[Expired] SunTrust Up To $750 Checking Promotion [AL, AR, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, WV, VA, and D.C Only]

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Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: $750
Availability: AL, AR, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, WV, VA, and D.C Only
Direct deposit required: Yes, $3,000
Additional requirements: Deposit $100 and 10 debit card transactions + deposit requirements
Hard/soft pull: Soft
ChexSystems: Mixed DP
Credit card funding: Up to $250 (lots of reports of it coding as a cash advance)
Monthly fees: $20, avoidable
Early account termination fee: 180 days or bonus is forfeit
Household limit: None
Expiration date: July 1st, 2019

Contents

1 The Offer
2 The Fine Print
3 Avoiding Fees
- 3.1 Monthly Fees ($20)
- 3.2 Early Account Termination Fee
4 Our Verdict

The Offer

Direct link to offer

SunTrust Bank is offering bonuses of up to $750 when you open a new checking account. All three tiers require opening a SunTrust Advantage checking account. Bonuses are as follows:
- Earn $250:
  - Deposit at least $100 within 14 days of account opening
  - Receive $3,000 in qualifying direct deposits within 60 days of account opening
  - Make at least 10 debit card purchases within 60 days of account opening
- Earn $500:
  - Bring back to $25,000 in total new balances within 30 days and maintain that balance for 90 days from account opening
  - Deposit at least $100 within 14 days of account opening
  - Receive $3,000 in qualifying direct deposits within 60 days of account opening
  - Make at least 10 debit card purchases within 60 days of account opening
- Earn $750:
  - Bring back to $100,000 in total new balances within 30 days and maintain that balance for 90 days from account opening
  - Deposit at least $100 within 14 days of account opening
  - Receive $3,000 in qualifying direct deposits within 60 days of account opening
  - Make at least 10 debit card purchases within 60 days of account opening

The Fine Print

You must be a new SunTrust personal checking client. Clients with an existing personal checking account with SunTrust (either as the primary or secondary account holder) are not eligible.
You must not have closed a personal checking account within 180 days of the promotion start date (on or after November 2, 2018). The primary account holder of the participating checking account must be 18 years old or older at the time of account opening. SunTrust employee-designated accounts are not eligible for this promotion. Offer available only to U.S. residents with a U.S. address and a valid U.S. taxpayer identification number.
The qualifying checking account must be opened online using the applicable promotion code with a mailing address in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, or the District of Columbia.
After meeting the qualification requirements, the applicable reward will be credited to the new checking account up to 8 weeks after all qualifications are met. “Advantage Checking Online Reward Q1 2019” will appear on the monthly checking account statement when the reward is credited to the account holder’s checking account.
If the checking account opened in response to a Promotional Offer is converted to another account type or product, it may no longer be eligible to receive the promotional offer. No reward will be earned if the checking account qualifications are not met within the required timeframe. This promotion is only applicable once per client and per account, including all individual and joint accounts. For the purpose of promotion reward qualification, the first name listed on the Savings, Money Market, CD, and IRA accounts will be considered as the participating client.
SunTrust may report the value of any reward received through any offer to the Internal Revenue Service as required by law. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the recipient.
The new checking account must remain open and in good standing with a minimum balance of $0.01 until the reward is processed in order to receive the reward. If you close an account that was opened in response to a Promotional Offer, you are no longer eligible for that promotional offer and will not be able to receive any rewards applicable to that offer. If the checking account is closed by you or SunTrust within 180 days after opening, SunTrust reserves the right to deduct the reward amount from the account at the time of closing.

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees ($20)

Account required for this bonus has a $20 monthly fee. This is waived if you do any of the following:

Make $3,000 or more in total qualifying monthly Direct Deposits OR
Hold $10,000 total combined relationship balances linked across deposits and investments OR
Linked personal SunTrust Credit Card, Mortgage, or Loan OR
Linked Small Business Checking account

Early Account Termination Fee

You need to keep your account open for at least 180 days otherwise your bonus will be forfeit

Our Verdict

So this is $250 more than the previous best SunTrust bonus, but keep in mind the large deposit requirements. Previously you could downgrade the account to help keep it fee free, but this is specifically called out as not working in the fine print and now the deposit is required for the bonus rather than for keeping the account fee free so I think this will be enforced.

You’ll need to have the $25,000/$100,000 in the account for at least 90 days (we will ignore the monthly fee for now). If you put that same amount in a 2.5% APY savings account you’d earn:

~$154 ($25,000)
~$616 ($100,000)

I don’t think the $750 bonus is worth considering because of that. I think the $500 bonus is probably the sweet spot as having the $25,000 invested would also keep the account fee free for those first 90 days. After that you’d either need to do the direct deposit or have $10,000 invested or have a SunTrust credit card.

Hat tip to Danny Deal Guru

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