Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 4/21/23: There is a direct link now, found here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: Nationwide (fine print now states ‘Deposit accounts not available in the following states: Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont.’)
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $250+
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date: 6/30/23
Contents
The Offer
Direct link to offer (note, the offer is not displayed anywhere on the site but during application, after filling in your details but before submitting the application they will e-mail you details of the bonus. A copy of that can be viewed below)
- Earn $250.00 bonus when you open a new Gateway Checking account and complete the following requirements within the first 90 days:
- Set up direct deposit ($250 minimum) within 90 days
- Maintain a $250 average daily balance during this time period
The Fine Print
- $250 is valid for personal checking accounts opened by 6/30/23.
- Offer is not available on account conversions and is limited to households that do not currently maintain a Gateway personal checking account.
- Limit one (1) per household.
- Accounts are subject to our standard eligibility and documentation requirements.
- Initial deposit of $25 is required to open the account.
- $250 bonus will not be considered part of the minimum opening deposit.
- Bonus is reportable on IRS Form 1099-INT.
- Bonus Requirement: Set up a minimum of $250 recurring direct deposit such as Social Security, Pension or Payroll within 90 days of opening account and maintain $250 average daily balance. Person to Person payments (such as Zelle) are not considered a direct deposit. $250 bonus will be deposited within ten (10) business days after account 1) meets all requirements AND 2) has been open for 90 days. Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 0.50%. APY is accurate as of 3/27/23 and is subject to change without notice after opening account.
- Must be US Citizen to be eligible.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Gateway checking has no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no EATF that I can find. But there is a “dormant account monthly fee” if <$300 if the account has been inactive for 12 months.
Our Verdict
Very strange bonus with no landing page, I suspect there will be some problems with this whole bonus posting but some readers might want to take the risk.
Hat tip to Jay Z
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
Anyone received any tax doc for 2023?
Ended up calling them and they were able to send me via email. They told me tax docs were sent out on 01/30 via mail for all.
Got mine today. Full bonus reported as interest
Closing the account is super fast. Sent a message online, 20 minutes later, the account is closed.
DP from Pennsylvania:
2023/06/19: Account opened (no opening deposit).
2023/07/29: Transfer from Ally to Gateway First Checking posts ($500).
2023/07/31: Real DD posts ($2310).
2023/08/07: Transferred out all but $500 from Gateway First Checking.
2023/09/25: “Account Opening Bonus” ($250) posts.
Was afraid I wouldn’t get this one because I overlooked the “recurring” part of the terms. A pleasant surprise. Planning to zero out and close out the account within the next few weeks, since there’s no EATF. Thank you, DOC.
Opened early June
6/15 Real DD $250
6/29 Real DD $250
7/13 Real DD $250
7/27 Real DD $250
8/10 Real DD $250
9/5 $250 Bonus Posted
– 2023-06-01 applied online
– 2023-06-01 account opened
– 2023-06-30 real DD $250
– 2023-07-14 real DD $250
– 2023-07-31 real DD $250
– 2023-08-01 withdrew excess
– 2023-08-15 real DD $250
– 2023-08-31 real DD $250
– 2023-09-01 withdrew excess
– 2023-09-05 bonus posted
5/18 Account Opened with $25
6/7 Real DD $250
6/21 Real DD $250
7/20 Transferred $275 out
8/21 Bonus Posted: “Account Opening Bonus” of $250
Opened & funded account on 5/24. Hopefully based on DP here (all before 5/24) the bonus will post in September? Made multiple $250 employer DD’s beginning in June.
5/15- account opened
5/17-account funded with $25
6/7-$400 deposit
7/18-$259 real DD
7/25-$254 real DD
8/17-withdrew most of money
8/24-pending $250 account opening bonus
Wasn’t sure if I still qualified for the offer, because I was close to the end of the 10 business days after 90 days but luckily for me still looks like I qualified
5/17: Opened
5/19: $250 push from Elements
6/15: $250 real DD
6/30: $250 real DD
7/14: $250 real DD
7/31: $250 real DD
8/15: $250 real DD
8/21: $250 Account Opening Bonus
Withdrew everything over $250 the next day. Time to draw down completely and shut down next month or so.
Opened 5/9
$300 DD 5/26
Couple small DD under $5 afterwards
$250 bonus 8/21