Santander currently offers a $150 bonus that is available nationwide. It’s one of the best bank bonus and is consistently ranked near the top of our rankings. It requires a $500 direct deposit, but we have lots of datapoints on what works and you can fund $500 with a credit card.
A lot of people opened a Santander checking account when they were offering $20 per month, but that deal has ended unfortunately. The good news is that if you read the fine print of the current $150 bonus (or you have a helpful reader called DLR point it out to you) you’ll notice the following fine print:
- Offer is not available to current or former Santander customers who opened a Santander checking account between 01/01/2016 – 12/31/2016
This means if you opened your account before 01/01/2016 (and that will be a lot of you) you’ll be eligible for another bonus. This should also reinforce how important it is to keep records containing opening, closing and other relevant dates. You can read more about the current $150 Santander bonus here, and our list of the best checking bonuses here.
Also received $225 after filing CFPB complaint, but the funny thing is that the CFPB response said I was not eligible under the terms.
I’m not complaining but always concerning when big bank can’t get their stuff straight
Ditto what Harv said, My acct was opened 1/31. DD satisfied with tax refund. Promo bonus posted over the weekend but with a 5/30 date. Will close ASAP.
I just received the $150 bonus. It has been 120 days. I satisfied the direct deposit requirement by having my tax refund sent to that account. I did one or two minimal purchases a month to avoid a monthly maintenance fee. I signed up for the account several weeks before they brought back the $225 bonus.
Anybody get the bonus yet?
Did you ever get your bonus?
It’s been 30 days today since I met the 90 days requirement with a direct deposit within that time and still no bonus. Going to call them today.
When I spoke with them on Friday they said I’ll see the bonus today (Monday) but no bonus shows. Calling them back again Tuesday.
Spoke with them today and now they say they’ll put in a request to check on the status (previous rep apparently didn’t) so now I have to wait until Friday to call them back.
Looks like trouble brewing on this bonus.
Yeah, I got a reference number also when I called on Tuesday. Still no bonus as of today. Said to call them back tomorrow so hopefully I find out something.
I did a pension direct deposit so “shouldn’t” be an issue either but who knows.
Called today to follow up and they said bonus was approved and will be posted by Friday 5/26.
We’ll see!
Have patience. I called about two weeks ago (right at 120 days) saying the bonus did not post and was given the same time frame for a response. When the 2-3 business days passed and nothing was posted, I thought I would have to start all over and explain the offer, amounts, etc. I waited a few more days and the bonus posted recently, but it was for $225. I opened my account in January, so this was before it was even offered. I guess in the end, it was a double bonus. Wait a few extra days, might be worth it.
Got the bonus today and like Brian, also got $225 instead of the $150. Only a little over a week late so worth it for an extra $75.
Spoke with them today and they say they’ll put in a request to review the account to see if I met the requirements. They initially gave me flak about my simulated DD from Cap360.
Hope it flies when they do their silly little review.
Something tells me that I”m not going to receive this $150 bonus. Had an account in 2016, opened in 2017. CFPB Worthy?
Surprised you aren’t following up on this post, DOC
We get about 200-300 new comments each day, it’s not realistic for us to response to each message. If you were within the bounds of the fine print when you apply you could try a CFPB complaint but I would try to resolve with Santander directly first.
I got a mailed promotion from Santander offering a $350 bonus for opening a Premier Plus Checking account and having $2000 in DD within 90 days. Reading the fine print, it also applies to the Simply Right account and the Basic Checking. I’m planning to open the Simply Right account since it’s so easy to waive the monthly fee.
I think that if you open simply right the bonus is only for $225 instead of $350.
William, a poster on SD mentions a $225 offer, but it requires a promo code that might be targeted,. Thoughts?
https://slickdeals.net/f/9716844-225-bonus-santander-bank-checking-w-code
Will post about this shortly, but basically it is targeted.
OKay thanks, it was a little ambiguous when the SD post first appeared, but it does seem to be targeted.
Sorry I am still little confused- So if I have an existing Santander checking account opened before 1/1/16, do I need to close it and reopen a new one? Or can I go ahead and direct deposit into the “old” account?
Thanks!
You’d need to open a new account and close the old one first.
any new updates on which DD counts as qualifying DD for account opening bonus ??? I can see only Serve, Cap One 360 …
We will add as they come in as always
Was going to ask the same question. Does Alliant not count anymore? Just wondering why it says fund with chase/barclays card. There are DP’s saying BoA also work. Was trying to knock out my spend on an Alaskan card.
Thanks as always!
In a few months they’ll move the goal posts and since we opened our accounts in January 2016 we’ll be able to reapply then.