It seems banks have finally gotten the message: people are tired of the traditional “gifts” that come along with new checking accounts. Rolling coolers, free toasters, baseball caps with matching XXXL T-shirts… they’re not incentives worth seeking out.
But cold hard cash? I’ll toast to that. With competition for new checking customers hotter than ever, banks have realized they need to spend some to get some. Cash is the new king of checking account incentives, and the cost of entry isn’t cheap. Recent direct marketing campaigns offer as much as $300 for opening a new account! I’ll concede, that’s more the exception, but $100 is the most commonly promoted incentive.
These cash incentives, desirable as they may be, do come with strings attached. At a minimum, banks require that new customers set up direct deposit within a certain timeframe after opening the account. Sometimes customers have to satisfy stricter requirements, including electronic bill payments or a pre-determined number of non-PIN debit transactions each month.
Even with the requirements, cash incentives are the hottest trend in checking right now. Banks are eager for more deposits and their aggressive push for new customers may drive cash incentives even higher in coming quarters. Do you think this is the right strategy?

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