I had the similar issue, I got the savings account but they denied my checking and CC. It’s mostly likely a ID verification thing. On the call they will ask for PII from credit report to verify you. I think you call them and ask for the verification department. If not wait for the letter and they’ll have a direct number along with a reference ID. I finished all the steps and did a test purchase on Monday. The transaction is still pending to make sure that the displayed 2% + 2% on the reward status board registers properly.
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Thanks for the info. If that’s the case, it should be easy to resolve.
Unless they tell you to go to branch and there isn’t one near you 
I called, but the rep didn’t know why it was denied and suggested opening it in the branch instead. So I just went to a branch and opened the savings account without any issue. The banker knew exactly why I wanted to open that account. 
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The downside of maintaining the checking account is the loss of $550 sign-up bonus every ~1.5 years. Let’s say 50% tax: $550 / 1.5 / 2 = $183/year. That’s roughly how much you need to earn from the Smart Rewards to breakeven.
I currently have a checking account that I opened 6.5 months ago. Not sure I want to keep it open just for the Smart Rewards.
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I don’t know that it’s ever been $550. It was $500 when i did it. It’s currently $450.
$450 + $100 Swagbucks
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Looks like it was $60 Swagbucks when i did it. No way to know what etiher offer will be in advnace.
To expect these offers to just be there every year - and not add churning restrictions - seems a bit optimistic.
I agree. But we don’t know what Smart Rewards will be offered either, and the cap for each offer seems to be only $20.
For the Smartly card:
1/23: applied for the card
1/27: card approved
2/3: transferred initial $50K, received the card
2/4: transferred another $50K
2/5: reward bumped up to 3%
2/6: reward bumped up to 4%
I have one week to use up the credit limit before the statement closes.
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Looks like BILT is still planning to do 1x rewards on mortgage. I’ll believe it when I see it. However, I did just realize that if plastiq is still a thing, Smartly could be 1.1% back on mortgage or any other bills that don’t accept CC. Is plastiq still a thing? They were taken over or revamped some time ago and I haven’t used it.
ETA never mind, found the answer, which is a no since only MC can be used to pay mortgage with plastiq 
.
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PSA: According to a bunch of DPs on reddit, Chase recently started reporting Inks on personal credit reports. Some suspect it’s a mistake and will be corrected. Others (and I) suspect it’s Chase’s way to stop the SUB gravy train.
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My suspicion was wrong, Chase says it was a mistake and it’s being fixed.
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Let’s keep in mind that it was posted on April 1st. I have a hard time believing they’d require $100K in a 0% interest checking account. The opportunity cost would make this one of the worst rewards cards.
I agree, but I would not be surprised if major exclusions are coming soon.
Yeah monthly limits to prevent MSing abuse wouldn’t surprise me.
But I don’t think the $100k in checking account would work out well. They may as well close the card to new applicants. The opportunity cost (of $100k at 0%) vs. a BoA platinum honors card (2.625% card) with $100k in Merrill edge would require very large spend levels (around $20-30k/month depending on returns on $100k).
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The Smartly rumors were true – only checking account balance counts for bonus, so it’s dead on arrival, but on top of that the bonus earnings (anything above 2%) is capped at $10K/cycle and a bunch of categories (taxes, insurance, education, and a few others) are excluded from bonus, so only earn 2%. Applications submitted on or before 4/13/25 will not be affected at this time.
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