Bundling gets you more bang from your bank -- Page 2
By Aviya Kushner • Bankrate.com

Direct-deposit discounts

Your monthly paycheck can get you a free checking account and sometimes more. AEA Credit Union in California goes a step beyond free checking for customers who deposit their paychecks automatically. It will throw in a quarter-percent rate discount on any newly established auto or signature loan and a quarter-percent dividend rate bonus on any new IRA or certificate account with a 12-month or longer term and a minimum balance of at least $10,000.

At the very least, direct deposit can mean lower fees, if not outright discounts.

At The Mechanics Bank in Northern California, for example, direct deposit will shave $2 off monthly maintenance fees.

Social Security can also help you get a free checking deal just for agreeing to deposit your check.

American National Bank in Oakland Park, Fla., will give you a fee-free checking account if you have your Social Security check deposited automatically.

Bank Annapolis, based in Annapolis, Md., offers the "Lion's Choice" checking account, which requires a $100 daily balance and a Social Security direct deposit. The deal includes sweeteners like 10 additional basis points on any CD, half-point discount on an installment loan with direct debit, and interest earned on balances.

Leverage loans and investments

Sometimes, that annuity or brokerage account can bump you up into the top tier of banking customers. At Wells Fargo, a $25,000 relationship means the "Portfolio Management Account," which is the top account. Customers get free online banking with bill pay, which means $6.95 cents a month waived, and no annual fee on a line of credit, normally $75 a year. Those customers can use any ATM in the country, from any bank, with the fee waived, and they get all the usual free checking pluses.

So your stock account can help you get a slew of free banking conveniences.

"Another benefit is you get a monthly statement with loan, brokerage and home mortgage information," explains Gholson of Wells Fargo in Iowa City. Relationship accounts mean one-stop record keeping for customers, he says.

Banks know that convenience can be a selling point, but discounts plus convenience are obviously better. Many new discounts are tied to a bank's debit or credit card, so when you open an account, you may want to ask if you'll get any incentives for using that bank's card.

Citizens Bank offers customers who use its debit card 20 percent off restaurant meals at dining establishments in New England. HSBC, the giant worldwide bank, will give you a discounted APR on credit cards if you have $15,000 with the bank.

The perks sometimes extend to insurance. The Bank of Newport, in Newport, R.I., is offering a discount on long-term care insurance to customers who have a $25,000 relationship (in up to eight separate accounts). The bank also offers better CD and savings rates, a free safe-deposit box and free bill pay.

Keep your eyes open

Discounts and deals are often available for smaller combined amounts, too, and it looks like the minimums are getting lower. At HSBC, $2,500 means free checking, better money market rates and loan discounts.

The deals tend to increase with competition from other banks in the neighborhood, so comparing Web sites for area banks is one way to keep up, but it's not the only way to find the best checking offer.

Some customers say they get better deals only when they ask. Evelyn Greene, of Brookline, Mass., says her bank was sold and resold, leaving her with a terrible account.

"I ended up with a really horrible checking deal," she says. "I was looking through my latest bank statement and I saw tons of charges. I kept getting charged because they kept changing the terms.

"So I had to go in and ask my banker how to reduce the charges," she says "and it turned out that I could qualify for a no-fee account. But if I didn't ask, they'd keep charging me."

In the end, some good free-checking deals come from banks in unexpected places. Occasionally, a bank will open a new branch in a supermarket or airport and offer special checking bonuses. A frequent-shopper card from your supermarket can mean free checking with benefits, as it has recently in Stop & Shop supermarkets with its Citizens Bank promotion.

So if you can't lock up permanent free checking with a mortgage or direct deposit, just keep your eyes open. The next time you're in line to buy groceries and see some banking brochures, take a look. The freebies may make you smile, and they may be worth far more than a toaster.