On Thursday I got a mypoints offer for 50 points to open a bank account with Compass@Bank. Also, part of the offer was a free ipod.
Well, I don't particularly need an ipod, because I've got a perfectly good mp3 player of my own. But . . I'd been thinking about getting something similar for my dad for Christmas. I'd planned on getting him one close to what I have, but when you see something for free . . .
So I decide to bite the bullet and go ahead and open the account. There's a number of choices you can make to "build" your free checking account. I don't remember all the choices available, but one of them was something about "earning" and extra $25 for each year the account was open.
So . . I get my dad's Christmas present, I get 50 mypoints, AND a year from now I'll get a $25 credit? Ok. I'm game.
I start going through the application process - for the most part it's fairly typical.
Then I get to the fun part. They require address verification via a phone bill, utility bill or bank statement.
Well . . . I only have a cell bill now (which they don't accept), I don't have utility bills (paid for by apt), and almost all of my banking statements are online.
So, I had the most recent statement from my BofA IRA cd account. I faxed that in on Monday after receiving an anxious Nellie email from them telling me my account can't be approved without address verification. (At this point I was thinking - Are we overanxious here or what?)
I called Monday afternoon to verify that they had received the fax, and was told that there had not been any note of one yet. But as soon as they had it, I should get an email.
So, Tuesday afternoon, no email. I call again and am told that they had received my fax, but that it wasn't acceptable. What?! Two reasons: 1) Not current enough (March 31, 2008 statement) and 2) not a bank statement. Um . . . okay, so Bofa isn't a bank?
Now we're to this morning. I print out the first page of my ING June statement, white out all the currency and account info, then fax it in. Late this afternoon I finally receive the email telling me my address had been verified and my account approved.
Oy Vey! Here I thought opening an account with HSBC was a pain in the patootie.
Now, as soon as my opening balance transfers, I can then complete the process for getting the ipod. Then it's just a waiting game to see how long it takes to actually get here.
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I think I now have a few too many bank accounts open. I have two which I think I'm going to go ahead and close to help streamline myself a bit - especially after adding this new one. Luckily I am NOT required to have a direct deposit to this account - so I'll probably just keep the $25 opening deposit in there until I get my $25 credit ( a year from now).
I sure hope my dad likes his Ipod (and that I can help him figure out how to use it!)
For the sake of a free ipod + points!
July 10th, 2008 at 02:19 am
July 10th, 2008 at 04:24 pm 1215707079
July 10th, 2008 at 04:35 pm 1215707757
You sure do have a good number of ipods! The one I'm using now is my second one. The first one I had was a Creative Zen Jukebox with 40 gig harddrive. I dropped it a few too many times, and it completely froze up on me. I replaced it with a Sansa 4 gig battery powered Mp3 player - that has a radio function too. I didn't even have enough music to fill the 4 gig, let alone the 40. But I *really* miss the option of playing random songs from specific playlists, or the whole thing.
July 10th, 2008 at 05:26 pm 1215710787
Oh, my dad's response when I asked him if he wanted it? "I don't know anything about them, but it sounds interesting." I guess that's his way of saying "I'd love to have it if you're giving it to me!" He doesn't work, so he doesn't have much money. I wouldn't sell it to him anyways - I didn't pay anything for it!
July 10th, 2008 at 06:12 pm 1215713525
I agree. I wouldn't spend money on an actual ipod either. The 4 gig Sanso I bought about a year ago was ~$40, versus $150+ for a 4 gig ipod, and they do the same thing!
The hardest part of the ipod for my dad will be helping him figure out how to get the music on to it.
July 10th, 2008 at 07:52 pm 1215719534
July 10th, 2008 at 09:57 pm 1215727065
July 10th, 2008 at 10:16 pm 1215728208