[Expired] [WI only] U.S. Bank $225 Checking Bonus – Direct Deposit Not Required

This bonus has expired and is no longer valid, view more checking bonuses here.

Looks like this promotion is WI only unfortunately. Thanks to reader Hello for pointing this out.

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $225
  • Availability: Nationwide (looks like not all areas works, check comments for more details). Maybe it’s only DC & parts of VA, MD, WV, PA again, if that’s the case not a good deal as they recently offered $300.
  • Direct deposit required: Not required
  • Additional requirements: Zelle payment for three months
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft
  • ChexSystems: Mixed data points
  • Credit card funding: None
  • Monthly fees: $6.95 – $14.95
  • Early account termination fee: None
  • Household limit: One
  • Expiration date: May 31st, 2018

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • U.S. Bank is offering a bonus of $225 when you open a new checking account by May 31st and complete the following requirements:
    • Use promo code MLKE225, as far as I know that code is not unique
    • Complete at least one Zelle payment of $25 or more in each of the next three months (you earn $75 per month this is completed)

The Fine Print

  • You must use the Promotion Code listed on this offer when you apply.
  • If you received a direct mail piece, address on new account must match address on your mail piece to be eligible for the bonus. The reader who sent this in saw a Pandora ad displaying this offer, so having received a direct mail piece doesn’t seem mandatory.
  • A $25 minimum deposit is required to open a U.S. Bank consumer checking account.
  • All regular account opening procedures apply.
  • Earn the bonus by opening a new consumer checking account (excluding Student Checking and Safe Debit Account) by May 31, 2018, then register your U.S. mobile phone number online or within the Mobile App, and complete at least one Zelle payment of $25 or more in each of the next three months to earn $75 per month, up to $225.
  • To complete Zelle payments, funds must be received.
  • Your bonus will be reported as interest earned on IRS Form 1099-INT and you are responsible for any applicable taxes.
  • The bonus will be credited to your new checking account within 60 days of verification of the transfer and acceptance of the Zelle payments, assuming the account is open and has a positive balance.
  • One offer per household.
  • Offer may not be combined with any other bonus or marketing offers.
  • U.S. Bank checking customers and employees are not eligible for bonus offers.
  • This bonus offer is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Early Warning Services, LLC or the Zelle Network®.

Avoiding Fees

U.S. Bank is making changes to the fees on their checking accounts on May 14th, we will just list what the fees are from that date onwards as they are negative changes.

Gold Checking $14.95

This account has a $14.95 monthly fee  This is waived with one of the following: an open U.S. Bank personal loan, line or credit card. Many of us have a U.S. Bank personal credit card like Altitude, Flexperks, or Cash+; that would work to keep the account fee-free.

There’s also apparently another way to qualify for a free Gold Checking for those with good credit scores who join the Because You’ve Earned It program.

Silver Checking $6.95

This account has a $6.95 monthly fee, this is waive with a package money market savings account and one of the following:

  • Combined monthly direct deposits totaling $1,000.00+ OR
  • Combined account balance of $1,500.00

Early Account Termination Fee

There is no early account termination fee.

Our Verdict

You can read more about Zelle here. There doesn’t seem to be any restriction in the fine print about people who have previously received U.S. Bank checking offers, normally it needs to be six months since you last received a bonus/closed your account. I’d personally wait that six months if possible even though it’s not mentioned in the fine print.

This is a really good deal as most readers won’t need to worry about the monthly fee due to holding a U.S. Bank credit card and there is no direct deposit to worry about either. Doing the Zelle transactions is a bit annoying, but it’s not particularly difficult. Having a checking account open can also help with getting approved for the U.S. Bank Altitude card. This will definitely be added to our list of the best checking bonuses and it’s definitely worth doing.

Big thanks to reader, Curmudgeon who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On May 1, 2018, 19:30

View Comments (94)

  • BTW DoC, the promo code seems to also be attached to the Easy checking, which only requires $1500 avg balance or $1k DD, but no need for any bloody Package Money Market Savings.

    • I'm located in Wyoming.

      I was able to sign up online, to get the "Because you earned it," plus they are including a box of free checks. I have verbal confirmation from US Bank in Kansas City that my account has offer MLKE225 attached to the account. So maybe it will work for me? I will report back either way.

      Some other data points -
      1. Even though it said that I qualified for "Because you earned it" during the account sign up process, I still had to go into the account (online) and reapply and "re" qualify. Now it shows up definitively in my account - that I have this feature.
      2. Even though it said that i could transfer funds during the account sign up process, in order to fund the account, this never happened. The $25 was never transferred from Fells Wargo to my new U.S. bank account. I had to stop into a branch and give them my money.
      3. There was a "hold" placed on the account. I found this out while trying to deposit my money. I just showed them my driver's license. During the application process I answered all my identity questions correctly, but a hold was placed on the account nevertheless.

      • I can verify that this bonus also works for Wyoming. I did a Zelle transfer for $25 to my friend in St. Louis. After about 10 days, the $75 bonus posted to my account as "Adjusted Interest." Saying that this only works for Wisconsin is not accurate. I checked throughout the entire process, calling customer service and having them verify that the bonus code was applied to my account. They always confirmed this for me. In addition, I got the "because you earned it" so my Gold account is free. And now I'm getting the bonuses. YAY ME! I'm glad I went with my gut instincts on this one and didn't pay attention to "[WI ONLY]."

  • The zip code check is client-side. From the source code, here's the list of eligible zip codes:

    53001, 53002, 53004, 53005, 53006, 53007, 53011, 53012, 53013, 53017, 53018, 53020, 53021, 53022, 53023, 53024, 53027, 53029, 53032, 53033, 53034, 53035, 53036, 53037, 53038, 53039, 53040, 53044, 53045, 53046, 53048, 53050, 53051, 53058, 53059, 53066, 53069, 53070, 53072, 53073, 53074, 53075, 53076, 53078, 53080, 53081, 53083, 53085, 53086, 53089, 53090, 53091, 53092, 53093, 53094, 53095, 53097, 53098, 53103, 53104, 53105, 53108, 53110, 53114, 53115, 53118, 53119, 53120, 53121, 53122, 53125, 53126, 53128, 53129, 53130, 53132, 53137, 53139, 53140, 53142, 53143, 53144, 53146, 53147, 53149, 53150, 53151, 53153, 53154, 53156, 53158, 53168, 53170, 53172, 53177, 53178, 53179, 53181, 53182, 53183, 53184, 53185, 53186, 53188, 53189, 53190, 53191, 53202, 53203, 53204, 53205, 53206, 53207, 53208, 53209, 53210, 53211, 53212, 53213, 53214, 53215, 53216, 53217, 53218, 53219, 53220, 53221, 53222, 53223, 53224, 53225, 53226, 53227, 53228, 53233, 53235, 53402, 53403, 53404, 53405, 53406, 53538, 53549, 53551, 53557, 53579, 53585, 53594, 53916, 53922, 53933, 53956, 53963

    It looks like they're all in Wisconsin.

  • Just tried DC and it said unavailable. Also, not surprisingly, Central Ohio not available.

  • Worked for me with two zip codes in Los Angeles: 91604 and 90018.
    There's also a $50 bonus after 12 months if you setup a recurring transfer to the Money Market Savings account and reach a balance of $500. Have to keep the account open for 12 months though...

    • Damn. When I follow the link in the post, it tells me it's not available in my area. But I went directly to the website and manually input the promo code when I applied. I'll confirm that I'm eligible for the bonus once the account's open and report back. Ugh.

  • Just got off the phone with Sales Rep and she said that this bonus is ONLY available in Dallas or Atlanta. Fyi... ;)

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