Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 4/5/22: Deal is back and valid until July 15, 2022. Hat tip to reader Azure
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,000+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Mixed reports, likely doesn’t pull
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $10, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: None, don’t close account straight away please
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date:
March 31, 2022July 15, 2022
Contents
The Offer
- Wells Fargo is offering a $300 bonus when you open a new Everyday Checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Receive a total of $1,000 or more in qualifying direct deposits to the new checking account within 90 calendar days from account opening (the qualification period)
The Fine Print
- Eligibility Requirements:
- This offer is for new checking customers only. All Wells Fargo consumer checking accounts are eligible for this offer with the exception of checking accounts offered by Wells Fargo Private Bank.
- You must use your bonus offer code at account opening when you apply for a new eligible Wells Fargo checking account.
- You are not eligible for this offer if:
- You are a current owner of a Wells Fargo consumer checking account
- You have received a bonus for opening a Wells Fargo consumer checking account within the past 12 months
- You are a Wells Fargo employee
Bonus Requirements:
- Open a new Wells Fargo consumer checking account with a minimum opening deposit of $25 by March 31, 2022. All account applications are subject to approval.
- Within 90 calendar days of account opening (the “qualification period”), receive a total of $1,000 or more in qualifying direct deposits to your new checking account.
- A qualifying direct deposit is an ACH (Automated Clearing House) automatic electronic deposit of your salary, pension, Social Security, or other regular income into your bank account. Confirm with your employer or the agency or company making these payments that they use the ACH network.
- Transfers from one account to another, mobile deposits, or deposits made at a branch, or ATM don’t qualify as a direct deposit.
Bonus Payment:
- Once the 90-day qualification period has elapsed, we will determine if you have met the offer requirements, and will deposit any earned bonus into your new checking account within 30 days.
- The new checking account must remain open throughout the 90-day qualification period and at the time we attempt to deposit any earned bonus payment. Please note that an account with a zero balance may be closed by us without prior notice, as further described in the Deposit Account Agreement.
- You are responsible for any federal, state, or local taxes due on the bonus and we will report as income to the tax authorities if required by applicable law. Consult your tax advisor.
Additional Terms and Conditions:
- Offer expires March 31, 2022. However, offer may be discontinued or changed at any time prior to the expiration date without notice.
- Offer cannot be:
- Paid without a valid U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number (Form W-9 for U.S. persons including a resident alien). Non-resident aliens, signing Form W-8 are not eligible for the offer.
- Combined with any other consumer deposit offer (limit one bonus per customer/account).
- Reproduced, purchased, sold, transferred, or traded.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
The Everyday Checking account comes with a $10 monthly fee. Get the fee waived with one of the following:
- Direct deposits totaling $500 or more each statement cycle, OR
- Maintain a $500 minimum daily balance, OR
- Link checking account to a Wells Fargo Campus ATM or Campus Debit Card
If you have a Wells mortgage, you might be able to get a higher-level account with no fees.
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no early account termination fee.
Our Verdict
Not as good as the previous $400 bonus we’ve seen in the past. Unfortunately we haven’t seen that since early 2020, so it might be worth jumping on this offer as the other regular offer is $200. We will add this to our list of the best checking bonuses.
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
Did anyone get their 1099int from wells fargo yet? Nothing here for either P1 or P2. Can’t log into the website as that appears closed once the account was closed.
7/21 – account opened with $500 deposit from sofi
8/7 – $1006.90 push from sofi (shows as transfer with my name, category: other miscellaneous)
10/12 – $300 bonus posted
cheers!
Saw a $325 checking bonus for Everyday Checking account today on 24NOV2022 and applied/approved for an account. Last received bonus Sept. 2021 so hopefully this should work again.
“Bonus Requirements:
Open a new Wells Fargo consumer checking account with a minimum opening deposit of $25 by January 6, 2023. All account applications are subject to approval.
Within 90 calendar days of account opening (the “qualification period”), receive a total of $1,000 or more in qualifying direct deposits to your new checking account.
A qualifying direct deposit is an ACH (Automated Clearing House) automatic electronic deposit of your salary, pension, Social Security, or other regular income into your bank account. Confirm with your employer or the agency or company making these payments that they use the ACH network.
Transfers from one account to another, mobile deposits, or deposits made at a branch, or ATM don’t qualify as a direct deposit.
A direct deposit made available early with Early Pay Day does not count toward the bonus requirements until it posts to your account and is no longer pending (e.g. the pay date scheduled by your payor).
Bonus Payment:
Once the 90-day qualification period has elapsed, we will determine if you have met the offer requirements, and will deposit any earned bonus into your new checking account within 30 days.
The new checking account must remain open throughout the 90-day qualification period and at the time we attempt to deposit any earned bonus payment. Please note that an account with a zero balance may be closed by us without prior notice, as further described in the Deposit Account Agreement.
You are responsible for any federal, state, or local taxes due on the bonus and we will report as income to the tax authorities if required by applicable law. Consult your tax advisor.”
Where did you see this? Can you provide the link?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/wells-fargo-325-checking-bonus-available-online/
8/23 opened
9/16 real DD 1000
11/16 $325 bonus posted
Wells Fargo has started implementing early pay. I checked Wednesday on a whim and saw my employer DD in my available balance, so that’s at least a day early (otherwise I would’ve been paid Thursday due to the holiday on Friday). Interestingly, it shows as a pending transaction with today’s date, so I don’t know when it actually became available (possibly as early as Tuesday).
6/14 opening deposit
6/16 schwab moneylink coded as DD
11/8 no bonus – called to inquire and will hear back in 2-3 days
Sure
You used a fake DD. Don’t call!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Try a different bank or move on. Calling means they will catch on to us.
I need to keep better record of the dates. I spoke with CS again via phone and they were able to bring up my last bonus received was 11/26/2021 making me ineligible for this promotion
okay
No, seriously, don’t call the bank if you did fake “direct deposits”!
okay
FYI: I know that Wise with “Direct Deposit” in the reference field works for triggering a lot of other bank bonuses, even bonuses for banks that are strict with their DD requirements, but I don’t think it will work for this bonus. I sent $1k to my Wells Fargo checking account for this bonus from my Wise account this way, and it coded as “RTP from WISE” (as in real time payment) and “Other Deposits.” All my other $1k DD’s have coded as “Direct Deposit,” including Astra, Hanscom, and TBK Bank, so I assume that any of those deposits should trigger the bonus just fine.
Has anyone else received a check for $50 from Wells Fargo because they closed your account without notice? Both P2 and I received one this week even though this didn’t happen to us (P2’s account is still open and I closed mine).
My P2 received one today, for an account that was closed in 2019. She currently has a different Wells Fargo account. I assume your P2’s letter showed the last four of the previous account?
Ah that makes sense, must be from the previous bonus go around. Thanks, was scratching my head about this.
I haven’t seen any check. I went to branch and closed out 2 month ago. P2 still has account with 0.00 in it
Got a $50 check too. I decided to research it because they include the last 4 of the acct number in the letter.
It was for my checking account that I had received the $400 bonus in early August 2019. They auto-closed for having a $0 balance in late August. I have the exact closure date in my email inbox as they sent a notice.
So, a nice surprise for letting the bank do the work for me. Seen some comments here that it looks bad to let the bank close your account, but it worked out in this case.

Fred 

Alex
I would assume going forward, WF will not auto-close so quickly.
Thanks. I found an email that the account was at $0, a secure message confirmation the next day, and then the account closure notice four days later. I’m pretty sure P2 requested WF to close the account, but we can always use an extra $50.
Yeah, guess they assume we did not want them to close the account. People that closed the normal way are not going to get these checks. And, it was three years ago – not recently.
Also, ironic, they get in trouble when they open accounts and close them. 🙂
I got a check today for $50 for the account that was closed in 2019. They closed the account within a day or two after the balance became 0. I moved to a new address and luckily the address forwarding was still active otherwise I would have never known about this check.
i got $50 check yesterday and acct # that matches one closed in 2017, weird but happy for free $.
I used the questionable $400 bonus link someone posted back in July, rather than the guaranteed $200 link that was available then. Second time doing a WF bonus (closed my old account >2 years ago).
7/25 – opened account
8/12 – Chase ACH transfer, $1000
8/18 – BOA ACH transfer, $1100
10/25 – $400 bonus – exactly 3 months after account opening
Thanks Doc and everyone!
Wells Fargo Personal Checking $200 Bonus DP
– 7/22 – Account opened online
– 8/15 – $1K employer DD posted
– 10/21 – $200 bonus pending