About Valley National Bank

Valley National Bank is a regional bank headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, with assets of approximately $64,000,000,000. Founded in 1927, it is one of the largest commercial banks headquartered in New Jersey. Valley National Bank has more than 230 branch and commercial banking offices in New Jersey, New York, Florida, Alabama, California, and Illinois. Its online savings account offers one of the best rates in the country.

This bank’s deposits are also FDIC insured, so you don’t have to worry about the safety of your money

Banking products and trust services are provided by Valley National Bank (the “Bank”) , Member FDIC.  Brokerage and insurance products are provided by Valley Financial Management, Inc. (“VFM”) , a registered broker-dealer, member of FINRA and SIPC, and a licensed insurance agency.  Advisory products are offered through VFM and Valley Wealth Managers, Inc. (“VWM”) , SEC-registered investment advisers.  Registration with the SEC does not imply that VFM or VWM, or any individual providing investment advisory services on their behalf, possess a certain level of skill or training.  VFM and VWM are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Bank.

Valley Direct Savings Account

The Valley Direct High Yield Savings Account is a high-yield savings account offered by Valley National Bank. This account is designed to give customers a higher-yield savings option and help them grow their savings more effectively. Here are some of the features of the Valley Direct High Yield Savings Account:

  1. High rate: Compared with other traditional savings accounts, high-yield savings accounts usually offer a higher APY, helping your deposits grow faster. Currently the APY is 3.5%/4.10%
  2. Accessibility: Customers can access and manage their savings account through online banking, mobile banking, and telephone banking, making it convenient and flexible.
  3. FDIC insurance: The Valley Direct High Yield Savings Account is protected by FDIC insurance up to $250,000. This means your deposits are protected even if the bank runs into trouble.

Note that high-yield savings accounts usually have some restrictions, such as monthly transaction limits (generally 6 per month).

Application link

Don’t open directly on the official website. Right now, opening Valley Direct through the cashback site TopCashback can earn you an extra $150 in cash back.

After signing up for TopCashback, search for valley direct, then use the TopCashback link to Valley Direct to complete the application.New users now get a higher rate in the first year than existing users: 4.1%. Existing users get 3.8%. New users need to deposit $1,000 when opening the account.

Things to note

Requirements for opening a Valley Direct savings account:

  • You must be at least 18 years old
  • You must live in the United States (there is no requirement that you be a U.S. citizen or green card holder)
  • You need an SSN and a government-issued ID

Valley Checking Account

Opening bonus

Open their all access checking account now, and if you receive a total of $500 in direct deposits within 60 days, you can get a $100 opening bonus.

To qualify for the cash bonus, none of the account holders may have had another Valley personal checking account within one year before the account opening date.

Direct deposit requirements

To get the $400 opening bonus, you need at least two DDs within 90 days, with a total of more than $7,500.

DD refers to recurring payroll direct deposits or electronic deposits of pensions or government benefits (such as Social Security) made by your employer or another payer using the routing number and account number you provide. Transfers from one account to another, online or mobile banking deposits, or deposits made at a branch or ATM do not qualify as direct deposit (according to the official terms, they do not count). If you can’t change where your paycheck is deposited, you may want to consider transfers from brokerage accounts; transfers from banks like Chase, Capital One, and Discover may also be able to satisfy the DD requirement. According to DOC, there are some data points on how DD is counted, and the following have been reported as working:

  • Capital One:
    • Trial deposits: 1,
  • Chase:
    • ACH: 1, 2, 3  (didn’t work)
    • Initial ACH funding: 1,
  • NFCU: 1,

Reported not to work:

  • Ally: 1,

Account fees

The monthly fee is $15, waived for the first 12 months. After that, if your daily balance does not reach $99, a $15 monthly maintenance fee will apply. You only need to keep $100 in the account, so this is still easy to meet.

There is no early account closure fee.

Things to note

This checking account is reportedly sensitive to ChexSystems. If you have applied for a lot of checking accounts recently, they may not approve you. In some cases, you may need to visit a local branch for review to get approved. If there are no branches near you, it may be best not to bother and just cancel the application. The following states have local branches:

Application links

For more bank opening bonuses, see: