SunTrust Bank is offering up to $150 for opening a checking account before April 30, 2010 and paying your bills online using SunTrust Online Banking with Bill Pay.  

You must pay 3 bills online within the first 2 months after opening your checking account and SunTrust will deposit $50 into your account.  If you continue to make 3 online payments each month for 3 consecutive months, Suntrust will deposit an additional $100 to your account.  (View step-by-step video of the offer and requirements).

This offer is only for new customers; however, if you opened a checking account after January 31, 2010 you can still register your account to be eligible for the bonus.  To sign up visit SunTrust.com

If you are looking to open a checking account, you should consider PerkStreet because their checking account comes with quite a few perks.

First, you get $50 just for opening an account with a $25 minimum deposit.  You must keep the account active for 3 months.

Other perks include free online checking with a debit card that offers 1% cash back, free music or coffee.  See details below:

1% Cash Back

• Every $100 in non-PIN purchases earns you a dollar in perks.
• Every dollar perk you redeem gets you $1 on a PerkStreet FinancialSM Visa® Gift Card or a gift card from Target, Best Buy, Amazon.com, GAP or Ticketmaster.

Music

• Every $100 in non-PIN purchases earns you a song.
• Every song you redeem gets you $1 in credit at iTunes, Rhapsody or Amazon.com Gift Cards for MP3s or millions of other items at Amazon.com.

Coffee

• Every $200 in non-PIN purchase earns you a cup of coffee.
• Every cup you redeem gets you $2 in credit on a reloadable gift card from Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Peet’s Coffee and Tea and Bruegger’s Bagels.

There is no fee to use their surcharge-free ATM network.  There are no monthly fees and it only takes 5 minutes to open an account.  PerkStreet has partnered with the Bancorp Bank to offer a free online FDIC-insured checking account.

To open an account visit PerkStreet.com.

I received this offer in the mail today and will not be using it, therefore its up for grabs! 

Chase is offering $100 cash bonus for opening a new checking account by January 2, 1010.  To qualify for the bonus you must open a new Chase Checking account with a $100 minimum deposit of new money (money not currently held by Chase or its affiliates) within 60 days of account opening.

The bonus will be deposited into your account within 10 business days after the $100 minimum deposit is made.  The bonus is not considered part of the minimum opening deposit. 

The checking account must remain open for at least 6 months or the bonus will be debited from the account at closing.

To open your account visit Chase.com/checking and use coupon code 3629385157691948.  If interested grab this coupon code quickly.  It’s the only one I have!

Bank of America new promotion states, “Now that you’ve moved to a new neighborhood, maybe it’s time to move to a new bank.”  Hence the picture above with the woman moving boxes. 

Bank of America is offering $100 to open a new checking account.  That’s not bad! This offer is only available to new customers who open a qualifying personal checking account with a minimum balance of $500.  That’s an immediate 20% return in you deposit the minimum $500.  

Additionally, the new checking account must be open for at least 30 days and you must make a minimum of one transaction with the newly assigned check card.  That’s easy enough!  

To open a new checking account, apply online or go to a banking center and reference offer code AOU261009.

A Bank of America checking account offers you:

• Free MyAccess Checking with no monthly maintenance fee when opened online. Special online only offer
• Banking near home, work or school with over 6,100 banking centers
• Access to your money at over 18,000 ATMs
• Check balances, pay bills, and transfer funds with Online and Mobile Banking
• Effortless savings with Keep the Change

For more information visit BankofAmerica.com.

This year (2009) alone 94 federally insured banks have failed.  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has identified 416 banks and thrifts that are currently in trouble.

The FDIC currently insures over 8,000 banks and thrifts in the United States.  The FDIC expects the list of banks in trouble to continue to grow this year.

So how do you know if your bank is at risk?  There are few tell tale signs that your bank maybe in trouble.  They include:

• Recent employee layoffs or cutbacks
• Eliminating dividends to shareholders
• Not accepting loan applications
• Generous offers to increase business with the bank
• Offering high interest rates far above the current market rates

However, don’t panic if you have less that $250,000 with your bank if your suspect it maybe in trouble.  The FDIC currently insures deposits up to $250,000.  If you have over $250,000, you should immediately remove your money from that bank.

The FDIC doesn’t make public banks they consider in trouble, however, you can check your bank safety rating at BankRate.com.

You can also look up your banks financials at Sec.gov companysearch.html and search for your bank to review their 10K, 10Q and 8K filings.

Finally, you can check the FDIC’s Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE) which is an interactive application that allows you to calculate the insurance coverage of your accounts at each FDIC-insured bank.

Related Article: Video: How the FDIC Takes Over a Failed Bank

 WT Direct is currently offering 1.76% APY and a cash bonus of up to $150 for new accounts. The bonus depends on how much money you deposit into your account.  

You will get $150 for depositing $50,000, $100 for depositing $40,000, $75 for depositing $30,000, $50 for depositing $20,000 or $25 for depositing $10,000.  

You must apply online to open a WTDirect Savings Account and deposit at least $10,000 by July 31, 2001.  The bonus is determined by the initial funding amount.  Use Promotion Code WFITC32.

Per the fine print, “To receive the bonus, a valid promotion code starting with the letters “WFIT” must be present on the application at the time of account opening. Account must remain open and in good standing through 10/31/09, the end of the promotion period.   There is no minimum balance to open the account but the bonus is determined by the account balance at the time of initial funding, which must be a minimum of $10,000 and must remain on deposit through the end of the promotional period.  Bonus will be credited to client’s WTDirect account on or about 11/20/09.  WTDirect reserves the right to cancel or modify this promotion at any time without notice.”

For more information visit: WTDirect.com/cash-bonus

Discover Bank recently announced that they will allow penalty-free early withdrawals from their 12-month certificates of deposit for new and renewing account holders who lose their jobs.

Discover Bank is making this penalty-free offer on its most popular 12-month CD term at the same rate at which it would normally offer any CD for the same term. Accounts are FDIC-insured, and banking specialists are available by telephone 24 hours a day.

To be eligible, account holders must open or renew a 12-month CD with a minimum $2,500 balance between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2009. If the account holder involuntarily loses his or her job during the term of the CD, they will be allowed to make a partial withdrawal of the funds or close the account with a full return of their principal and any credited interest with no penalties. The program also applies to self-employed people under certain circumstances.

For more information or to open a penalty-free 12-month CD call 1-800-347-7000 or go online to www.discoverbank.com/12monthcd.

Discover Bank also offers CDs with terms from three months to 10 years. In addition to CDs, Discover offers Money Market accounts and IRA CDs. Discover Bank deposit accounts can be opened over the phone at 1-800-847-7000 or at www.discoverbank.com.