Basics of $150 offer:
1. Open account
2. Fund with $2000
3. Buy or sell 5 motifs at the full $9.95 commission rate within 45 days of opening account
4. Get $150 within 75 days of opening account
Make sure you're applying through a link that has the $150 promo. I checked the links through my summary (linked by arebelspy upthread) and they all land on the $150 promo.
The terms and conditions from the $150 promo:
The cash bonus offer applies to new, approved Motif Investing brokerage accounts opened after 9/1/12 and funded with at least $2,000. The new funds must be posted to the account within 30 calendar days of account opening, and must remain in the account for 45 calendar days. The total bonus will be based on motif trades made within 45 calendar days of funding, as follows: 1 motif trade will receive $50; 3 motif trades will receive $75; 5 motif trades will receive $150. A motif trade is defined as a completed purchase or sale of a motif for $9.95 commission. Individual stock trades will not be considered as part of this offer. The cash bonus will be credited to the account within 30 calendar days after the end of the 45-calendar-day period.
If you wanted to game the system, you could buy-sell-buy-sell half-sell other half to hit the 5 buy/sell requirement at a total commission of $49.75 and net $100.25 after commissions.
I don't think there is a $25 fee to transfer cash if you request a paper check (and presumably ACH transfers are free too given their focus on efficiency and high tech stuff). Per the fees page: Check Request by Regular Mail from Your Brokerage Account: No Charge.
Caution: IRAs have a $95 closure fee and don't qualify for the $150 promo anyway ("This offer is not valid for retirement accounts, such as IRAs").
I don't think buying the asset allocation commission free motifs qualify for the $150 bonus either, as it needs to be $9.95 commission trades.
