Keybank $200 Checking Bonus [AK, CO, ID, IN, ME, MI, NY, OH, OR, UT, VT, or WA only]

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $200
• Availability: AK, CO, ID, IN, ME, MI, NY, OH, OR, UT, VT, or WA only
• Direct deposit required: Yes, a total of at least $500 within 60 days of account opening. Almost any ACH transfer should trigger this requirement, click here to see what has worked in the past.
• Additional requirements:  Use promo code ONAS0116
• Hard/soft pull: Soft
• Credit card funding: Up to $100
• Monthly fees: None – $18, waive-able
• Early account termination fee: $25 if closed within 180 days of opening
• Expiration date: March 4th, 2016

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Receive a sign up bonus of $200 when you open a qualifying KeyBank checking account with the promotional code “ONAS0116” and complete the following requirements:
  • Receive a qualifying direct deposit of at least $500

The Fine Print

• Offer is available to new bank clients who have not had any type of account with KeyBank within the last 12 months (this includes credit cards and any cards that have been transferred to KeyBank. Thanks to reader Dave B)
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
• Qualifying accounts are: Key Express (this is the basic banking account in New York), Key Advantage^®, Key Privilege^® or Key Privilege Select Checking
• Direct deposit transactions are limited to payroll, Social Security, pension and government benefits
• Limit one gift per qualifying account. Limit one gift per individual

Avoiding Fees

Early Account Termination Fee $25

If you close your account within 180 days, you are required to pay an early account closure fee of $25

Key Advantage Checking Account

This is the best account to open for the $300 bonus, the monthly fee is $18 and is waived for the first three months. After that you need to do one of the following to avoid the $18 monthly fee:

• Maintain a minimum of $10,000 in any combination of checking, savings, CDs, retirement deposits, investments (including annuity balances reflected on your Key Investment Services LLC (KIS) account statement)⁴, credit cards¹, loans², and lines of credit², OR
• Have a KeyBank mortgage automatic payment deduction of $500 or more each statement cycle, OR
• If you are a Key@Work program member and have at least $1,000 in cumulative direct deposits each statement cycle

Our Verdict

This bonus sucks compared to the previous bonuses KeyBank has offered, their last bonus was the best as it came with a $300 bonus and you could open the hassle free checking account. Usually if you have to open the Key Advantage account you get at least $300 and if the bonus is only $200 you can open the Hassle Free account, this bonus is the worst of both worlds where the last bonus was the best of both worlds.

You can churn this bonus but only once every twelve months so I’d recommend waiting for a $200 offer with the hassle free account or $300 offer with the key advantage account (or hopefully another $300 with hassle free offer). Because of this I wouldn’t bother with this bonus, head over to our recommended bonuses and see what else is available.

We’ve still added it to our checking bonus database, that can be viewed here.