Opening A New Checking Account
Awhile back I had mentioned that I was searching for a new bank as I was not happy with some of the changes at my current bank.
At the time I had mentioned there was a National City Bank being built down the street from my house.
In an odd turn of events, National City Bank is actually buying the bank that we do business with right now.
A few days ago I had stopped in to get information on their checking accounts and they are very similar to what we have right now. One benefit is that their ATM network is now available to us so we have an option closer to home to avoid the $1.75 fee.
Allied First Bank
When I stopped at the National City Bank, I noticed that there was another new bank just down the street so I decided to stop in there as well.
This new bank, Allied First Bank, has a very attractive offer where you receive $100 for opening a new checking account and $100 when you set up direct deposit. As if that were not attractive enough, they are also offering an additional $100 when you use their online bill payment to schedule four payments.
There are no minimum balance requirements, checks are free and they reimburse any ATM fees up to $10 per month.
If you take advantage of the three $100 offers, I believe they indicated that the account must remain open for one year. Even if the account turns out to be less than I hoped, I can leave the account open for the year as I will not have to worry about any fees.
I’ve got the account application printed out and completed, so I am off to the bank to open the account and make my initial deposit.
While we test the bank to see if it meets our needs, we plan to have my wife’s paycheck setup to direct deposit into this new account. Once we determine that this account will meet our needs, I’ll change the direct deposit on my check to go to the new account as well.
As an added bonus, I’m sure we won’t hear any complaints from the kids when we have to stop at the bank because this bank has a basketball court inside the bank that is open to all customers.
That’s some smart thinking putting in a basketball court. There used to be a shoe store chain that had a basketball court in it, it was wildly successful for the most part.
This does seem like a really good idea as it brings a little something extra to the table for customers and can be a novelty item to help bring new customers in the door.
They also offer conference rooms for customers to use if needed and have laptops, as well as free wi-fi, to use if needed.