Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,500+
- Additional requirements: Yes, see below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: Personal accounts can be funded up to $1,000, presumably business accounts are the same
- Monthly fees:
- Early account termination fee: 20 weeks otherwise bonus is forfeit
- Expiration date: August 6th, 2016
The Offer
- Receive a sign up bonus of $200 when you open a new SunTrust Business checking account with the promotional code SB16SUMMEROL (use SB16SUMMEROL if applying in branch or by phone) and complete the following:
- Make cumulative qualifying deposits of $1,500 or more within 30 days of account opening
- Register for and activate Online Cash Manager, our easy-to-use online tool that helps you manage your business checking account. You must have at least one sign-on within 30 days of opening your new checking account.
The Fine Print
- You must be a new Small Business checking client (existing business checking clients are not eligible).
- To be considered a new business checking client, the business cannot have an existing SunTrust business checking account with the same TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) or EIN (Employer Identification Number).
- The business client cannot have closed a business checking account within 180 days of the promotion start date (on or after November 4, 2015).
- The account holder cannot be a SunTrust employee nor a non-resident alien.
- The business must be registered within the U.S. with the account’s mailing address in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, or the District of Columbia.
- You’re required to pay taxes on all bank account bonuses
Avoiding Fees
There is no early account termination fee, but the account must be kept open and in good standing until the bonus posts. There is no monthly fee for the Online Cash Manager, although certain features come with a fee.
The monthly maintenance fees are waived on all three accounts for the first two months and then you’re charged the following fees:
- Primary Business Checking – $12 monthly fee: waived with an average balance of $1,500
- Total Business Banking $20 monthly fee: waived with an average balance of $5,000 or more is maintained or $10,000 minimum balance when combined with a Money Market Account
- SunTrust Business Advantage Plus $25 monthly fee: waived with an daily collected balance combined with two other SunTrust Business Advantage Plus accounts is equal to $20,000 or more
Our Verdict
They had a tiered bonus before ($200 for primary, $300 for total & $400 for business advantage), this deal is obviously only better for the primary business checking account. What deal you prefer probably depends on if you have liquid funds to afford to keep the other accounts fee free or not and what interest rate you’d be earning on your money otherwise. This isn’t a bad bonus for those going after the primary checking account, but not good enough to add to our best bank account bonus post.
SunTrust also have a personal checking bonus for $250 that is worth considering.
