[Southern CA, In Branch only] OneWest Bank $250 Checking Bonus
Update 10/3/19: There is a new link with the same requirements but they will also donate 2.5 hours of homework to students at Boys & Girls Clubs.
Update 5/12/19: Have confirmed this is $250 not $200 in branch.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: Any OneWest bank [branch locator]
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $650 per month for two consecutive months. ACH deposit counts according to fine print
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: $10, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: Six months, bonus forfeit
- Household limit: One per person, five per household
- Expiration date:
December 31st, 2019March 31st, 2020
Contents
The Offer
Direct link to offer (fine print found here) | Direct link to offer (charity offer)
- OneWest Bank is offering a bonus of $200 (Visa gift card or other gifts of your choosing) when you complete the following requirements:
- Open a new Premium Checking or OneAccount checking account
- Open with a minimum deposit of $1,000 and maintain an average balance of at least $1,000 for the first 90 days after account opening
- Set up and receive recurring direct deposits or ACH deposits totaling $650 or more per month for at least two consecutive months within 90 days of account opening (ACH no longer counts)
The Fine Print
- Bonus will be paid as a statement credit to the Checking Account within 90 days after the requirements above are met within the specified time frames. Checking Account must be open to receive the bonus and in good standing for at least six months after account opening. If Checking Account is closed by the customer or OneWest Bank within six months after opening, the value of the bonus may be deducted from account at closing.
- Limited time offer. $250 bonus offer is for customers aged 18 years or older who successfully open a new OneWest Bank Personal Checking account, Premium Checking account or One Account (collectively, “Checking Account”) at any branch of OneWest Bank, a division of CIT Bank, N.A. (“OneWest Bank”) between February 11, 2019 and December 31, 2019and satisfy the following requirements:
- Can’t have enrolled in a bonus in the last 12 months
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
The easiest account to keep fee free is the Premium checking account, this has a $10 monthly fee and this is waived if you meet any of the following requirements:
- Maintain $1,000 monthly balance
Early Account Termination Fee
You need to keep the account open for six months otherwise you will forfeit the bonus.
Our Verdict
Last year we saw a bonus of $250 and another $250 donated to charity, that was only better because of the charity donation. I’ll still add this to the best checking bonuses. One upside to this bank/bonus is that ACH deposits specifically work so much easier to hit the direct deposit requirement.
Hat tip to reader John
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- 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
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On your [fine print found here] link it still says $250:
“Limited time offer. $250 bonus offer is for customers aged 18 years or older who successfully open a new OneWest Bank Personal Checking account, Premium Checking account or One Account (collectively, “Checking Account”) at any branch of OneWest Bank, a division of CIT Bank, N.A. (“OneWest Bank”) between February 11, 2019 and December 31, 2019….”
Interesting
Signed up in branch this morning. Confirmed that the bonus is $250 and matches the terms in the prnewswire post linked above. No mention of a visa gift card, in-branch terms indicated that the bonus would be posted directly to the checking account.
Also, couldn’t have gone for a bonus in the last year and 5 per household limit. per last paragraph
“Customers who enrolled in any other OneWest Bank checking reward or bonus offer in the past 12 months are not eligible for this offer. $250 checking bonus offer is limited to one per customer and five per household. Accounts cannot be opened in the name of a business. Employees of CIT Group Inc. or any of its affiliates, including CIT Bank, N.A. and its OneWest Bank division are not eligible for this offer. The value of this offer may be reported to the IRS and the customer is responsible for any federal, state or local taxes.”
Think I’ll do this with SO for a fairly easy 400
Thank you
When it says can do ACH deposit, does that mean I can just transfer money from my other bank accounts? Eg chase, BoA
Yes, that’s what that means. I did two transfers from Ally Savings for the previous bonus and got the bonus without a problem.
Went to So Cal Branch yesterday. It is indeed a $250 bonus.
DOC, the Direct Link to Offer doesn’t really take you anywhere. The second link to fine print is the same flyer as the one in branch. This is not a $200 bonus, no mention of Visa Gift Card. The $250 bonus goes directly into checking account
Thanks, updated post
I just signed up for this in branch. They have a personal checking option that only requires having estatements to be free. So after 90 days you could drop the balance to $1 until 6months is up.
“Customers who enrolled in any other OneWest Bank checking reward or bonus offer in the past 12 months are not eligible for this offer.”
I opened an account for the previous bonus on 12/10/2018, got the bonus 03/30/19.
Am I eligible for this bonus if i sign up again on 12/11/2019?
Why is premium checking recommended over the personal?
To me, you want the premium checking if you want paper statement. For me, estatement is find and I went with personal checking.
Enjoy the headache with this bank.
Why do you say so?
Please elaborate as well, was about to visit the branch to do this…
The reviews on Yelp, especially for their branches in LA are horrible. Issues setting up online access, holds on transferring money, etc. Kinda wary especially if I change my direct deposit there.
I’m a OneWest customer and had no issues with the bank or my account. Opened 12/24/18, 2 direct deposits, bonus 3/20/19, e-statements to waive monthly, will close 6/24/19.
You met requirement to maintain for 90 days on day 86? How do the rest of us get to be as lucky?
Signed up in branch today, but looks like the terms have changed. It doesn’t mention ACH deposits anymore, and now you can also leave $10k for 90 days. The printout in branch and the new online link have the updated terms.
https://www.onewestbank.com/250checking/
Also you can open Personal Checking as well, so after the bonus posts you can shift your ACH elsewhere and keep the account open with a minimal amount.
I second that. I signed up today and the banker specifically told me that they changed the rule a few weeks ago. She claimed that ACH will no longer work, must be direct deposits.
Bummer. I wonder if ACH will still trigger the bonus. Data points only link to previous bonus opportunities that specifically included ACH transfers.
+1. Bonus requires $10K in combined accounts (2.10% promotional interest rate available for 6 months) OR real DD. Debit and credit card funding unavailable, I tried. Personal Checking is free w/ e-statements. https://www.onewestbank.com/GrowYourSavings/
They do pull Chex for new accounts.
Does one really have to fund with 1k on the spot or can it be transferred in later?
Hi Terrell, thank you for your question. To take advantage of the offer, we do require a minimum of $1,000 (on the spot) to open the qualifying personal checking account. Please visit https://www.onewestbank.com/250checking/ for requirements and other details, find a branch near you at https://www.onewestbank.com/branch-locator/, or call us at 877-741-9378 for any questions. Looking forward to speaking with you. Thanks and have a great weekend.
@Chuck,
You may want to update this post. It now expires 12/31/19.
I opened an account around 12/20/18, so I have to wait until around 12/21/19 to do it again. No need to close the current one. Per CS I can open a 2nd account and still qualify! They DO run ChexSystems (update that as well), but I hope that they will not run it again if I have a current account.
I opened an account for the bonus last year in November 2018, and I just tried to do this year’s bonus at two branches. Both branches told me that I am not eligible because it has been less than a year since the bonus posted (it posted in March 2019). Hopefully you had better luck there.
William Charles May want to clarify that in the post
You should probably link to the current one: https://www.onewestbank.com/250checking/
Latest bonus adds donation to Boys & Girls Club. https://www.onewestbank.com/brighterchecking/
All ACH push shows up as “ACH credit”, pull shows up as transfer. No sure if ACH push is still OK. Any one knows what true DD show up like?
Wondering if you got the bonus from an ACH push?