Free Money?

[vnatale]

I don't know if this has prior been discussed...but do any of you do take advantage of the "free" money offers from banks and credit card companies?

I have fairly frequently done it with the credit card companies. Getting $200 for opening a new credit card and using it to charge $1,000 in the next three months.

I have not done it with any of these extremely generous bank offers.

Here is one I just received from Citizens Bank (Providence, Rhode Island).

$300 - When you open a new checking account and make a $500+ direct deposit with 60 days

$200 - When you open a new savings account with a $15,000 balance for 3 months

$100 - When you open both a checking and savings accounts.

That's $600 for not a lot of work involved and not a lot of money having to be invested (for only 3 months). Note: I've not yet read ANY of the fine print regarding each of the three above amounts.

I know Permanent Portfolio wants all this type of money ONLY Invested in risk-free federal instruments but this seems to be quite low risk.

And, I assume it could be considered as part of one's Variable Portfolio (something I'd not thought I'd want)?

Vinny

[dualstow]

Of course. But, I feel it’s unethical to receive the cash bonus and then bail after the minimum time requirement.
Therefore, I have something like 7 cards and an extra checking account. I’ve never canceled.

[vnatale]

Of course. But, I feel it’s unethical to receive the cash bonus and then bail after the minimum time requirement.
Therefore, I have something like 7 cards and an extra checking account. I’ve never canceled.

I don't agree it is unethical. They are making an offer and you are complying with their offer.

I'm never going to take pity on the huge banks that are making these offers. Think of how they (along with all other large corporations) are always creating these contracts that govern their business with you and those contracts are nearly completely one-sided, almost all in their favor.

Plus, I'll bet it's only a few you leave after the minimum time requirement. I'm sure that they have done their calculations of how many stay and how many don't. And, I'm equally sure many stay plainly due to inertia.

Vinny

[dualstow]

It’s not about the banks. It’s about my own behavior.

[Libertarian666]

Yes, and in fact I got $500 back for opening a Capital One Spark account and using it to buy my server for a total expenditure of about $7k.
Mostly I go for frequent flier mile bonuses though rather than cash.

[WiseOne]

Some people make a bit of a career out of these offers, it's called account churning. If done right you can "earn" upwards of a thousand dollars a year, which can be helpful if you're low income to start with.

Personally, I agree with dualstow - it's not unethical maybe, but it is a bit shady to take advantage like that. I have accepted a couple of those offers but both times I intended to keep the account. One card I still have and use frequently, the other (Ally invest) I got out because after I tried the service I didn't like it.

[doodle]

I made about 2000 dollars this year opening credit cards and bank accounts. About 10 hours of work....200 dollars an hour...I'll take that. As far as hard feelings.....lol. just the opposite, after 2008 I have no respect for banking industry. Small local banks or local credit unions are of course excepted.