Best Bank Bonuses of April 2024

Noteworthy Bank Bonus Offers from Our Partners

If you want to open a new bank account, make sure to do your research and look at important factors, such as fees and ATM network size. But also keep in mind that some banks and credit unions offer cash bonuses to new customers as a way to incentivize sign-ups for personal checking accounts, money market accounts, spending accounts or savings accounts. Digital banks and financial technology firms — commonly referred to as fintechs — will sometimes offer bigger bonuses and more generous deposit account benefits and rates because of their lower overhead and non-traditional structure.

Some new bank account bonuses are relatively low, in the $50 range, and likely won’t contribute to your financial decision. However, we’ve seen some promotional bank bonuses go as high as $2,000 – nothing to sneeze at regardless of your financial situation.  

These new bank customer bonuses are typically offered through limited-time promotions. Given the variety of accounts that can offer these bonuses (checking accounts, savings accounts, business accounts, money market accounts, etc.) the requirements to earn the promotions can differ greatly across financial institutions. 

Chase Business Complete Checking℠

New customers can earn $300 bonus when they open a new Chase Business Complete Checking℠ account, deposit at least $2,000 worth of new money into the account within the first 30 days of account opening to qualify for a $300 bonus (at least $15,000 to qualify for a $500 bonus), then maintain a minimum balance of $2,000 for 60 days. If your balance falls below the threshold during the 60 days, your offer amount will change.

Additionally, you’ll need to complete at least five qualifying transactions within 90 days of account opening to qualify for this bonus. These can include debit card purchases, Chase QuickAccept℠ or QuickDeposit℠ transactions, ACH credits, Chase Online Bill Pay, or wire transfers.

Chase Total Checking® Account

Open a new Chase Total Checking® Account and set up recurring direct deposits for your paycheck, pension or government-issued benefits to qualify for this $300 bonus. As far as new account bonuses go, few are easier to earn than this one.

*With Chase Overdraft Assist^SM, Chase won’t charge an Overdraft Fee if you’re overdrawn by $50 or less at the end of the business day OR if you’re overdrawn by more than $50 and you bring your account balance to overdrawn by $50 or less at the end of the next business day (you have until 11 PM ET (8 PM PT) to make a deposit or transfer). Chase Overdraft Assist does not require enrollment and comes with eligible Chase checking accounts.

SoFi Checking and Savings

For a limited time, new SoFi Checking and Savings customers can also earn a signup bonus worth up to $250. To do so, you must receive at least $1,000 in qualifying direct deposits within the specified “Evaluation Period” that begins the day your first qualifying direct deposit is received.

This bonus breaks out into the following tiers:

• Total Qualifying Direct Deposits: $1,000 – $4,999 | Cash Bonus: $50
• Total Qualifying Direct Deposits: $5,000+ | Cash Bonus: $250

Once you’ve completed the above requirements, you’ll receive your bonus within seven days of the end of the Evaluation Period.

Axos Basic Business Checking Account

Eligible business owners can earn up to $400 by opening a Basic Business Checking account and meeting certain requirements.* Note that you’ll need to use promotional code NEW400 and you can earn $75-$100 per statement cycle during the first five cycles if you meet the bonus requirements. However, it’s worth noting that you can only earn a maximum of four bonus payouts, regardless of amount.

*Disclosure

^{To be eligible to earn all or a portion of the cash incentive as part of the promotional offer “NEW400,” an application for a Basic Business Checking account or a Business Interest Checking account must be submitted between 09/30/2023 at 12:00 am PT and 6/30/2024 at 11:59 pm PT. Axos Bank reserves the right to limit each primary account holder or business title to one (1) checking account promotional offer per year. Axos Bank or Axos Bank for Nationwide checking customers or Businesses that have held an Axos Bank or UFB or Axos Bank for Nationwide checking or savings account in the past 12 months under the same title are not eligible for this offer. Promotional terms and conditions are subject to change or removal without notice. Incentive may be taxable and reported on IRS Form 1099-MISC. Consult your tax advisor. After initial requirements above are met, the amount of incentive earned will depend on meeting the additional requirements outlined below:}

^{Small Business Checking bonus up to $400: You must be approved for your new Basic Business Checking or Business Interest Checking account and fund it within 30 days of account opening. An incentive of up to $400 can be earned during the first five (5) statement cycles. A statement cycle is a calendar month consisting of at least one day your account was open during that month. You can earn a maximum of four (4) payouts during the five (5) statement cycles, and the incentive will be deposited into the qualifying account within 10 business days following the end of the statement cycle in which the balance requirement was met.}

• ^{$75 will be earned for each statement cycle, up to $300 when you meet three requirements: 1) the average daily balance in your Basic Business Checking account or Business Interest Checking Account is between $25,000 and $49,999.99, 2) you have completed ten (10) point-of-sale transactions per month using your Small Business Checking Visa® Debit Card for signature-based purchases with a minimum of $3 per transaction, 3) You must also have bill pay set up and connected to your Basic Business Checking account or Business Interest Checking account. The bill pay transaction minimum is $10.}
• ^{$100 will be earned for each statement cycle, up to $400 when you meet three requirements : 1) the average daily balance in your Basic Business Checking account or Business Interest Checking Account is greater than $50,000, 2) you have completed ten (10) point-of-sale transactions per month using your Small Business Checking Visa® Debit Card for signature-based purchases with a minimum of $3 per transaction, 3) You must also have bill pay set up and connected to your Basic Business Checking account or Business Interest Checking account. The bill pay transaction minimum is $10.}

^{Your Small Business Checking account must remain open and in good standing at the time the incentive is paid to be eligible. Furthermore, your Small Business Checking account must remain open for 150 days, or an early closure fee of up to $400 may apply.}

Chase College Checking℠ Account

Bonus offers for student accounts are a rarity, which is part of what makes this Chase College Checking℠ offer special.

New customers have the chance to earn a $100 bonus when they complete 10 or more qualifying transactions within 60 days of account opening. These include debit card purchases, online bill payments, Chase QuickDeposit℠ transactions, Zelle® transactions or ACH credits.

Once you’ve completed the required number of qualifying transactions, you’ll receive your bonus within 15 days.

*With Chase Overdraft Assist^SM, Chase won’t charge an Overdraft Fee if you’re overdrawn by $50 or less at the end of the business day OR if you’re overdrawn by more than $50 and you bring your account balance to overdrawn by $50 or less at the end of the next business day (you have until 11 PM ET (8 PM PT) to make a deposit or transfer). Chase Overdraft Assist does not require enrollment and comes with eligible Chase checking accounts.

Common New Bank Account Bonus Eligibility Requirements

While all bank bonuses work differently from one another, the following are common requirements we’ve seen in a large number of bank bonuses:

• Complete a set number of debit card purchases within a fixed promotional period
• Deposit a prescribed minimum balance and don’t allow your balance to fall below that minimum for a certain timeframe 
• Make a minimum number of bill payments from your account within a set period
• Set up recurring direct deposits (and meet a minimum deposit requirement if necessary)
• Initiate a specific amount of qualifying deposits or transfers with a 3- to 12-month period

There are many different ways to earn new bank account bonuses, which makes it easy to select requirements that match up with your lifestyle and financial situation.

Other Common New Bank Bonus Eligibility Terms

Almost without exception, your new bank account needs to be open and in good standing in order to receive your bonus payment.  So, you can’t have a negative balance and you cannot close your account until after the bank awards you the promotional bonus.

Additionally, some banks may only allow you to receive one new checking account bonus per calendar year. Other banks may take it further, and require you to have not opened an account with them in the past 18 months.

Credit Reports: Soft Inquiries vs Hard Pulls

When you open a new deposit account to earn a bank bonus, there’s usually no hard inquiry on your credit report—like what you receive when you apply for a credit card. Hard inquiries can impact your credit score. Instead, banks typically only require a soft pull on your credit—which has no impact on your credit score.

However, new bank accounts do get reported to ChexSystems. If your ChexSystems report shows too many recent account openings in a set number of consecutive calendar months, you may get denied.

Bank Bonus FAQ

• What banks have the best checking account bonus offers?

  Checking account bonus offers vary depending on the financial institution and the time of year. While fintechs may offer bigger bonuses on average, that rule of thumb does not always hold true. For example, multinational Santander Bank offered new personal checking customers a sizable $400 cash bonus in 2020 just for opening a new account.

• Are bank bonuses taxable?

  Yes, bank account bonuses are taxable as interest-bearing income. So remember to watch out for 1099-INT forms when you get ready to file your tax return.

• Why do banks offer bonuses for opening accounts?

  The majority of checking accounts and savings accounts offer similar terms, regardless of the financial institution. Usually these terms involve keeping your account open for a set amount of time, with a certain amount of money in it. This allows the banks to take advantage of the capital in accounts for that period, at low cost to them. Therefore, to entice new customers to open new deposit accounts, banks offer sign-up bonuses in the form of cash, statement credits or some other lucrative reward.

• What is a direct deposit?

  A direct deposit is a secure, automated electronic deposit of funds directly into a checking or savings account, rather than through a physical check, fund transfer or cash deposit. Most often, direct deposits are used by employers to compensate workers for their efforts.

• Is a service fee the same as a monthly maintenance fee?

  No. Service fees are typically charged to customers for something specific, such as using an ATM that’s not part of a bank’s network or a wire transfer to or from an outside financial insitution. Monthly maintenance fees are recurring fees charged by banks to hold a checking account or savings account.

  Monthly maintenance fees can often be waived by meeting certain minimum balance requirements or deposit amounts. On the other hand, customers are usually not able to waive service fees regardless of account balance.

• Can you earn a bonus for opening a money market account?

  Yes. We’ve seen banks offer promotional bonuses for all kinds of deposit accounts, and money market accounts are no exception. However, as with most other bank bonuses, we usually only these types of promotions apply to new money market accounts.

• What banks have the best saving account bonus offers?

  Similar to checking account bonus offers, online-only banks and fintech services are generally able to offer more generous savings account bonus offers. However, savings account bonuses are not as common as checking account bonus offers because checking accounts typically come with debit cards that can be used as a form of payment. Banks make money every time you swipe or tap your debit card, and therefore, they tend to incentivize checking accounts more frequently.

• Can you earn two bonuses if you open a joint bank account?

  No – typically banks only award a bonus to the primary owner of an account, not one for each joint owner. A primary owner is defined as the main record holder of an account. While the responsibility of account management falls upon both joint owners, the primary owner is indicated on the signature block of the account terms and conditions.