Deal has expired, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here
Update 10/27/19: Deal is back and valid until December 6th, 2019. Hat tip to reader XenaWP
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $500
- Availability: Targeted
- Deposit required: $25,000 for 90 days
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Mixed reports, likely doesn’t pull
- Credit card funding: Can fund up to $50 online
- Monthly fees: $5, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date:
August 30th, 2019December 6th, 2019
Contents
The Offer
No direct link to offer, sent out via snail mail
- Wells Fargo is offering some customers a bonus of $500 when they open a savings account and complete the following requirements:
- Deposit at least $25,000 in new money within 10 days of account opening
- Maintain that balance of at least $25,000 for 90 days from account opening
The Fine Print
- Within 10 days of account opening, deposit at least $25,000 in new money into your new savings account AND THEN maintain a minimum daily balance in your account of at least $25,000 for 90 days from account opening. “New money” is money from sources outside of the customer’s relationship with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. or its affiliates (which includes all deposit, brokerage and loan/credit accounts).
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Way2save savings account has a $5 monthly fee, this is waived if you do any of the following:
- A $300 minimum daily balance OR
- A recurring, automatic savings option OR
- Are under the age of 18 (19 in AL) and are the primary owner of this account3
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no early account termination fee.
Our Verdict
Reader Brian who sent this in is also reporting that Wells Fargo is offering 2% APY for 12 months on balances over $25,000 in addition to this $500 bonus. Not sure if that is available at all branches or not. It seems like Wells Fargo is starting to push saving account bonuses more often now as well. This bonus is worth doing especially with the extra 2% APY if you have $25,000 in spare funds but we won’t be adding it to the best savings bonuses due to the fact it’s targeted.
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
$500 paid out the next night after 90 days from the funding date of the $25K. Description: “Promotion Bonus”.
I received my letter and it says the following in the fine print :
……”Only Wells Fargo rewards based credit card customers are eligible for this offer”….
…..”Your Wells Fargo Credit Card account must be open and not delinquent at the time the bonus is applied to your account”…..
I received 50000 points instead of 500 bucks with same requirement
Me too
Here is the copy of the letter that I received
http://imgur.com/a/8KgOhQl
Yep, me too. Much better than the simple $500 offer – can use pts for a 50% bonus on airfare. Yipee.
Got my $500 bonus this morning.
Jul 22: opened in branch w/ promo
Jul 25: brought balance up to $25K
Oct 22: Emailed WF to ask if I had met the terms and could remove some money, they replied yes
Oct 24: $500 Promotion Bonus
BTW, I opened the $3500 minimum (to avoid fee) savings account and received the 2% rate.
Curious if the people being targeted by this promotion live within an area being serviced by Wells Fargo or is targeted to people nationwide. I don’t live near Wells Fargo but have a checking account with them not too long ago for the Sign up bonus
I received this promo and live less than a mile from a branch.
hope i am targeted
Anyone have a shot or can describe the front of the Wells Fargo envelope? I’m overseas right now but I can see my mail with USPS Informed Delivery. thanks
I got the mailer too and I was thinking to do it but then now inclined towards simple bank promotion which gets u $750 plus 2%.
Do you have wf credit card or checking account?
No I dont
link to the $750 bonus, please? thanks
This?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/simple-finance-open-protected-goals-account-earn-250-2-02-apy-up-to-750-between-two-people/
I did this (received in the mail) and note that to get the 2% platinum account rate the branch told me that I needed to fund the account within 7 days of account opening, and as noted 10 days of account opening for the 1% bonus. I only had a WF credit card and this new savings account didn’t appear online overnight, had to call customer service to manage it online. Finally, I could not establish a normal link from my external account via authentication and 2 factor so had to use trial deposits (broker account). Made the 7 days but suggest you are fully ready to move funds before you enter the branch.
The branch I went to with my targeted mail in December offered me 1.25% rate for 6 months if I opened a Platinum savings account and deposit $25k+. Deposit the funds within 5 days was required to get this rate.
I guess since your dp is July’19 so my offered rate is lower in December in keeping with overall low rates but looks like the 5 day deadline is just made up on the fly. Unless each branch can have their own rules.
I’m not targeted but even if I was, I’m currently working on the WF $1000 business checking bonus due for completion sometime early to mid October. I don’t think you can just pull money out of that business checking to an outside institution and then deposit it back into the savings (as new funds) for the $500 bonus. Even if you could, you may not be able to pull the $25K out from the savings to an outside institution and back to the business checking to meet both bonuses.