[MA, CT, DE, D.C., MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA, WV] M&T Bank $300-$1,500 Business Checking Bonus

Update 7/2/25: Extended to  September 30, 2025

Update 4/6/25: Back through 6/30/2025. Hat tip to reader Tikky

Update 1/1/25: Extended to March 28, 2025

Update 10/1/24: Extended to 12/31/24

Update 6/30/24: Deal is back through September 30, 2024. There is also a $300 and $1,500 tier now.

Update 4/3/24: Deal is back through June 28th. Hat tip to Frazz

Update 1/8/24: Deal is back and valid until 3/29. Hat tip to reader BD.

Update 10/2/23: Extended until 12/29.

Update 4/2/23: Extended until 6/30/2023

Update 1/15/23: Bonus is now $500 and doesn’t require merchant services.

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $500
  • Availability: In branch only [Branch locator]. Branches are in CT, DE, D.C., MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA, WV
  • Direct deposit required: No
  • Additional requirements: Average daily balance of $5,000 for the 3rd full month after account opening
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft
  • ChexSystems:Yes
  • Credit card funding: No
  • Monthly fees: $20, avoidable
  • Early account termination fee: $50 if closed within 180 days of date opened, bonus forfeit if closed within six months as well.
  • Household limit: None
  • Expiration date: June 28th, 2019 September 30th, 2020 November 30, 2020

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • M&T Bank is offering a bonus of $500 when you open a new Tailored Business Checking account and complete the following requirements:
    • Have an Average Ledger Balance in the account is at least $15,000 in the third full calendar month after the account was opened
    • $300 bonus when you have an Average Ledger Balance in the account is at least $5,000+ in the third full calendar month after the account was opened
    • $1,5000 bonus when you have an Average Ledger Balance in the account is at least $100,000+ in the third full calendar month after the account was opened

 

 

The Fine Print

  • We will credit $500 bonus (the “Checking Bonus”) to a new M&T Tailored Business Checking account opened between 1/1/2023 and 3/31/2023 if the Average Ledger Balance in the account is at least $5,000 in the third full calendar month after the account was opened. If the requirements are met and the Account remains open, the Checking Bonus will be credited to the Account within 45 days after the end of the third full calendar month after the account was opened. The Checking Bonus is reportable for tax purposes and is not available to employees of M&T Bank or any of its affiliates. The Checking Bonus is not available to customers who have had a non-personal M&T checking account within the previous 90 days of opening an M&T Tailored Business Checking account. Only one Checking Bonus will be awarded per customer regardless of the number of new M&T Tailored Business Checking accounts opened. A $50 Account Closure Fee applies if the account is closed within the time period referenced in the Commercial Deposit Account Fee Schedule.
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

This account has a $20 monthly fee. This is waived if you:

  • Maintain a $10,000 monthly average ledger balance
  • Maintain $25,000 average ledger balance between checking & savings
  • Make $2,000 in purchases on a linked M&T business credit card
  • M&T bank merchant services account proceeds deposited

Early Account Termination Fee

$50 if closed within 180 days of date opened, bonus forfeit if closed within six months as well

Our Verdict

Update; You need $15,000 in the account to trigger the bonus, making the return even worse unfortunately.

You will need to keep $10,000 in this account to keep it fee free and to trigger the bonus (or you could put $5,000 into the account and just pay the monthly fees). Either way the deal is still worth doing as the bonus is for $500. Keep in mind M&T also offer personal bonuses of up to $300 as well. I will be adding this to our list of the best business bank account bonuses.

Hat tip to reader ChurningFast

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:

Post history:

  • Update 10/19/22: Extended through 12/31/2022.
  • Update 7/3/22: Back and extended until Sept 30, 2022.
  • Update 5/16/22: Deal is back and valid until  6/30/22.
  • Update 1/15/22: Deal is back and valid until 3/11/22.
  • Update 5/31/21: Extended until 6/30/21.
  • Update 4/27/21: Deal is back and valid until May 30, 2021. Looks like it can be opened online now. Hat tip to IS250
  • Update 10/4/20: Deal good through November 30, 2020.
  • Update 8/10/20: Monthly fee is waived for the first three months. Hat tip to Lazy Travelers
  • Update 8/2/20: Deal is back and valid until September, 30 2020. Hat tip to reader crystal
  • Update 3/21/20: Deal has been extended until May 15th, 2020.
  • Update 2/2/20: Deal is back until 3/20/20 but checking bonus has been reduced to $300. I’d recommend waiting until the $400/$100 bonus returns. Hat tip to reader Ryan
  • Update 7/28/19: Deal is back and valid until September 26th, 2019. There is also a $200 bonus that we will post about shortly.
    William Charles
  • On April 6, 2025, 20:45
Tags: ct bank bonusesdc bank bonusesde bank bonusesdirect deposit not requiredmd bank bonusesnj bank bonusesno credit card fundingny bank bonusespa bank bonusessoft pullva bank bonuseswv bank bonuses

View Comments (506)

  • How did anyone close their account? My account opened 9 months age and I want to close it . But they asked me to go to branch to close it.

  • As usual, "unable to verify" and have to go into the branch. I've done it before, but a total PITA. But I could use an extra $750.

  • Offer extend till September 30, 2025. Please update @2.

    "Open an eligible new business checking account by September 30, 2025, using promo code BW."

  • Applied online, Chex pull:

    After reviewing your application, we were unable to verify your information. We appreciate your interest in applying at M&T Bank.

    Should I try calling and see if I can get verified that way? I think I was just approved last time. I'm LOL/24

    • You can certainly try calling but they are very resistant to doing anything over the phone. When I was trying to downgrade my account, I had to call the location that I opened at, was told I had to come in so they can verify me. Only after pleading them to try did the rep finally process my request (and didn't even verify me...). So, it's very YMMV. I'd get it done in branch.

      My Chex when I got approved: 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 7/6, 16/12, 42/24, 62/36. My stats weren't mentioned; just the standard "where do you bank now", etc.

      • Yeah seems like I'd have to go in to complete it. I am near a branch. Just don't want to go in.

  • Payout DP:

    10/26/23 - previous biz checking bonus received
    6/30/24 - previous biz checking account closed (used SSN)
    1/25/25 - signed up for Tailored Biz Checking via a doc reader's referral while having an existing referral link myself from a personal checking account
    1/28/25 - approved in branch (used EIN); opening deposit of 200 by check
    3/10/25 - completed 5x external billpays for the referral terms
    3/27/25 - received ReferLive gift card bonus of $150
    4/1/25 - the end of day balance was 30k+ (I had a very tight window to move funds between accounts but figured EOD balance should work). Left the 30k (plus a small buffer) in the account for full month of April
    5/2/25 - withdrew funds (left about 100)
    5/19/25 - received $750 bonus

    Will downgrade to Simple Biz Checking this week

  • I'm OOS. Was able to open a personal account in-branch in Philly while traveling. Is there any way to use my personal account to apply for this? A fresh application won't let me through the moment I enter my TX address.

  • P2 got their M&T business Chex dispute approved and moved to "View only by you" section. Took about 3 weeks. Just letting those that tried the online application that it maybe possible to dispute/clear it if you were never approved or ran into issues with the application process. I believe the reason was due to corrupted online application system where they were informed that "something went wrong on their side.. " and it never processed correctly. HTH.

    • Thank you for the heads up. I will give it a try.

      Can you clairfy if chex pulls for 3 different banks on 1 single day are considered as 1 or they are considered as 3 different chex pulls in our chexsystems?

      • @guest_2039529 Chex pulls from 3 different banks will post as 3 different pulls if done on the same day. Only way out is if the pulls were from the same bank for the same account type i.e. Personal Checking> Personal Checking vs. Personal Checking> Business Checking. Few DPs exists if opening a Personal and Business Checking from the same bank/CU in same day results in one pull, depends on how each system is set up to handle the application and whether the departments use the same or different processing address (backend). Even then it's murky, too many factors to list. I usually go with the expectation that I'll get a Chex pull most of the time and happy if I don't. Getting approved and account opened is what matters and Chex is sometimes one of those unfortunate barrier in this hobby of ours. HTH.

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  • Anyone else having issues opening the account online?
    It is giving me an error every time I click the last step of the process "Open account". It says - "It’s not you, but something went wrong on our end."

    • @guest_2039529 That certainly bites. I've had this also happen to me in the past. Unfortunately it's likely a Chex pull too, it was for me. You could call in to see if there's something they could do to resolve it, just have a low bar when you do. Otherwise you may have to bite the bullet and apply in branch. If done on time (within 1-2 days) the Chex should merge, you can also try to dispute it later if it doesn't.

      • On a side note, do you know if it is easy to open a business checking account as a sole prop with SSN in a branch? What kind of details do they ask usually and any documents that we need to provide as a sole prop.

        • Business acct. may need a capable/willing banker to open your app. Make an appt. before heading to your local branch, tell them your a SP and just ask what docs are required based on the state you're applying from. If they ask for too much, call a different branch. You won't get the 3rd degree if someone competent is working with you. They ask about usual business type, expense, how long ago, income, mthly & foreign transfers, etc. Otherwise prepare a folder with the docs they recommend. Better to be comfortable and relaxed. HTH.

      • Thanks for the reply. I think it would be better to just go to the branch and do it all at once.

  • I got a referral link from someone who has an active account and when I fill out the info it gives me an error message and says “your request could not be completed. Please check your referral link and try again.”

    Anyone else having a similar issue?

      • They may have turned off the spigot or RL form maybe broken/corrupted. @guest_1919723 There maybe validity to this issue.

        “Your request could not be completed. Please check your referral link and try again.”

        I encountered the same with the biz form not submitting but need another DP, can you or another reader verify? @guest_1649105

        If this is the case then the M&T business referral page may indeed have invalid links as mentioned before even though the initiate splash page shows $150 the form is not working. Please delete if asking this breaks any rules. @2 @6

        • I think you're right. Dead from my link, too. I tested another bank's link and that one went through fine so it doesn't appear to be a technical error.

          • @guest_1919723 , you may want to delay the referral stack till Referlive can fix the issue with the submission form for the extra $150. This Business Promo Bonus exp. 6/30 so you have time. Nothing holding you back from pulling the trigger if you must, we all have our priorities. I personally try to squeeze every bit of juice from an offer whenever possible, stacking is high on the list, just me. You do you, HTH.

            @guest_1649105 Thanks for the confirmation. Yes, the Personal Checking referral is confirmed still good and works 100%, just not the Business Referral. Maybe a note to post concerning the M&T Business referral being out of commission is in order? @2 @6

          • I just called up the M&T refer live customer service department.
            This is their number. (844) 246-7342

            I told them about the referral system issue.

            They said they would be able to manually do it over the phone, but that I’d need the referee’s personal info, including their name and address.

            So if anyone wants to provide me with that, I’ll use your referral code and info.

            Otherwise I guess I’ll just wait for them to fix it.

          • I personally would wait on a fix. There isn't a RL referral code to input on M&T side, just the existing promo bonus code you provide when applying in-branch or online. Getting an email invite and referral registration confirmation helps for record and tracking purposes. This is a first in my experience hearing about RL requesting manual input. The RL referral form 'submit' is corrupted so it would make tracking and payout for both parties annoyingly tedious and difficult to chase without another manually intervention. It's an extra $150 on top if RL can manually make it work, can't vouch for it so I'm not banking on their manual process. They tell you an ETA of when it'll get fixed?

          • I applied online.
            Got an email saying they couldn’t verify my identity.
            I don’t want to go in branch as this is for a “business”.
            Do you know of another way of getting the identity verified?

          • Unfortunately there's no other way around it than to apply in branch.

          • So, applying online for this business checking account will very likely rejected? If so, I will not waste my time and Chex. and I cannot visit a branch.

          • Branch visits have been the DPs that get likely approvals. Haven't seen enough DPs to show whether M&T Business online apps getting approval even for those in qualifying states, it is tempting to try. May want to hold off unless you're feeling lucky and want to be the DP.

          • Thanks. Just tested it, yup it works! Looks like they fixed it sooner than I thought. Everything back to normal and ready to stack again.

            Recommend to apply in branch as DPs suggest that the online link in post to apply is NOT really working 100%.

            M&T Bank updated a few things on their business website with the link to the same offer using code BW. Exp. 6/0/2025. I'd go with this link instead as it's direct. Speculation, maybe M&T fixed the business application too without the error.

            https://www.mtb.com/business/business-banking-checking-and-service-options/business-checking/compare-business-checking-options

            You should send yourself the bonus code to show the banker or in case you need to present it. Make sure to ALSO register yourself to get that M&T email confirmation for the extra $150 referral. HTH.

          • I tried to get them to pass it along their team, to make whoever is in charge of their refer live program aware of the issue, but they kept on telling to just get the info of the person referring me. It didn’t seem like they were so eager to get it fixed, at least not from the rep I spoke to.

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