This offer has expired, you can view more the best checking bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: AL, AR, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, WV, VA, and D.C
- Direct deposit required: Yes, up to $2,000. Almost anything will trigger this requirement, but they often request you bring in pay stubs to prove your depositing your full pay check into your account.
- Additional requirements: Yes, see below.
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- Credit card funding: Up to $1,000 (although there have been reports of cash advances and issues with CC funding)
- Monthly fees: $7, waivable with direct deposit of $100 or more or minimum daily balance of $500 or more
- Early account termination fee: $25 if closed within 6 months
- Expiration date: July 31st, 2016
Contents
The Offer
- Earn bonuses up to $250 when you open a new SunTrust savings & checking bonus. Bonus you receive depends on the accounts you open:
- Open a new essential checking account and deposit at least $100 into the new account within 14 days of account opening, make $500 or more in qualifying direct deposits within 60 days of account open and receive a $100 bonus
- Open a new Essential Savings account and deposit at least $5,000 within 14 days and maintain that balance for 60 days after checking account opening and receive an additional $50 bonus
- Open a new Select checking account and deposit at least $100 into the new account within 14 days of account opening, make $2,000 or more in qualifying direct deposits within 60 days of account open and receive a $200 bonus
- Open a new Select Savings account and deposit at least $5,000 within 14 days and maintain that balance for 60 days after checking account opening and receive an additional $50 bonus
- Open a new essential checking account and deposit at least $100 into the new account within 14 days of account opening, make $500 or more in qualifying direct deposits within 60 days of account open and receive a $100 bonus
The Fine Print
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
The full fee schedule can be viewed by clicking here.
Essential Checking – $7 Monthly
This is the account that is required for the $100 bonus, the monthly fee on this account is waived if you do any of the following:
- 10 or more debit card transactions
- Minimum daily balance of $500+
- Total monthly direct deposits of $500+
Select Checking – $15 Monthly
This is the account that is required for the $200 bonus, the monthly fee of $15 is waived if you doanyof the following:
- Total monthly direct deposits of $2,000+
- Minimum daily balance of $2,000+
- Total relationship balance of $10,000+
- SunTrust first mortgage with SurePay
Essential Savings – $0 Monthly Fee
This account has no monthly fee and can be opened in the $150 offer.
Select Savings – $7 Monthly Fee
Monthly fee is waived if you do both of the following:
- Have a minimum daily balance of at least $1,000
- Set up an automatic transfer of at least $25 from your checking account each month
Early Account Termination Fee
If you cancel your account within six months, they will charge an early account termination fee of $25
Our Verdict
The $200/$100 bonuses are the standard offers from Suntrust, we’ve also seen the $50 bonus from savings accounts before. The $200 checking bonus is well worth doing, so if you haven’t done that I’d highly recommend it. Let’s work out if it’s worth doing the saving bonus or not. You’re required to deposit $5,000 and keep it in there for 60 days, if you put that same money into a 1% account you’d earn ~$8.3, but if you put it into a 5% account you’d earn ~$41.6. The other thing you need to keep in mind is that you need to keep $1,000 in that account to keep it fee free (and to avoid the early account termination fee).
[Read: “Which High-Interest Savings Account Should I Get?”]
Personally I don’t think the savings bonus makes sense, better to make use of a 5% account instead as that’s more of a long term solution. If you’ve already maxed those out, it might be worth a look though. I’ve added this to our list of the best bank bonuses, because as I stated the checking $200 bonus is well worth doing.
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
- 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
Received suntrust bonus $200!!
JUL 05 Account opened, tried funding with BOA mlb card but failed
JUL 08 ELECTRONIC/ACH CREDIT ALLY BANK P2P $2,001.00
JUL 13 ELECTRONIC/ACH CREDIT DISCOVER BANK P2P $2,000.00
AUG 01 ELECTRONIC/ACH CREDIT SANTANDER BANK PAYMENT $2,000.00
AUG 25 MISCELLANEOUS CREDIT MAY 2016 ONLINE CHECKING OFFER REWARD $200.00
still not receive the bonus. sad!!!!!!!!
AUG
05
INTEREST PAYMENT PAID THIS STATEMENT THRU 08/05 $0.01 $2,100.01
JUL
15
ELECTRONIC/ACH CREDIT DISCOVER BANK P2P $2,000.00 $2,100.00
JUL
05
DEPOSIT $100.00 $100.00
So we can just take the $200 bonus and when it posts close the account and eat the $25 fee? Is it one per household?
I wasn’t able to fund with a credit card either.
In depth extra process necessary for in-branch openings:
Account Opening and Enrollment Process:
Visit a SunTrust branch to open your new SunTrust account(s). After account opening, clients must register and enroll online for the offer by visiting suntrust.com/myoffers and completing these steps:
1. Click “Register” and enter promo code,
MAY16CHKSAVCPN,
on the first page of registration,
2. Complete the registration information and click, “Continue”,
3. Confirm your user name and password,
4. Review the Terms and Conditions on the Manage Offer page,
5. Check the box to accept the Terms and Conditions, and complete enrollment by clicking the “Accept” button
Just got my $100 from a previous release of this same offer. I used $500 monthly transfers from my Schwab High Yield Investor Checking account to qualify.
We’re Sorry…
We are unable to complete your application at this time.
Please visit a SunTrust branch for further assistance.
Find a SunTrust Branch Near You ”
Tried twice – for wife without any relationship with Suntrust.
They give three attempts to fund with a credit card, but all have failed. Barclays said they approved all the requests (although they came with no $ amount), so it’s Suntrust who stalled the process. Oh well.
“We’re Sorry…
We are unable to complete your application at this time.
Please visit a SunTrust branch for further assistance.
Find a SunTrust Branch Near You ”
I’m not sure why but I’m receiving this message each time. Adblock off, different browsers too. Incognito/regular. It’s been greater than 180 days since I have been a suntrust checking account member so I’m not sure why I’m getting this message.
Do you have to live in the area, or can you go to a branch in the area if you are there for, say, work?