How to Get a Rebate When Opening a Checking Account

• Step 1

  Find a promotion for a rebate from a bank near you. There are several ways to do this. Banks often send out promotional material to customers in the surrounding area offering cash rebates for opening an account. However, if promotions do not arrive in your mailbox, such websites as MyBankTracker offer consistently updated lists of promotions currently being offered. Investigating individual bank websites may also yield rebate offers.

• Step 2

  Once you have located a rebate, go to a local branch of the bank offering it to open a checking account. Bring documents about the promotion--the mailing you received, a printout of the website listing the promotion, a copy of the promotional code--with you when you go to the branch. Due to federal regulations, you will also need to bring your driver's license or other identification, and you may also need to bring proof of your address.

• Step 3

  Deposit the required amount of money into the new checking account. Banks will require a minimum initial deposit, usually $50 to $100, but you may be required to deposit more upfront as a condition of the promotion.

• Step 4

  Ask the bank employee who opens your account to go over the specific terms of the promotion with you before you leave the bank. These are commonly required in return for receiving a rebate: making a certain number of purchases with your new debit card, setting up direct deposit to the account, maintaining a certain balance in the account for a given time period or keeping the account open for a specific length of time.

• Step 5

  Complete the requirements for the rebate as they were described to you by the bank employee, then wait for the rebate money to be deposited to your account. Some checking account rebates can take as long as six to eight weeks to receive following the completion of the requirements, so don't be worried if you don't see the money right away.

• 2
• Computer Promotional mail Money for initial deposit Identification
• Computer
• Promotional mail
• Money for initial deposit
• Identification
• If you are opening an account only to collect the rebate, be aware that some banks charge a fee for closing an account within six months of opening it.
• If you are opening an account only to collect the rebate, be aware that some banks charge a fee for closing an account within six months of opening it.

References & Resources

• Top Reasons Why Consumers Are Switching Banks
• MyBankTracker Bank Deals