When peer to peer lending first started, the biggest name in the market was Prosper. I was skeptical about the whole business of peer to peer lending and it showed in my review of Prosper, which was more about peer to peer lending than it was about Prosper itself. Since then, with the arrival of SEC oversight and other competing businesses like Lending Club, I have a little more faith in peer to peer lending networks.

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Did you know that National Friendship Day was August 3nd? Since 1935, Congress declared the first Sunday in August to be National Friendship Day.

I didn’t, but that’s because my friends never told me! (I just lobbed a softball, someone crush it out of the park already…)

Well, my friends at TradeKing (har har, I think they just like my money) just sent me an email telling me about a promotion where if you refer a friend to TradeKing, both of you get $50.

Here are the important details of the $50 referral promotion:

• It must be a new account opened between July 31st and August 31st,
• The referred friend has to fund their account with at least $1,000 within 30 days,
• The referred friend has to execute at least one trade (trades are $4.95 a piece) within 180 days of opening the account,
• The funds must remain in the account for at least 180 days.

Is this a good deal? If you don’t have a TradeKing account and have been thinking about it, now’s a good time to do it. If you just want the money, trades are $4.95 a piece so you’re talking a round-trip cost of $9.90, plus your trade is at risk in the market, for a promo of $40.10 on a $1,000 six-month deposit (puts the interest APY, if you like to think in those terms, at ~8%+ APY).

Want in? Shoot me an email with this contact form and I’ll send you a referral. (or directly email me at: )

(Updated 10/5) If you’re looking for an exclusive Sharebuilder promotion code, you’ve come to the right place.

Sharebuilder is the buy-and-hold investor’s dream and we have some promotion codes that will help give you a head start. We have partnered with Sharebuilder to bring you an exclusive $25 promotion code that isn’t available anywhere else.

The exclusive code is: 25WCFA

To use the Sharebuilder promotion code:

• Click on the Apply Today! button,
• You’ll be taken to an ING Direct Sharebuilder page, click on the “Get started today” button.
• On the next page, it says Account Type at the top, you’ll see a white box with the words “I’m responding to a promotion,” – check that box,
• The page will reload and then a new box will appear – that’s where you enter in the code.

It sounds complicated but it’s pretty easy, it just takes a few words to explain it.



Do not open multiple accounts. You cannot get multiple bonuses for opening multiple accounts so don’t try to, readers have reported receiving this email:

“It has been noted that you recently opened multiple accounts with identical registration information.

We have restricted from activity all but the first of such identical accounts. ShareBuilder is closing these additional accounts under the provisions of Section 10 of the Account Agreement. Future identical accounts will be likewise restricted.

IMPORTANT: If you have already placed funds in your account, they will be returned to the bank of origin after the normal hold period. If you funded your account with a check, funds will be sent by check to the address of record on the account. If there were securities purchased, those trades will be cancelled.“

Terms & Conditions of the offer:

You must open a new account with ShareBuilder and deposit at least $25 to be eligible for this promotion. ShareBuilder will deposit a $25 bonus approximately 4-6 weeks after your first $25 deposit. The $25 bonus offer is available for Individual, Joint and Custodial accounts only. Offer not valid for IRAs or ESAs. The $25 bonus from ShareBuilder is not available for withdrawal for 90 days after it is awarded to your account. This offer is not valid with any other offers and is non-transferrable. Limit one ShareBuilder account bonus per unique customer or custodial beneficiary. ShareBuilder reserves the right to terminate this offer at any time and to refuse or recover any promotion award if ShareBuilder determines that it was obtained under wrongful or fraudulent circumstances, that inaccurate or incomplete information was provided in opening the account, or that any terms or ShareBuilder’s Account Agreement has been violated.

For the month of October, TradeKing is running a $50 promotion where you can get $50 by opening a new account, fund it with $2,500 or more within thirty days, and then make one trade within 180 days. It’s just like the promotion they had for National Friend’s Day but for the entire month of October.

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Credit card offers total value: $1695.

Here is every credit card promotional offer I am aware of, listed in a handy table along with fulfillment requirements. The only rules about having a card appear on the list is that the promotional offer be worth at least $50 and it must be a mainstream brand like Citi, Discover, Capital One, American Express, etc. No offers available only to a small geographic region, these are all mainstream ones that are potentially available to everyone if you qualify.

They are listed in order of value and I will attempt to keep this list updated monthly. (this list does not include free airline miles promotions, i.e. those cards that give only miles as a promotions, but some of these cards allow you to convert points into miles) For the cards that have (pts) next to the dollar value, which currently is all of them, you will get your rewards in points (which can often be converted into gift cards) and the maximum value is displayed there. $100 in points is usually 10,000 points, but not always, so be sure to read the terms and conditions. Without further ado, here are nearly a thousand dollars in promotions!

Who is eligible for a business card? Anyone can be a sole proprietorship without filling out any additional paperwork. Put in your name as the business name, your social security number as the ID number, and you can apply as a business. You don’t pay extra taxes, you don’t have to fill out any extra paperwork, this is 100% legal and acceptable.

If you know of an offer that isn’t on the list, please leave it in the comments or email me, thanks!

(Fat stack photo taken by Refracted Moments™ on Flickr)

A little while ago Chase ran a sizzling hot promotion where if you signed up for their Chase Freedom card and made a purchase, they’d reward you with $250 (Chase $250 promotion) but lately they’ve been a little tighter on the promotions, until today. Now, if you apply for a Chase Freedom card, you can get $50 after your first purchase plus get 3% cash back at certain locations and 1% at others. It’s not as hot as the $250 promotion from a few months back but it’s certainly better than nothing if you were looking to snag the Chase Freedom card in the first place.

If $50 isn’t enough for you, check out these credit card promotional offers, many of which offer $100 gift cards.

I’ve recently posted the latest and greatest in credit card offers and promotions with over a thousand dollars in bonuses!

If you’ve had your eye on getting the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card or the American Express Preferred Rewards Green Card, you’re in luck because each has a hot new promotional offer of points with your first purchase. With the Gold card, you get 10,000 points after your first purchase; With the Green card, you get 5,000 points after your first purchase. 10,000 points can get you a $100 gift card and 5,000, coincidentally, can get you a $50 gift card.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card

This card also has some other benefits such as exclusive access to Gold card events such as concerts, shows, sporting events, etc. as well as a Global Assist Hotline. The card also gives you access to the Membership Rewards Program, which lets you convert those points into gift cards. The card also comes with a $125 annual fee that is waived for the first year.

American Express Preferred Rewards Green Card

The green version is very much like the gold version except you don’t get access to Gold card events (and the promotional offer is half that of the Gold card). The card still gives you access to the Membership Rewards Program and all the typical American Express benefits such as purchase protection, return protection, and car rental insurance. The annual fee on the green card is $95 and that is waived for the first year.

This promotion has ended.

Citi e-Savings has a hot new promotion for those of you who don’t already have (or have ever had) a Citi e-Savings account. Simply apply for a regular checking account and an e-Savings account by the end of March and collect your $50 payola. Unfortunately I can’t take advantage of this because I’ve had Citi e-Savings accounts in the past.

Also, if I had a Citi branch locally, I think I’d use the Citi e-Savings account because it’s really nice to be able to transfer in and out of an online savings account instantaneously. Right now I have ING and Emigrant and transfers out of those accounts take like four days, significantly longer than “instantly.”

Anyway, this is how you take advantage of the deal:

1. Visit Citi.
2. Click the big green Apply Now button,
3. Then scroll down and replace Offer Code CSA6 with CSKL.
4. Collect the cash!

Terms:
To qualify for Free Citibank EZ Checking, you must apply online for both a new regular checking and e-Savings Account in the EZ Checking package by 03/31/2007. Your relationship package will then be free of monthly maintenance fees and per-check fees. Charges for other account-related services may apply. All accounts are subject to approval. Offer only available for first-time Citibank checking/deposit account customers, and is valid only once for any individual.

$50 offer is only available for first-time Citibank deposit (checking or savings product) account customers, and will be paid only once to any individual. Persons who currently have or at any time have had a deposit account at Citibank (or any of its predecessor banks) are not eligible. To receive this offer you must: make a single application for both a new regular checking and e-Savings Account in the EZ Checking package and open both accounts by 3/31/07. $50 will be credited to your regular checking account within 90 days from the end of the statement period in which your accounts were opened.

Thanks to the crazy folks over at the Fatwallet Finance forums for finding this deal.

This promotion as ended, but you can still open a E*Trade savings account with a great interest rate.

Be Unbeatable! That’s the slogan splashed across the page of this ETrade promotional offer of $50 free for opening a new ETrade Money Market Account (sent to me by loyal reader Charles, Thanks Charles!). As a side sweetener, you get a 5.15% interest rate on the account for the first three months. After that three month teaser rate, the rate falls to 1.51%.

If you have a balance under $1000 you’ll be dinged with a $10 monthly fee but otherwise I see nothing that should hold someone back from taking a free $50. Anyone else see something I missed?

Fine print:

$50 will be credited to your new E*TRADE® Money Market account within 30 days of the account being funded with a minimum deposit of $100. Payments will be reported as interest income. Accounts must be opened by September 30, 2006 to qualify for the $50 offer. Must be a new account opened with new funds. Offer applies to one new account per customer. Not good with any other offer. This offer is not valid for E*TRADE FINANCIAL employees.

Relevant Fees:

A $100 minimum deposit is required to open a new EMM and account holders must maintain a minimum average monthly balance of $1,000, or $5,000 in total E*TRADE Bank deposits, by the end of their second statement cycle to avoid a $10 monthly fee.

All the “where to invest $100″ articles telling you to buy CDs and open money market funds are dead wrong. Absolutely dead wrong. Where should you be investing $100? Look for promotional offers from online bank accounts (where you can generate some more income by referring friends and relatives), brokerage firms, and other financial institutions to get the most bang for your $100. Then, after you’ve earned enough through those offers you can start thinking about “conventional” investment vehicles.

Don’t have $100 you want to invest, consider signing up for a credit card that offers statement credits or gift cards that you can convert to money to invest.

To learn more, plow onward!

1. Sharebuilder

First step is to open up a Sharebuilder account using a promotion code that will give you free money. Currently there’s a $50 bonus code 50GO28 if you deposit some funds and make a purchase. Stock purchases are a mere $4 but stock sales are a pricy $14.95. Let’s say you put in $50, make a purchase, get the $50 bonus money, and then sell your stock back at your purchase price. Net result is a gain of $30.05 ($50 less $4 purchase commission and $15.95 sale commission) which is a 60.1% gain on a $50 investment. Now you have $130.05 to invest. Some have reported being able to repeat this process over and over again on multiple promotion codes. I list all of the codes I know of on this Sharebuilder promotion code post.

2. Bank of America

BoA frequently has promotional offers for opening a checking account such as this $50 promotion (MYA). The minimum you need to open most accounts is $100 and account fees are lower if you setup a direct deposit into the account. The “cheapest” account is the MyAccess Checking account which actually has no minimum and $5.95 monthly fee, waived if you have a direct deposit. Once you open an account, the $50 bonus will be deposited into your account within 50 days. Deposit $50, wait 50 days, get the $50 bonus. You can sign up for a BoA promotion every 60 days. According to their representative, the verification department runs a credit bureau report and a report from ChexSystems. After doing this once you’ll have $180.05 waiting to “invest.”

Now you’re on a roll… you can repeat these types of signup deals until you reach $250… (here’s a great list of bank signup promotions)

3. ING Direct

This promotion is for only $25 but it’s an easy $25. Just get someone who already has an ING Direct account to send you a referral (I have some available, hit up this self-serve $25 ING Direct promotion page if you’d like one). All you have to do is deposit $250 and ING will send $25 your way, a quick painless $10% gain with no risk. In return, your friend will get $10. Now, you can give out twenty of your own referrals and start earning a little extra cash with no risk whatsoever. If you get all twenty, that’s $200 in your pocket. So, now you have $450 to “invest,” where to turn now?

4. Virtual Bank eMoney Market

Virtual Bank has a $20 referral bonus, much like ING, except the referrer gets $20 too and you can refer up to fifty people (that’s $1,000 in your pocket, contact me if you need a referral). This offer is available to new accounts only, you’ll have to ACH money from an existing bank account, and the $20 isn’t available for the first 30 days. That’s all pretty standard online banking terms and conditions. So, after your account is approved you’ll immediately be eligible to start referring your friends. After you sign up, refer fifty people and you’ll have $1470 to invest.

Now that you have close to $1500, you should start moving towards conventional investments like investing in those stocks you always get emails about (just kidding!). Vanguard’s STAR fund with a minimum account balance of $1000 is an option but it’s up to you what you’d like to do. You can always peel off some of that money and go back into doing bonuses but at least now you can read “How To Invest $1000″ articles which are typically more exciting.