Why I Opened a New Bank Account Before I Joined a New Gym

My go-to thought when making a new purchase is how I can best maximize my credit card rewards. So I already had my go-to rewards credit card picked out when I started shopping local gyms.

Unfortunately, my smaller town doesn't have a lot of options. And the options it does have all have one major drawback: They require ACH transfers for monthly fees.

As soon as I realized I'd be stuck setting up transfers if I wanted to join a gym, I knew what I had to do: I opened a new checking account. Here's why.

I never give out information for my main account

Any other considerations aside, I never, ever give the information for my primary bank accounts to any merchant. And you shouldn't either.

Your banking information is only as secure as the least secure person who has it.

Each time you give your account information to a merchant, you are drastically increasing the chances that the information will be compromised during a data breach.

If you pay even passing attention to the headlines, you know that data breaches are increasingly common, impacting millions of people every year -- and they happen to companies with far greater security than your local gym.

It's not worth the risk when you can simply open a new account where the risk has less potential impact on your financial life. The bank account I opened to pay my gym fees isn't even with the same bank that manages my primary accounts. So, hopefully, any potential problems can't find their way back to the place where my money actually lives.

The new account bonus will pay my gym fees

Being rewards-minded, of course, another big reason I wanted to open a new bank account was for the bonus. Similar to the welcome bonuses offered by credit cards, you can get new account bonuses for checking and savings accounts.

Sure, you'll need to do a bit more than just open an account to earn the bonus. This usually requires setting up direct deposit or making a set number of debit card purchases within a certain period.

In my case, I only needed to receive $500 in direct deposits to earn a $200 bonus on my checking account. That requires about five minutes worth of work on my end to set up; not a bad return on my time. The $500 will probably find its way back to my regular bank account, but the $200 bonus will pay my gym fees for the year.

How I picked a new bank account

I had four main criteria I used to figure out what bank account to open:

1. I wanted a checking account with no monthly fees. I won't be keeping a ton of money in this account, so I didn't need any hoops to jump through to get a monthly fee waived.
2. I wanted a good welcome bonus that I could earn with minimal time/money.
3. I wanted the bank to have a local branch with good customer service. (Gyms are notorious for funny business around cancellations.)
4. I wanted to be able to open the account online. (Just because the bank has a local branch doesn't mean I want to put on Outside Pants to open an account.)

When I found a bank and account that matched my needs, I signed up. Opening an account online is quick and easy in most cases, and it took mere minutes for me to open and fund my new account.

Does everyone who signs up for a new gym membership need a new bank account? Probably not. If you're lucky enough to have a gym that lets you pay by credit card, I highly suggest doing that. The right cash back card could net you 5% back on your gym fees. But if you absolutely have to pay by ACH transfer, I would definitely recommend opening a new account.