BMO Harris $300/$500/$1,000 Business Checking Bonus

Update 1/10/24: Bonus is back, $400 and $600 tiers have been reduced to $300/$500 and there is a new $1,000 tier. Probably worth waiting for the $400/$600 tiers to return.

Update 9/19/23: Deal is back and increased from $300 to $400 and $500 to $600. Valid until December 8, 2023.

Update 5/21/23: Bonuses are now $300/$500.

Update 5/16/23: Bonus has been extended until September 15, 2023

Update 2/5/23: Extended until 5/12/23.

Update 11/1/22: Bonus has been reduced to $250/$400.

Update 6/12/22: Bonus has been increased back to $300/$500.

Update 5/3/22: Extended until May 31st.

Update 2/21/22: now $250 and $400 until April 29, 2022

Update 1/5/22: Deal is back and valid until January 31, 2022.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $500
• Availability: Must open in branch, all branches are located Can be opened online in AZ, FL, IL, IN, KS, MO, MN and WI. I imagine out of state applications will work in branch. [Branch locator]
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: See below
• Hard/soft pull: Soft
• ChexSystems: Yes
• Credit card funding: Cannot fund with a credit card
• Monthly fees: $15-$20
• Early account termination fee: $20 if closed within 90 days, bonus will post after 120 days
• Household limit: None
• Expiration date: October 31st, 2018 October 31st, 2019 January 31st, 2020 September 30th, 2020 January 31, 2021 April 30, 2021. May 31, 2021

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• BMO Harris is offering three checking bonuses. Must open a new BMO Digital Business Checking, BMO Simple Business Checking, BMO Premium Business Checking, or BMO Elite Business Checking account and complete 10 debit card transactions within 90 days of account opening. The bonus you receive depends on Average Collected Balance in the account from Day 1 to Day 90.
  • $300 bonus: $4,000 – $9,999.99
  • $500 bonus: $10,000 – $29,999.99
  • $1,000 bonus: $30,000 or more

 

The Fine Print

• You can receive either the $200 checking bonus or the $500 checking bonus.
• To receive a checking bonus, you must open the account in a BMO Harris branch and present the promo code email from BMO Harris.
• Your account must be open and in good standing when the bonus is paid approximately 120 days after opening.
• For Business Advantage Checking, the accrued interest will be increased by the amount of the bonus.
• The accrued interest will be credited at the next scheduled interest payment, which may be after the 120 days.
• Offers are not available to existing BMO Harris business checking customers or those who have closed a BMO Harris business checking account within the past 12 months.
• Bonus is not considered part of the opening deposit and will be reported to the IRS for tax purposes.
• You are responsible for any applicable taxes.
• Offers are subject to change without notice, cannot be combined with any other offer and are limited to one per customer. The minimum deposit to open a small business checking account is $100, however to receive the bonus you must open the account with the minimum as stated below.
• To receive the $200 checking bonus: 1) Open a new Essential Business Checking account between November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2019. 2) Make a minimum opening deposit of $1,500 in funds not currently on deposit at BMO Harris Bank or its affiliates. 3) Maintain a minimum daily balance of at least $1,500 in the account for 90 days following account opening. 4) Have at least 10 electronic transactions post to the account within 90 days of account opening. Electronic transactions can be any combination of ACH credits or debits, online bill payments, mobile deposits, wire transfers or debit card POS purchase transactions. ATM transactions and POS credits do not qualify.
• To receive the $500 checking bonus: 1) Open a new Business Advantage Checking account between November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2019. 2) Make a minimum opening deposit of $5,000 in funds not currently on deposit at BMO Harris Bank or its affiliates. 3) Maintain a minimum daily balance of at least $5,000 in the account for 90 days following account opening. 4) Have at least 10 electronic transactions post to the account within 90 days of account opening. Electronic transactions can be any combination of ACH credits or debits, online bill payments, mobile deposits, wire transfers or debit card POS purchase transactions. ATM transactions and POS credits do not qualify.
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

You don’t need a specific account currently and the first three months of fees are waived. After that the fees are as follows:

• Simple Biz Checking. Requires a $100 monthly balance
• Essential business checking: $15 monthly maintenance fee. Waived with $1,500 average collected balance
• Business Advantage checking: $20 monthly maintenance fee. Waived with $5,000 average collected balance

Our Verdict

Seems like a great deal to me, the requirements should be fairly easy to meet for most people. What bonus you go for will likely depend on whether you can float $5,000 or not, the $500 deal is definitely better if you can. Either way both deals are a return of 10% over the course for 120 days or so (annualized return of 30%+). That’s the good news, the bad news is that BMO Harris is known for slow bonus posting and having to manually follow up to get your bonus. If you don’t believe me please read the comments on the personal bonus. Given that this has an in branch component and it’s for businesses, I’m hopeful that the bonus posting will be easier. Either way I’d get the contact details of your bank and a reference number for your application when signing up so you have a good point of contact if anything goes wrong.  I’ll be adding this to our best business checking bonuses for sure.

Also since I’m sure some people won’t read the fine print, yes you’ll be able to get this bonus even if you’ve received a bonus on the personal account and even if you still have that personal account.

Hat tip to abhirupduttamit

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:

• A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
• Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
• PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
• Introduction To ChexSystems
• Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
• What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
• How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
• Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
• How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
• Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
• Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
• Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
• Bank Bonus Posting Times

Post history:

• Offer extended to October 29, 2021
• Update 7/12/21: Valid until September 30, 2021.
• Update 6/30/21: Deal is back and valid until July 11, 2021. Hat tip to Ted
• Update 5/11/21: Deal has been extended until May 31, 2021.
• Update 2/12/21: Deal has been extended until April 30th 21. Hat tip to Carl J
• Deal has been extended until January 31, 2021.Update 7/18/20: Deal is back until September 30th, 2020. Hat tip to reader Carl
• Update 2/1/20: Deal has been extended until April 30th, 2020. Length of time the money needs to stay in the account has changed from 60 to 90 days
• Update 11/3/19: Bonus extended until January 31st, 2020.