[IL, WI, FL only] Wintrust Community Bank $500 Business Checking Bonus

Update 1/12/23: Extended through march 31, 2023

Update 5/29/22: Bonus is now $500. Hat tip to Burnout1749

Update 2/17/22: Deal is back and valid until December 31, 2022 Christopher Robin

Update 8/23/21: Available in FL as well. Hat tip to Snowbird

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $500
• Availability: IL, WI & FL [Branch locator]
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: See below
• Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
• ChexSystems: Unknown
• Credit card funding: Unknown
• Monthly fees: $15, avoidable
• Early account termination fee:
• Household limit: None listed
• Expiration date: June 30th, 2019 December 31, 2020 December 31, 2021 December 31, 2022

The Offer

Direct link to offer | St. Charles Bank (IL) or Town Bank (WI) or Lake Forest Bank (FL)

• Receive a sign up bonus of $500 when you open a new Entrepreneur checking account and complete the following requirements:
  • Deposit and maintain $5,000 or more in new money
  • Complete 10 qualifying transactions
  • Enroll in online banking and activate eStatements

The Fine Print

• This Entrepreneur Checking account bonus offer is not available to existing or closed checking account customers of Wintrust Financial Corporation (WTFC) and its subsidiaries or its active employees.
• Limit 1 bonus payment per customer, regardless of the number of accounts opened.
• If you qualify for this Entrepreneur Checking account bonus offer, you are ineligible to receive this Entrepreneur Checking account bonus offer from any other WTFC location.
• If you qualify for any other WTFC savings offer it may be combined with this Entrepreneur Checking account bonus offer.
• Your new account must be open, in the same product, and have a balance greater than zero to receive the bonus payment.
• If you are a sole proprietorship or a single member LLC, the $300.00 bonus payment is subject to IRS 1099-INT reporting and may be considered income for tax purposes for the tax year in which the bonus was paid.
• 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 $15 monthly fee, this is waived if you have an average daily balance of $5,000

Early Account Termination Fee

I wasn’t able to find a full fee schedule so I’m unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not.

Our Verdict

Looks like a relatively easy bonus to meet the requirements for. Assuming it’s a soft pull like the other WinTrust bank brands I do think this is worth doing if you live near a branch. I’ll likely add this to our list of the best checking account bonuses once we’ve confirm it’s a soft pull to open the account.

Hat tip to reader Matthew R

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