In October, many banks rolled out high-value new account bonuses. Some can be earned via fake deposits, which is very easy and does not tie up funds; together, these can add up to $2,000+ in earnings! Others require depositing money; by moving funds through different banks, you can basically earn $10,000+ in various bonuses within a few months. Details below:

  • Via DD: US Bank has $450, Citi has $325, Chase has $400, and KeyBank has a $500 bonus, with requirements that are not too difficult. Wells Fargo also has up to $400. Together, these can add up to $2,000+ in earnings!
  • Via deposits: There are also some that require depositing funds, such as HSBC’s $3,000 bonus, Citi Checking $1,500, Chase CPC $3,000 bonus, and so on. By moving funds through different banks, you can basically earn $10,000+ in various bonuses within a few months.
  • If you are just a regular salaried employee, I would prioritize Truist, US Bank, Chase, and Wells Fargo because the bonuses are high and the capital required is relatively low. If you already have a lot of idle cash or securities on hand, then consider Citi, Chase Private Client, and HSBC.

Quick comparison of 2026 bank account bonuses

Bank Current Bonus Main Requirements Expiration Date Apply
Truist $500 $2,000 DD + 20 debit card purchases 2027/2/2 Apply
US Bank $450 2 DDs totaling $8,000 2026/11/10 Apply
Chase $400 $1,000 DD within 90 days 2026/10/14 Apply
Wells Fargo $400 $1,000 DD within 90 days 2026/11/9 Apply
Bank of America $500 $10,000 DD within 90 days 2027/1/31 Apply
BMO $600 $1,000 DD each month for six consecutive months 2026/12/15 Apply
KeyBank $500 $5,000 DD within 90 days 2026/12/11 Apply
Capital One $300 2 DDs of $500 each within 75 days Not specified Apply
Citi $1,500 Deposit $30,000-$200,000+ 2026/10/26 Apply
Chase Private Client $3,000 Transfer in $150,000-$500,000+ 2026/10/14 Apply
HSBC Premier $3,000 Deposit $50,000-$500,000+ 2026/12/31 Apply

Note that the deadlines for bank account opening bonus promotions may keep getting extended, so you can click the promotion links to see whether the offer has expired. Some account opening bonuses have specific requirements; please click the detailed review to learn more.

US Bank $450 Bonus

The US Bank Checking $450 new account bonus is back! The direct deposit requirement for this bonus is very easy to complete, and I have also compiled the latest fake DD methods. You can complete the requirements and earn the bonus along the way, and it can also help with future credit card applications. After closing the account for 12 months, you can earn the new account bonus again, so time it well and earn it multiple times. The promotion expires on November 10.

The specific requirements for the checking account bonus are as follows:

  • Complete at least 2 direct deposits within 90 days after account opening. You can earn different bonuses based on the total amount: $2,000-$4,999 earns $250; $5,000-$7,999 earns $350; $8,000+ earns $450.
  • Set up US Bank online banking within 90 days after account opening; just log in to the account online or in the app.
  • Deposit $25 within 30 days after account opening. A regular deposit is fine; no direct deposit is required.

If you do not want to use payroll, or do not have payroll available to complete the direct deposit requirement, you can use some unofficial methods below, such as transfers (ACH) or withdrawals, to satisfy the requirement. The steps are to add US Bank as an external bank at another bank, then initiate an ACH transfer from that other bank. Alternatively, add US Bank to an investment account or PayPal account and simply withdraw money to it. Among banks, US Bank is one of the most lenient for direct deposit; almost all transfers are counted as direct deposits. US Bank also has a bonus tracker, so if you meet the requirements you can see it yourself. Be sure to remember: do not use real-time transfers, and it must be two direct deposits, not one!

  • Bank ACH: Ally Bank, Alliant Credit Union, American Express, Axos Bank, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Charles Schwab Bank, Discover Bank, PNC Bank, SoFi Bank, T-Mobile Money, Tech CU, Wells Fargo, and others all work.
  • Investment platform withdrawals: Charles Schwab, E*Trade, Fidelity, Robinhood, TreasuryDirect, Vanguard, Wealthfront.
  • P2P payment app withdrawals: Apple Cash, Cash App, Novo, PayPal, Relay, Square Cash, Venmo.

This account has become especially important after the revamp of the Smartly 4% cash back credit card, so it is still worth applying for as a package.

Truist Checking $500 Bonus

Truist Checking increased its new account bonus. The requirements are not too complicated: the key is receiving a total of $2,000 in direct deposits and making 20 debit card purchases. If you already have direct deposit or can handle fake direct deposit, do not miss this free $500 bonus. The promotion ends on February 2, 2027.

Below I will share the timeline for receiving the bonus and the direct deposit method. A Chase checking account can be used to complete a fake direct deposit, which is quite nice. I used a personal Chase account and simply initiated an ACH transfer from Chase. Just be careful not to make it a real-time transfer. Note that there are two requirements: $2,000 in direct deposits (two deposits are required, with a total of $2,000) and 20 debit card purchases. Details below:

  • Opened the account on January 20 and deposited $50.
  • Jan 22: Chase ACH transfer in of $1,150
  • Jan 23: Chase ACH transfer in of $650
  • Jan 27-29: 20 debit card purchases of $1.xx each
  • Feb 3: Another direct deposit of $267
  • Feb 5: Bonus pending
  • Feb 6: $400 bonus posted~

Here is a summary of methods that can satisfy a fake direct deposit requirement. Note that these are all initiated from a bank or investment platform: use an ACH transfer from a bank, or a withdrawal from an investment platform, and send the funds to Truist.

  • Banks: Affinity, Ally, Axos, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Discover, Fulton, SoFi, Wells Fargo, Wise
  • Investment platforms: Charles Schwab, E*Trade, Fidelity

As for the 20 debit card purchases, you can refer to this article. It is very easy to complete.

Chase Bonuses up to $300-$3,000

Checking

You can now earn a $400 account opening bonus when you open a Chase checking account. You only need to receive $1,000 in direct deposits within 90 days. Use the link below to enter your email and get a promo code. The offer ends on Oct 14, 2026.

Using LemFi with a payroll memo can directly satisfy the DD requirement. It is more convenient and more reliable than a bank ACH transfer, and there are also recent confirmed data points. Robinhood, Discover, SoFi, Chime, and others can also work as fake DD methods. See the following for details:

Checking and Saving

If you plan to open a savings account at the same time and can meet the $15,000 deposit requirement, you can choose the combined offer below. Opening a savings account can earn you a $200 bonus. If you open both the checking and savings accounts together, you can earn an additional $400. Use the link below to enter your email and get a promo code. The offer ends on Oct 14, 2026. The interest rate on this savings account is mediocre, so it is only suitable for chasing the account opening bonus.

The bonus requirements are as follows:

  • Checking account $300: complete one direct deposit within 90 days
  • Savings account $200: deposit $15,000 within 30 days (must be transferred from another bank; try not to deposit cash directly) and maintain it for 90 days
  • Open both for $400: you must open both accounts at the same time and complete the two requirements above

In addition, if you closed an account within the past 90 days or had a negative balance (meaning an amount owed) within the past 3 years, you will not be eligible for the account opening bonus.

Private Client

You can now earn up to a $3,000 bonus when you open a Chase Private Client account. You need to get the promo code through the link below. It expires on Oct 14.

The requirements are as follows:

  • Deposit $150,000-$250,000 within 45 days of account opening and maintain it for 90 days to receive a $1,000 bonus
  • Deposit $250,000-$500,000 within 45 days of account opening and maintain it for 90 days to receive a $2,000 bonus
  • Deposit more than $500,000 within 45 days of account opening and maintain it for 90 days to receive a $3,000 bonus

If you opened this type of account within the past 12 months or closed this type of account within the past 90 days, you will not be eligible for the account opening bonus.

HSBC Premier Checking $3,000

HSBC has updated its Premier Checking account opening bonus. New customers can now earn up to $3,000, and a minimum deposit of $50,000 can earn a $1,000 bonus. The offer does not require a direct deposit. You only need to transfer in new money from outside HSBC, or transfer eligible investment assets, and maintain them for the required period. The offer ends on Dec 31, 2026.

The best value is the $50,000 deposit tier for a $1,000 bonus. Based on holding the funds for 3 months, the account opening bonus itself has an annualized equivalent return of about 8%, making it the most worthwhile tier in this offer. The specific bonus tiers are below, calculated based on the minimum deposit amount for each tier and holding the funds for 3 full calendar months:

  • $1,000 bonus: deposit or invest $50,000–$99,999. The account opening bonus is equivalent to a 2% return, or about an 8% annualized equivalent return; combined with the savings account’s current 3.00% APY, the total annualized equivalent return is about 11%.
  • $1,500 bonus: deposit or invest $100,000–$249,999. The account opening bonus is equivalent to a 1.5% return, or about a 6% annualized equivalent return; combined with the savings account’s current 3.00% APY, the total annualized equivalent return is about 9%.
  • $2,000 bonus: deposit or invest $250,000–$499,999. The account opening bonus is equivalent to a 0.8% return, or about a 3.2% annualized equivalent return; combined with the savings account’s current 3.00% APY, the total annualized equivalent return is about 6.2%.
  • $3,000 bonus: deposit or invest more than $500,000. The account opening bonus is equivalent to a 0.6% return, or about a 2.4% annualized equivalent return; combined with the savings account’s current 3.00% APY, the total annualized equivalent return is about 5.4%.

In addition, if you also want to open an investment account, you may be able to stack even higher bonuses. See the following for details:

Also, according to data points previously provided by community members, people in China may be able to directly apply for a U.S. HSBC Premier account. You can select China as your current location and use a China address, passport, national ID card, and proof of address to complete the application. However, a hard requirement is being an HSBC China Premier customer.

Citi $325-$1,500

Citi has updated another round of account opening bonuses. Checking now offers up to $1,500 for depositing money, or you can earn $325 via direct deposit. You can choose based on how much you want to deposit. That said, Citi’s DD requirement is very easy, so it is worth considering.

The deposit-based offer is relatively simple: deposit $30,000-$200,000 within 45 days to earn $500, or deposit more than $200,000 to earn a $1,500 bonus. For the $325 account opening bonus, you only need to complete two direct deposits totaling more than $3,000. In addition, Citi has made some changes to its DD rules. In addition to payroll and government benefits that previously counted via ACH, payments and benefit disbursements through Venmo, Zelle, and PayPal now also count.

Key Bank Checking $300-$500

KeyBank has updated its product lineup. There are now three checking products, with bonuses of up to $500! The requirements are also fairly easy to meet, so you can choose which account bonus to go for based on how much you can direct deposit. The expiration date is December 11, 2026.

The three checking products have different bonuses:

  • Key Smart Checking: Complete a total of $2,000 in eligible direct deposits within 90 days and get $300.
  • Key Select Checking: Complete a total of $5,000 in eligible direct deposits within 90 days and get $500.

The direct deposit requirement is also very easy to complete. In addition to switching your payroll deposit to this account, you can simply withdraw from PayPal directly to this checking account. You can also use ACH transfers from banks such as Discover and Wells Fargo. Withdrawals from major brokerages can also trigger it. So for most people, the Select Checking option is probably better. Select has a monthly fee, waived for the first three months, and afterward you need $3,000 in direct deposits each month to waive it. However, KeyBank has removed the early termination fee, so you can consider closing the account after receiving the bonus. You can also make monthly direct deposits and reach $60,000 over a full year to get an additional $100 bonus.

BofA Checking ($500)

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

The details are as follows. You can refer to the article for ways to complete the direct deposit requirement.

  • $100: Direct deposit a total of $2,000 within 90 days
  • $300: Direct deposit a total of $5,000 within 90 days
  • $500: Direct deposit a total of $10,000+ within 90 days

Wells Fargo $400

The regular checking account $400 bonus is here! The direct deposit requirement is not high either: you only need a total of $1,000 over three months. You can also complete it with a LemFi transfer. The offer ends on November 9.

The account opening bonus requirements are as follows:

  • Deposit at least $25 when opening the account;
  • After opening the account, complete direct deposits totaling more than $1,000 within 90 days; using a LemFi transfer directly works and is very reliable.
  • Keep the checking account balance above $0 before the account opening bonus posts.
  • You cannot currently have a Wells Fargo Checking account, and you must not have closed a Wells Fargo Checking account within the past 12 months.

BMO Checking $600

BMO has launched a new round of account opening offers. The checking account bonus is up to $600, and if you also open a Savings Builder account, you can earn up to an additional $60, for a total of up to $660. This offer works a bit differently from previous ones. For checking, you do not get the full bonus by completing one direct deposit once. Instead, each month that you complete at least $1,000 in direct deposits, you can earn $100, for up to 6 months, meaning up to $600 total. Account opening deadline: December 15, 2026.

Also, if you open their Savings Builder account, you can earn a $5 monthly bonus if your balance increases by at least $200 each month. You can earn it for up to 12 months, for a total of $60.

AMEX Checking $300

This account now has a $300 account opening bonus, which is pretty good. You need a total of $7,500 in direct deposits within 90 days to complete it. The offer ends on February 1, 2027.

Readers have reported that LemFi can successfully trigger the requirement, with the bonus posting the same day.

Capital One $300

The $300 Capital One checking account bonus is here! You can apply directly through the link below. You need two $500 direct deposits within 75 days to trigger it, and many brokerage withdrawals can work.

Other Banks

If you are new to bank account opening bonuses, I recommend starting with major banks such as Chase, US Bank, Citi, and so on. In general, large banks are more reliable and usually will not refuse to pay out or disappear. The bonuses may not always be the highest, but the overall experience is usually much better. Once you have worked through the major banks, there are still many worthwhile offers from other banks!

Also, if you have a relatively large amount of funds available to complete deposit requirements, you can consider the following ranking:

Business bank accounts generally require an EIN to apply, though there is a chance an SSN may work as a substitute. Beginners are generally not recommended to start here. If you are interested, you can read:

About This Ranking

In fact, in addition to credit cards, savings accounts and checking accounts can also offer relatively high account opening bonuses. Opening these bank accounts generally does not affect your personal credit history, so it is basically free money. Unlike credit cards, which require you to meet a spending requirement, bank account bonuses can be earned in more varied ways, such as depositing money, setting up direct deposits, meeting debit card transaction requirements, enrolling in online banking, and so on. You need to complete the tasks according to each bank’s specific requirements. For details, you can refer to:

You can choose banks that offer higher bonuses and whose direct deposit requirements you can meet. Opening a few more accounts each year can also generate a decent amount of extra earnings.

Comprehensive List of Account Opening Bonuses

The accounts below all have very solid sign-up bonuses. Pick the ones you like and earn some extra cash. Over time, those small amounts add up, and in a year you can earn a good amount of money and travel funds from these financial accounts.