[Expired] MoneyLion - Up To $599 Checking Bonus (17% Of Your Direct Deposit)

According to this comment the bonus has now officially ended. View more bank account bonuses by clicking here.

[Update 3/24/19: If you opened an account with MoneyLion, keep an eye out in the app for other small bonus offers, like $5 for activating your card and more (images here). Hat tip to reader John Doe]

Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: Up to $599
Availability: Nationwide
Direct deposit required: Yes, bonus scales on your direct deposit
Additional requirements: Opt in
Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
ChexSystems: Unknown
Credit card funding: Unknown
Monthly fees: None
Early account termination fee: Unknown
Household limit: None listed
Expiration date: None listed, but bonus will end after $3,000,000 has been distributed

Contents

1 The Offer
2 The Fine Print
3 Avoiding Fees
- 3.1 Monthly Fees
- 3.2 Early Account Termination Fee
4 Our Verdict

The Offer

Direct link to offer

MoneyLion is offering a bonus of up to $599 as part of their ‘pave the wage’ campaign to highlight pay inequality between genders. To receive the bonus you need to:
- Join MoneyLion
- Set up a direct deposit of $500+
- Opt in to bonus
- Maintain direct deposit for 90 days to get bonus (this needs to be 90% of your initial direct deposit)
- Bonus you receive will be 17% of your first direct deposit

The Fine Print

This promotion is open to all genders.
Matching contributions are limited to $3,000,000 in aggregate.
Individual matching contributions are limited to $599 per person.
Promotional period ends when maximum matching contributions are reached.
Must maintain direct deposit into MoneyLion Checking Account for at least 90 days to receive matching contributions.
Eligible matching contributions will be deposited into MoneyLion Investment Account.
Must be a MoneyLion member in good standing at all times until payment of matching contributions.
See the Official Rules for additional terms, conditions and eligibility requirements.
Individuals who opt into the promotion between March 1, 2019, and the time at which the Maximum Commitment is reached (the “Promotional Period”), and who do not already have active preexisting direct deposits into a MoneyLion Checking Account will be eligible for one-time matching contributions of 17% of their initial direct deposits of funds into their MoneyLion Checking Accounts, subject to the Maximum Match. Generally, the matching contributions will be made available 90 days after the initial qualifying direct deposit, and will be deposited into a participant’s MoneyLion Investment Account. Once the Maximum Commitment is reached, MoneyLion will have no obligation to make matching contributions for any direct deposit made, regardless of individual applicant eligibility or time of opt-in for the promotion.
MoneyLion may provide matching contributions to the first 100 eligible direct deposits within 10 business days of confirmation that eligible funds have been appropriately directly deposited. For all other participants, MoneyLion will provide matching contributions after the participant has maintained MoneyLion Checking Account direct deposits of at least 90% of the value of their initial direct deposits for 90 days after their initial direct deposit. MoneyLion reserves the right to provide matching contributions at earlier times to select participants in its sole discretion.
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 if you opt for the basic version. If you go for the Plus membership there is a $29 monthly fee, but you get $1 every day you log into the app.

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

I’m not interested in hosting a debate on gender inequality when it comes to wages, readers have previously proved that they are unable to stay calm and reasonable while having these types of discussions. Because of that any comment not regarding the deal itself will simply be removed. Please be kind to each other and remember this promotion is open to all genders.

In terms of the deal itself this is obviously a good one with a $599 maximum. My main concern is that the total payout is limited to $3,000,000 and it’s not clear when they will pull the promotion, especially considering there is a 90 day lead time for the bonus to actually post. If you’re going to do this deal my suggestion would be to do it as soon as humanly possible and to set up the direct deposit as soon as possible as well. If everything goes well and it’s a soft pull to open then this could be a great bonus, but I suspect in reality it might actually be difficult to get the full bonus or that the promotion will end before most people can take advantage of it. To get the full bonus you need a direct deposit of at least $3,525.53, keep in mind that the recurring direct deposits need to be at least 90% of this amount as well ($3,172.98).

If anybody has any experience with MoneyLion, please share that experience in the comments below. They have raised $67.5 million in venture capital, so they should have no problems actually paying out the promotion itself. It also looks like MoneyLion plans to launch a rewards program with up to 12% cash back but it’s unclear how that will work.

Hat tip to reader Groat100

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