Yesterday, we wrote about the not-so-smart changes that appear to be happening with the US Bank Smartly Visa card, where the bank is evidently trying to stop the bleeding that comes with offering an uncapped, 4% cashback credit card.
But that’s not the only “Smartly” product that the bank has been monkeying around with lately. For years, monthly maintenance fees on its Smartly checking accounts could be waived in several ways, perhaps the simplest of them being to simply hold a US Bank credit card.
Many people, including me, have a Smartly checking account, due in no small part to the steady stream of bonuses that US Bank offers to new customers. They’ve been fairly lucrative and, once the minimum requirements are fulfilled, it’s easy to let it hang out for a bit without worry so long as you have one of the bank’s credit cards.
That worry-free existence is about to end, though. Starting May 19th, US Bank will be raising the monthly maintenance fee on Smartly checking accounts to $12 and will no longer be offering a waiver if you have a credit card. (h/t: DOC)
What Happening
- Starting May 19th, US Bank will be raising the monthly fee for it’s Smartly checking accounts to $12/month, and removing the ability to waive that fee with a credit card.
- Monthly fees will still be waived by customers who:
- Have combined monthly direct deposits totaling $1,500 or more
- Keep a minimum average account balance of $1,500 or more
- Have a small business checking account
- Are Seniors age 65+ or active duty military
- Have Gold tier status with Smart Rewards
Quick Thoughts
This is more of an annoyance than anything else. Both my wife and I have Smartly checking accounts left over from past welcome bonuses, and they’re still open since they’ve got lightning-fast bank-to-bank transfers and there’s no maintenance fee thank to our credit cards. Additionally, you can only get a US Bank checking bonus once every 12 months so there was no reason to close it earlier. Now, it’s about to be a little trickier.
The nice thing about this change is that having a business checking account waives the fee on your personal account, a new option that didn’t exist before. My wife has both, and this will be the nudge to get me to apply for one and take advantage of the current welcome offer.
For those that don’t want to or can’t apply for a business checking account, the easiest ways to get around the monthly fee will be through keeping $1500 in the account, or scheduling $1500/month in direct deposits (here’s a list of what US Bank counts as direct deposits).
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THIS JUST IN FEOM DoC: Smartly being taken offline for 2-3 weeks to be reworked. Existing provisions will be honored for 12 months. But, it would appear the end of the line may have come.
There is also a rumor that US Bank will not consider retirement assets towards the balance requirement. The beat goes on and the beat goes on.
The headline seems to imply all checking accounts with US Bank will no longer have their service fees waived if you hold a credit card. The link from DoC seems to imply this is only for Smartly accounts. Which is it?
If you read the sentence right before the DOC link, you’ll see that it’s referring to Smartly checking accounts:
I’ve changed the headline as well for folks who don’t get that far.
So, I have a US Bank Gold checking and an Altitude Reserve card. Fees have always been waived. Will this change? I do not have a smartly checking and I keep about $500 in there.
I came here with the same question. I understand the maintenance fee on the Smartly checking will no longer be waived with a credit card starting on 5/19; do we know if that will also be the case with the Gold checking account? TYIA.
This only applies to Smartly checking accounts.