[Expired] Bank of America $2,000 In Branch Business Checking Bonus

Offer has now expired, you can view the best current bank account bonuses here.

We’re reposting this as it didn’t get nearly enough attention that it deserved and we’ve also added the full fine print as well.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $2,000
• Availability: Nationwide, must open at a Bank of America branch and get a small business specialist to give you this offer. Branch locator found here.
• Direct deposit required: No, see below.
• Additional requirements: See below
• Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
• Credit card funding: Unsure (doubtful since it’s in branch)
• Monthly fees: $29.95, waived for first three months and then waivable with other requirements
• Early account termination fee: None mentioned
• Expiration date: October 30th, 2015 November 30th, 2015

The Offer

No direct link to offer, found on Chasing The Points website

• Receive a bonus of up to $2,000 when you open a Business Advantage checking account. The amount you’ll receive depends on how many Select Business Accounts you open, in total there are three. The first one you open earns you a $1,000 bonus and then an additional $500 for each of the remaining you complete for a potential total of up to $2,000. The select business accounts and their requirements are as follows:
  • Small Business Credit Card: Apply, be approved and spend at least $2,000 on your small business credit card within 60 days of opening your Business Advantage checking account.
  • Business Loan or Line of Credit: Apply, be approved for and and open a new loan or line of credit within 60 days of opening your business advantage checking account.
  • Bank of America Merchant Services Account: Open and activate a merchant services account and settle funds into your Business Advantage account within 60 days of opening it.

The Fine Print

• Offer only available to customers who receive this offer via a direct communication from a Bank of America small business specialist
• New Business Advantage checking account must be opened by 10/30/2015
• All requirements must be completed within 60 days of account opening
• Bank of America may change or terminate this offer before this date without notice
• To be eligible for this limited-time offer, you must not currently have a business checking account with Bank of America
• You are not eligible for this offer if you were a signer on or owner of a business checking account within the last six (6) months
• They will make every effort to post the bonus within 90 days of meeting the account requirements
• Limit of one bonus per business and/or business
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

The Business Advantage checking account comes with a monthly fee of $29.95 per month, but this fee is waived for the first three months. After this introductory period you need to do any one of the following to keep it fee free:

• $15,000 average monthly balance
• $35,000 combined average monthly balance of linked business accounts
• Spend $2,500 per month in new purchases using a linked Bank of America business credit card
• Actively use Bank of America Merchant Services or Payroll Services by Intuit® or Remote Deposit Online service

I think the best option is to not worry about the monthly fee the first three months and then either have a $15,000 average balance (you’d be losing out on $12.5 a month in interest compared to a 1% checking account) or putting $2,500 per month on a linked Bank of America business credit card.

Our Verdict

There is currently a $100 business checking bonus which is available online, but like Chasing The Points points out, this pales in comparison to this $2,000 offer. To simplify this offer, let’s look at what is and isn’t worth completing:

• Credit card, definitely yes
• Loan, only if you’re in the market for a business loan and the rates/terms make competitive sense
• Merchant services, only if you’re in the market for merchant services and the rates/terms make competitive sense

I’m just going to assume that only the credit card part of this offer makes sense for the majority of people and focus on that. We basically need to open a small business credit card and put $2,500 in charges on it within 60 days of opening the Business Advantage account, I recommend you sign up for both of them at the same time (probably a better idea to do it in branch unless there is an online offer which is higher). Let’s have a look at our options in terms of accounts to open:

Bank of America Small Business Credit Cards

A full list of all the Bank of America Small business credit cards can be found here. I’ll just have a look at a few of the options that might make sense:

• Alaska Airlines Business credit card: 25,000 Alaska Airline miles after your first purchase. Annual fee of $75 for the individual earning plan (not waived).
• Business Preferred World MasterCard: 10,000 bonus points after your first purchase. Annual fee of $125 is waived first year and for Business Advantage customers. 10,000 Anniversary points each year.
• Spirit Airlines Business credit card: 15,000 Spirit airline miles after your first purchase. Annual fee of $59 for company (waived first year) and $20 per additional card (not waived)
• Asiana Business credit card: 10,000 Asiana miles after your first purchase. Annual fee of $80 (not waived)

For me the Alaska card is the clear winner, but $100 from the Business Preferred isn’t such a bad option and the 15,000 Spirit miles also might be useful for some. If you know of any other higher bonuses on any of these cards, please let me know. Also remember that Bank of America combines credit pulls, so it might make sense to pick up a personal card at the same time, just be careful with Alaska Airlines as they have been shut down happy recently.

All in all, this is a great bonus, my only concern is that we don’t know how long the account must be kept open to get the bonus. Even if it takes twelve months, I’m happy to park $15,000 to receive a $1,000 bonus and another 25,000 Alaska miles (or maybe 15,000 Spirit miles).

The other slight concern I have is that not all branches might be offering this bonus/they’ll want a lot of proof that you run a legitimate business. Fortunately I do have my own business, so this shouldn’t be an issue but I’m not in the country at the moment so I don’t know how difficult it is. But you can bet on the fact that on the way home from the airport, I’ll be popping into a Bank of America branch to find out more.

We’ve added this bonus to our list of business checking bonuses and also added it to our recommended bank bonus list. If you have any experience with this bonus, please share in the comments.

Hat tip to Chasing The Points