Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $125
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: Optional
- Additional requirements: Direct deposits totaling $500 or two bill payments
- Hard/soft pull: Soft, chex systems inquiry will be done
- Credit card funding: Yes, up to $500
- Monthly fees: $6.95-$8.98, waiveable
- Early account termination fee: None
- Expiration date: August 10th, 2015
The Offer
- Receive a sign up bonus of $125 when you complete the following requirements:
- Open a new U.S. Bank consumer Silver Checking Package, Gold Checking Package or Platinum Checking Package
- Complete one or more direct deposits totaling at least $500 or complete two or more Bill Pay transactions (enrollment in Online and/or Mobile Banking is required)
- You’ll also be entered into the U.S Bank $50,000 sweepstakes, you can read the full terms and conditions here.
The Fine Print
- Bonus requirements must be completed within 60 days of account opening
- Bonus will posted within 60 days of meeting the requirements
- Cannot be combined with any other checking promotion
- Not available to existing customers
- Not available if you have received a checking bonus in 2015
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
U.S bank has three checking products which qualify for this promotion:
- Silver Checking Account
- Gold Checking Account
- Platinum Checking account
Probably the easiest way to keep this fee free is to open the Gold Checking account, if you have a U.S Bank credit card then the monthly fees on this account are waived. If you don’t have a U.S Bank credit card then your best bet is to open the silver checking account, these has a monthly fee of $8.95 ($6.95 if you enroll in paper statements) this is waived if you complete any of the following:
- Have combined direct deposits totaling $1,000 or more or
- Maintain an average monthly balance of $1,500
U.S Bank used to charge an early account termination fee, but they no longer charge this fee. You also need to open the savings account which has a minimum balance of $25.
Our Verdict
I completed a similar promotion in 2014, given that I received the bonus in 2014 it looks like I’ll be eligible to get this bonus as well. I love bonuses like this, they are nationwide and do not require a direct deposit AND they can be churned.
I’ll definitely be completing this bonus, fingers crossed myself or one of our readers end up winning the $50,000 sweepstakes. We’ve added this bonus to our best bank bonuses list and also our complete listing of checking bonuses.
Direct link to offer | Screenshot of offer
Hat tip to reader Jess
I know this offer is expired but as an update (or correction) I’d like to mention that I opened the silver account and maintained $1500 in the account (and received the $125 bonus), but they started charging me the maintenance fee after 3 months! When I called they said the requirement is not just having $1500 for the silver account and I had to keep the $1500 AND the direct deposit together. They said those 3 months grace period was for me to set up the DD.
Sorry if someone else already mentioned it but I didn’t have time to read all these previous comments.
Thanks
Having $1500 AND a USbank saving account (with automatic transfer set up from the silver checking to saving) would have also worked. They kept emphasizing that meeting two conditions are necessary.
Remember that people trust real address workplaces more than online ventures because contact with the business is more real.
Will you need the cleaning service to do a thorough cleaning for
you. Of course, you don’t want to be doing something every minute of the day, so take some time to relax
too.
I met the requirements on 9/1 as well. I called several times and they admit that it should have been done by now. They are going to manually credit the account, but they have not given any indication of when this would take place. Can’t seem to get a straight answer.
Anyone out there still waiting for their bonus?
Yes, I am still waiting. I met the requirments on 9/1.
Have you called them Duane? What are they saying?
Duane, you need to give customer service a call. If you met the requirements on 9/1, your bonus should have posted in whatever wave they process for November. It’s been seeming to take place early in the month so I would have expected it to be last week. You should call them to see if they need to do it manually. I haven’t noticed anyone post about getting it in November so it’s possible it’s coming this week but you should call just to be certain.
Has anyone closed the account yet? Any problems? I emailed CS what would happen to the START reward if checking acct was closed. Then I realized it says right there in the START t/c that the savings program will be canceled automatically. Well, keeping $2500 ($1500 in c/a and $1000 in s/a) costs me $125 in interest for a year and only returns a $50 VGC so I’m ready to jump ship here and transfer the funds out to some place where they are more useful to me.
Yes, I successfully closed two of their accounts earlier this month. There were no issues. You have to call them to do it over the phone and can’t do it by email. Just make sure nothing is pending. You’ll have to answer a few questions, basically saying that you don’t have anything else coming out of the accounts coming up. Best to empty account yourself but if you have anything left, they send you a check for it, which I got like 3 days later, for the 2 cents in interest that got paid after my last withdrawal, lol.
It seems they post the bonus in waves, once per month, from what I’m seeing. I previously posted when I received my bonus on 9/4. My wife just received her bonus yesterday and I see someone else did as well. If you opened and completed requirements during July and haven’t received your bonus as of one of those two dates, you need to give them a call. This also confirms its one bonus per person, not per household so both you and your spouse can do it. That’s $250 total for us. Closing both accounts as soon as her ach withdrawal posts on either Friday or Monday.
$125 bonus has posted to the account yesterday 😉
My very first bank bonus… And the first $50 from the START savings plan have already been spent, too. Only 11 and a half months for the 2nd giftcard
Has the START program been nuked? I can’t seem to find it in online banking and I’ve tried a few related links to the USB website and they are all going to homepage or a “page not found”.
I had the same experience! The CSR said I completed the requirements for the Bonus on 7/27, STILL hadn’t posted! So I sent ANOTHER message, and FINALLY the Bonus posted, as an “interest adjustment”! They take their time posting this bonus!
Lucky you. Lol. I am still fighting for it. Now they say my second bill pay didn’t posted until 8.31. What? Couple reps before just confirmed they saw second bill pay on 7.28. Ridiculous bank.
So do you think the computer did an auto post to your account? Or, do you think someone had to manually adjust it?
Data point:
6/30 – Account opened.
7/20 – Two bill pays (waited a bit for ATM card to arrive so that I can enroll in online banking)
9/10 – Contacted CSR and was transferred to a local branch (although I opened online, rep said it’s necessary to talk to the branch) They told me to call again in a week if nothing shows up.
9/21 – No bonus, called again. Manager said they will process the bonus manually.
9/23 – $125 bonus posted as “Interest Adjustment”
I’ll wait 2 weeks to close my account, just in case another $125 posted accidentally 😛