Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $100
- Availability: Nationwide, but must have been targeted.
- Direct deposit required: Optional, must be $500+ if chosen
- Additional requirements: 10 debit card transactions or direct deposit
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: Up to $500
- Monthly fees: $10-$13, waiveableÂ
- Early account termination fee:Â $25 if closed within six months
- Expiration date: April 17th, 2015
Contents
The Offer
- Open a Wells Fargo checking account and receive a bonus of $100 when you complete either of the following:
- 10 debit card purchases or
- Set up a qualifying direct deposit of $500 or more
The Fine Print
- This is an exclusive, non-transferable offer (Customer must be the recipient of the direct mail piece, and/or email, and/or banner ad)
- Valid until April 17th, 2015
- Only available to new consumer checking customers
- All Wells Fargo consumer checking accounts are eligible for this offer (except the Teen Checking account)
- Bonus requirements must be completed within 60 days of account opening
- Qualifying direct deposits are as follows: customer’s salary, pension, Social Security, or other regular monthly income of an accumulated $500 or more, electronically deposited to his/her new
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Everyday Checking $10 Monthly
This is the easiest account to keep fee free.
- 10 debit card purchases and/or payments each statement cycle from this checking account,OR
- Qualifying direct deposits4 totaling $500 or more each statement cycle, OR
- Maintain a $1,500 minimum daily balance, OR
- Linked to a Wells Fargo Campus ATM or Campus Debit Card
Early Account Termination Fee
There is an early account termination fee of $25 if you close your account within six months of opening.
Our Verdict
You should be able to get this offer even if you didn’t receive the direct communication, but you should contact Wells Fargo first to confirm this and make sure you get a reference number in case they decide not to honor the bonus (even better go into a branch). It looks like they’ve sent out this offer by a lot of different means (banner ads, direct to consumer mail outs and even e-mail blasts) so I doubt they have each offer tied to an individual or household (although they could be tied by region).
That being said, Wells Fargo have offered other bonuses in the past. The highest of which was a $250 bonus last year, but this required having one of the premium checking accounts open to keep it fee free which didn’t make it a good option. The best bonus they ever offered was the $200 secret bonus that was available last year. I actually completed a $100 public bonus last year, although I wish I had waited for the $200 bonus.
People that aren’t usually interested in bank bonuses are often interested in bank bonuses offered by Wells Fargo and that’s because Wells Fargo doesn’t like approving consumers for credit cards when they don’t also have a banking relationship. Wells Fargo offers a number of good credit cards:
- Wells Fargo Propel World: $400+ sign up bonus
- Wells Fargo Propel 365: $200 sign up bonus
- Wells Fargo 5% cash back at select categories
My recommendation:
This is not a bad bonus, as long as you can confirm it’s available to everybody I’d probably go for it. That being said, there is a chance they’ll bring back a $200 or even $250 offer so it might be worth waiting. Also, make sure you’ve signed up to all of the other higher bonuses first as $100 is a pretty average offer.
Direct link to offer | Screenshot of offer
Hat tip to reader JP
