In the struggling economy of today, most banks are competing for your business, and what is more appealing to a new customer than an offer that includes more than your average low fees? Many of the gifts being offered for opening a new checking or savings account include cold hard cash, while others offer increased interest rates to make your savings account more efficient. Some banking institutions also offer other perks that may interest potential customers. Whether you are looking for a nationwide banking option or a locally serving branch, there is a bank out there with bank account bonuses and perks that will be enticing to you. If you are in the market for a new banking relationship, then consider the bonuses listed below before making a final decision.
1. Chase
With 5,300 branches nationwide, Chase is one of the largest banking operations in the country. That being said, it is no surprise that they are one of the banks who are trying to obtain more customers. Chase is offering $150 to any new customer who opens a Chase Total checking account. To receive this bonus, the account must be opened with a minimum of $25. A direct deposit must be made to the account within 60 days of opening the account. Once that is done, the $150 bonus will be deposited into your account within ten days. Be aware that the account must remain open for six months.
If you wish to open a savings account as well, Chase has another bonus in mind for new customers. When a new Chase savings account is made, a $100 signing bonus is offered. To receive this bonus, customers must deposit $10,000 or more within ten days of opening the savings account. In addition, the account must maintain the $10,000 balance for at least 90 days. If you decide to open both a checking and a savings account, choosing Chase could net you a $250 bonus.
Chase is also offering a separate $300 bonus perk to new customers who decide to open a Chase Premier Plus checking account. To acquire this bonus, the account must receive a direct deposit within the first 60 days of opening it, and the account must remain open for six months. If it is closed before that point, the $300 dollar bonus will be deducted at the time you close the account.
2. Capitol One
Capitol One is offering a scaling bonus to new customers that open a checking or savings account with them. To start, a newly opened 360 checking account at Capitol One with a deposit of $250 or more will be eligible to receive a $25 bonus. To receive the bonus, three debit card purchases must be made within 45 days of opening the account. 50 days after these requirements are met; the bonus will be deposited into the account. If you open a saving account as well, you will receive an additional $25 bonus as well as other perks that are associated with the savings account.
Opening a Capitol One 360 savings account will make you eligible for a bonus that increases depending on the amount of the deposits made in the first ten days that the account is open. One catch though is that these deposits cannot be transfers from an already existing account, they must be fresh deposits made specifically to this account. Depositing $5,000 will get you a bonus of $50. The bonuses increase $50 for every $5,000 deposited up to $50,000, which would get you a nice $500 for the savings account alone.
The savings account must maintain the balance for 90 days, and when all of the requirements are met, the money will be deposited on or around 130 days after opening the account.
3. Citibank
Citibank often offers new customers a bonus of $500 cash if they open a Citibank Citigold checking account. $50,000 must be deposited into the account within the first 30 days, and that balance must remain for at least the next 30 days. You should see the bonus applied to your account within 90 days of opening it; as long as all of the requirements are met.
In addition to a bonus for new customers, those who currently have a Citi card, but do not have a checking account with Citibank, can earn additional perks. The first of which is thank you points that can be earned by using the promotional code 4368UUP5L4 when you open the checking account. A Citigold account will net you 50,000 points, which can be turned in for a number of gift cards. 50,000 points is equal to $500 worth of gift cards. To have the points posted to your account, a bill payment must be set up and withdrawn for two consecutive months.
The other bonus perk can be received with the promotion code WD3QFS2Y4C. This code will make you eligible to receive up to 50,000 AAdvantage bonus miles. To receive this perk you must make at least $1000 in debit card purchases within the two months, and a bill payment must be withdrawn from the account for two consecutive months. Once the requirements are met, the bonus miles will be applied to your account, and then they can be exchanged for any round trip domestic flight.
4. Santander Bank
Any new checking accounts opened through Santander‘s website are eligible for a $150 bonus. The account can also be opened at a local branch if you prefer, but you must request that a coupon be mailed to your home address on the promotional page of Santander’s site. Once the account is opened, you must have a direct deposit posted to the account and it must remain open for at least 90 days. Once the requirements are met, $150 will be deposited into your account.
5. Bank of America
When you open a personal checking account at Bank of America, they are offering a bonus of $100 for opening a new account. When you apply for the checking account, you must give the banker the promotional code BAW100N or enter it into the promotional window on their website. One the account has been established, direct deposits equaling $2,000 a month must be posted to your account for the first 90 days. After the requirements are met, you should expect to see the $100 bonus perk posted to your account within 30 days.
In addition, Bank of America has a rewards program for using a debit card. If you accrue $500 or more within the first 90 days of obtaining the account, you will receive an additional $100 bonus. Bank of America is also matching every dollar you spend with 1.5 bonus points, and if you make $1,000 in purchases during the first three months, you will receive an additional 20,000 bonus points, which can be redeemed for a $200 discount off of your next hotel, cruise, flight, or rental car.
If you open your new checking account online, Bank of America is teaming with McAfee to bring you a year of internet security free of charge. Once the first year is up, you can renew the McAfee protection for half of the normal price. In addition, your Bank of America credit or debit card can be your free access to over 150 museums, science centers, and botanical gardens across the nation during the first full weekend of every month.
If you are looking to open a business account, Bank of America is also offering a $100 bonus to new Business Advantage checking account holders. This bonus can be received as cash in your account, a credit on your next credit card statement, or as 10,000 points. The major consideration with this offer is that the deadline is not this month; in fact, it is not even next month. You will receive the bonus for opening a personal checking account until the end of 2016.
6. SunTrust Bank
SunTrust Bank is promoting an offer to new customers between March 15, 2916 and May 5, 2016. The one offer is for new members who open an Essential checking account and have direct deposits that equal the amount of at least $500 posted to the account in the first 60 days. To receive this $100 promotional bonus, use the code Q2CHKONLINE100 at the time of opening the account.
The second promotion requires that you open a Select checking account and direct deposits that amount to at least $2,000 must be posted to the account within the first two months of it being opened. Once the requirements are met and the promotional code Q2CHKONLINE200 is used when the account is opened, then the promotional bonus of $200 will be posted to your account in about eight weeks.
7. Citizen’s Bank
Planning for your child’s future requires a lot of saving, but it can easily be accomplished by opening a CollegeSaver savings account at Citizen’s Bank. The account is an interest bearing account that helps you save a little bit each year, and if you meet the requirements set forth when the account is opened, then $1,000 will be added to the account when the child turns 18 years of age.
To open this account the child must be younger than 12 years of age. The account must be opened with a $500 deposit and $50 must be deposited into the account on a monthly basis until the child is 18 years old. If the account is opened before the child is six, the account can be opened with $25, and the monthly installments that need to be posted to the account will be $25 as well. There is no limit on the amount you can save each month, but the minimum must be deposited in order to receive the promotional bonus.
8. PNC Bank
PNC Bank is offering new customers the chance to choose whether they want points as a reward or cash. The $200 cash option requires you to make at least $2,000 in purchases using your new account during the first three months of the account being opened. Your new CashBuilder account also has additional perks like 1.25 percent to 1.75 percent of all of your purchases. The amount you spend will determine the actual bonus percentage you receive.
If you wish to open the account with less money, then you will earn a $50 dollar bonus as long as direct deposits equaling $500 are deposited into the account within the first 60 days. IF you plan to make more direct deposits into the account, and they are greater than $5,000, then you may be eligible to receive a bonus of $300.
The other option for rewards when opening an account at PNC Bank gives you four points for each dollar you spend. You must spend $750 during the first three month and maintain the minimum balance. To receive 25 percent extra bonus points each month, the monthly balance must remain above $500 or all direct deposit amounts must equal $500 as well.
To receive 50 percent of your base points as a bonus, you must maintain a balance of $2,000 or have at least $2,000 worth of direct deposits posted to the account. The highest point reward option available earns you 75 percent of the base points that you earned each month. To obtain this bonus you must keep your account balance above $5,000 or the same amount must be directly deposited into the account.
Once all of the requirements are met, then you will receive an additional 50,000 point bonus. The offers expire March 31, 2016, and they are only valid if you acquire them by opening a checking account online.
9. M&T Bank
M&T Bank is offering a bonus of $150 to new customers who open up an EZChoice checking account with them. Once the account is opened, a direct deposit of at least $100 must be posted to the account within the first 90 days. When that requirement is met, $150 will be deposited into the account within 90 days.
10. Discover Bank
Discover Bank often offers bonus promotions to new customers who open a savings account before a certain date. You will usually need $500 to open the account as well as deposits that equal $15,000 by a specified date. Once these requirements are met, you will receive the $100 bonus offer as well as a high rate of 0.95 percent APY.
Customers who already have a Discover credit card can earn extra cash back rewards when a Cashback checking account is opened. An account can be opened with as little as $25, and each time you make a debit card purchase, write a check, or pay a bill online, you will earn ten cents back. This can be done on up to 100 purchases each month, so at the end of a year, you can get $120 in bonus cash back rewards.
11. BMO Harris Bank
BMO Harris is offering new customers who open a new checking account a $200 bonus perk. The account must be opened by April 30, 2016 to be eligible and it must remain open for at least 120 days. To open the account you must deposit at least $100 and use a promotional code to access this bonus. The promotional code can be requested online as a way to open the account through BMO Harris’s site or you can request a coupon to be sent to you to use at a branch.
Within the first 60 days of opening the account, you must make direct deposits that equal a minimum of $300 on a monthly basis for the first two months. Once the requirements are met, the cash bonus of $200 will be posted to your account in about 120 days. If the account is closed before the bonus is added to the account, the amount will be forfeit.
12. Associated Bank
Most of the offers on this list are only for a short period of time, but Associated Bank has given you more time to decide whether or not to bank with them. They are currently offering all new members who open an account before the end of 2016 a cash bonus of $150. An account with Associated Bank can be opened in person at a branch or online through their website. Either way it will take a $100 deposit to start the account, and you will need to meet additional requirements in order to receive the bonus.
Once the account is opened, you have 45 days to make three bill payments through your accounts online billing option or you can make a direct deposit of at least $300 into the account. Once all of the criteria and the requirements are met, the promises $150 perk will be posted to your account within 75 days.
13. BankDirect
Most of the banks on our list offer cash bonuses or point perks as promotional methods of gaining new customers, but BankDirect has found a way to team with American Airlines to give their new customers bonus AAdvantage miles. Open a BankDirect Mileage checking account online and have the opportunity to receive 22,000 bonus miles. Unlike many promotional offers, this airline miles offer is also available to current bank members who open a new checking account.
When the account is opened you will receive 1,000 bonus miles for both a Mileage checking account and a Mileage Money Market account. You also get an additional bonus of 10,000 AAdvantage miles when you initiate direct deposit into the account. You can earn a 5,000 air mile bonus for setting up online bill paying and activating a BankDirect Visa check card. IF you have friends that travel a lot and would benefit from this airline mile perk, then refer your friend to the bank and when they open an account you will receive 1,000 bonus miles as a thank you.
For the first $200,000 that is deposited into your account, you will earn 100 miles per month for every $1,000 for every collected balance in your checking account. If the amount is over $200,000, then you will receive 25 mile points for each over that amount. Once you meet the requirements for the bonus perk being offered, you simply need to make sure that you spend $72 dollars in the first six month of opening the account and you will receive up to 22,000 miles to be used on any American Airlines flight.
14. Charles Schwab
Another bank that is currently offering new customers a cash bonus is Charles Schwab. To gain access to this promotion, you must open an account with the promotional code REFERKRCXV. The bonus being offered is $100, but to be eligible to receive the perk, you must deposit an amount of $10,000 or more into the account in the first 45 days. You must also maintain that deposit of $10,000 at least once a year to keep the bonus. If these terms are not met, then you will be required to pay the bonus back to the bank.
15. U. S. Bank
The U.S. Bank is promoting opening a savings account by offering bonus perks to those who meet their savings goals. New customers who open a Silver checking package account along with a money market savings account will need to enroll in the Smart Start program within 90 days of opening the account. You must also make at least one qualifying transfer from your new checking account to your new savings account within the first 90 days to be eligible for any bonus perks.
Once the savings account has a balance of $500, then you will receive a $50 bonus promotional perk. In addition, you will receive one percent back on all grocery and gas purchases made with your debit card for the first year. The account must remain open for at least a year. If it is closed before that point, all bonuses will need to be paid back to the bank.
16. BBVA Compass Bank
BBVA Compass is a bank that is all about basketball, games, and having fun, so when you open up a NBA checking account, you can receive a number of cash perks and gift card options. To start, make at least three bill payments online of at least $50 to activate the Bill Play game. These payments must be made within the first 90 days of activating the game to receive a $100 NBA store gift card. If you make two direct deposits of at least $300 in the first 90 days, then you will receive a $15 Amazon gift card.
There is also a swipe song game that activates if you make 40 debit card transactions within the first 30 days of each other. The first purchase must be made within the first 90 days of opening the account. Once all of the transactions are made, you will be eligible for a $10 iTunes gift card. In addition, BBVA Compass Bank is also offering new customers who open up a new account a free Kindle Fire HD. To be eligible for this perk you must make here qualifying bill payments and have a qualifying direct deposit posted to you account within the first 90 days.
Deciding which bank to go with can be a difficult choice. As you should be aware, there are a lot of different options for banking, but you need to find one that is a good fit for you. Do you want a checking account, a savings account, or maybe both? Decide which type of accounts you wish to obtain, and then check to see which financial institutions meet your requirements. Since many banks offer new customers perks, make a decision based on the accounts you need and the perks that you desire the most. It is extremely likely that you will be able to find the perfect fit to accommodate all of your banking needs and give you a little bonus. Cash is great, but maybe you travel a lot and airline miles or points would benefit you more. Which bonus promotions being offered by financial institutions currently interest you the most?
