Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $500
- Availability: Nationwide, but targeted
- Deposit Requirement: At least $10,000
- Deposit length: 60-90 days
- APY: 0.01%-0.03%
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None, but you can fund with a debit card up to $250
- Monthly fees: $5-$12 avoidable
- Early account termination fee:
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: June 30th, 2017
The Offer
Direct link to offer (note this is a targeted offer, you might be able to see if you’re targeted by logging in and look under ‘special offers & deals’)
- Receive a sign up bonus of up to $500 when you do the following:
- Open a new Bank of America® Regular Savings or Rewards Money Market Savings account by June 30, 2017
- Within thirty days make qualifying deposits of $10,000+, the bonus you receive will be based on the amount in your account after this 30 day period:
- $150 bonus: $10,000-$19,999
- $200 bonus: $20,000-$49,999
- $300 bonus: $50,000-$99,999
- $500 bonus: $100,000+
- Maintain this balance for an additional 60 days
- APY is 0.03% on the rewards money market savings account and 0.01%-0.02% on regular savings account.
The Fine Print
- New money” is money not currently or previously held in any account in your name at Bank of America, Merrill Lynch or Merrill Edge
- This offer is only available to select Bank of America customers who receive this offer via a direct communication from Bank of America. Fiduciary accounts are excluded from this offer.
- This offer expires on June 30, 2017.
- Bank of America may change or discontinue this offer at any time without notice before that date.
- This offer is intended for new savings customers only; you are not eligible for this offer if you were a signer on or owner of a Bank of America personal savings account within the last six (6) months.
- If all requirements listed above are met, we will attempt to deposit the bonus directly into the eligible savings account within sixty (60) days after the end of the Maintenance Period.
- Your Bank of America eligible savings account must be open up to and including the date the bonus is paid in order to receive the bonus.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
There are two accounts that are eligible for this bonus:
- Regular Savings ($5 monthly fee), waived with a minimum daily balance of $300 (plus other ways)
- Rewards Money Market Savings ($12 monthly fee), waived waived with a minimum daily balance of $2,500 (plus other ways)
Our Verdict
Ideally you’d make your deposit the day before the 60 days requirement starts, but realistically you’re going to deposit before that time to make sure you don’t miss the qualification period. If we say that you need to deposit it for the full 90 days you’ll get a better idea of the real return. Your rate of return decreases as the bonus increases (e.g $150 bonus is a 1.5% return over the bonus period and the $500 bonus is a 0.5% return).
The other thing to keep in mind though is that this should qualify you for Bank of America Preferred Rewards. That makes the higher bonuses a lot more interesting. $500 return + Platinum Honors status (good for getting 2.625% on all purchases) for depositing $100,000 for 90 days/three months isn’t a bad return. Shame it’s targeted, otherwise we would add it to our list of the best savings bonuses.
Big thanks to reader, NinjapParty001 who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.
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
I have been targeted for this, but what do they mean by previously in this?
New money” is money not currently or previously held in any account in your name at Bank of America, Merrill Lynch or Merrill Edge
I click on the link and I see the offer, does that mean I’m targeted or is the eligibility determined later on? Also, any one know the early termination fee and the number of days the account needs to be open? TIA!
Everybody sees the offer, need to have received it from bofa to actually be eligible unfortunately.
Was targeted once I log onto my checking account. I went to branch to open as when I tried to open online, it forced me to open a checking too which I already have. banker at branch showed me on screen what I offers I had (including cc for $100 bonus). So this does look to be targeted etc. Even though after I opened the savings, no documents said I was part of this promo. There’s also no promo code. But I do have pdf of the online offer saved.
So what you’re saying is that Bank of America enforces the targeted requirement?
Yes
If you already have a checking account and you also targeted for this offer, if I open the savings/money market account, will BOA do a chex inquiry?
Not sure, any DP we have will be here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/banks-credit-unions-dodont-pull-chexsystems/
For non-checking account customers, we would have to also deposit another $1,500 into the checking account. Still a good deal?
So add some additional information to this offer. I was targeted for tis offer several months ago but my offer was for existing customers and allowed me to add money to my existing savings account or open a new account. However, my offer did not show up online. I only found out about the offer because the banker I deal with at Bank of America was assisting me with something else and I asked her if there were any other offers on my accounts and this was offered. As such, I would recommend you go into your local Bank of America or call them to see if you are targeted for this offer since not everyone will see it online. Ironically enough, they also never mailed me anything about the offer so if I didn’t ask my banker I wouldn’t have known about it which seems less than intelligent on Bank of America’s part if they were interested in me taking advantage of the offer.
I never get targeted for their checking/savings account despite having a substantial amount in a ML account. I’d like get Platinum Honors but I want a checking sign up bonus!
That might be why you’re not targeted
Don’t feel too bad. I also have a large ML 401k. The one time I did respond to a BoA checking account offer for $100, they inexplicably closed the account about a week later.
Some of us apparently aren’t good enough for BoA.
Nope, not targeted. On the positive side, I am targetted for Free admission to more than 150 museums!!!
That’s open to everybody 😉 https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank-america-free-museums-2017-dates-list/
Not bad about 6% annualized return for 90 days on 10k.
Technically 9% return if you deposit the $10k the day before the 60 period. Even better. I’ve scheduled my deposit for 28 days from now.
What do banks hope to achieve by these promotions? Marketing information?
Obviously no one will keep that much money at 0.01% after 90 days. They will cut and run. Banks must know this too.
I imagine they get enough “dumb money” for it to make sense.
How do you get “targeted”?
No idea, having a checking account might play a part.
What do they mean by previously in this?
New money” is money not currently or previously held in any account in your name at Bank of America, Merrill Lynch or Merrill Edge
I was wondering the same thing