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New Account Bonus ($20-$100) at Discover Bank

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Update 3/1/08: The promo has been extended. The offer is now good through 3/31/08.

Discover Bank is offering between $20 to $100 for opening an account. The best deal is the $20 bonus since it requires only a $2,500 deposit. The $50 bonus requires a $50,000 deposit, and the $100 bonus requires a $100,000 deposit.

The account must be opened by 2/29/08, and the minimum deposit of new funds must be received at Discover Bank by 4/15/08. The funds must be on deposit for at least 90 days. The bonus will be credited to your Discover Bank account by 4/20/08.

Since the deposit must remain in the account for 90 days, you'll have to be careful that you don't miss out on a higher interest account some place else. For example, if you can get 0.5% higher interest at another account for 90 days, you'll lose $125 in interest for a $100K balance. That's why the $20 bonus could be a better deal. With only a $2.5K balance, you would only lose about $3 in interest.

Discover Bank's Money Market Account has a history of decent rates for large balances. The current rates are a little low compared to other online money market accounts. The yield for a $10K minimum balance is 3.56% APY and the yield for a $50K minimum balance is 3.66% APY.

Discover Bank's Money Market Account has some nice features including limited check writing (first set free), debit/ATM card and the ability to transfer funds between bank accounts using Money HQ via Discover's online Banking Center. I can't find any info about transfer costs or limitations. Also, I can't find any mention of monthly service charges. No interest is earned if the balance falls below $2,500.

Discover Bank is a member FDIC (Certificate # 5649).
Related Pages: savings account

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Comments
Anonymous
  |     |   Comment #1
ON $2500 APY is only 2.73% which is at least 2% below normal so that you lose $12.5 in 3 months even if the rate is not lowered after you open an account.
You will be better off opening 5 month CD at CWB.
Banking Guy
  |     |   Comment #2
Good point. If someone is looking for a money market account, EverBank's money market with a 4.51% APY 3-month promo would probably be better. It would only take about $4K for the extra interest from EverBank to outweigh the $20 bonus.
Anonymous
  |     |   Comment #3
I have had a bonus money market savings at Discover, and could not wait to close it!
They debited my account a service charge even though I had never gone below the required minimum ($2500).
Getting them to correct this obvious error, took some doing.
Customer service is often unavailable, and unreliable at best.
Webmail is usually the only means of communication with very slow response times that totally miss the point of the communication.
They don't seem to understand English!
Internal secure email is evidently handled by a third party vendor, and is a joke by any standards.
Do yourself a favor and avoid this bank!!!
virgquest
  |     |   Comment #4
Anyone know if you can get the bonus for opening a CD, or if it has to be an MMA? The rate for a 3 month $2500 CD is 3.14% APY (6/9 mo is 3.25%, 12/18 mo 3.51%), which is better than the MMA rate. You have to leave the funds w/Discover for 90 days anyway to get the bonus, so a CD seems to be a better deal, especially since the highest MMA rates are only slightly above 4% now and probably due to fall again after the Fed meeting in mid-March. By my math, the $20 bonus works out to an extra .8% APY, so that's like getting a 1 year CD at 4.31%. Not bad.

If you're looking for a long-term MMA, you can do better, but if you're just going to deposit $2500 to get the bonus, this doesn't seem to be a bad deal.
Banking Guy
  |     |   Comment #5
It does look like it would apply to a CD in addition to the MMA. The promo is being advertised on their CD page. That's a good point about being better off with the CD since you have to keep the money there for 90 days.

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