Update 11/17/24: $500 bonus has been reduced to $300.
Update 6/1/24: Deal is back, at the moment only a working link for Wintrust has been found. Hat tip to jacob
Update 9/29/23: Deal is back
Update 1/12/23: Extended through march 31, 2023
Update 5/29/22: Bonus is now $500. Hat tip to Burnout1749
Update 2/17/22: Deal is back and valid until December 31, 2022 Christopher Robin
Update 8/23/21: Available in FL as well. Hat tip to Snowbird
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $500
- Availability:Â IL, WI & FL [Branch locator]
- Direct deposit required:Â No
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull:Â Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees:Â $15, avoidable
- Early account termination fee:
- Household limit:Â None listed
- Expiration date:Â
June 30th, 2019ÂDecember 31, 2020 December 31, 2021December 31, 2022
Contents
The Offer
Direct link to offer | St. Charles Bank (IL) or Town Bank (WI) or Lake Forest Bank (FL)
- Receive a sign up bonus of $500 when you open a new Entrepreneur checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Deposit and maintain $5,000 or more in new money
- Complete 10 qualifying transactions
- Enroll in online banking and activate eStatements
The Fine Print
- This Entrepreneur Checking account bonus offer is not available to existing or closed checking account customers of Wintrust Financial Corporation (WTFC) and its subsidiaries or its active employees.
- Limit 1 bonus payment per customer, regardless of the number of accounts opened.
- If you qualify for this Entrepreneur Checking account bonus offer, you are ineligible to receive this Entrepreneur Checking account bonus offer from any other WTFC location.
- If you qualify for any other WTFC savings offer it may be combined with this Entrepreneur Checking account bonus offer.
- Your new account must be open, in the same product, and have a balance greater than zero to receive the bonus payment.
- If you are a sole proprietorship or a single member LLC, the $300.00 bonus payment is subject to IRS 1099-INT reporting and may be considered income for tax purposes for the tax year in which the bonus was paid.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has a $15 monthly fee, this is waived if you have an average daily balance of $5,000
Early Account Termination Fee
I wasn’t able to find a full fee schedule so I’m unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not.
Our Verdict
Looks like a relatively easy bonus to meet the requirements for. Assuming it’s a soft pull like the other WinTrust bank brands I do think this is worth doing if you live near a branch. I’ll likely add this to our list of the best checking account bonuses once we’ve confirm it’s a soft pull to open the account.
Hat tip to reader Matthew R
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
“To qualify, open a new Entrepreneur Checking account, enroll in business online banking & e-statements, deposit & maintain $1,500 or more, & complete 5 qualifying transactions within the Qualification Period.” https://www.wintrust.com/business-solutions/business/banking/deposit-solutions/business-checking-savings-promo.html
used t-mobile for the debit card transactions which started a nightmare because they code as ‘A2A debit terminal’ which means they weren’t coded as “normal”? debit card transactions
have pepper now so that won’t happen again, but avoid using mobile/bill providers for debit card transactions, NASA FCU had the same complaint as well
wasn’t paid out the bonus until I:
filed a complaint with the branch, branch manager, CFPB, OCC, and a day after I file an ethics complaint with their internal ethics board provider thing, I got paid.
tried to request a product change to their free business checking product to see if I could the last two months of fees waived that I wouldn’t have incurred if they had paid on time, but they don’t do that, they would only open a new account.
what a nightmare.
I went directly to the bank’s website to see the limitations and could not find that it area specific or limited to certain states. Where did you guys find this?
For IL, is SSN for some prop enough for this bank?
They also asked me for a DBA letter but took SSN instead of EIN
There is actually a $300 and $500 option and money only needs to be in the account the last day of the month for 2 consecutive months after account opening, so not a hold for the full time. The below is the terms for the $500 and a link to the full offer. I didn’t read the $300 terms but am assuming it is similar.
9. Business Community Checking Bonus Qualifications. (i) Open new Business Community Checking account; (ii) mention offer during in-branch account opening; (iii) maintain at least $5,000 on each of the last business days for 2 consecutive calendar months after the calendar month the account was opened (‘Qualification Period’); (iv) complete 10 qualifying transactions (ACH debit, ACH credit, wire transfer, or debit card transactions) within the Qualification Period; & (v) enroll in business online banking & activate e-statements within the Qualification Period. New account must be open & have a balance greater than $0 to receive bonus payment. Balance determined as of end of each business day as funds currently in the account including deposits & withdrawals made in the business day. For eligible customers, bonus is deposited into the new account within 30 calendar days after the Qualification Period.
https://www.wintrust.com/business-solutions/business/banking/deposit-solutions/business-checking-savings-promo.html
Finally got around to doing this. Quick in branch open, printing the debit card and temp checks too majority of the visit. Said no issue getting bonus as long as I’ve never gotten a biz one prior.
Applied in branch today, was approved, no HP, no second chex pull, I got a chex pull when approved for the personal account a few weeks back
they confirmed on the phone yesterday having a personal account wasn’t disqualifying for the bonus, only having a previous biz account was.
both promos applied
https://i.gyazo.com/c03a96df792dd633ff805b5dc6d57e43.png
this definitely needs an “IN BRANCH” disclaimer in the post title…no way to open the account online with offer attached. terms say “must mention in branch”….
any idea if this means that having a personal checking with them is disqualifying?
> This Business Community Checking account bonus offer is not available to existing or closed checking account customers of WTFC and its subsidiaries or its active employees.
The way it is written leads me to believe if you have had a business or personal account in the past you will not qualify for this one. I would like to be proven wrong.
yeah, but I think a lot of the banks with bonuses for both are written that way, but you can get both personal/biz US bank and Huntington
I successfully opened this account over email using DocuSign. I used a chicago address that is not far from a branch.
they accept/acknowledge the promo code over email?
I used a generic contact form on the website and mentioned the flyer
Did you exclusively use email to get the account or did you talk with them on the phone? the CSR person that reached out to me after I put in a contact form request said I should visit a branch or call in. Also, did the promo code work? The terms did say something about opening in a branch.
Email only. I double checked the account opening docs before I DocuSign them and the bonus disclosure was there so I think that means it’s attached.
Which branch was it? As I filled out the form too but was told to call a branch. The CSR said a visit to branch was required. esaphire3
Here is the WI LINK, not expired, dug around for it.
https://www.wintrust.com/smallbusiness.html
Fine print on Wintrust not updated and states the following:
$500 Business Checking Bonus
“This Business Community Checking account bonus offer is valid for new accounts opened September 29, 2023 through January 31, 2024.”
$300 Business Checking Bonus
“This Entrepreneur Checking account bonus offer is valid for new Entrepreneur Checking accounts opened during the Promotional Period January 1, 2022 through January 31, 2024 that meet the bonus qualifications set forth below.”
4. Entrepreneur Checking Bonus Information. Offer valid for accounts opened 2/1/24 — 1/29/25. Offer not available to existing or closed business checking account customers of WTFC & its subsidiaries or employees, Political Action Committee, fiduciary, or campaign accounts. Limit 1 bonus payment per customer, regardless of number of accounts opened; may only be received from 1 WTFC location.
8. Business Community Checking Bonus Information. Offer valid for accounts opened 2/1/24 — 1/29/25. Offer not available to existing or closed business checking account customers of WTFC & its subsidiaries or employees, Political Action Committee, fiduciary, or campaign accounts. Limit 1 bonus payment per customer, regardless of number of accounts opened; may only be received from 1 WTFC location. Offer combinable with any WTFC business savings offer.
Good sleuthing
Celia , perhaps DOC should update to reflect the new link expiration dates 
William Charles .
As ticky stated fine print says “through January 31, 2024.” So not currently valid.
https://www.wintrust.com/personal-solutions/bank-with-us/checking/ta-checking.html
Promo is still available?
That’s a $300 personal checking bonus, this post is for $500 business checking