I think I've gotten into a groove that works for me with bank account churning.
Once a quarter I pick out three offers to churn from a list that I maintain from the daily doctor of credit email. I found that I can typically open three new accounts in one day before I start getting rejected. The previous quarter's accounts are usually in a holding pattern at that time as requirements typically ask for 1-3 months of deposits. At the same time quarter-before-that usually has a couple of accounts that required six months account duration to close without a penalty that are just sitting.
So, it's only once every three months that I spend an hour or so opening the new accounts and adding the direct deposits to my payroll, removing the previous quarter's accounts from payroll and closing the quarter-before-that's accounts.
It's not perfect; some accounts you can sweep the deposited funds out early, close as soon as the bonus arrives, the direct deposit has to extend to 5-6 months, etc but it's nice to know that if I get busy, it will all be fine if I just go in at the beginning of the quarter and check my spreadsheet for any early closures/long deposit periods. Typically I clear $500-750/quarter. Not a bad hourly wage!
Anyway, those of use who have been doing this awhile know all these details but I thought it might be helpful for any newbies lurking about.
Just curious, how many thousands of dollars do you need to manage these many accounts? I've only done one checking account so far and that was Chase Total Checking -- very easy to do and got $300. All I have to do is deposit $500 each month into that account and there are no fees whatsover.. have to do this for 6 months.
Trying to do my next checking account and after looking through many on doctor of credit I just don't see one is like Chase. They require large sums of cash to sit in the account, have like $3000 monthly direct deposit requirements or want you to do a dozen or more debit card transactions each month. Definitely not interested in all the debit card transactions because I like using my credit card I am currently churning for as many purchases as possible. So does it come down to just having large sums of cash? Have to keep in mind I will be losing 2.25% interest rate I'd have by leaving that money in Ally.com.
I dunno what to do.
I skip the ones that require debit card transactions (too much work) or too much capital (I want an adjusted APR of 50%+). All the savings account bonuses seem to cluster in the mid-low teens in return so I've only done a couple and don't plan on more. Maybe at some point I'll run out of low hanging fruit and will not be able to find 3 new ones every quarter without loosening my requirements but for now it hasn't been an issue.
I've done the TD Bank ($2,500 deposit) and PNC ($5k over 60 days) but most have clustered around $200-$300/deposit according to my spreadsheet. I divert ~$600-$900 in payroll direct deposits into the new accounts. As the result, the deposits to my normal payroll checking account are a little lean but at the same time that this is occurring, there are the deposits plus bonuses from the quarter-before-last accounts being sent to that regular checking.
So for me, no, it has not required additional cash of any kind. I treat the funds tied up in these accounts as an extension of my emergency fund. In a SHTF situation, I can just pull out the balance, close the accounts and walk away from the bonuses. However, it's a mischaracterization for me to say that it does not require cash. It does but it's just money that- for me- would be sitting in another cash equivalent account earning significantly less otherwise.
I just looked through my balances on the six accounts currently open. 3x$0, 1x$5, 1x$1,500, 1x$2,500. There's some cash tied up but that $4,000 is also "earning" $650 this quarter aka 65% APR. A little more work that throwing it in an Ally saving account and forgetting about it but also earning a boatload more than $22 (2.2% APR).