Laurel Road $200 High Yield Savings Bonus (Balance Only Required On Day 90)

Referral offer extended to January 21, 2026

Update 1/18/25: Extended to June 30, 2025.

Update 1/11/25: Extended to 4/30/2024

Update 5/22/24: new referral page is now open, thanks to people who didn’t post theirs in the comments below.

Update 5/22/24: Deal is back until 01/10/2025

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $200
  • Availability: Nationwide
  • Deposit required: $5,000 – $30,000
  • Additional requirements: Deposit must be in account on day 90
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
  • ChexSystems: No, Chexsystems sensitive
  • Credit card funding: Unknown
  • Monthly fees: None
  • Early account termination fee: None
  • Household limit: None listed
  • Expiration date: 4/30/2024

The Offer

No direct link to offer, requires a referral. Find & share your referrals in this linked post. Direct link for terms here.

  • Laurel Road is offering a bonus of up to $200 when you open a new savings account and deposit $1 within 20 days of account opening. The bonus you receive depends on your balance at 90 days after account opening:
    • Deposit total between $5,000–$14,999.99 and get a $50 bonus
    • Deposit total between $15,000–$29,999.99 and get a $100 bonus
    • Deposit total more than $30,000+ and get a $200 bonus

 

The Fine Print

  • Referred cannot be an existing or prior Laurel Road member in the last twelve (12) months.
  • Starting at 12:00AM EST on January 30, 2024, through 11:59PM EST on April 30, 2024 (“Campaign Period”), a $50 bonus (the “Bonus”) will be awarded to Laurel Road members (“Referrer”) for each friend who opens a new Laurel Road High Yield Savings (HYS) account (the “Referred”) and meets the following requirements, the Referred must 1) submit the HYS account application through the Referrer’s link during the Campaign Period. 2) have a minimum HYS account balance of at least $1 by 7PM EST within the first twenty (20) calendar days of account opening, and 3) have a minimum balance of $5,000 by 11:59PM EST on the ninetieth (90th) calendar day of account opening for Referrer to earn the Bonus. T
  • his offer cannot be combined with any other programs and is not eligible for the standard Refer-A-Friend split.
  • All other Laurel Road Referral Program Rules apply. For full information see https://www.laurelroad.com/hys-raf2024/#disclaimer.
  • 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 no monthly fees to worry about.

Early Account Termination Fee

None

Our Verdict

Bonus is interesting for two reasons:

  • Account earns 5% APY and this is competitive with other high yield rates
  • You only need a balance on day 90

You’ll likely need to tie up funds for a week or so but still worth doing if you have a lot of liquid funds available. Person referring also gets a $50 bonus. We will add this to our list of the best checking bonuses. Do not share your referrals in the comments below, you can share them in this linked post.

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:

View Comments (551)

  • No bonus and I calculated my bonus expected date using 60 business days:

    1/26/25 - account opening
    4/21/25 - deposit $30K+
    4/26/25 - day 90 after account opening
    4/29/25 - withdrew $30K (left pennies in there)
    7/20/25 - bonus expected day = account opening + 90 + 60/5*7 + 1
    7/23/25 - still no bonus today

    • That very nice of them. What an odd expiration date to pick though.

    • You can visit a member’s linked website to find updated referral links.

    • @guest_2081789,

      Unfortunately, no one is allowed to post their referral links on this page as @2 didn’t allow it.

      However, when referral links and/or codes are not allowed (like in this post), this DoC post may give you a good way to find 1: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/why-you-should-add-an-email-and-website-link-to-your-doctorofcredit-comments/.

  • No bonus yet here either

    Opened on 2/12
    $10 deposit on 2/13
    $30k deposit on 4/28

    Is it worth calling them yet?

    • I just checked the terms for the referral offer. It shows "[the bonus will be paid within sixty (60) business days after meeting all campaign bonus requirements." That is 60 business days after 90 days from opening so you still have a long wait until you should follow up.

        • BTW, back in April, I logged into my Laurel account and changed the option to receive the referral payments by DD rather than check. You might want to login to your account to see if you have that option also.

          • Also while I am thinking about it because you and Gadget (idk how to tag people on here so I can’t include him in this comment) seem to comment and know pretty much the most on here lol

            What’s the best current HYSA? I’ve got about $60k total that will be sitting with capital one 360 because that’s where I have my primary checking at.

            Have any good other options for good HYSA or online only checking accounts?

          • @guest_2092435,

            If you end up getting declined for Hustl and/or want to have a backup HY account, I would recommend LCB. I have to warn you that some people have had their accounts locked or even closed recently due to treating their account like a "clearinghouse".

            However, I haven't run into any issues with LCB (yet) so I would still recommend it as a good hub.

            See my comment here about LCB: #2089504.

          • @guest_2092435,

            I can help you on both issues.

            See my comment here for how to tag people properly: #2007558.

            If you have about $60K available, I would recommend that you apply for an account with Hustl as they are currently paying 5% APY on a MM Checking account. See my comment here for my account opening DP: #2090272.

          • Thank you I’ll take a look at Hustl!

            Do you have any experience with their checking account? Or have any recommendations for an online checking account?

            Is it safe to pull my $25k from Laurel Road at this point? My dates are in my original post up there

          • No, I don't but you can certainly apply for that at the same time as the MM. BTW, the MM is technically a "Checking" account, according to the rep that I talked to. However, it doesn't have a debit card. So if you want that, you should apply for the actual Checking account also.

            Yes, you can absolutely withdraw the money from your Laurel account. However, make sure to leave a token amount (eg $10) to make sure the account doesn't auto-close.

          • I’ll just do that then!

            Where do I see that option to change the bonus method?

          • From desktop online banking:

            Your Offers-> Refer a Friend link->Edit Payout Preferences button > Direct Deposit  @guest_2076035 

          • Probably only for the referral bonuses, but not 100% sure.

            Based on what it says in online banking, the setting is only for the referral bonuses. By default, they were mailing checks.

            Since you asked, I verified my setting.

            "Review your payout method.

            Your referral bonuses will be delivered by direct deposit to your account ending in [00xx]." @guest_2111962

          • Got it. Thanks. Have we received any positive DPs of successful checks received for sign up bonus?

          • Ummm, I am sure people have. Do you see what happens when people don't get their bonuses, like over on the Netspend post? People start dropping the CFPB bomb left and right.

            I cannot speak for anyone else, but June 30th I received a referral bonus. I assume the person on the other end got theirs too.

        • I just did the calculation for you. Laurel has until 8.11.25 to pay you the bonus per the terms.

  • Has anyone gotten this bonus recently? I passed the 90 day mark on 4/24. I realize it hasn't been quite two months yet, but most banks pay out sooner. A lot of comments below suggest no payment, but did it work for anyone?

  • Never got my bonus. :(

    Jan. 8 - Account opened and funded w/$500
    Apr. 3 (Day 85) - Funded with additional $30k

    Still no bonus.

    • Although DP's suggest you should get your check in about 2 weeks from day 90, per their FAQ, they do have 60 days to mail the check.

      "Once the requirements are met, the bonus amount will mailed to you as a check within 60 days of meeting the requirements. Your account must be open to receive the bonus, no other form of payment will be provided."

      I'd reach out to them and ask the status. You signed up right at the end of the prior promo period (needed to open by 1/10/25, which you did), so it's possible something got messed up.

  • Laurel road didn't pay out bonus
    I signed up for a new account last year. Made direct deposits regularly and after 90 days no bonus was given
    I called bank. Specialist told me that all my deposits counted except one. Loss of this deposit made me short of total requirement so no bonus. No reason why 1 of 10 deposits didn't count. It was the 5th deposit of 10 in a row from my employer. Standard direct deposit. Nothing different from other 9 deposits. No reason given why this deposit didn't count for bonus
    So I closed account and moved on

    • You should have kept the account open and submitted a formal complaint through the CFPB. I would still submit one, but it makes like easier for everyone when the account is still open.

      Unless you were only shooting for the lowest tier bonus ($5K deposit for $50 bonus), your story doesn't make much sense.

      If anything, because you used real DD's (which was not required), if you took more than 20 days for the $1 minimum deposit, that would be the culprit and the rep just gave you bad info. @guest_2051080

        • Elon never had any power to fire anyone that worked for the government. BTW, the CFPB is alive and well. They do a great job of simply forwarding complaints to FIs and/or other agencies!

      • Thank you
        I'm new to bonuses. Still learning
        Saw an ad for bonus online and saw a YouTube for bonuses. Then I found a few sites for bank bonuses
        I forgot the specifics of the offer. Make like 4k or 5k deposits in checking in 60 days and get $300 after 90 days. Something like that. I gave it a try but laurel road bank didn't credit one of my deposits making me short of total. So no bonus. No reason given. I got frustrated and closed account
        I didn't know of the cfpb until now. Thank you. I will try another bank and see what happens

        • One of the first things you should learn is don't believe everything a bank rep tells you. Some things they don't have to give reasons for, like reasons for account denial, but with bonuses, there should be a logical excuse. You may have just needed to wait longer for the bonus.

          Even though the account is closed, you can still file a complaint. They will either respond positively or negatively, but at least then you will know you have an real answer.

          You aren't required to recall every detail to submit a complaint. Yes, it would be better, but they can look up the details on the account and the promotion.

          Always a good idea to take screenshots of offers too, because this does happen. Best of luck! @guest_2051080

  • Will,

    I want to start off by thanking you for your comment here: #2044571. That was great constructive criticism that you provided. Ever since that time, I have mostly avoided any kind of conflict with people. Ironically, in the past 2 weeks or so, some people have made some of the most unfair and/or deplorable unprovoked attacks about me and/or to me that have appeared on this site. Based on your great advice, I have mostly not responded to those comments.

    I feel that actions speak louder than words and I hope that you have seen that I have heeded your advice for the most part. I can't guarantee that I will never get in any more arguments on the site but I will try to "walk away" a lot more than I did in the past.

    In the KeyPoint post, after many people had written "Sent" (or similar wording), I wrote the following comment: #2016886. You answered me then clarifying the rules and yet multiple people continue to ignore your rules in that post to this day.

    A couple of days ago, @guest_2049536 wrote that they were going to use my Laurel referral link in this post. I replied "Thank you." and offered them some advice on qualifying for the bonus. The person that alerted you and Chuck about my reply wrote that I "should know better".

    I was and still am confused by that quote. I have thanked others (including in this very post) for the exact same thing and don't recall ever being called out by anyone for doing so. In addition, many others have done the same thing without any blowback.

    Is there somewhere on the site where you have disallowed thanking people? If so, I must have missed it.

    I certainly did not intend to break any rules as I try hard to avoid doing so. What irks me the most is that the person wrote that I "should know better", implying that I blatantly ignored your rules when that couldn't be further from the case.

    I would appreciate your clarification on this issue, like you did in the KeyPoint post, so I can be sure what is and isn't allowed in this post and on all other posts going forward.

    • This sort of thing just causes more issues for us. In referral posts or when leaving a referral just leave your referral and don't do anything else in that thread. We shouldn't have to mediate every little issue with referrals and all this sort of thing does is push us closer to closing referrals off entirely. Thank you for understanding.

    • I'm really surprised that someone like you, who is present in so many posts where FIs have referral offers, and with the elephantine memory you're so proud of, doesn't remember the time your friend jack jack jack got reprimanded for basically being Gadget's hype man across several comments/threads. I'm sure you will now want to argue semantics in the third person about how the circumstances are completely different, etc...but the net result is the same, so you can save both our times.

  • "Do not share your referrals in the comments below" includes fishing for them and presumably replying to those requests.
    @guest_2049511 @guest_1986293 @guest_2049517 should know better.
    Also, that @guest_2031589 guy too.

    @2 @6

      • @6,

        It seems like you deleted all of the comments from people that requested a referral link by providing their email address in this post. This post is similar to the KeyPoint post in that there is a referral offer but nowhere to post referral links. In case you aren't aware, the linked Laurel referral post is full of "dead" referral links that no longer work.

        In the KeyPoint post, @2 allows people to provide their email address to be referred but in this post, he did not make a similar decision. However, he made it clear (after I asked him) that writing "Sent" is not allowed there.

        The person above that alerted you had the nerve to group @guest_2049536 and me together with 2 people that blatantly went against Will's rules. Let's see if that person continues to police the comments in all posts, even for people that he likes. I will be watching!

          • I appreciate that you appreciate my efforts despite those who have an imaginary axe to grind against me, lol.

  • Wont even let me past the 1st page on the application. I get an error "Based on a review of the information provided in your application, we are not able to open a savings account for you at this time."

    Pretty strange as my chex and credit are not frozen. Guess this one is not in the cards for me lol

    • My P2 is the same way. I had no problem opening the savings though, with the same kind of history with them. Both past checking account holders.

      • Thanks. Not a previous account holder with them but I did have an account with KeyBank in the past. Perhaps that is the cause.