http://www.capitalone.com/bank/checking/200.php

This is a YMMV since the terms on the offer page online refer to the mailer, however some have reported receiving the offer via email only direct from Capital One, so they should take it. Here are the full terms of the offer:

^? $50 minimum opening deposit required. Bank rules and regulations apply. Ask us for details.

† The Capital One, N.A., payroll/direct deposit reward promotion is effective for sixty (60) days following the day of a consumer’s receipt via U.S. Mail of the required invitation addressed to his/her attention. To qualify for the $200 cash reward, you must present this mailer you received when you open a Capital One Bank branch personal checking account during the promotional period and enroll in payroll/direct deposit within 90 days of account opening. Qualifying individuals will receive a $200 credit to their checking account approximately 6-8 weeks after the first payroll/direct deposit transaction is posted to the account. Limit one reward per customer.

If you don’t have a direct deposit, check out my prior post on faking a direct deposit to qualify for bonuses and avoid service fees.

I did this deal last year after receiving the mailer and got my bonus without issue. One interesting observation is that Capital One doesn’t send 1099-INT forms for bonuses paid on non-interest bearing accounts, so this amount likely will not be reported to the IRS.

If you head down to your local post office, you’ll find the New Movers Pack with the Change of Address form. The pack also includes several coupons, including one for a Chase Checking account bonus of $125. If you read the terms and conditions, you get the bonus for opening a new account and having direct deposit, and you are limited to one bonus per calendar year. As we are about to end one calendar year and start another, you can open one today or tomorrow (while we are in 2008) and one after New Year’s Day (in 2009). Fund both and start the direct deposits (many employers will allow split direct deposits, or you can fake the direct deposit using ING or another online account), and you should get a $125 bonus on each. If you plan to open multiple accounts, get multiple packets because the codes are one-time use.

To reduce the hassle factor even more, you can probably sign up for the account online and enter the coupon code in the application to avoid going into the branch. You just have to print off the signature card, sign and return via mail or fax.

A few notes about the deal:

• The deal requires a $100 minimum opening deposit. If you open online, you can use a Visa or Mastercard to fund the account up to $2,000. Use a good reward credit card to earn some easy points!
• If you don’t do an initial direct deposit on the account, you won’t get your bonus. If you don’t maintain the direct deposit, you’ll be charged a service fee unless you use your Chase Check Card five times during the statement period.
• You have to keep the account open six months or they will deduct the bonus at closing. After six months, you can close it without penalty by going into a branch.
• Be sure to keep a copy of the confirmation of the coupon being redeemed. If you open in a branch this should be a printed page they give you. If you open online, it should be a new window you can print. I’ve never had an issue with the bonus not being credited, but it is always best to cover your bases.
• These bonuses are reported on a Form 1099-INT at tax time to the IRS, so you better report the income if you don’t want an audit. If you open one before year end and one after, you’ll get one form in January 2009 reporting the interest income from the first account and another in January 2010 reporting the interest income from the second account.

Have fun!!!

The problem with this is that there are lots of people such as the self-employed and employees of small businesses that don’t have direct deposit as an option. There are others of us that maintain multiple accounts (for instance, a local checking account for ATM access and small deposits and a high-yield checking through an online bank) and don’t necessarily want to send our direct deposit to a particular account.

Well, there is hope for those who are in this situation or that just want to take advantage of bonus offers requiring direct deposit. A direct deposit is simply an electronic transfer of funds to your account. This is usually done by a method known as ACH. The thing is that a ACH transfer to your account can be done in a number of ways besides through a company’s payroll department. Transfers from other bank accounts (either your own or someone else’s) and even from online payment services like Paypal are done by ACH as well. Unless a real person is looking at the detail of the ACH transfer, there is no real way to automatically tell if the ACH is a payroll deposit or not. Most of the time a bank will count these non-payroll transfers as a direct deposit, which allows you to avoid service fees and/or collect promotional bonuses based on the use of direct deposit.

The easiest way to simulate a direct deposit is by using another account you control that offers free outgoing transfers. Online savings accounts like ING Direct (click here for info on getting a referral for a $25 bonus), Emigrant Direct, or HSBC Direct all allow this. A few banks and credit unions offer this service free of charge as well. Some people have also successfully used PayPal transfers to simulate a direct deposit.

There is a lengthy thread on Fatwallet discussing this concept and compiling user experiences simulating direct deposits using various methods with different banks. I would caution that you SHOULD NOT CALL the bank and ask if whatever method will count, as they will almost always tell you no and it may tip them off to look for such activity on your account.