800) 642-0039
E-mail address: bankingsupport@flagstar.com
Anonymous - #15, Saturday, September 25, 2010 - 11:35 PM
Big thanks to SamL...
Anonymous - #16, Saturday, December 18, 2010 - 2:13 PM
Has anyone received their bonus yet?
SamL - #17, Saturday, December 18, 2010 - 10:44 PM
I did.
Anonymous - #18, Sunday, December 19, 2010 - 11:42 PM
@ SamL
how long ago did you open the account and did you do ACH transfers or actual PayRoll setup?
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