Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $500
- Availability: AL, CA, IL, NJ, NY, TX, VA, WA. Must be opened in branch. [Branch locations]
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown, no longer sensitive (one person approved with lots of inquiries)
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $15, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: September 30, 2021
Contents
The Offer
- Bank of Hope is offering a bonus of $500 when you open a new business checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Maintain an average balance of at least $20,000 for the first 4 months of account opening
- Complete the following requirements within 90 days of account opening:
- Request a debit card and make at least one debit card purchase or ATM deposit/withdrawal
- Register for Business Online Banking
- Enroll in e-Statements
- Complete one of the following two requirements:
- Make a bill payment using Bank of Hope Online Bill Pay or ACH debit payment
- Receive an ACH credit
The Fine Print
-
Eligible Customers” are (1) new or existing customers who do not currently have a Bank of Hope business checking account, (2) be at least 18 years old and (3) furnish or have a valid Form W-9 or Form W-8BEN on fi le with Bank of Hope and are not subject to backup withholding. Customer who currently has an existing business checking account(s) is not eligible. Eligible Customer must open a new checking account and enroll to participate in the Cash Bonus Offer at the time of account opening or within 30 days of account opening. By enrolling in the Cash Bonus Offer, customer agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
- “Eligible Account” must be a business checking account opened by Eligible Customer during the Promotion Period with new money. New money is defined as funds not currently on deposit with Bank of Hope. Only the first checking account opened during the Promotion Period is eligible for the offer. Subsequent checking account(s) opened under the same account ownership type and account title are not eligible. Limit one Cash Bonus per account. A new checking account opened after closing an existing checking account during the Promotion Period is not eligible for the promotion.
- Eligible Account must remain open, and in good standing from the account opening date of your Eligible Account until the Cash Bonus is paid. The Cash Bonus will be paid to your Eligible Account within six (6) months from the account opening date.
- IMPORTANT TAX INFORMATION ($500 Cash Bonus Offer): The Cash Bonus will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT to the primary account holder on the account, in the year received, as required by applicable law. Customer is responsible for any applicable taxes. Consult your tax advisor. | All accounts subject to applicable terms including the Bank of Hope Deposit Account Agreement, fees, and charges. Terms, conditions, and fees for accounts, products, programs are subject to change. Fee may reduce earnings. Accounts subject to approval. Participation and enrollment in a promotional offer do not guarantee eligibility or fulfillment of the promotional offer. Speak to a banker for more details.
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
The econo checking account has a $5 monthly fee. $2 is waived with one debit card purchase and $3 with eStatements.
The regular checking account has a $15 monthly fee. Monthly service charge can be waived if a minimum daily balance of $5,000 or average daily balance of $10,000 during each statement is maintained.
Early Account Termination Fee
Wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not.
Our Verdict
Previously there was a $500 personal checking bonus, that bonus ended early. It seems like you should be able to do this bonus even if you did that previous bonus. We will add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses.
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
Does anyone know how the average balance of at least $20k is calculated? is it a monthly average balance or the average balance across the 4 month period starting from the day of opening? I ask because I am catching up now because I made an error on the amount I deposited when I opened the account.
In my experience, banks always go by (calendar or statement) month…like it sometimes shows on your monthly statement what your Avg Monthly Bal and Min Monthly Bal was. Find out which “month” they use; your “month” will start on either be the 1st or the day after the closing date on your last statement and will end on either the last day of the calendar month or 30 days after the start date.
If you know you’re going to be short, calculate the Avg Monthly Bal required x 30. Find your lowest Balance so far in this period and take that Min Bal x the total days so far. Subtract the second number from the first. The result is the total amount you need to make up, so take that number and divide by the number of remaining days in the period. Allow some extra “wiggle room” for deposits to post, etc.
Example: There are 10 days left in your “month”. Your lowest Balance during the last 20+ days was $1500. You need to have an Average Monthly Bal. of $2500. So $2500 x 30=$75,000. Your current Avg Monthly is at least $1500 x 20=$30,000. You need to make up the difference: $75,000 – $30,000 = $45,000. You have 10 days, but might use only 9 to be safe, so $45,000 / 9 = $5000. If you bring your account balance to $5000 or more (cash posts immediately and is most reliable) and keep the balance at or above $5000 for the rest of your “month”, your Avg Monthly Bal. will be equal or higher than the $2500 required.
I have done this successfully in the past.
Thanks for the in-depth explanation! Really appreciate it!
You’re welcome! Good luck!
CORRECTION! I just read the fine print on a bank site that uses the actual number of days in the particular statement cycle…implication being they could use 31 days, not 30. I am correcting my original post to use a max 31 days in the calculations just to be safe.
CORRECTION: Amend above to read “If you know you’re going to be short, calculate the Avg Monthly Bal required x 31.” (31 days, not 30.)
Example: There are 10 days left in your “month”. Your lowest Balance during the last 21 days was $1500. You need to have an Average Monthly Bal. of $2500. So $2500 x 31=$77,500. Your current Avg Monthly is at least $1500 x 21=$31,500. You need to make up the difference: $77,500 – $31,500 = $46,000. You have 10 days, but might use only 9 to be safe, so $46,000 / 9 = $5112 (rounded up).
As you can see, you’ve got to get the math right when you are trying to “catch up” to make the Avg Monthly Bal when you’ve been behind.
IS this a korean bank or something. Called to set up an appt and could barely understand both teller and banker, seemed like they didnt get many english speakers tbh as far as chicago burbs are concerned
Yes, it’s a Korean bank
Anyone try sole prop in CA?
Called the local branch and they need a business license to open the business checking account
MANY people confuse tax registration with business license. It is unlikely a license is actually required for businesses that don’t require a license (which is to say most Sole Props/Independent Contractors in CA shouldn’t need one at least).
It’s either or. But must provide at least one. Schedule C won’t work. Won’t open for me (sole prop with EIN, no need for tax license or business registration in CA).
The easiest account to keep free is econo checking; $5/month but get $2 credit for one debit card transaction and $3 credit for E-statements. Thus, no monthly service charge.
Let me update
Also, please let us know if you do an OOS in branch opening. I would love to do this but live absolutely nowhere near a branch but will be passing by one soon.
Anyone know if you have to live in one of the states? There’s a branch 40 miles from my house in a different state. Might be worth it to me if they let me do that…
I’ll probably try this since there are moderately convenient locations. I have a legitimate sole proprietorship.
Plus $50 towards a basic checkbook order. When I opened a Citi business checking account, they sent a free expensive ledger style check order that I have no use for. Do people still use checks?
i called into a NJ branch. seem like you need a EIN to open. Would not take SSN for sole prop.
HUCA for another branch/rep to double check, because that’s ridiculous.
If I sign up and drive for Doordash one time, does that count as a business?
Do they bust your chops about having a “business” or can anyone open this?
most definitely will need to be a real business—they do lots of research. I have real businesses but was denied for personal before they even finished the business research. Too many inquiries was the denial reason.
the lady at the bank said it showed 57 inquires in the past 3 years—I haven’t been keeping track, but i’ve been turned down for several accts though I’ve never had anything ‘negative’—just too many inquiries and too many new accts.
Eh, I have a “business,” though I do have an EIN. The banker who helped open my personal account is currently helping open a biz account for me.
I spoke waaaayyy too soon. I said I was a reseller (PFS coin stuff). The banker hit me back:
“This will be considered New to Banking, which will take additional days and approvals. We will need:
Source of funds-start up revenue and how you will be maintaining the business expense (if any) for the first year on a letterhead.
The source of funds-verification of 3 months bank statement.
What you will be selling specifically.
Reseller’s permit
3-main customers
3-supliers
Expected activities
Cash in/out
Checks in/out
ACH in/out
Wires in/out
International activities
After receiving all the information listed above-it will take approximately 10-business days to prep and approved by 3 departments.
We will be contacting you for any additional documents or information from the review team.”
In light of this I will be taking my “business” elsewhere.
That’s a lot of work for $500! I’d rather open the Citi Business Checking with $15K deposit for $500 bonus.
Wow! That’s a whole bunch of BS just for a checking account.
That’s insane! If you’re not asking for credit or a loan, WTF?! A state tax registration should be sufficient. I would double-check with another branch &/or the 800#.
Thank you for the DP/warning, guess I won’t be opening a “business” account as sole prop.