Banks make money in all sorts of ways, but one of the main things they want to do is have a lot of cash on hand — so they can loan it out to others, or meet their own legal liquidity requirements. That's why they offer you amazing bank bonus offers!
Because banks need giant piles of cash on hand, they need to offer the rest of us incentives to choose their FDIC-insured bank over someone else's.
Banks compete on their ability to offer personal service to local residents, on the number of their national locations, and on fee levels for basic services like checking and savings. But they also offer cash incentives to use their deposit and checking services! With the economy picking up, and interest rates rising, there seem to be more and more of these on offer.
Here's our list of the best ones!
Special Promo - CIT Bank. Why? You can get up to 1.80% APY on your account with no minimum balance requirements! They currently offer one of the best interest rates available. Open a CIT Savings Builder Account here >>
Personal Bank Bonus Offers Right Now
If you have a lot of cash that you don't mind having in the bank for a few months, these are the best promotions out there right now:
$1,000 with Chase Sapphire℠ Checking
Chase is continually known for top-of-the-line bonus offers, and their Chase Sapphire℠ Checking promotion is no joke.
Right now, you can get a $1,000 bonus when you open or upgrade to a Chase Sapphire℠ Checking account and complete qualifying activities.
You must open your new Chase Sapphire℠ Checking account by March 6, 2020, and within 45 calendar days, transfer a total of $75,000 or more in qualifying new money or securities to a combination of eligible checking, savings, and/or investment accounts (excludes any J.P. Morgan retirement accounts and CDs). Finally, you must maintain that balance for at least 90 days.
Get a $1,000 Bonus!
Up to $700 with HSBC Premier Checking
HSBC is starting the year with a strong bonus offer to entice new customers!
Right now, you can get up to $700 with a 2% Cash Back Checking Offer when you open a new HSBC Premier checking account and complete the following qualifying activities.
You must open your new HSBC Premier checking account by March 6, 2020, and set up Qualifying Direct Deposits into your new HSBC Premier checking account.
You can then enjoy 2% Cash Back, on Qualifying Direct Deposits into your new HSBC Premier checking account, up to $60 per month, during the first 12 calendar months after account opening - up to $700.
Get up to a $700 bonus!
Up to $350 with HSBC Advance Checking
If maintaining a Premier relationship is a little too much, check out the HSBC Advance Checking offer.
Right now, you can get up to $350 with a 2% Cash Back Checking Offer when you open a new HSBC Advance checking account and complete the following qualifying activities.
You must open your new HSBC Advance checking account by March 6, 2020, and set up Qualifying Direct Deposits into your new HSBC Advance checking account.
You can then enjoy 2% Cash Back, on Qualifying Direct Deposits into your new HSBC Advance checking account, up to $30 per month, during the first 12 calendar months after account opening - up to $350.
Get up to a $350 bonus!
Chase Bank usually has a variety of bonuses for opening various kinds and combinations of accounts.
Here are two that are available right now to customers who have not had a Chase account within the last 90 days or have had one closed with a negative balance:
This isn't quite as good a deal as what Citibank is currently offering, but it may be available more regularly or for longer.
- You can enjoy up to a $200 bonus when you open a new Chase Total Checking® account and setup direct deposit.
- You can also get up to a $150 bonus when you open a new Chase Savings℠ and deposit $10,000 or more within 20 days, and maintain that $10,000 balance for at least 90 days.
Get up to a $350 bonus!
Up to $200 with CIT Bank
CIT Bank is offering another great bonus offer to open a Savings Builder account and meet the requirements. Plus, the offer is open to both new and existing customers who make the deposit! That's awesome!
If you're new you're new to CIT Bank, open a Savings Builder account with a minimum of $100 and enter the promo code BONUS20.
You must fund your account within 15 calendar days of the open date to meet one of the following balance requirements. Then, you must maintain the minimum balance requirement for 90 calendar days following the end of the 15-day Funding Period to be eligible for the bonus.
If you're an existing customer, click the link below to enroll!
Here are the bonuses:
- $25,000 to $49,999 - $100 Bonus
- $50,000 or more - $200 Bonus
Read our CIT Bank Review here.
Get up to a $200 bonus!
$150 with Huntington Asterisk-Free Checking®
Huntington Bank has offered a lot of bonuses in the past year, but few for consumer checking - that's changing!
Right now, you can get $150 when you open an Asterisk-Free Checking® by February 28, 2020. You then have to make cumulative deposits of at least $1,000 within 60 days of account opening and keep your account open for at least 90 days.
This account is great because it has $0 minimum to open, $0 monthly maintenance fees, and great checking account options!
Read our full Huntington Bank review here.
Get up to a $150 bonus!
Up to $600 with Citibank
Citibank has some great promotions right now if you open a combined checking and savings account.
You don't have to go to a branch or set up direct deposit, but you do need to make a substantial deposit and leave it there for a while, so you'll need to calculate the opportunity cost of what else that cash could be doing.
The basics of the bonus are pretty good though: If you deposit $5,000 into your new Basic Banking Package accounts and leave it there for 60 days, you can receive $200.
If you can deposit $15,000 in a Citibank Accounts Package and maintain that for 60 days, you can receive $400. That's a better rate than you'll get on most savings accounts, so if you have a large emergency fund it might be a good idea to take this offer.
A Couple Of Notes:
First, you won't qualify if you've had a Citibank personal checking account within the last six months.
And second, you need to watch out for monthly fees if you keep the account open past the bonus period but withdraw most of your money.
There is a fee of $12 for the Basic Banking package, waived if you maintain a $1,500 balance, and a fee of $25 for the Citibank Accounts package, waived if you have a combined balance of $10,000 across both accounts.
This won't be a problem during the period when you're earning your bonus, but it's something to keep an eye on afterwards.
Get up to a $600 bonus!
Up to $300 with PNC Bank
PNC bank has tiered offers ranging from $50 to $300. You cannot have had a PNC account open within the last 90 days, and you have to be a resident of: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, or the District of Columbia.
The $50 level is, in my opinion, not really worth it unless you have another reason to open a PNC account; you need to set up a direct deposit of $500/monthly and make 10 purchases with your debit card to receive a free $50.
If you can set up direct deposit of $2,000/month or $5,000/month, though, you can receive $200 or $300, respectively. (You also need to use the debit card at least 10 times a month.) That makes it a much better deal if you're looking for a new main debit/checking account and you live in one of the states where PNC is authorized to operate.
Get up to a $300 bonus!
Up to $100 with Bank of America
Bank of America is offering a really simple promotion that can allow you to earn up to $100. All you have to do is open one of their checking account products, and setup and receive at least two direct deposits within the first 90 days of opening the account.
This will earn you $100.
Get up to a $100 bonus!
Up to $500 with TD Bank
You can open this account online, but to qualify for the bonus you must be a resident of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, or Washington, D.C.
If you meet that requirement, and also are a new customer of TD Bank, you can open an account at one of two bonus levels:
- Open a TD Bank Premier Checking account and direct-deposit $2,500 within the first 60 days the account is open, and receive $300 — ta-da! There is a $25 monthly fee, but it can be waived with a minimum daily balance of $2,500, which is pretty minimal.
- Open a TD Bank Preferred Savings account with $20,000 within the first 20 days. (This is cumulative, not on a single deposit, so multiple deposits during that period are fine as long as they add up.) You must then maintain this for 90 days. Then, you receive $200.
Get up to a $500 bonus!
$100 with Chase College Checking℠
The Chase College Checking℠ account is one of the best checking accounts designed for students. Students between the ages of 17-24 don’t have to worry about maintenance fees. You can have the fee waived for up to fives years as a student.
This account comes with a debit card, and you’ll have mobile access.
And right now, you can get $100 as a new Chase checking customer when you open a Chase College Checking℠ account and complete 10 qualifying transactions within 60 days of account opening! That's awesome!
Get a $100 bonus!
$50 with Stash Banking
Stash Investing is best known for their investing app that allows for users to learn to invest easily! But they also have a checking account, and they are incentivizing new users with a $50 bonus!
You can get your $50 if you open a Stash Banking account and direct deposit $300 within 30 days. That's it!
Get a $50 bonus!
Business Banking Bonus Offers Right Now
The offers below are for business banking products. They are typically a bit higher than personal bonus banking offers given the nature of business banking.
$200 with Chase Total Business Checking®
The Chase Total Business Checking® is one of the more popular business checking account options because Chase has a huge number of branches and great service. It isn't truly free unless you meet the minimum monthly requirements to make it so, but it's available nationwide, has branches nearly everywhere, and is one of the most robust banking products out there currently. Plus, the minimum requirements are super easy to meet - check it out.
And right now, you can get up to a $200 bonus when you open an account with qualifying activities.
Get a $200 bonus!
$25 with Bank Novo
Bank Novo is a new business banking startup that is making online and app-based banking extremely easy for business owners.
The account has no monthly fees and unlimited ATM reimbursement!
Right now, you can get a $25 bonus when you open an account with $50.
Read our full Bank Novo review here.
Get up to a $25 bonus!
Other Great Savings Accounts
These accounts don't always have bank bonus offers, but they do have some amazing interest rates!
Things To Remember
Done right, switching banks for bonuses can be a great way to make some extra side cash. But you do need to be careful: look at the terms and conditions and be sure you can avoid monthly fees, account closing fees, and so on. Also, remember that you'll have to pay income tax on this cash, so you might want to set some of it aside for that.
That said, if you pay careful attention to the terms of these offers, you can make much more than you make even by parking your money in a high-interest savings account. You might want to just do this once for a few hundred dollars, but if you invest a little more time, you can make thousands of dollars a year treating it as a regular side hustle.
And who among us doesn't like free money?
These offers change every month, but right now here's the best of the best on offer, divided into offers that require you to begin with large amounts of cash on hand, and offers that let you start with very little money.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there are some great bank bonus offers out there right now. I'd advise you to decide what kind of bonus hustler you are: do you want to do this once while you're switching to a new account permanently? Or do you need a complex calendar to keep track of your multiple bonus accounts?
Be careful, but also, take advantage of free money if you're sure you can follow the rules! If this is all too much, check out our list of the best online banks and just park your cash there!
