First Niagara Bank offers a $200 personal checking account bonus for residents of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, or New York good until March 31, 2016. To qualify for the $200 cash bonus, you must open a new Pinnacle or PinnaclePlus checking account. Within 60 days after the account opening, you must complete one direct deposit of $250 or more into your new First Niagara checking account. With a First Niagara Pinnacle Checking, you’ll enjoy free mobile check deposit and mobile one-swipe balance, free online and mobile banking with bill pay. You can use any First Niagara ATM at no charge.
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First Niagara Bank $200 Bonus Information:
- Sign up Offer
- Account Type: Pinnacle or PinnaclePlus checking
- Availability: CT, MA, PA or NY
- Expiration Date: 3/31/2016
- Hard Inquiry: No, Soft Pull Only via ChexSystems.
- Opening Deposit Credit Card Funding: Yes, up to $1K in funding.
- Direct Deposit Requirement: Yes($250 or more)
- Monthly Fee: To avoid the $15 monthly maintenance fee for Pinnacle checking, you must maintain a minimum daily balance of $1,000, or a combined balance of at least $25,000 in deposits, consumer loans (excluding mortgages), credit card balances, and investment accounts.
- Additional Requirements: None
- Closing Account Fee: Your account must remain open for 180 days to avoid a $25 Early Account Closing fee.
Earn First Niagara Bank $200 Bonus:
- For residents of CT, MA, PA or NY, you can receive a $200 bonus when you open a Pinnacle or Pinnacle Plus checking account from First Niagara by March 31, 2016.
- Then set up direct deposit of at least $250 within 60 days of account opening.
- First Niagara bank will deposit your $250 cash bonus into your new checking account within 30 days from end of month in which direct deposits totaling $250 or more are made to your account
- I recommend to keep at least $1,000 daily balance to keep your checking account fee-free.
- Make sure to keep your account open for at least 180 days before closing to avoid the $25 early account closure fee.
Bottom Line:
First Niagara Bank terms include direct deposit must be in the form of paycheck, pension or government benefits from your employer or the government, however many reported ACH transfers from Alliant, Ally, AmEx FSB, Bank of America, Capital One, Capital One 360, Chase, Discover, HSBC, Paypal, and State Farm to be working as direct deposit. Also, the bonus is not available for individuals who have had any consumer checking relationship with First Niagara in the previous 365 days. You should treat any bank bonuses as income/interest for which you will need to pay taxes on them. I’m told by CSR that they only pull ChexSystems and not a hard pull. Sign up today for a new $200 Bonus First Niagara Bank checking account. Find all checking account bonuses now!
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Thanks Donald. Much appreciated.
Thanks for correcting the post. It now appears to be accurate.
This post needs reviewing and editing. The current online offer is for Pinnacle and Pinnacle Plus checking, not Simple Checking, and therefore requires you to maintain a daily minimum of $1000 in order to avoid a $15 monthly maintenance fee.
@Jay-
the fine print is the fine print but when I went to the brick and mortar branch, with my wife, the day the promotion expired I simply spoke to the manager and showed him the promo letter and requested they honor a new account for my wife as well. My request was honored and it was done without incident. All I needed to do was to funnel a direct deposit (of any amount… I did $15, wife $20) from my employer. The initial $50 was immediate, the next 50 is $10/month I think we are on installment 4 or 5… close to the $100.
The fine print says the 2013 bonus is only for recipients of First Niagara’s letter, so it is not open to one and all. The bank’s offer reads
“Promotion … is available to the recipient of the letter offer only, and is not transferable.”
Coming down to the wire on this offer but I called the 1-800 number and the CSR told me it was only valid for people who received an offer letter (which I did). My wife however did not receive one and I’d like to get her hooked up too. I need to go by the local branch to see if they are promoting this at the brick and mortar locations as well. I’ve gotten burned in the past (Trustco Bank (you suck)) filling out online applications/opening accounts only to not have them honor they promo.