Sandy Spring Bank (MD/VA) Has $150 Checking Bonus
At the end of February, the $150 checking bonus being offered by Sandy Spring Bank expired. The Bank is again offering a $150 bonus (available through May 31, 2017), but this time a Direct Deposit is required, with no debit card purchase transactions required.
Bonus Requirements
- Open a new checking account online, in-branch, or by phone.
- Enroll in eStatements
- Minimum $250 in Direct Deposit within 90 days of account opening.
- Available to new checking customers or those who have not had a checking relationship with Sandy Spring Bank in the past 90 days.
- Only one bonus per individual.
- Bonus will deposited within 125 days of account opening.
- Account must be in good standing to qualify for the bonus.
Complete details (including links) can be found on the promotion page.
Two months ago, I wrote about Sandy Spring Bank’s 27-month Premier CD Special (1.75% APY). The minimum deposit is $10k of new money, with no stated balance cap. I’m mentioning this CD again because it requires a checking relationship to earn the stated APY, and the current $150 checking bonus lessens the detriment of having to open a checking account.
A checking account relationship with a minimum $100 monthly direct deposit (paycheck, pension, Social Security, etc.) is required to earn the stated APY. If the checking account does not receive a direct deposit, the 27-month Premier Special CD will revert to a regular 27-month CD, which currently earns 1.00% APY.
The 27-Month Premier CD Special is also available as an IRA (Traditional and CESA) earning the same APY, with the same funding requirements.
As stated in the Personal Account Deposit Agreement, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:
All Accounts with a term of more than 1 year: A penalty equal to 180 days’ interest on the amount withdrawn (computed at the interest rate then being paid on the Account) will be imposed.
Long-time DA reader and guest contributor, Charles Rechlin, wrote an insightful blog post on relationship CDs, based on his years of personal CD investing. If you are considering the Sandy Spring Bank 27-month Premier CD Special, but wonder if opening a checking account makes sense for you, it’s well worth the time to read what Charles has to say on the subject.
Availability
Headquartered in Olney, Maryland, Sandy Spring Bank’s market area includes the portions of Maryland and Northern Virginia that comprise the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
Applying for the $150 checking bonus can be done online, or at any of 38 Maryland branches located in Annapolis, Ashton, Bethesda (2), Burtonsville, Clarksville, Colesville, Damascus, Edgewater, Frederick (4), Gaithersburg (4), Germantown, Glen Burnie, Lanham, Laurel (2), Linthicum, Millersville, Mount Airy, Odenton, Olney (2), Pasadena, Potomac, Rockville (2), Sandy Spring, Silver Spring (4) and Woodbine.
Sandy Spring Bank also has seven Virginia branches located in Arlington, Chantilly, Fairfax, Leesburg (2), Springfield, and Vienna, and a single branch in the District of Columbia.
Bank Overview
Sandy Spring Bank has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 5.32% (excellent), based on December 31, 2016 data. In the past year, Sandy Spring Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $314.1 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 9.6%. Please refer to our financial overview of Sandy Spring Bank (FDIC Certificate # 4865) for more details.
Sandy Spring Bank has a history that reaches back to the troubled economic times of post-Civil War 1868. Although less than 25 miles from Washington, D.C., the community of Sandy Spring might as well have been 2,500 miles from the financial institutions in the nation’s capital. A group of local business and townspeople realized that answer to their financial needs had to come from within the community, and Sandy Spring Bank was established. Nearly 150 years later, Sandy Spring Bank has assets in excess of $5 billion and was named as one of the top 100 "Most Trustworthy" corporations in America for integrity in financial reporting by Forbes Magazine.
How the Premier CD Special Compares
When compared to the similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit and are available within the Bank’s market area, Sandy Spring Bank’s 27-month Premier CD Special APY currently ranks second.
The above rates are accurate as of 4/24/2017.
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD rates table, or our Rates Map page.
