Recent High-Bonus Account Opening Offers Summary

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Common Bank Account Bonuses

In the United States, besides opening credit cards to get large sign-up bonuses, opening a Checking or Saving account can also get you quite a few bonuses. Today, let’s briefly talk about how to get free cash through these two kinds of accounts.

When we open a checking account (Checking Account) and a savings account (Saving Account), banks often give you some opening bonuses. In addition, if your account meets certain requirements, your Saving Account can also earn a 5% annual interest rate. So, learning how to make the most of Checking and Saving is also one way we save money or make money in the United States.

Common bank account bonuses are as follows:

  • Cash bonus: Open a Chase Checking account to get a $250 cash bonus, or open a Saving account to get a $200 bonus. Similar offers have also been provided by BofA, Wells Fargo, and US Bank.
  • High interest rate: Some banks, after you meet certain conditions, can offer a 5% savings interest rate. Compared with the roughly 1% interest rate that is common in the United States, that is extremely high.
  • Points/miles bonus: After depositing money and meeting certain conditions, you can regularly receive airline miles as a reward (equivalent to an opening bonus or interest).

Generally, high-value opening bonuses are limited-time promotions, and you need to open the account within a specific time window. So keep an eye on the articles published on this site to get the latest bank opening bonuses.

Common Requirements and Terms

Similar to how credit card sign-up bonuses require you to spend a certain amount before you can get them, bank account bonuses also have certain qualifying requirements. These requirements vary widely. Of course, the main point is that the bank wants you to use its various features, and thus use its accounts and services specifically. Common requirements and terms are as follows:

Direct Deposit (DD)

If you have worked in the United States or served as an RA/TA at school, you should be very familiar with this. DD is a common way for employers to pay employees’ wages, and the money is sent directly to your bank account via electronic transfer. If you have a salary, just change the account receiving your pay to the bank account where you need to complete the task. If you do not have a salary, you can do it through fake DD, which we will focus on in the sections below.

After opening a bank account, banks often require several consecutive months of DD, or a DD total above a certain amount, before the requirement is considered satisfied.

Bill Payment (BP)

BP is basically a core feature of a bank checking account. You can pay your credit card directly through a Checking Account. Generally, you only need to choose the corresponding bank and then enter the credit card number. Some smaller banks cannot set up electronic BP; in that case, you need to enter the credit card company’s payment address and then make BP by mailing a paper check.

After opening a bank account, banks often require a certain number of BP payments before the requirement is considered satisfied.

Debit Card Transactions

After opening a Checking Account, you will receive a debit card. Banks sometimes require a certain number of debit card purchases each month before the requirement is considered satisfied. Note that some banks specifically require Pin Based Transactions; spending through the Credit network does not count.

Minimum Balance

Some banks require you to deposit a certain amount into the account and keep the daily average or monthly average Balance above a certain threshold in order to receive the opening bonus. Therefore, you need to analyze how to handle this based on the specific terms.

Fee

Checking and Saving often come with a number of fees. Common ones include:

  • Monthly fee (Monthly Fee): The monthly fee for a basic account can often be waived by meeting Minimum Balance, E-Statement, or Debit Transaction requirements. Before deciding to open an account, it is best to first understand the monthly fee and how to avoid it.
  • Service fee (Service Fee): ATM withdrawals and requests for a new Debit card can generate some service fees. Avoid them whenever possible.
  • Early Terminate Fee: If you close the account before the specified date, this fee will also be charged, so be careful.

ChexSystems

Similar to the three major credit bureaus for credit cards, when banks decide whether to approve a new bank account, they often pull data from ChexSystems. ChexSystems data includes your recent account-opening history and the current status of your accounts. If you have recently opened too many accounts, your ChexSystems record may not look good, and the bank may not approve your new account. ChexSystems has nothing to do with your credit report, and a pull will not reduce your credit score with the three major credit bureaus. But note that a very small number of banks may even pull your credit report when you open an account, which will result in a hard pull and may lower your credit score.

Common Tips

How to Find These Bank Bonuses

Compared with the flood of credit card advertisements, bank bonuses are often much more low-key and require you to dig them up yourself. Common ways to find them include:

  • Local bank advertisements: When you go in to handle banking matters, you can also ask whether there are any Checking Saving opening bonuses.
  • Mail sent to your home: Chase and BofA like to mail you letters offering opening bonuses.

Our summaries:

How to Meet the Bonus Requirements

BP, Minimum Balance, and Fee are all hard requirements. You just need to pay attention to the bank’s listed terms and conditions and meet the specific numbers. Other tips include:

  • Fake DD: Whether a transfer into your account counts as DD depends a lot on the receiving party and the initiating party. Wages, tax refunds, and the like are generally counted as DD by most banks. Some transfers from personal accounts may also be counted as DD; we call these fake DD. Common fake DD methods include Discover Checking transfers, withdrawing money from a PayPal account, withdrawing from brokerage accounts, and so on. However, fake DD does not work for every account and every bank, so you need to analyze each case specifically.
  • Debit Card Transactions: The required number of purchases can be completed through Reload Amazon, SelfCheckout, and PayBill. For details, see this article: How to Quickly Meet the Required Number of Card Swipes

Other

  • churn: Similar to credit card churn (repeated applications), bank accounts can also be applied for multiple times. For example, some banks say that as long as you have not received a bonus within 1 year, you can get another bonus if you open the account again. If you manage the timing of account opening and closing well, you can earn quite a bit each year.
  • CC funding: Some banks allow you to use a credit card to fund the initial deposit when opening an account. This amount counts as normal spending for certain credit card issuers, so you can earn an extra round of cashback while also meeting the card’s sign-up spending requirement.

Important Notes

  • Tax issues: Unlike credit card rewards, bank bonuses are often treated as income (usually interest income), so they need to be reported on your taxes. Of course, whether you actually need to pay tax also depends on your status in the United States. The general advice is that nonresidents do not need to pay it, while everyone else does. Please consult a tax attorney for details.
  • Identity requirements: Some banks only allow US Citizen to open an account, some require a green card, and some are open to everyone, so pay attention to the identity requirements for opening the account. It’s best not to misrepresent your identity.
  • Plan ahead: The requirements for bank bonuses are often numerous, so good planning is important. Otherwise, it’s easy to miss a task and end up not getting the bonus. It’s a good idea to keep a spreadsheet or something similar and check off each task as you complete it.

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