Bonus reduced to $200.
Update 1/13/22: Deal now good through 01/12/2023.
Update 8/1/22: Bonus has begun posting for people.
Update 6/24/22: This link works for non nurses.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300 + $20 per month for first year
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: $2,500+ within 60 days
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: No, Chexsystems sensitive
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: $25, 180 days
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: December 31, 2022
Contents
The Offer
Direct link to offer | For everybody, for Nurses
- Laurel Road is offering nurses and non nurses a $300 bonus when you open a Laurel Road Loyalty Checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Make one or more direct deposits totaling at least $2,500 within 60 days after account opening
- You can also earn a $20 bonus each month for the first year (second statement cycle through 13th and $10 each month thereafter) when you meet the following requirements:
- Make one or more direct deposits totaling at least $2,500 within 60 days after account opening
The Fine Print
- You must open a Laurel Road Loyalty Checking account by 12/31/2022 at 11:59 p.m. (ET) and make one or more qualifying direct deposits via an Automated Clearing House (ACH) transaction into the Laurel Road Loyalty Checking account totaling at least $2,500 within the first 60 days after account opening to receive the $300, which will be deposited into your account within 60 days of meeting requirements.
- Qualifying ACH direct deposit transactions include most payroll, Social Security, pension and government benefits deposits.
- Limit one bonus per qualifying account and per individual.
- If you were the primary owner on any Laurel Road checking account within the prior 24 months before opening the new checking account, you are not eligible for the bonus offer.
- The value of the bonus will be reported to the IRS on Form 1099-INT. If you close your account within the first 180 days of account opening, you will be charged a $25 account early closure fee.
- Accounts closed at the time of bonus payment are not eligible
- $540 can be earned by qualifying for up to $240 in rewards your first year combined with the $300 welcome bonus.
- Primary account holder is eligible to earn monthly rewards of $20/month from the second through thirteenth statement periods, which is considered your “first year.” From the fourteenth statement period onward, the eligible reward will be $10/month for as long as the Laurel Road Loyalty Checking account (“Account”) is open.
- To earn monthly rewards, you must make qualifying Automated Clearing House (ACH) direct deposits into the Account totaling at least $2,500 during the statement period.
- Qualifying ACH direct deposit transactions include most payroll, Social Security, pension and government benefits deposits.
- Rewards will be deposited into your Account in the statement period after they are earned.
- Only one Loyalty Checking account per primary account holder.
- Primary account holder is eligible to earn monthly rewards of $20/month from the second through thirteenth statement periods, which is considered your “first year.”
- From the fourteenth statement period onward, the eligible reward will be $10/month for as long as the Laurel Road Loyalty Checking account (“Account”) is open. To earn monthly rewards, you must make qualifying Automated Clearing House (ACH) direct deposits into the Account totaling at least $2,500 during the statement period. Qualifying ACH direct deposit transactions include most payroll, Social Security, pension and government benefits deposits. Rewards will be deposited into your Account in the statement period after they are earned.
- 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
Early Account Termination Fee
$25 if closed within 180 days
Our Verdict
Not sure how they determine if you’re a nurse or not. Unlike the other recent bonus this does not require refinancing. Good deal if you’re eligible, we will add this to the highly specific bank bonus section.
Hat tip to SDubbs
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
DP from Pennsylvania. I am not a nurse. I was able to open this Laurel Road account while also having a regular Key Bank “Smart Checking” account:
2022/06/27: “Loyalty Checking” account opened.
2022/07/29: Real DD of $2505 posts*.
2022/08/01: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) and “Laurel Road Loyalty Welcome Bonus” ($300) posts.
2022/09/01: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
2022/10/03: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
2022/11/01: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
2022/12/01: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
2023/01/03: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
2023/02/01: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
2023/03/01: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
2023/04/03: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
2023/05/01: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
2023/06/01: “Loyalty Checking Reward” ($20) posts.
*For brevity’s sake, I didn’t list all of the monthly deposits I did. In short, the following methods worked for me to trigger the monthly DD requirement for the $20 bonuses:
Real DDs (coded as “Direct Deposit EMPLOYER NAME HERE Direct Dep”).
Fidelity CMA (coded as “Direct Deposit Fid Bkg Svc Llc Moneyline”).
Discover Checking/Cash Back Debit (coded as “Direct Deposit Discover Bank Prearrange”).
Ally Checking (coded as “Ach,Ally Bank P2p MY NAME HERE”).
I always initiated the deposit from the Fidelity/Discover/Ally side. I typically did the monthly deposit towards the end of the month, and withdrew it back soon after the deposit posted. (I initiated these withdrawals from the Fidelity/Discover/Ally side as well.)
Thank you, Doc and team.
anyone got their 20$ bonus this month yet? as of June 1 1035am PST, i have not.
Yes, 1:16pm eastern
update: just got a email alert 15 minutes later after i posted the previous message. 20$ posted to account now.
Opened early this year. Push in 2.5k, pay credit card, pay credit card, push out (different account then push in) 1k, pull payment. All within about one week. They locked account. Pull payment failed as account was restricted with it should have posted (at least I got the external fee for the failed payment waived). Called multiple times. Took them one month to unlock account. At least got the $200 bonus. Will not do the $20 monthly as too much hassle if locked again. Terrible bank. Fraud department is handled by Key bank and Key as no clue about Laurel and Laurel no clue about Key.
Opened in late 2022. Got initial lump sum bonus & had been getting monthly bonus. Got a certified mail letter today that they’re closing my account in mid June. Guess they don’t like how I keep only about $100 in there for a bunch of the month. RIP $20 a month.
Something else must have triggered a manual review. I have only been leaving $25 in the in-between weeks. I haven’t been too quick to pull or push, because I am using a non-interest earning account so really doesn’t matter who is holding the hot potato. Loss of ~$125/yr in interest by doing it my way, for a $240 bonus… guess I should switch the ACH account I’m using.
FYI I tried linking a US Bank Biz account to this(Alliant CU sent me a nasty-gram in the mail for linking and transferring to a biz account) and it wouldn’t work, tried a few times and gave up. Went to log in this AM and was locked out, had to call. Fortunately they were able to unlock after simple verification. I was told don’t try multiple times to link a new account. Reasons like this why I usually don’t bother linking accounts from the new bank, I only establish a link from my hub(s).
I did open a HYSA with them in addition to the checking account(still doing the $20 a month reward for months 2-13) since 4.8% is a very good rate and well above Sofi(one of my hubs)
Restricted access to account and funds!!!
I don’t recommend this bank if you want access to your own funds and lack of customer service. I opened a Laurel Road Checking and Savings account recently. They locked the Account for no reason and restricted my access. I called the customer service they told me I had to wait 15-30 business days to review and up to 7 business days to receive a piece of mail for more information on the why my account is under review! Why couldn’t they review my account before opening and accepting deposits instead of locking me out for over a month?
I also had this happen, about a month after opening with LR in March, I opened a KeyBank account in April. KeyBank froze BOTH accounts (they also own LR). Had to go through ridiculous hoops to unfreeze KeyBank, THEN they unfroze LR.
I just got frozen for “fraud” too. All I did was deposit some into the savings, not even the checking for the bonus yet. Useless bank
Approved with Chex frozen. I’d had a KeyBank account before so it forced a login, and initially the online banking page was screwed up (from other comments assuming that’s possibly related), but it sorted itself out within a few days. Also I applied after business hours, if that’s relevant
3/15/2023 Account opened
4/12/2023 “Direct Deposit [Employer] Payroll” $1250
4/26/2023 “Direct Deposit [Employer] Payroll” $1250
5/1/2023 “Laurel Road Loyalty Welcome Bonus” $200
5/1/2023 “Loyalty Checking Reward” $20
It says will get another $20 when my next DD hits this month.
FYI their DD requirement is very lax, I’ve found the monthly $20 is triggered by a simple push from Sofi or Alliant CU, and likely many/most other banks. You don’t need to bother with real DD from work. The tracker lets you know by the next day if it counts.
Hello everyone, is this the only checking account out there that pays monthly cash rewards for depositing cash into the account? Are there other checking accounts like Laurel Road Loyalty Checking? I am tempted to make Laurel Road my main bank because the checking rewards is very nice, and the savings has one of the higher interest rates out there. Thanks for everyone’s input.
Too bad the cash per month is only up to a year, but I still appreciate the info, Christopher. May I ask how you found out about Valley National’s checking account? I’ve been trying to search up checking accounts with monthly cash incentives like that, but no luck.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/al-ct-d-c-md-pa-va-wv-fl-nj-ny-and-pa-only-valley-national-bank-240-checking-bonus-20-per-month/
Will
I also opened the HYSA recently as 4.8% is a great rate. However be warned they still charge a fee for >7 transactions out of savings per month, and no early paycheck availability either… many other banks make the funds available on Thursday, or even Wednesday evening.
anyone else considering opening their 4.8% APY savings?
yeah, i did for p1 and p2, will just leave the monthly 2500 there and pay some bills instead of pulling out right away
When you opened the 4.8 % APY savings, did it allow you to fund with a credit card?
i didn’t see any funding of any kind, the account just shows up next time you login
no chex pull, but probably not the best DP since they didn’t pull for the checking accounts either