Bonus for opening a bank account?

[ChickenStash]

I recently got two different offers to get a signup bonus if I open a checking account. The fine print seems pretty straightforward - a couple of direct deposits, some debit card transactions and holding a balance for 3-6 months. The balance requirements are pretty low. Each is offering $300 so not a small amount for what seems like little effort.

Does anyone know about gotchas with these? Things to look for or ask about?

Thanks!

[aperture]

Got mine from Chase bank and after two paychecks already have $300 deposited.  Fine print is that most checking accounts will charge a fee if balance is below a threshold. 

[terran]

Just pay attention to the fine print (for getting the offer, not closing too early, and keeping the account fee free) and you should be good. My wife and I did chase, discover bank, and schwab (that one was small, but we wanted the account for international travel anyway) last year. This year we've done some personal and business chase accounts so far.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-bank-account-bonuses/ is a good place to find these. 

[HipGnosis]

+1 on pay attention to the fine print.
I copy it from the banks website and paste it in my word processing program.
I increase the font, break it into paragraphs and put the key points in bold.
For tracking debit use; I make a sleeve for the debit card (from the corner of a junk mail envelope) and tally them off (4 vertical lines then a slash over them).  It's easier in summer when I can put $2 of gas in my motorcycle every other day.

Some people complain about the low ROI for the balance minimum, but I'm using my emergency fund that would otherwise be in a (very) low APR savings account.

[ChickenStash]

Thanks everyone!

I'll take a deeper dive on the fine print and make sure to keep track of the req's and give it a shot.

[catccc]

Don't forget for tax planning purposes that these bank bonuses are 1099-INT income!  Some banks may hit you with a credit inquiry when you open, so you might want to look that up if you are sensitive to this sort of thing.  Be aware of what you need to do to avoid fees while you await the minimum time the account needs to be open to receive the bonus, or after receiving the bonus to not have to pay it back.  Other than that, no gotchas of which I am aware.

[Trying2bFrugal]

Got mine from Chase bank and after two paychecks already have $300 deposited.  Fine print is that most checking accounts will charge a fee if balance is below a threshold.

Do you know if Chase would run a hard inquiry on credit history for opening bank accounts?
I received that make $500 things from Chase and was thinking of getting it work to earn $1000 (wife and me).

Also received a coupon from Citizen bank for $400 for opening the account. Anyone knows on this too?

[catccc]

If this is to be believed, it is a soft pull for Chase:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank-accounts/is-opening-a-bank-account-a-soft-or-hard-pull/#Chase