Negatives of opening an unnecessary checking account?

Factual Questions
1

Periodically I’ll get offers in the mail to open a new checking account at a local bank and receive some kind of reward. Normally I ignore them, however when I see $150 offered, it makes me consider doing it since at least per the fine print it looks like all I have to do is keep it open 60 days and make 5 debit card transactions within the first 45.

My question is if there are other costs (hidden fees, credit report hit, etc.) which I’m missing. Assuming it really is free to open the account (or even if there are some smaller charges like ordering checks or something), does it typically make financial sense to follow through on offers such as these? Or, would this typically cost me more than $150 in the long run somehow?

2

In the US, checking accounts do not usually have an effect on your credit report for Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. Instead, checking activity is reported on ChexSystems. I do not know how your scenario would be handled, but one possible drawback is hidden fees. Getting in bad with ChexSystems means that many banks won’t let you open an account, or if they do it will be a probationary account with high fees that is designed to let you rebuild a relationship.

Also, the $150 is taxable interest income.

3

I know that ING offered something similar and when I read the fine print, they do a hard pull on your credit report. I’ve said before that I think that’s absurd as I am the one extending THEM credit, but depending on your financial plans for the future, $150 might not be worth the hit.

4

I just went through this with Chase, $50 for opening an account with a $1K min deposit, 6 month minimum. No fees, free checks.

First month’s statement had fees assessed so I went into the branch and contested the fees, it took them two months to back them out. Then they charged me for the checks, ditto two months to back them out.

They were constantly calling me to try and sell me $H!+, so I closed the account 6 months later and took their money.

Their is no downside–just be prepared to contest fees and be harassed by their marketeers [sic].

IMHO, they are betting that they can sell you other services, and willing to pay you $ for doing so.