This promotion has now ended, view more bank bonuses by clicking here
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $400
- Availability: Nationwide. Must live in U.S. Bank’s footprint
- Direct deposit required: Yes, two deposits totaling $2,000 or more
- Additional requirements: Use promo code and online/mobile banking
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Mixed data points
- Credit card funding: Can fund up to $50 with a credit card
- Monthly fees: $6.95, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: One
- Expiration date: January 10th, 2020
Contents
The Offer
- U.S. Bank is offering a bonus of up to $400 when you open a new checking & savings accounts when you use promo code FREND19. Bonuses are as follows:
- $200 checking bonus:
- Open a new Platinum, Gold or Easy checking account
- Complete two or more recurring direct deposits that total a minimum of $2,000
- Enroll in either U.S. Bank online banking or the U.S. Bank Mobile App within 60 days of account opening
- $200 savings bonus:
- Open a new Platinum Select Money Market Savings or Elite Money Market account
- Have total deposit(s) of $10,000 or more by January 10, 2020 and maintain a balance of $10,000 or more through March 10, 2020
- $200 checking bonus:
The Fine Print
- To earn the $200 bonus offer, you must open a new U.S. Bank consumer checking account (excluding Student Checking and Safe Debit Account) between and including December 5, 2019 and January 10, 2020. Additionally, you must complete recurring direct deposits of two or more that total $2,000 or more and be enrolled in either U.S. Bank online banking or the U.S. Bank Mobile App within 60 days of account opening. Talk to a banker for assistance in enrolling. The checking bonus will be deposited into your new checking account within 60 days of direct deposit verification, and verification of enrollment in either U.S. Bank online banking or the U.S. Bank Mobile App as long as your account is open and has a positive balance. Bonus will be reported as interest earned on IRS form 1099-INT and recipient is responsible for any applicable taxes. Offer may not be combined with any other checking account bonus offers. Offer is not valid if you or any signer on the account has an existing U.S. Bank consumer checking account, had a U.S. Bank consumer checking account in the last six months, or received other U.S. Bank bonus offers within the past 12 months.]
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Easy Checking
his account has a $6.95 monthly fee and is waived if you meet any of the following requiremnets:
- Combined monthly direct deposits totaling $1000+ – or –
- Average account balance of $1,500.- or –
- Account holder(s) age 65 or greater.
Gold Checking
This account has a $14.95 monthly fee but is waived if you have a U.S. Bank credit card. Many of us have a U.S. Bank personal credit card like Altitude, Flexperks, or Cash+ which would work to keep the account fee-free. Another option is to get the Gold account and get the fee waived if you have a good credit score and join the Because You’ve Earned It program.
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no early account termination fee to worry about
Our Verdict
You can frequently do the checking bonus but it’s normally $300 (although we recently saw $400 in branch), so the savings bonus is really only $100. Basically need $10,000 invested for ~60 days to trigger the savings bonus, that works out to be roughly 6% APY for that 60 day period. Worth doing and I guess slightly better than the standard bonus. If you’re not going to do the savings portion of the offer I’d recommend just waiting for the $300 bonus to return. I will add this to our best checking & savings bonus.
Hat tip to jojool
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
So can we close our Elite Money Market account now? It otherwise has a 10k minimum to avoid fees.
and what’s the best way to close it
Got the bonus on 3/17 even though I deposited a check in branch on 1/9 (deadline of 1/10) and took 10 business days to credit my account. And I did the money market account only (already had a checking account)
P2 and myself both opened only Elite Money Market account and got our bonuses yesterday.
Got the savings bonus even though my balance had dropped below $10K ($10 fee charged for first month but waived the same day).
Does anyone plan to downgrade the savings account once bonus posts?
I was able to downgrade to the gold Package Money Market Savings through their online chat, it took less than 5 minutes.
Thanks Barney! Strange I can’t find the chat any more. It used to be in the app.
Never mind. I found it
can you explain how you found live chat?
can you explain how you found live chat?
Got my savings bonus today also. Opened just the Platinum Select Money Market Savings account since I already had the Platinum Select Checking account still open from last years bonus.
I received the savings bonus today. All and all I’m pretty satisfied with them, although it was a bit of a headache. Learned a few things. Thanks again, DOC community!
$200 Elite Money Market
12/23/2019 Account Opening
01/06/2020 10k+ Deposit
03/17/2020 Adjusted Interest $200.00
Did you open only Elite Money Market account? I did the same (no checking though). Everything is about the same as yours. Still did not get the bonus as of today!!
I only opened elite money market account and got the bonus.
Same – only Elite Money Market. $200 Savings bonus received today. Thank, DoC!
Interesting! I also opened elite money market account and did not get the bonus yet. Did you already had a checking account with them? I do not have any checking account with them currently (or when I opened this elite money market account).
CK9 – I did the $300 checking bonus last year by opening Gold Checking and had the account (still have it) when I applied for the Savings bonus.
Still did not get the bonus for savings (did savings only for $200 bonus)….Is it OK to take the money out before the bonus posted?
Wondering the same here. Want to move the cash to Ally with the 1% bonus
Yes, it is. Just be aware of the $10.00 fee they will hit you with eventually.
It’s March 10. Anybody who did the savings bonus get their’s yet, or know how long it’s going to take before it posts?
They told me it would credit in 6-8 weeks after requirements were met.
nothing on my end either… same answer to me….
I hope so, too. I’ve had a tail of a time with this account. They charged me the $10.00 maintenance fee twice, even though I had $10,000 in there throughout. Got it refunded twice. They wrote me this, which is heartening:
Good morning, Theodore.
I appreciate the time you’ve taken to reach out about the promotion you opened your account with. My name is Taira and I’m happy to look into this for you.
In appreciation of your relationship since 2012 and since you’ve made the required deposit, I’ve refunded the recent monthly maintenance fee as a courtesy. The funds have immediately returned to your balance.
In reviewing your account, a valid promotional code was entered when it was opened. Even better, I see you’ve received the required $10,000.00 so you’ll receive the bonus within the next eight to ten weeks! If you don’t receive the bonus by 3/02, reply back to me and I’ll have the account reviewed and the bonus manually credited if needed.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and thank you for being the most important part of U.S. Bank!
Best regards,
Taira A.
U.S. Bank Email Operations Department