Chase Teen & College Checking $125 Bonus – No Direct Deposit Required

Update 7/16/25: Bonus increased from $100 to $125. Valid through 10/15/25. (ht Erik)

Update 1/9/25: The college bonus is still around. There’s now a similar offer for teen accounts (age 13-17) which can be found at this link. The teen offer requires a Chase branch visit. Valid through 4/16/25. This one only requires 5 transactions, not 10. (ht Carl J)

Update 10/10/22: Extended until 1/25/23.

Update 7/10/22: Deal is back and valid until 10/19/2022.

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $100
  • Availability: Nationwide
  • Direct deposit required: None
  • Additional requirements: See below
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft
  • ChexSystems: Unknown
  • Credit card funding: Can fund up to $50 with a debit card online (prepaids do not work). Cannot fund with debit or credit in branch.
  • Monthly fees: None if in college
  • Early account termination fee: Bonus taken back if closed within six months
  • Household limit: None
  • Expiration date: October 18th, 2019 April 16, 2025

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Chase has sent out offers for a bonus of $100 when you open a new college checking account and complete the following requirements:
    • Enroll in paperless statements
    • Complete 10 qualifying transactions within 60 days of account opening. Qualifying transactions include: debit card purchases, online bill payments, checks paid, Chase QuickDepositSM, Chase QuickPay® with Zelle®, or direct deposits

 

The Fine Print

  • Offer valid until 10/18/2019.
  • Offer not available to existing Chase checking customers, those with fiduciary accounts, or those whose accounts have been closed within 90 days or closed with a negative balance. Employees of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and its affiliates are not eligible for this offer.
  • To receive the bonus: 1) Open a new Chase College Checking account, which is subject to approval; 2) Log in to chase.com and enroll in Chase Checking Paperless Statements within 60 days of account opening; AND 3) Complete at least 10 qualifying transactions within 60 days of account opening.
  • After you have completed all the above requirements and the 10 qualifying transactions have posted to your account, we’ll deposit the bonus into your new account within 10 business days.
  • Qualifying transactions include: debit card purchases, online bill payments, checks paid, Chase QuickDepositSM, Chase QuickPay® with Zelle®, or direct deposits.
  • Your direct deposit needs to be an electronic deposit of your paycheck, pension or government benefits (such as Social Security) from your employer or the government
  • . You can receive only one new checking account opening related bonus every two years from the last enrollment date and only one bonus per account.
  • Bonus is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT (or Form 1042-S, if applicable).
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

There is no monthly fees as long as your college student aged between 17-24

Early Account Termination Fee

Bonus taken back if closed within six months

Our Verdict

Not worth considering because there is an offer for $300 as well. That offer does require a direct deposit, but there are plenty of work arounds that will work. Because of that I won’t be adding this to our list of the best checking bonuses.

Hat tip to reader Calvin

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On July 16, 2025, 19:00

View Comments (31)

    • I just read the fine prints of $900 Chase checking + saving accounts bonus. It says total of $15,000 or more new money deposit is needed within 30 days after opening Chase saving account, and the fund needs to be in the saving account for 90 days (and opening of checking account at the same time when you open saving account) before the $900 bonus will be credited. That's a lot of money to fund for their saving account for the bonus.

    • They specifically call out owners under 18 receiving a fee waiver for the savings, so it's possible. I see nothing in the terms that says they can't.

  • @6 When I opened this with my teen I was required to have a personal checking account open as well. That may impact anyone who likes to churn the Chase personal bonus.

    May want to add a note.

    • Yeah. I went in and wasted 30+ mins before they told me my kids weren't eligible for this promo because I was already participating in the $900 promo.

  • This is a pretty good deal for a teen starting out but the only way to stack this is having more kids.

  • If I open the account with my teen, is the bonus paid to his account going to be reported under my SSN for tax purposes?

    • Will be reported under his. If he has no other income, he will be exempt from filing.

  • Since this one does not become eligible until age 13, does anybody have a recommended account/institution for a younger child?

    • @guest_1983053 Wells Fargo also has one with a bonus right now, but it is also 13+, has to be opened in a branch. I have one kid 13+, one under, so I have been looking as well, and have not found anything for less than 13.

    • Chase has checking accounts for kids under 13! They don’t have this promo but still a great option, lots of controls and the accounts are free. Unlike a lot of things like Greenlight which have a monthly fee.

    • I have no experience with it, but CapitalOne has the MONEY Teen checking account and allows kids as young as 8.

      • I'll 2nd that Cap1 360 has kids accounts. HOWEVER, they have a major flaw in their system regarding your kid actually being able to login to their account. They apparently use cell phone account verification, where they require the account owner to have their OWN cell phone # with their name and address on the bill to actually pass verification. This is ridiculous on so many levels, especially for a minor.

        With that said, you can manage their account through your own login, but they won't be able to get past verification when setting up their own logins. I tried to contact their support for this issue but ultimately gave up.

  • Had this account for my son 2 years ago and closed it. Teen accounts have no login to manage their account. The account showed in my login

    • This is not true. The teen account has it's own login, that limits the view to just that account (IE Teen only account). The parent that was present when signing up for the account can also see the teen account under their normal login. Source, my son has a teen account and this is how it works.

  • I'm confused by the discussion related to the $300 offer - that link points to the regular chase checking offer - does that mean teens or college students can get that regular checking account (and bonus)?

Leave a Comment