HSBC $100/$200 Checking Promotion + $100 For Referring A Friend ($1,000 Limit)

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $200 + up to $1,000 in referrals
• Availability: Nationwide
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: Deposit of $10,000/$100,000
• Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
• Credit card funding: Unknown
• Monthly fees: $20/$50 waiveable 
• Early account termination fee: None
• Expiration date: None listed

The Offer

Direct link to offer

$100 HSBC Advance Checking Bonus

Receive a sign up bonus of $100 when you open an Advance checking account with HSBC, using somebodies unique referral code in branch or by calling 866.909.1271. You need to fund the account with at least  $10,000 in combined U.S. personal deposit and investment balances.

$200 HSBC Premier Checking Bonus

Receive a sign up bonus of $200 when you open an Premier checking account with HSBC, using somebodies unique referral code in branch or by calling 866.909.1271. You need to fund the account with at least  $100,000 in combined U.S. personal deposit and investment balances.

$100 Referral Bonus

For every friend that you refer that opens a HSBC Premier or Advance Checking Account with your unique referral ID you’ll receive a $100 bonus. You can earn a maximum of $1,000 per calendar year. To refer a friend go here and follow the prompts.

The Fine Print

• To receive the referral credit:
  • The individual you refer must keep their account open for at least 15 days
  • The individual you refer must not currently hold, nor have held in the past 90 days, an HSBC personal account; and the individual you refer must provide your personalized referral code at account opening for you both to qualify to receive credit for the referral bonus
• Allow 8 weeks for all bonuses to post
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Our Verdict

It’s best to thing about this bonus as a savings account bonus because of the large amount of funds that need to be deposited. Both accounts come with an APY of 0.01% (aka nothing) and would require you to keep the account open for 8 weeks to ensure you get the bonus. If we put $100,000 into a 1% APY account for 8 weeks we’d earn roughly $150, so the bonus we’d be earning is actually only $50 (not worth it, unless you can convince the friend that refers you to give you their $100 bonus as well).

If we put $10,000 into a 1% APY account for 8 weeks we’d earn roughly $15, so this would mean the $100 bonus is more like $85. Personally I don’t bother with bank bonuses unless they are $100+ in real value, but this could make sense for some (although there are a lot of bonuses out there that are much better).

In the past they’ve offered a $500 bonus on the Premier checking account ($100,000 must be kept in account for six months) and $150 for Advance checking ($25,000 balance required for six months)

Direct link to offer 

Hat tip to Maximizing Money