Update 2/16/21: Deal is back and more people targeted.
Update 1/20/21: Deal is back and valid until April 30, 2021. Hat tip to reader Conor C
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $500
- Availability:Â Targeted
- Direct deposit required:Â $10,000 within 90 days, or reach a deposit requirement
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull:Â Soft, as long as you opt out of overdraft protection
- ChexSystems:Â No
- Credit card funding:Â None, but you can fund with a debit card up to $250
- Monthly fees:Â $12, avoidable
- Early account termination fee:Â None
- Household limit:Â None listed
- Expiration date:Â December 31st, 2019
Contents
The Offer
No direct link to offer, showing for some when logged into their Bank of America accounts
- Bank of America is offering a bonus of $500 when you open a new checking account and complete ONE the following requirements:
- Set up and receive qualifying direct deposits totalling $10,000 or more within 90 days of account opening
- Make qualifying deposits of $50,000 or more in new money into your personal checking account within 30 days of opening and maintain that balance for 90 days
The Fine Print
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Easiest account to keep fee free seems to be the Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking account. This has a $12 monthly fee that is waived if you do any of the following:
- Maintain a minimum daily balance of $1,500 or more
- Receive a direct deposit of $250+
- Students under age 24 are eligible to have this fee waived while enrolled in high school, college, university or a vocational program.
- Preferred Rewards clients get this fee waived (waiver applies to first 4 checking accounts).
Early Account Termination Fee
As far as I know there is no early account termination fee.
Our Verdict
Previous best bonus has been $300, that was recently publicly available. This requires $10,000 in direct deposits, this might be a struggle for some readers although in the past some work arounds have worked and it should be possible to cycle the funds making it a little easier. It’s a shame that this is targeted, because I do think it’s definitely worth doing. I think they have targeted this towards people with cards such as the old Merrill+ card, so they probably see these as high value customers and thus the $500 bonus. If this was a public bonus I’d be adding it to the list of the best checking bonuses.
Hat tip to reader Daniel H
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- 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
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
Elements triggered the bonus for me.
2/19 $4001 Elements ach
2/26 $300 bonus posts
Got the offer page only after signing out of BofA CC portal – no e/mail and not shown in my offers/deals page. So keep an eye out when you sign out!
Does BOA do tax-withholding for bonus? I received a $76 from BOA for no other reason… I guess it was $100 bonus- tax withholding.
if doing the $10K DD, any folks happen to know how soon the bonus will post? after meeting the reqmt or after 90 days? also, does the acct need to maintain that balance for 90 days? thx
Any tips to get targeted for these type of bonuses?
I have a BOA cash rewards card.
Apparently, if you’re rich enough they’ll give you more money hah
Funny ol world
For me it took them 1 year of having a cash rewards and preferred traveler card to send me this checking account bonus.
Just got Targeted $300 bonus for 4k in DD email offer
Anyone know if Serve will still work? Thinking about opening it just to hit this BOA bonus
I’m pretty sure Unemployment income instantly qualifies as well?
I don’t have serve but my bluebird still show Income: Deposit in Category so I assume Serve will do
In addition to using it for direct deposit requirements- if you’re eligible for a Serve, you should be opening it for unloading gift cards… loading it at Family Dollar is probably the best liquidation method left after the recent Walmart limitations.
Anyone know if mailers have been sent out? Might drop by my old apartments to see if there is anything there.
Closed a checking account with them. Then they would credit ten cents interest and assess a 35 fee . Happened month after month. Horrendous customer service.
Seems like a new wave went out. I just received an email targeting me for it. I have a no fee CC with them and a 401K through my employer.
Got $300 for 4k DD, checking offer. Been with BOA for 1 year with 2 credit cards and a merill lynch account. No real DD available. Going to try ACH push from WF, as someone said that worked awhile ago? If not maybe a BBT/Truist ACH push? Trying not to make an account elsewhere to get this.
Also anyone know the best contact for asking about missing bonuses? I used found code for my merill account, followed the steps, bonus never came, probably not eligible (found code, wont say that), but id like to have support check if they manually honor it.