[Targeted] Bank of America $1,000 Savings Bonus

Update 3/20/25: New variation: $250 bonus for $20,000 deposit, $500 for $50,000 deposit, and $1,000 for  $100,000 deposit. Hat tip to RM

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $750
  • Availability: Nationwide
  • APY: 0.01%
  • Deposit required: $20,000 – $100,000
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft
  • ChexSystems: Unknown
  • Credit card funding: None, but can fund with a debit card up to $300
  • Monthly fees: None
  • Early account termination fee: None
  • Household limit: None listed
  • Expiration date: September 30, 2024

The Offer

Direct link to offer. Must have received the e-mail though. Subject line is ‘<name>, get up to a $750 cash bonus’

  • Bank of America is offering a savings bonus of up to $750.
    • Open a Bank of America Savings account if you don’t have one already
    • Enroll in this bonus
    • Within 30 days of enrollment deposit new money
      • Deposit $20,000, $250 bonus tier
      • Deposit $50,000, $500 bonus tier
      • Deposit $100,000, $750 bonus tier
    • Maintain that balance in your savings account from 31 through 90 days after enrollment

The Fine Print

  • Offer is limited to individuals who receive the offer via a direct communication from Bank of America.
  • Fiduciary accounts (e.g., trusts), business accounts, Certificates of Deposit (CDs), and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are not eligible for this offer.
  • Offer cannot be combined with any other savings bonus offer and is limited to one bonus per account and per customer.
  • Offer expires on September 15, 2024.
  • Bank of America may change or discontinue this offer at any time before this date without notice.
  • Enroll in this offer through a Bank of America associate or by clicking the enrollment button or link in a direct communication from Bank of America by September 15, 2024.
  • Deposit New Money directly into your new or existing personal savings account within thirty (30) days of enrolling (the “Deposit Period”)
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

This account has no monthly fees to worry about.

Early Account Termination Fee

There is no early account termination fee.

Our Verdict

This account earns 0.01% APY. At minimum you’ll need to maintain the balance on this account for about 61 days (deposit on last day of the 30 day period and then hold until 90th day) but I think it’s safer to assume a 90 day hold period when all is said and done. The $250 bonus is the best return and that works out to be an annualized return of 5%, as the bonuses increased that progressively gets worse (4% and then 3%). Given the current high interest rates available this isn’t worth considering and we won’t be adding this to our best savings bonuses.

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:

View Comments (57)

  • Just finished holding the money for 91 days, and I'll hold the money in my savings account for another week before pulling just in case.

    If I call in, will the representative at BOA be able to tell me whether I'm fulfill the requirements or not?

    • T bills are taxable, just not at state level and not all states have income taxes. If hold time is closer to the 61 days, more like 7%.

      • 61 days is cutting it very close and assumes you're pushing and pulling on weekdays. Also factor in deposit holds into receiving bank and that this is YMMV unless you're explicitly targeted and it's not worth it for the vast majority of people, state tax benefit be damned.

        • Get a good hub/wire transmitter. Also, google "30 days from today" and see if it's a weekday/federal holiday or not.

          • Right, and you'd also need to ensure the day you pull from BoA is a weekday at day 91.

            Best to assume it requires 2 business days to transfer to BoA and ensure the settle date is on/by day 30. Then pull on day 91. That's 63 days there, which assumes business days on both ends (day 28-29 and day 91).

            This doesn't factor in time to settle once transferred to HUB account.

            If you're targeted and extremely diligent then have fun, but nothing about this offer is better than what you could do elsewhere.

            One caveat - if you're looking to boost funds w/ BoA for status or to increase the odds of a CC bonus thats another story.

          • So do another google query?
            I certainly find it more fun to say reduce a 90-day CD hold to 30 days by timing things correctly than driving all around town buying single grapes or pumping 2-3 seconds of gas multiple times per day per week like some people here do, but whatever, lol

            Also, a good hub should give you access to near fed. fund rate interest same day and settle next day...

          • You're either new to churning or overly discount risk factors with BoA YMMV bonuses.

            I don't count on "should" statements. There's been so many cases over the years of random issues that delay transfers, lock you out of accounts, require verification and so on that giving a buffer on both ends of a transfer is the way to go.

            I'm fully aware of opportunity cost and the value of my time. I'm not going to scan bananas to meet minimum spend, nor do I engage in activities that would be net-negative, although it could be argued that me responding to you qualifies as such. Ironically you're the one playing games trying to button-up the timing to make your APY come out higher but I digress.

            If people want to do a YMMV with a bank that's notorious for not always issuing bonuses then that's on them. I'm not here to debate you, just giving feedback from 10+ years of churning for newbies that come to this page looking for DPs.

          • Everything here is YMMV, just like trying to stack a chime referral with sb/inb despite the negative DPs, as you did...so not sure what you're point is when you try to shit on the timing aspects. I guess I'm just too new here, lol.

          • I will say that if rates are low then there's less risk here. I wouldn't be surprised if we enter that era in a year or so.

          • Who knows where rates are going, but I think team Cash is probably happy right now while team Equities is trying to pick their jaw up off the floor after watching trillions in market cap get vaporized the past few weeks.

          • Team cash = team trash and history supports this.

            S&P500 is down a whopping 1.75% YTD and up *only* 126% over the last 5 years. 😱

            Obviously it's very lifestyle (age) specific but you should be investing what you won't need for ~3+ years.

          • Yes, the opportunity cost with Chime wasn't floating $20-$100k though at ~4% for potentially nothing.

            I've churned this BoA bonus in two player mode many times. It's worked all but one time when someone randomly looked at my account manually, no rhyme or reason, and denied the bonus telling me I wasn't targeted but if I wanted to submit proof then they'd reconsider.

          • "I’ve churned this BoA bonus in two player mode many times. It’s worked all but one time when someone randomly looked at my account manually, no rhyme or reason, and denied the bonus telling me I wasn’t targeted but if I wanted to submit proof then they’d reconsider."

            TLDR: do as I say and not as I do?

          • Do what you want but understand sometimes targeted offers will mean targeted offers.

            If the cost is worth it then have at it. Just be sure you're accurately factoring in all costs.

      • Yeah it's basically a "deal" only if your state doesn't tax interest.
        Otherwise there is no point investing time in dealing with opening new BofA accounts. Assuming you have a Fidelity brokerage account already where you can buy T-Bill on auto roll.

        • The holding period is only 90 days max. So you could deposit the money on day 30 and withdrawal it on day 90 to deposit into T-bills. This would make the total annual interest rate higher.

      • Obligatory 'speak with your accountant'... as if we all have actual accountants on speed-dial...psh.

  • Just received a newer and better version of this offer when logging into the account.

    Up to $1,000 cash bonus offer. Enroll by 31st Jan. Deposit new money and maintain it from 31-90 days to receive the cash bonus. The account is for new or existing saving account.

    Deposit $20,000 – get $250 bonus
    Deposit $50,000 – get $500 bonus
    Deposit $100,000+ – get $1000 bonus

      • Targeted:

        > Offer is limited to individuals who receive the offer via a direct communication from Bank of America. Fiduciary accounts (e.g., trusts), business accounts, Certificates of Deposit (CDs), and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are not eligible for this offer. Offer cannot be combined with any other savings bonus offer and is limited to one bonus per account and per customer. Offer expires on ‌June ‌30,‌ 2025. Bank of America may change or discontinue this offer at any time before this date without notice.

  • This offer is back with slightly better terms, per pop up when logging in:
    Deposit $20k - get $250 bonus
    Deposit $50k - get $500 bonus
    Deposit $100k - get $1000 bonus

    Enroll by 1/31/25. Since the holding period is 60 days, it's about 7.5% effective APR for the $20k and 6% for the others.

  • Got an email this morning for Savings requiring a $1,000 deposit for 90 days. The reward is $100. Seems worth it but just barely. I will probably do this one later, as the email states I have until Oct 31 to enroll.

  • BoA is really the shittiest bank ever.
    I can get 5.5 at Marcus and 5.55 at Flagstar/MBD right now. Why should I bother with boa’s stupid promotions? 0.1% regular rate is a joke

    • Not that I'd defend BoA since it is a shitty bank, but doesn't Marcus require a referral rate and AARP to get 5.5?

  • thanks for running the #'s.... and NOT putting this on a best anything list.... (have squirmed at several you have recently, with ever increasing very high deposit amounts..... time to rethink/pause the whole strategy)

  • With this bonus the juice is not worth the squeeze.
    Unless the invitees are clueless about current interest rates, anyone with some insight will ignore this bonus come on insult.

    • Which HYSA if you don’t mind me asking? I’m looking for a HYSA with stable rates

      • There no such thing as stable rates. Once fed start cutting rates they will all go down. Laurel Road has hysa over 5%. There are some others. If you already doing Laurel road checking bonus easy just to move money to savings.

          • kinda like Chase. (ya know, for that whopper $900 deal.... they're counting on ya to forget, and let them keep yr money for ya....... at .ooo1% whatever)