[YMMV] Charles Schwab $100 Bonus For Existing Checking Account Holders

Before we get started a quick note about eligibility. This offer was sent out via e-mail with the subject line of ‘Your Investor Checking can earn you an extra $100’. In a previous deal some people were able to get the offer by  calling 888-403-9000 and asking. YMMV as always.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $100
• Availability: See above. Must be an existing account holder
• Direct deposit required: $10,000+
• Additional requirements: None
• Hard/soft pull: None as it’s for existing users
• ChexSystems: None as it’s for existing users
• Credit card funding: None
• Monthly fees: None
• Early account termination fee: N/A
• Household limit: None
• Expiration date: 30 days from receiving e-mail

The Offer

No direct link, see above

• Charles Schwab is offering a bonus of $100 for using your High Yield Investor Checking account. You must do the following:
  • Deposit at least $10,000 of new money into your account within the next 30 days (fine print says it has to be via direct deposits?)
  • Maintain an average balance of at least $10,000 for 90 consecutive days
  • Bonus will be deposited by July 31st, 2018

The Fine Print

• This offer is made available at the discretion of Charles Schwab Bank (“Schwab Bank”) and is valid from April 12, 2018 to July 31, 2018 (the “Promotion Period”). A $100 incentive will be deposited to your High Yield Investor Checking (“Investor Checking”) account provided that you set up direct deposits totaling at least $10,000 to your Investor Checking account of your [tax refund check, bonus check, payroll check, government benefits (such as Social Security), or pension or other retirement distributions], and maintain a minimum balance of $10,000 in your Investor Checking account for three consecutive months during the Promotion Period.
• This offer is available to individuals 18 years of age or older only, is limited to one incentive payment per client and one per household, and may only be utilized by the individual client to whom this promotion is offered in this email. The Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking account offers a 0.20% Annual Percentage Yield as of March 30, 2018, on balances of $.01 and greater. This rate is variable and is subject to change without notice. The Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking account is governed by the terms of the Schwab Bank Deposit Account Agreement.

Avoiding Fees

This account has no monthly fees to worry about. Not sure if there is any early account termination fee but don’t think it should really matter as this account is worth keeping long term.

Our Verdict

This bonus is for existing account holders, there is also a $100 bonus for new accounts. Account is also worth keeping long term because you get useful benefits like: ATM fees reimbursed, no fees for foreign transaction withdrawals. This isn’t as good as the previous deal where they offered $200 for a $2,500 deposit. Keep in mind this account only earns 0.2% APY, so keeping $10,000 in the account for 90 days is a loss. If you put it into a 2% account for that same period you would earn $45 more than keeping it in this account, but the $100 bonus makes up for that. This works bonus out to be ~4% APY, not a bad deal especially for existing account holders. I won’t add it to the best bank bonuses due to the fact it’s targeted toward existing account holders.

Hat tip to readers @koyao & XY