An easy $250.

[Roland of Gilead]

We wanted a 2nd checking account anyway, but when I saw Chase had a offer for $250 if you open a checking account with $15k and make one direct deposit I jumped on it.

Sure enough, 2 days after the direct deposit they put $250 in there.  They even let me split the money between the checking and a "high yield" saving account.   The saving account yield is 500% higher than the checking account yield!  (0.05% vs 0.01%) so I will make an extra $4!

[AlanStache]

I have been with schawb for years, they are paying a whopping 0.1% now, dont think they have a sign up bonus.  Back in the day before yields went to ~0 I actually made some money with my home down payment sitting in there.

How long do you have to keep the 15k or the account open to keep the 250$?  Have you done this before do you find it worth the book keeping/leg work?

[Roland of Gilead]

Like I said, we wanted a 2nd checking account anyway.  We will be traveling around the country and Chase has different locations than Wells Fargo plus the advantage of having your cash split means it is unlikely you would lose access to both accounts in case of fraud (even a temporary hold would be annoying if you depend on that cash for living expenses).

[Chrissy]

I did this Friday, but my offer was for $175 [edit: for a savings account].  You have to keep the account open for 6 months, and a daily balance of at least $300.  However, my offer didn't say I had to keep the whole $15,000 in there for any length of time, so I'm shopping around for another interest-bearing account.  Open to suggestion.

[Roland of Gilead]

If you don't keep $15k in there the monthly fee is something like $22.

[TreeTired]

It is a tempting offer,   but when I left Chase Bank after being their customer for 15 years I swore I would never go back.  Now I am in a similar situation with Bank of America, ie  I want to close my accounts and leave after 8 years.   I am running out of banks.

[kudy]

I just opened a chase checking account last night for the $200 bonus.

Account is required to be open for 6 months to keep the bonus, and if there's not a minimum balance of $1,500 or a direct deposit or $500 per month, they charge a $12 fee. I plan to direct deposit $250 from each paycheck, and transfer it out right away to avoid the fee.

[RWD]

The saving account yield is 500% higher than the checking account yield!  (0.05% vs 0.01%) so I will make an extra $4!

There are quite a few higher yield savings account options out there. I have an account with Ally that is currently at 0.90% APY. With a $15k account size that would be an additional $127.50 in annual interest compared to 0.05% APY.

[hexdexorex]

I do this once a year or so...its almost not worth it. But it holds my emergency funds at currently a higher rate than I would get at a regular bank. (even a higher yield one). Of course once the 6 month holding period is over I transfer it back to a high yield account and close the account.

[Thegoblinchief]

I don't even have that much cash.

[Jack]

It is a tempting offer,   but when I left Chase Bank after being their customer for 15 years I swore I would never go back.  Now I am in a similar situation with Bank of America, ie  I want to close my accounts and leave after 8 years.   I am running out of banks.

Why are you worried about banks? Just use a credit union instead.

[VirginiaBob]

I'm a fan of the rewards checking accounts versus the 0.x% savings accounts.  Currently utilizing a 2% rate on any balance $20K or below for 12 debit purchases a month and one direct deposit.  $400 a year isn't terrible for emergency funds I guess.  But I'll probably throw it all in an index fund if the stock market dips 20%.

here is the one that i am using (credit union):

https://www.abnbfcu.org/rewardschecking

I'm sure they have better ones out there.

[MotoMM]

It is a tempting offer,   but when I left Chase Bank after being their customer for 15 years I swore I would never go back.  Now I am in a similar situation with Bank of America, ie  I want to close my accounts and leave after 8 years.   I am running out of banks.

Why are you worried about banks? Just use a credit union instead.

Yes yes yes use a credit union.  Or a local bank.

[GrayGhost]

It seems like Bank of Internet, with its up to 1.25% APY interest checking account, might be well-received here.

https://www.bankofinternet.com/personal-banking/checking/rewards-checking#Rates

I have been using it for the past few years, and it's no scam. It might be hard to rack up those 15 $3 purchases a month, but I bet you could figure out a way. Maybe "buying" stuff from a Paypal account you happen to own or something like that.

[AlanStache]

It seems like Bank of Internet, with its up to 1.25% APY interest checking account, might be well-received here.

https://www.bankofinternet.com/personal-banking/checking/rewards-checking#Rates

I have been using it for the past few years, and it's no scam. It might be hard to rack up those 15 $3 purchases a month, but I bet you could figure out a way. Maybe "buying" stuff from a Paypal account you happen to own or something like that.

"bankofinternet", really, sure 4chan did not send you over here?  :-)

[GrayGhost]

It's FDIC insured and like I said, I have used it for some time now with no difficulties or complaints.