How to Get $20 to $1,020 for Free from Virtual Bank

How would you like to turn $100 into $120 or even $1,120? With the online company Virtual Bank, you can do just that. This post is a quick guide on how to earn money with Virtual Bank.

Long story short: contact me or leave a comment with your e-mail address. I’ll send you a referral link and we’ll both earn $20.

What is Virtual Bank?

Simply put, it’s an online bank like ING Direct. As far as I can tell, they don’t have any branches. On the “About Us” page it describes this portion of their business:

We’re building your wealth, not bank branches.
At traditional banks the cost involved in building bank branches is passed along to banking customers in fees and rates. VirtualBank does not have a network of branches and operates efficiently through electronic and ATM transactions. This creates operating cost efficiencies which enable us to offer you higher yields on deposit accounts and lower rates on mortgages. And isn’t that what banking is all about?

Sounds good to me. Low overhead leads to higher savings rates for you and me.

How to Earn Free Bonus Money from Virtual Bank

Currently the company has a deal where if you are referred and open an eMoney Market account with the minimum deposit of $100, they’ll credit you $20.The eMoney Market account is currently paying out 2.50% interest as well. That rate is a quarter percent lower than ING Direct, my favorite online bank. Yet any way you cut it you’re earning $20 for doing nothing but signing up for an account. That’s a 20% return on the original deposit.

Here’s the real catch: you could earn up to $1,000 in addition to that first $20 bonus if you refer other people to the bank.

That really got my attention when I first saw it. Let me show you what I did to earn $60 in free money.

How to Sign Up for Virtual Bank

First: you must be referred by someone else to open an account to get the bonus. I have a bunch of account referrals left, so why not contact me or leave a comment on this post with your e-mail address asking for a referral?

Second: once you get the referral e-mail, click on the link to go to the Virtual Bank sign up / account creation page. This is just like opening up a regular bank account. You will need to provide your name, address, social security number, phone number, etc.

Third: fill in your checking account routing and account numbers that you plan to transfer the $100 to Virtual Bank from. (You can’t link a savings account — it must be a checking account).

Fourth: the account creation process can take up to three business days. VB will deposit two small amounts into your checking account (like 12 and 14 cents). You will use those amounts to verify your ownership of the checking account you linked to VB. Once you verify the account, the money is transferred to Virtual Bank and you are credited your $20.

I opened my account last month. See the evidence below:

So I earned 20.12% off of that $100 deposit.

How to Earn Referral Bonuses with Virtual Bank

It’s pretty simple really. You need a name and e-mail address to enter into the referral section of Virtual Bank’s website. Then go find 50 of your closest friends (or blog readers) and get them to sign up.

For every person who you refer, you earn $20 and they earn $20.

For Married Folks: Earn $60 Easily

An added little bonus for the married or seriously involved folks: refer your spouse. You earn $20 for the referral, and they do, too. But you share the money so it’s like you’re both earning a total of $60. You would need either a second $100 or wait until you can withdraw the original $100 deposit (after 30 days) and do it again.

A quick breakdown:

• Open account with $100 after using a referral from No Debt Plan (total: $100)
• Get $20 referral sign up bonus (total: $120)
• Refer spouse. Earn $20 for referring spouse. (total: $140)
• Spouse signs up with another $100. (total: $240)
• Spouse gets $20 referral sign up bonus (total: $260)

End result? $200 turns into $260. That’s a 30% return and $60 for free.

Note that you do have to wait 30 days before you can withdraw the money, so don’t plan on just opening up an account and pulling the money straight out.

Should I Switch from ING Direct?

Let me be clear: I love ING Direct. I’m not leaving them. In fact if you don’t have an ING Direct account I can help you earn $25 or $50 in bonus money as well — just ask.

That begs the question, “Why open another online bank account?”

I’m glad you asked.

1. I wanted to earn at least $60 for free. I’ll earn more if all of my nice readers sign up for accounts through me.
2. I doubt ING Direct is going to collapse due to the financial crisis. However, it’s always nice to have a backup plan in place just in case. If something were to happen to ING I could move my money over to Virtual Bank with a few clicks of my mouse.
3. Did I mention I wanted to earn $60 for free?

What are you waiting for? Shoot me an e-mail, leave that comment, and ask me for that referral!

Tagged as: Free Money, Saving