Bank of America $100 Checking Bonus Through Bank At Work Program

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $100
• Availability: Nationwide, but you have to work for a company enrolled in the Bank At Work program
• Direct deposit required: Yes, $2,000+ every 30 days from account opening for 90 days
• Additional requirements: None 
• Hard/soft pull: Soft
• Credit card funding: Unknown
• Monthly fees: Waive-able 
• Early account termination fee: None
• Expiration date: December 31st, 2015 

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Bank of America is offering $100 when you sign up for a personal checking account and set up a qualifying direct deposit totalling $2,000 every 30 days from account opening date for 90 days

The Fine Print

• You must open your account through the Bank At Work program, eligibility is restricted to companies that have signed up
• Must enter promo code “BAW100N” when registering.
• You must receive qualifying direct deposits totaling $2,000 or more every 30 days for a period of 90 days (e.g three months of direct deposits of $2,000 or more per month)
• A qualifying direct deposit is “A “qualifying direct deposit” is an electronic deposit of periodic payments — such as salary, pension, Social Security and other benefits or regular monthly income”
• Valid until June 30th, 2014 December 31st, 2014 December 31st, 2015 (although they seem to constantly extend this promotion)
• Bank of America will send deposit $100 into your checking account after they determine that you’ve completed the requirements. They will attempt to do this within 90 days of meeting the requirements.
• You must not be a current personal checking account holder to be eligible (and cannot of held one within the last six months), you also cannot be a BoA employee

Avoiding Fees

eBanking $8.95 Monthly

This account is no longer available for new sign ups.

When you apply for this deal they’ll give you your choice of qualifying accounts. eBanking  is the most basic one and should be one of the options. It has a monthly fee of .$8.95 but is waived as long as you:

• Use only self-service options (such as our ATMs and Online Banking, instead of a teller) for your deposits and withdrawals AND
• Use only a paperless statement

MyAccess Checking $12 Monthly

Alternatively you can open a myaccess checking account which has a monthly fee of $12, which can be waived if you have a qualifying direct deposit of $250 or greater per month or a minimum monthly balance of $1,500

Early Account Termination Fee $0

Bank of American does not currently charge an early account termination fee, which means you can cancel your account as soon as the bonus hits.

Our Verdict

• Opening this account is a soft credit pull
• Here is a list of methods that will trigger the direct deposit requirement 
• We’re unsure if it’s possible to do the initial funding of this account with a credit card

Most companies will not be eligible under the Bank at Work program, we believe that your employer must use Bank of America to cut their checks for you to be able to get this offer. You can call to see if the company you work participates in this program, but chances are they won’t (I tried for both myself, my girlfriend and two friends who all work at fortune 500 companies and none of them were eligible).

Some people have reported getting the bonus even if they weren’t with a company that participates but it looks like Bank of America has patched this up and it’s no longer possible. Because I am not eligible for this deal, I won’t be completing it. I also think the direct deposit requirements of $2,000 per month for three months is quite large for a bonus that only pays out $100, one advantage is that you also get free access to museums through the museums on us program. Although you get that if you have a credit card with them as well.

If I was going to complete this deal here is what I would do:

• Check to make sure my employer was eligible
• Open an eBanking account to keep it fee free
• Open my account with the minimum requirement of $25
• Set up a “direct deposit” (aka ACH transfer from one of the places that currently trigger the bonus) of $2,000 for three months
• Wait for the $100 to post
• Keep the account open as there is no monthly fee and I can get free access to museums.

This deal has been added to our current banking promotion page, it unfortunately didn’t make it to our top bank account deals.

Direct link to the offer | Screenshot of the offer

Hat tip to Cash Money Bonus