This bonus has expired, view more M&T bonuses here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: Targeted, only available in the following states
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: Deposit and maintain $10,000 balance
- Additional requirements: Use promo code TJ
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $24.95
- Early account termination fee: $50, 180 days
- Household limit: One premium bonus
- Expiration date: May 25th, 2018
Contents
The Offer
No direct link to offer, sent via e-mail. No promo code is mentioned. E-mail subject line is ‘Get a $300 cash bonus and a great rate on a 12-Month Select Promo CD…’
- M&T Bank is offering a bonus of $300 when you open a new MyChoice Premium Checking account by May 25th, 2018 and complete the following requirements:
- Deposit a total of $10,000 or more by May 25, 2018
- Maintain a $10,000 average daily balance in June 2018 and July 2018
The Fine Print
- We will credit one $300 bonus to the account (“Premium Bonus”) for new accounts opened between March 30, 2018 and May 25, 2018, if the account receives at least $10,000 in total deposits and credits prior to May 25, 2018 and if the average daily balance maintained in the account is at least $10,000 during your monthly service charge cycles ending in June 2018 and July 2018.
- The account must be in good standing at the time the Premium Bonus is to be credited.
- The Premium Bonus will be credited by August 31, 2018.
- The Premium Bonus is reportable for tax purposes, is not available in all regions and is not available to employees of M&T Bank or any of its affiliates.
- This offer is non-transferable.
- A $50 early close-out fee applies if the account is closed within 180 days of the date the account was opened.
- Primary signer on the new checking account may not be or have been a primary or secondary signer on any M&T personal checking account within the previous six (6) months.
- Only one Premium Bonus will be awarded per household.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
MyChoice Premium Checking – $24.95 Monthly Fee
This account has a $24.95 monthly fee. This is waived if you do either of the following:
- maintain a $7,500 average daily balance; OR
- maintain a combined balance of $25,000 or more in eligible personal deposit accounts, loans, and home equity outstanding balances, investments, and business deposits.
Early Account Termination Fee
This account has a $50 early account termination fee if the account is closed within 180 days of opening.
Our Verdict
Looks like this might be targeted towards existing customers? $300 bonus with no direct deposit is nice, but it’s fairer to compare this to a savings account bonus considering you need to deposit and maintain $10,000. You’d need to maintain that balance for a bit more than two months (to get the bonus) and then you’d need to maintain $7,500 for a further 4 months to avoid the early account termination fee. Let’s just say you maintain $10,000 for six months, you’d be losing out on $100 in opportunity cost compared to a 2% APY account as this M&T account only earns 0.01% APY. Still a good deal, shame it’s targeted otherwise it would be added to the best checking/savings bonuses.
Big thanks to reader, Kiefer 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
- 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
The other thing to note is that there is a $24.95 monthly maintenance fees but that can be avoided if the account balance is $7500. There is a $50 fee if account is closed within $180 days.
Got a mailer today for $400 Premium Checking Bonus with $1k deposited in new accounts opened between 1/2/24 and 2/3/24..
Got a mailer today for $350 Premium Checking Bonus with $10k deposited in new accounts opened between 1/4/21 and. 2/26/21.
Nice. What state are you in?
In a state of shock, I guess. This is the highest banking bonus I’ve seen from a mailer.
I got an email not the mailer. I visited branch and they did not honor email as it does not have any code that they look for. What a shame!
I too received the mailer with 9/28 experation. I’ve never been an M&T customer so I think I’ll guve it a go.
I received this offer by mail, specifies it does not apply to accounts opened online, and has the 9/28 expiration date another commenter mentioned below.
The new expiration date is September 28.
I received email with $250 bonus offer. I wonder if they coukd match to $300 if I don’t have accounts with them.