[Expired] [IL, KS & MO only] Bank of America $500 Savings Bonus

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Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: $500
Availability: IL, KS & MO
Direct deposit required: None
Additional requirements: Deposit $100,000 and maintain for 90 days
Hard/soft pull: Soft, as long as you opt out of overdraft protection
ChexSystems: Yes
Credit card funding: None, but you can fund with a debit card up to $250
Monthly fees: Varies
Early account termination fee: None listed
Household limit: None listed
Expiration date: May 31st, 2018

Contents

1 The Offer
2 The Fine Print
3 Avoiding Fees
4 Our Verdict

The Offer

Direct link to offers: Chicago Area, Kansas City Area

Bank of America is offering a $500 bonus for existing or new savings account customers when you make qualifying deposits of $100,000 or more in new money into the eligible savings account within 30 days of enrolling in this offer. You must also maintain the qualifying deposits in your savings account for 90 days.

The Fine Print

This offer is only available at participating financial centers in the Chicago and Kansas City markets (see specific counties below). Offer expires on May 31, 2018. Bank of America may change or discontinue this offer at any time without notice before that date. Participating financial centers are located in the following counties:
- Illinois: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, Winnebago
- Kansas: Johnson, Wyandotte
- Missouri: Cass, Clay, Jackson, Platte
Enroll in the offer by May 31, 2018. You must request to be enrolled by speaking to a Bank of America associate at a participating financial center
Open or maintain an eligible savings account. Certificates of Deposit (CDs), Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and Minor/Student savings accounts are not eligible for this offer. Additionally, you must be the owner or co-owner of the eligible account to qualify; fiduciary accounts (e.g., trust accounts) are excluded.
Make deposits of new money (each is a “Qualifying Deposit”) totaling at least $100,000 directly into the eligible savings account. “New money” is money not currently or previously held in any account in your name at Bank of America, Merrill Edge®, and/or Merrill Lynch®.
Maintain the Qualifying Deposit(s) in the eligible savings account.
After you meet all of the requirements, we will attempt to deposit the bonus directly into the eligible savings account within sixty (60) days; if unable to do so, a check will be issued. Your Bank of America eligible savings account must be open up to and including the date the bonus is paid in order to receive the bonus.
All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Fees will vary by account, I’d recommend doing your own independent research if seriously considering this deal.

Our Verdict

$500 is obviously a nice big bonus, but depositing $100,000 in funds is also significant. If you put that into a 2% account for 90 days you’d earn $493 so this is only slight above that. Keep in mind the interest rates on Bank of America accounts is very low compared to the best rates. Where this gets interesting is if you already want to qualify for preferred rewards. Then this is basically just a $500 bonus, personally I don’t think the benefits are in line with the other fees and missed opportunities you’re giving up but some people make it work for them. That being said for the vast majority of readers this isn’t a good deal so I won’t be adding it to the list of the best bank bonuses. Bank of America also has a $100 checking bonus that is available publicly and a targeted $300 offer.

Big thanks to reader, Curmudgeon who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.

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