$25 from Wachovia

If by some unfortunate set of circumstances, you happen to live in Mississippi, Tennessee, or Alabama, things may be looking up. Wachovia is offering you $25 if you open up a free checking account with them. I've been a Wachovia customer for about 4 years now, and I've been very happy with their service, and it started a little something like this:

A long, long time ago, in a city far away, I started my first bank account with SunTrust because they had a $100 promotional offer (yeah, I'm a sucker for deals like that). Well, I signed up, and that money never came. They were also charging me a monthly fee for the checking account, but this was standard practice back in the day. About a year later, I heard about Wachovia's free checking for college students, and I decided to switch ships. Now, free student checking is pretty commonplace, but when it first started, Wachovia was one of the few, and my loyalty stays with them. Just last week, I had a problem with a charge on my account, and after explaining why I felt it was unfair, they gave me the money back! On the other hand, the same thing happened at Bank of America (I fell for another promotion) about a month ago, and they wouldn't even listen. Customer service at Wachovia has been the best out of the three that I've tried, and I have no reservations in recommending them. And really, I don't get anything out of promoting them, really.