BofA has updated its checking account opening bonus. You can now earn up to a $500 opening bonus via direct deposit. The new expiration date is January 31, 2027.

Details are as follows (see the article below for ways to complete the direct deposit requirement):

  • $100: receive a total of $2,000 in direct deposits within 90 days
  • $300: receive a total of $5,000 in direct deposits within 90 days
  • $500:  receive a total of $10,000+ in direct deposits within 90 days

BofA checking account customers can also get extra credit card rewards. Details are below:

This is a very solid bonus, so I have also added it to our bank account opening bonus rankings.

About BofA

Bank of America, commonly abbreviated as BofA in the United States, is the second-largest commercial bank in the U.S. by assets, behind only JPMorgan Chase. Bank of America has about 5,600 branches and 16,200 ATMs in more than 150 countries worldwide. In 2010, Bank of America was the third-largest company in the United States by total revenue. In 2014, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list of public companies, it was the 13th-largest company in the world. The bank’s origins can be traced back to the Massachusetts Bank in 1784, making it the second-oldest bank in the United States.

When it comes to BofA, I am definitely a longtime customer. On my second day in the U.S., a senior schoolmate took me to open a BofA checking account, and I have been using it ever since. I have used it for receiving international wire transfers, transfers, bill pay, large cash deposits, and check deposits, and it does not frequently require identity verification or trigger risk controls. In other words, its tolerance level is very high, and even after a lot of account activity, problems are rare. By contrast, Chase and Citi tend to be more sensitive, especially Chase. I have heard quite a few cases where issues with a Chase checking account led to all bank accounts and credit cards being shut down. In addition, BofA generally has local branches, and if you have a checking account, it can provide some in-branch services. For example, cash deposits are still best handled at a branch. I have also handled a used car transaction at BofA. I think I asked a manager to help with some paperwork and notarization, and after everything was done it was very convenient to deposit the money directly. BofA also has its unique Preferred Rewards program. If you keep a certain amount of deposits with them, you can get many practical benefits.

Overall, although its account opening bonuses and even its credit cards are not particularly outstanding, having an account as a fund-transfer hub and central account is very useful. If you keep a larger deposit balance, the related benefits are also quite practical.

I have always used BofA for my checking account. Relatively speaking, it has a high tolerance for incoming and outgoing transfers, bill pay, and similar activity, so it is a pretty good primary account. Of course, being able to resolve problems quickly when they come up is also a plus.

BofA checking accounts

Opening bonus

See the beginning of the article for account opening and bonus details.

Account overview

BofA offers three types of checking accounts, all of which can satisfy the opening bonus requirements. You can choose an account based on your needs. In general, Plus Banking is a good choice as long as you keep a certain deposit balance. The fees are as follows:

  • BofA SafeBalance Banking: monthly fee is waived for college students under age 25 or anyone under age 18; otherwise, $4.99
  • BofA Plus Banking: $250 in direct deposits each month or a $1,500 average daily balance; otherwise, the monthly fee is $12
  • BofA Relationship Banking: $10,000 average daily balance, including checking accounts, savings accounts, CDs, IRAs, etc.; otherwise, the monthly fee is $25

Although interest is mentioned here, I checked the interest rates and they are not very meaningful.

About direct deposit

The most common direct deposit is payroll. If you do not mind, you can simply change your payroll receiving account to your BofA account. If you do not want to switch your payroll account, you can try using certain investment or brokerage accounts and withdraw funds to your BofA account; those may also possibly count as direct deposits. Below are the BofA direct deposit data points summarized by DOC for reference.

The following qualify as BofA direct deposits:

  • ACH Transfer (1, 2)
  • Airbnb payout: 1,
  • Alliant: 1, 2  (didn’t work)
  • American Express:
  • Astra: 1,
  • Baxter Credit Union: 1, 2,
  • Chase:
    • YouInvest: 1, 2, 3,
  • Coinbase: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5(didn’t work) , 6(didn’t work) , 7  (didn’t work)
  • Connexus: 1
  • Emigrant (1)
  • E*Trade (1, 2, 3, 4  (didn’t work)
  • Guilford Bank: 1,
  • PenFed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
  • PurePoint Financial: 1
  • Robinhood: 1, 2, 3, 4  (didn’t work)
  • Serve: 1, 2, 3,
  • SoFi: 1, 2  (didn’t work)
  • Transferwise: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
  • Treasury Direct: 1,
  • Wealthfront: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5(didn’t work) , 6  (didn’t work)

The following transfers do not count as direct deposits

  • ACH Transfer: 1
  • Ally ACH: 1, 2 (via e-mail in March, 2015) , 3,
  • Amazon Marketplace: 1 (via e-mail on February 11th, 2018)
  • American Express:
    • Bluebird: 1
  • Capital One: 1
  • Chase: 1(does work to waive fee, not for bonus) , 2,
  • Charles Schwab: 1, 2,
  • Discover: 1(does work to waive fee, not for bonus) , 2,
  • Fidelity: 1, 2,
  • HSBC: 1
  • PayPal (1, 2), there is evidence that it worked previously (1, 2, 3) but this has now been shut down.
  • PurePoint Financial: 1,
  • BofA user-to-user transfers (1)
  • Robinhood: 1, 2, 3,
  • USAA: 1,
  • Vanguard: 1

BofA Savings Account (No Bonus Currently)

Open an account now and deposit $1,000 to receive a $100 account opening bonus.

Other BofA Accounts

BofA also offers savings accounts, CDs, and IRA accounts, but there’s nothing especially compelling about them, and they do not come with any account opening bonus either. So we only recommend opening them for the Preferred Rewards program discussed below.

BofA Preferred Rewards

This is one of the standout features of BofA accounts. If you keep a certain amount on deposit (including checking accounts, savings accounts, IRAs, etc.), you can qualify for higher tiers. The biggest perk is the bonus on credit card cash back, which can be boosted up to 1.75x. In other words, a card that normally earns 3% cash back can effectively earn 5.25%. There are also other perks such as loan discounts, waived ATM fees, and investment discounts. Overall, it’s a pretty worthwhile program. Currently, Preferred Rewards has three tiers:

  • Gold requires $20,000-$50,000 in assets and gives a 25% bonus on credit card cash back
  • Platinum requires $50,000-$100,000 in assets and gives a 50% bonus on credit card cash back
  • Platinum Honors requires $100,000+ in assets and gives a 75% bonus on credit card cash back

For a detailed analysis, see our article:

Application Link