Update AWWFX is no longer valid
Update 10/2/19: Deal is still available, need to use promo code AWWFX. Landing page still isn’t working for whatever reason.
Update 9/21/19: Deal available until October 10th, 2019. Hat tip to reader Nis Pat
Update 8/14/19: Deal has been increased to $250. Hat tip to reader IS250
Update 7/20/19: Deal has been extended until 9/30/19 AVMFZ
Update Deal has been extended until August 8th, 2019.
Update: Deal has been extended May 23rd, 2019. Use promo code AVCFZ or AVDFZ. Hat tip to reader Jay.
Update: Use promo code AVGFZ. If you already applied without a promo code it’s recommend you call in to get the promo code added to your account. Hat tip to reader Matt.
In the past a promo code has automatically applied, but that doesn’t seem to be the case this time so not sure if there is an issue there or not
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: AL, DC, FL, GA, IN, KY, MD, NC, OH, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
- Direct deposit required: Optional
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull It seems like they are very persistant about overdraft protection so make sure you don’t opt in for that
- ChexSystems: Yes, not sensitive
- Credit card funding: Up to $250 (says debit card only, but credit cards will work)
- Monthly fees: $12, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: $25, 180 days
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date:
March 14th, 2019May 23rd, 2019October 10th, 2019
Contents
The Offer
- BB&T is offering a bonus of $200 when you open a Bright Banking checking account by March 14th, 2019, use promo code AWWFX and complete one of the following requirements:
- Enroll and receive two direct deposits of $100 or more each
- Use U By BB&T bill pay to initiate three online bill payments of $25 or more
The Fine Print
- BB&T associates are not eligible. Not available in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. All applications are subject to a credit history review and approval.
- Offer is available for new BB&T clients who open a BB&T retail checking account.
- Normal minimum opening balance requirements apply.
- Offer is limited to one incentive per household and does not apply to second or multiple personal accounts.
- To receive the $200 incentive, clients must open a checking account online at BBT.com, in a BB&T financial center or through BB&T Phone24 before March 14, 2019, and within 75 days of account open date either: 1) Use U by BB&T® bill payment service to initiate three online bill payments of $25 or more each from the new checking account OR 2) Enroll in and receive two direct deposits of $100 or more each to the new personal checking account.
- Any account not in good standing, closed or with a balance less than or equal to zero at the time we review account eligibility (between 76-90 days of account opening) will not receive the $200 incentive.
- Accounts are reviewed once.
- Incentive will be paid within four weeks of account eligibility review.
- Nonresident alien clients must also submit a valid Form W-8, NRA Certification Statement and a copy of their passport to BB&T by the time the account is reviewed for incentive eligibility. Form W-8 and NRA Certification forms are available from any BB&T financial center.
- You must be a new BB&T personal checking client and must not have closed a BB&T personal checking account since March 15, 2018
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Bright Checking
This account has a $12 monthly fee, this is waived if you do either of the following:
- Receive a direct deposit of $500 or more
- Have an average daily balance of $1,500 or more
Early Account Termination Fee $25
All accounts come with a $25 early account closure fee if you close them within 180 days of account opening.
Our Verdict
When going through the account opening process, it does ask for a promo code and no promo code is automatically filled but I don’t see anything about that on the application page so not 100% sure how it all works. Previously some states have offered $150 and others have offered $200. If this is available in all states listed and doesn’t require a promo code then this is a good bonus and I’ll add it to the best bonuses currently available but it’s not clear if that’s actually the case. As always share your experiences in the comments below.
Hat tip to reader Ray
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
https://www.bbt.com/content/dam/bbt/bbtcom/pdf/personal/banking/at-a-glance/personal/bright-banking-nc.pdf
This document says that $12 fee waived if I have:
•Combined ACH direct deposits totaling $500 or more per statement cycle OR
•$1,500 average checking balance per statement cycle
So I don’t have to make a real DD, any would be ACH fine. Right?
Can anybody confirm that fee is waved?
ACH from which banks waved fee?
ACH from any bank will waive the monthly fee.
Last Nov/Dec I saw the code AZMFZ provided by fST. I went in branch to ask if they had any checking promotions going on, but the banker said they only targeted mailers had gone out recently.
I waited several weeks to see if a public offer would be available and decided to give AZMFZ a shot, with the pending Suntrust merge I figured it was the last opportunity & I assumed this code would expire at the end of the year.
12/31/19 – Applied & Approved instantly online – website accepted promo code.
DP: Used Fidelity Rewards Visa to fund $250, posted as purchase.
1/8/20 – Used Bill Pay for 3 separate CC bills, all electronic. (BB&T bill pay is so user-unfriendly – no wonder they have to pay people to use it.)
1/10/20 – One more bill pay, but it went out via check
1/31/20 – One real DD, $500+, just in case, and keeps account free. Then I leave the account alone and drop the ball.
3/5/20 – Got hit with $12 account maintenance fee. SM’ed to request reversal. I had a $500+ ACH push “DD” in route to waive fee, but didn’t make it in time because BB&T closed the statement earlier than I expected.
3/6/20 – Fee reversed, “SERVICE CHARGE REFUND”.
DP: Per SM response, you are only allowed 1 fee reversal per year.
3/19/20 – “Bonus Payments AZMFZ BONUS PAYMENT” $200 posts.
Leaving $1500 in the account to avoid any chance of fees for the remaining 2 1/2 months until close.
Since I did not have the fine print for the offer, I am not sure of the terms for minimum time since the previous account. I assume it was 12 months. If so, I snuck by, but only by a few days. And, by household rule, if any, we snuck by a lot, but we have different last names.
P1:
Previous Account Opened: 6/26/18 Promo code ASCAT $150
Previous Bonus: 9/11/18
Previous Close: 1/10/19
P2:
Previous household opened: 3/13/19 Promo code AVGFZ $200
Previous household bonus: 6/4/19
Previous household close: 9/24/19
Thanks fST. FYI IS250 Missjenniferd1 JuicyJosh William Charles
Last DP: Not sure what the fine print said on this one, or where it was mailed to, but I am in VA.
I will miss BB&T… a little. My Suntrust bonuses, I recently received one for P1 (open 9/19, payout 1/16/20), and P2, expecting payout any day now, opened 12/19, and both were $300 offers.
Any more datapoints for closing without a fee after three months? Don’t really want to wait until six.
It’s been 2 weeks since my reply below and I have not received anything regarding an ETF. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bbt-200-checking-bonus-direct-deposit-not-required-al-dc-fl-ga-in-ky-md-nc-oh-sc-tn-tx-va-wv/#comment-858878
Do you remember what promo code you used? I used AWWFX
I’m pretty sure I used the same one.
Thanks.
Just found on another site where someone posted a picture of the mailer for AWWFX and I don’t see any mention of a fee there, either.
I think I’ll wait until I’m at three months (Jan 2nd) and just send a SM like you did.
hi, if I need to withdraw all the balance before sending the SM? Thanks….
10/02 account open use the code AWWFX in VA
10/03 $26 bill pay to my discover
10/07 $30 bill pay to my discover
10/08 $48 bill pay to my AE
And then do nothing with this account and keep a balance around $1500.
12/23 $250 bonus as interest posted in my account!
So, anyone has idea on how to close the account? (just hold it for 3 months till now) thanks Doc!
9/14 – account opened in-branch with promo code using an out of state address
9/19 – $100 DD from Alliant
9/20 – $100 DD from Alliant
12/2 – 3x bill pays (I chickened out from the DD route just in case Alliant didn’t trigger the bonus)
12/4 – $250 bonus posted
I also did $500 monthly DD from Alliant to waive the monthly fees.
Anyone have success closing early? There’s not an ETF listed in the Bright Banking fee schedule, but I also didn’t keep any of the paperwork from when I opened the account (maybe a bonus specific ETF in the bonus terms?).
I closed after 3 months in branch and wasn’t charged a fee.
I sent a SM last week requesting for my account to be closed. I received an email today that my request had been processed and that I should receive a confirmation letter in the mail in 7-10 business days. There was no mention of an ETF.
This is just past the 3 month mark for me as well.
hi, did you withdraw all the money before sending the closing SM, or after? thanks.
I made sure the account was at $0 before sending them a message. Most customer service reps will check if an account is at $0 or if it has any pending transactions before proceeding with account closure, so I empty them first to avoid any problems. It took about a week before they responded to my message.
Thanks for your reply again! Just have a confirmation, after you sent the SM, did they need to call you to make the confirmation? or just make it all done via SM? (Because i am out of the us now and the US phone number is unavailable). And i find there is no transfer money option on the BBT app and Zelle is the only way to withdraw the money, right? thanks!
It was all done from my one secure message. I used my main bank account to ACH pull everything out of the BB&T account.
Sounds great! appreciated!
Hi, after 2 days I sent the close account SM, today I suddenly found I couldnt log on to my app and my online access seems to be lost. And I didn’t receive any email from them, so is that a normal case? thanks !
That’s normal. Wait a few more days to receive a closure email.
Sounds easy! thanks for your reply
I have not received any email that concerning the closure issues. And I still cannot log on my online account. So, what should I do, or just let it go? Thanks
Maybe try calling the closest branch and have them check your account to see if it’s closed.
Hi, Does Alliant means Alliant Credit Union or Alliant bank? Thanks
Alliant Credit Union
If anyone is checking this page for fee avoidance, the summary makes it sound like you have to have a single $500 DD. This requirement is actually accumulative according to their fee schedule.
The fee schedule states “Combined ACH direct deposits totaling $500 or more per statement
cycle.”
I am a datapoint. I realize this is long expired but I got the bonus today because of slow-ass BBT. I opened the account 08/28/2019 with $1500 cash deposit. I did 4x DDs (just to be sure). I did not have ANY other activity in the account AT ALL. Literally 4 DDs and withdrew them in cash. I got the $250 bonus today on 11/20/2019. Thanks Doc. You a G.
What is the easiest fee free way to close this account? I just noticed that I’m past the 180 days
I received a mailer with Promo Code AZMFZ for $200 bonus. Sent to me due to a brand new branch opening down the road. 2 monthly DDs of $100 each or 3 online bill payments of $25 each.
The terms on my mailer says that the EFT fee for closing within 6 months is forfeiture of the bonus (you have just $25 fee above in blog post).
Does it have the same fine print as what’s in this post?
I’d have to look at the mailer again when I’m home but I’m pretty sure everything was the same, except what I noted above; the difference in the early closure fee. If I remember when I get home, I’ll check and post back.
08/13 Account opened in branch as out of state resident, followed with 3 bill pays.
11/06 $250 bonus posted.
Can confirm that schwab brokerage works to waive the fee. I think it is easy to find out if certain ACH counts as DD by going to plan&analyze, where some transactions show as transfer while others show as income.