[Expired] Regions Bank $165 Checking Bonus – Select States Only

This checking bonus has now expired. Click here to view all of the best current new account checking bonuses.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $165
• Availability: AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, & TX only
• Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
• Additional requirements: 10 debit card transactions
• Hard/soft pull: Soft
• Credit card funding: Up to $1,000 (and another $1,000 when you open a free savings account)
• Monthly fees: $5-$18, waive-able 
• Early account termination fee: $25 if closed within 180 days
• Expiration date: None listed 

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Receive a bonus of $165 from Regions bank when you open any checking account with them and use the promo code “165”. You also need to complete the following requirements:
  • Make ten purchases with your regions Visa check card within 60 days of account opening
  • Make $500 or more in qualifying direct deposits

Finding your account number can be tricky. To do so, following these instructions:

• Log in
• Click customer service
• My profile
• Edit Account Name

 

The Fine Print

• Offer only valid for new customers. If you’ve previously had an open account with Regions, you cannot open another one online you will have to do it in branch. We are unsure if you will qualify for this promotion, so you’ll need to confirm this in branch.
• A qualifying direct deposit is either payroll or government benefits only
• Bonus will post within 120 days of the bonus requirements being met
• All checking accounts have a minimum opening deposit of $50
• Checking account must be open at the time the bonus posts
• PFS checking accounts do not qualify
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

There is an early account closure fee of $25 if you close your account within 180 days of account opening. There are four checking accounts that are currently offered, but there are only two that should be really considered. You can compare all four by clicking here.

LifeGreen Checking $8-$10 Monthly Fee

This account can have it’s monthly fee removed if you do any of the following:

• Have an average monthly balance of $1,500 or more
• Receive a single qualifying direct deposit of $500 or more per cycle
• Receive cumulative direct deposits of $1,000 or more per cycle

LifeGreen eAccess Account $8-10 Monthly Fee

This account can have it’s monthly fee waived if you make 10 or more Regions card purchases per cycle

Our Verdict

This is a good checking bonus, it ticks all the right boxes. There is no hard pull, you can fund it with a credit card and the direct deposit portion should be triggered by any ACH transfer. That said, a small word of warning: a lot of people have had issues with Regions is the past. They aren’t know for the best customer service and can be slow to pay out when it comes to bonuses, usually you need to remind them that the 120 days is up and they are required to pay you your bonus.

That said, I’d still recommend this offer. Just make sure you keep track of the bonus and it eventually posts. Unfortunately I can’t sign up due to my location, but here is what I’d do if I could:

• Open a lifegreen checking account, using a credit card with it’s cash advance limit set to $0 to fund $1,000
• Open a free savings account, using the same credit card to fund it initially for another $1,000
• Transfer the $1,000 from the savings account to the checking account, this will give me a monthly balance of $2,000 (this is more than $1,500 required to waive the monthly fee)
• Make 10 card purchases (here are some ideas on how to easily and cheaply fulfill this requirement)
• Make an ACH transfer of $500+ from an existing account to trigger the direct deposit requirement (if it’s easy to change your payroll I’d recommend doing this instead – it’s important to note that only your payroll and government benefits officially count when it comes to the fine print. In reality any ACH has worked in the past)
• Wait 120 days for the bonus to post, if it doesn’t post contact customer service
• Wait another 60 days (a total of 180 days from account opening) to close the account and avoid any early account termination fee

In total you’d make $165 and you’d be able to fund $2,000 using a credit card (if you’re not meeting a minimum spend, here are the best cards for non category spend. We don’t believe this will code as an online purchase which means it won’t be useful for quarter 4 spending for those with cards with rotating categories). Assuming you use a 2% cash back card, that’s another $40 for a grand total of $205 profit (minus taxes on the $165 bonus).

Because of the geographical restrictions this hasn’t made our best bank bonus page, but it will be view-able on our complete listing of bank account bonuses (which will be updated soon, I promise!). If you know of any other bank account bonuses, please contact us.

Direct link to offer | Screenshot of offer

Hat tip to reader AE