This offer has now expired, you can view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $400
- Availability: Only available to residents who live within a 50 mile radius of a 5/3rd branch.Use this to find out how far you are from the nearest branch. You must also be in one of the following areas: Cincinnati, Chicago, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio, Eastern Michigan, North Carolina, North Florida, and South Florida. 50 mile requirement no longer a thing.
- Direct deposit required: None required
- Additional requirements: Three online bill payments
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $11-$20, waivable
- Early account termination fee: $50 fee to close account
- Expiration date: November 18th, 2016
Contents
The Offer
- Open a new business checking account in branch with Fifth Third and receive a sign up bonus of $400 when you do the following:
- Maintain an average balance of $5,000 within the first 60 days of account opening
- Complete five debit card transactions [Read: How To Meet Debit Card Transaction Requirements]
The Fine Print
- Qualifying activity includes carrying an average account balance of $5,000 in the newly opened business checking account during the first 60 days after account opening and completing 5 or more debit card transactions using the card associated with the newly opened account, excluding all ATM debit card transactions.
- Offer not available to existing Fifth Third Business Checking customers or to those with a Fifth Third Business Checking account that has been closed within the last 12 months.
- Bank reserves the right to limit each customer to one new account-related gift incentive per calendar year. If you use a different TIN then you’ll be eligible for another bonus (e.g if you’ve already received a bonus on the personal account) according to Kevin Rose.
- Bonus offer available to new business checking customers opening a Business Standard, Business Premium or Business Elite checking account. Checking account must be opened between 10/3/2016 and 11/18/2016.
- $50 minimum deposit required to open account.
- $50 fee to close a business account.
- Checking accounts may have monthly fees and Debit cards may have service related fees.
- All requirements must be met and qualifying activity must be initiated and post to the account within 60 days of account opening to obtain $400 bonus.
- Average Account Balance requirement is calculated by adding the daily account balances divided by the number of days in a period, which is 60 days for this offer.
- Valid only to accounts opened within the following regions: Cincinnati, Chicago, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio, Eastern Michigan, North Carolina, North Florida, and South Florida. B
- onus will be deposited into your new Fifth Third Business Checking account within 10 calendar days of completing requirements.
- Bonus may be taxable as interest income and reported on IRS Form 1099-INT. Consult your tax adviser.
- Only one new account per business relationship is eligible for the bonus.
- Not valid with any other offer.
Avoiding Fees
There looks to be a $50 closing fee that you can’t avoid according to the fine print.
Standard Business Checking
This account has a $11 monthly charge, it’s possible to get this waived if you do any of the following:
- Maintain a combined monthly average balance of $3,500 across your business checking, savings & CDs OR
- Spend at least $500 per month across your Fifth Third business credit cards OR
- Have a personal Fifth Third Private Bank or Fifth Third preferred checking account
Business Premium Checking
This account has a $25 monthly service charge, this is waived if you do any of the following:
- Maintain a combined monthly average balance of $10,00 across your business checking, savings & CDs OR
- Have a Fifth Third business loan or line of credit OR
- Have Merchant Services and you spend at least $500 per month across your business credit cards.
Business Elite Checking
This account has a $35 per month service charge, this is waived if you do any of the following:
- Maintain a combined monthly average balance of $25,00 across your business checking, savings & CDs OR
- Have a Fifth Third business loan or line of credit OR
- Spend at least $500 per month across your business credit cards plus have one of the following: Electronic Deposit Manager OR Cash Management Essentials
Our Verdict
This is a great business checking bonus, the $5,000 deposited will be enough to keep the account fee free and also trigger the bonus requirement. Hitting 5 debit card transactions isn’t particularly difficult either. The only downside is the $50 fee to close the account and it doesn’t look like you can avoid this. The other downside is that you have to open the account in branch, but I’d still recommend this bonus if you live within the targeted areas. In the past they did offer a $200 business checking bonus, but obviously this is significantly better. They also currently have an offer for $200 on the personal checking account.
Big thanks to reader, @Krrose27 who let us know. Please consider sharing bank bonuses with this site so we can make it even better.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- 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
Datapoints for reference for future promotions:
10/18/2016 – Opened account in-branch with a banker – funded with check for $5,100 from business checking at another bank
10/25/16 through 11/4/16 – made a variety of purchases using debit card – requirement was 5 transactions, but I used it 8 times for good measure.
12/27/16 – $400 bonus posts to account
3/20/16 – Closed account in branch with a banker. No fees imposed. Check issued in my business name for the full account balance at the time of closure.
Just for future reference if this offer pops up again: I live more than 50 miles from the nearest branch, and I called to verify it would still apply to me. I was told yes. Full $400 bonus posted a few days ago! That being said, this offer does apply to my entire state, so it could have something to do with that.
Thanks, updated post to remind myself for next time.
The offer itself doesn’t seem to mention that you need to live within a 50 mile radius of a bank. I was travelling in Illinois last week and opened a business checking account (I live 1000 miles away from the nearest 5/3 bank); the rep said I should have no problem getting the bonus.
Also, at the top of this post you mention “additional requirements” of 3x bill pays, but the terms don’t mention that at all.
Just a followup that I received the bonus and I live in AZ (wayyyyy more than 50 miles away from the closest branch)
Don’t have to go in branch per the banking specialist at number listed on the advertisement. You can send signed documentation back.
I was running errands so chose in branch assuming faster, but regretted decision after getting a super talker. Not only sold banks products, but also his side gig 🙂
There was a mention of business customers being gold, can’t recall %s but a very disproportionate amount of bank revenue per deposits? (or something?) So perhaps more of a focus of marketing efforts going forward.
do I need a TIN or a EIN?
Also cash deposits each month – would that count money orders?
Hey Doc,
I just opened an ecommerce business. Its an SCorp and I have an EIN. but the state of Illinois hasnt gotten me my articles of incorporation yet.
Will I be able to open a Business checking account with just an EIN and a letter from the IRS with my business name/address?
Honestly, I have no idea with Fifth Third. This is a time when asking the bank isn’t actually an issue.
I just did the business checking offer and the personal offer. They limit one of each person 12 month period. Also my business is a sole prop so I don’t have a separate TIN. I was able to use my social for both accounts without a.problem.
Let us know if you get the bonus
This offer is not available in GA. I called the 5/3 branch near me and they told me that the offer has already expired. According to fine print this is what it says
“Valid only to accounts opened within the following regions: Cincinnati, Chicago, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio, Eastern Michigan, North Carolina, North Florida, and South Florida. B”.
So, the title is misleading. Just wanted to let you know.
Thanks, fixed post.
I have made a phone call to the banker and I was told that I should register a business first.
Is that right ? There should be a company ?
Kevin Rose made the following comment above:
“My banker that called me today (knowing I just opened a personal account) asked if I had a different tax number for the business. Assuming you open it with different TIN then you aren’t the same customer.”
The banker seemed to expect that Kevin might be using his SSN (what he used for his personal account) as the same number as he’d use for his business account. If the banker is used to to that, doesn’t that mean that for some bankers you don’t have to go through the hoops of registering the business separately?
Does this vary by state?
So just within one of those states isn’t enough, have to be within 50 miles. No luck for me. 🙁