Deal has expired, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $550
- Availability: Only in the following states: FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MI, NC, OH, TN, WV. Must be opened in branch (may be only for those within a 50-mile radius of a branch). Must have received a targeted mailer
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: Maintain $250 for 60 days or Maintain $20,000 for 90 days
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $11, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: None listed
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: June 30th, 2019
Contents
The Offer
No direct link, sent out via snail mail
- Fifth Third is offering a bonus of up to $550 when you open a new checking account. Bonus is broken down as follows:
- $250 when you open a new checking account and reach a balance of $250 or more within 45 days of account opening and maintain that balance for at least 60 days
- Get another $300 when you increase your deposit by $20,000 or more within 45 days or account 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
If you’re in an area that has free checking, that account is also eligible.
Essentials Checking $11 Monthly Fee
Essential Checking account is required for this bonus and has an $11 monthly fee. The fee can be waived by maintaining an average monthly balance of $1,500 or more across your savings and checking accounts.
Early Account Termination Fee
This account does not have an early account termination fee
Our Verdict
Current public bonus is $250 and is similar to the first part of this offer. We’ve also seen a public $200 + $200 offer that required a deposit of $15,000. If you put the $20,000 into a 2.5% account you’d earn a bit more than $120 over the 90 day period, so the $300 offer is significantly better than that. Still, might be worth waiting for the basic $300 bonus to return instead. Doesn’t really matter too much as this is a targeted offer.
Hat tip to reader Rukmi
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
If anyone is interested, I have extra codes. I get them in the mail monthly.
Jack - NJ If you still have one, can you send it my way? I plan to open Jan 10-14, 2020 while on vacation. Thank you! Sassenav.helpsATgmailDOTcom
BTW, I opened an account today (at a local branch) and the banker told me they have a CD special 0f 2.5% for 9 months that can be used as part of the $20,000 deposit balance requirement for the $300 second part of the bonus. It appears that the CD can only be opened in the branch. YMMV.
sound like a good option to park 20k while waiting for the promotional bonus.
which region did you open your a/c?
hope i can receive the mail
I got one of these last month but couldn’t take advantage of it since I closed my previous Fifth Third account in late July 2018. Hopefully they’ll keep sending these mailers so I can do the bonus when I’m eligible again.
I did this offer last month and it was a painless in-branch experience. A couple of additional comments:
-The banker offered another option for $25K deposit into a MM account with 2% rate. So $25.5K total and same bonus. I’m not sure if this offer is still available.
-There is another flyer out for $250 + $250 on $15K deposit. That was a targeted mailer to our address.
-No name was on either flyer, just our home address.
I actually received this offer in one of the snail-mail “Valpak” envelopes that are always addressed to “occupant” so it’s not specifically directed to anyone.
Yep, that’s how I got it.
Charles Mann – was there a coupon code? What state are you in?
I am in Illinois. The code is specific to the mailer, but not addressed to me as an individual. I opened an account today and the banker told me it could not be used again.
I signed up at a branch a year ago for the $250 offer and was told there would be an early termination fee if I cancelled within 6 months. I don’t remember what that amount was though. I ended up cancelling after 6 months from account opening at the branch without any issues.
Got this offer as well and will be taking advantage of it. My guess it that they are targeting areas with former MB Financial branches since they just acquired them.
I was an MBF customer and took advantage of a Fifth Third bonus late last year figuring I was going to end up with them anyway. Worst bank ever service-wise. Closed the newly opened one and my MBF last week before the transition. 🙂
The bonus pays out easy enough though. Opened with $1500 and didn’t touch it, bonus paid out in 30 days.
edit to correct 60 days, not 30.
If you can’t reach the $1500 balance requirement to waive the $11 monthly fee, it can still be reduced to $8 a month with monthly direct deposits totaling $500 or more.
I think there are other checking account options also available, check out their website.