Dead again
Update 2/4/24: Showing again.
Update: As predicted this has been pulled early. You can view current bank bonuses here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: Might be nationwide, otherwise AL, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,500+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown, sensitive
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: $30, 90 days
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: 2/29/2024
Contents
The Offer
- Ameris Bank is offering a bonus of $300 when you open a new free checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Use promo code
- Enroll in e-statements
- Receive qualifying direct deposits totaling $1,500 or more into your account within 90 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- This offer is for new consumer checking account customers only. All signers on the account must be new customers to qualify. Bonus offer is limited to one new Free Checking account per eligible customer. Excludes bank employees, officers and directors, and existing consumer checking account customers, including customers that have closed an account in the past 90 days. Customers that have been paid an Ameris Bank promotional payment in the past 24 months are not eligible.
- To receive $300 bonus: Open a new Free Checking or Online Free Checking account and within 90 calendar days of account opening (90-day period), complete the following:
Register for online banking and enroll your new account in e-statements, and
Receive at least $1,500 in qualifying direct deposits into the account. Direct deposits must be an automatic recurring electronic deposit of your salary, pension, Social Security, or other regular income into your bank account. A Direct deposit is considered received on the date it posts to your account. Other types of electronic deposits such as person to person payments, as well as transfers from one account to another, mobile deposits, or deposits made at a branch, or ATM do not qualify as a direct deposit. - Bonus Payment: At the end of the 90-day period, we will determine if you have met the bonus offer requirements and deposit any earned bonus into your account within 30 days. Your account must be open and in good standing to receive bonus at time of payment. An account in good standing is defined as: open, funded, and not overdrawn. A bonus payment is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT.
- 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 no monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
There is a $30 early account termination fee if closed within 90 days.
Our Verdict
Previous best deal was $100. Hopefully this is available nationwide and if it is I suspect it will end early.
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
View Comments (722)
I keep hoping to close this account via SM as some have advised. However, there appears to be no way to type a secure message into their chatbox. There is simply a line that indicates they'll respond in one or two days, and to call if the matter is urgent. But there is no place to put a cursor and actually type anything. This is true on both the website and app. Am I missing something? Anyone else have this issue?
I received the bonus for myself and P2 last month. P3 was not approved. P2 had to get his account unlocked via a few phone calls recently. He still received the bonus even though his account was locked at the time of bonus payout.
We applied for the accounts after the bonus page was taken down for the final time because we applied through the link that was saved in the Google Drive document that someone posted for reference. The promo code was embedded in that link and seemingly still worked since the bonus terms said the promo was set to expire on 2/29/24. There wasn't a space for a promo code to be entered on the application itself, so I assume that the promo code from the link was automatically applied/attached to the application.
I first attempted to apply on 2/5 when the bonus page was still up for the final time. However, I didn't actually submit my application at that time because people said they weren't getting the right disclosures sent to them regarding the bonus terms. Well, it turns out that I never received the emailed bonus disclosures, and received the bonus eventually anyway.
We both used Wise transfers with "Payroll" in the memo line as the sole DD source for triggering the bonuses, and it worked, as can be seen in my timeline below (P2's is similar):
2/12 - Applied and approved thru online link for online free checking account, $100 CC funding from Shop Your Way CC posted as purchase, but did not count toward any special promos
5/3 - Wise "Payroll" DD posted for $1500 (P2's was sent on 4/3, which is when his account got locked initially)
5/24 - $300 bonus credit posted mentioning the XAKT-29ML promo code, same date for P2's bonus (I guess a bunch of bonuses were posted for people on that date in one big batch)
I haven't started withdrawing any money yet since it's a free account with only an inactivity fee. I guess I will try to drain my account through bill payments mostly, since Ameris seems to like locking people's accounts for external transfers per a lot of the comments.
Talked to this bank today after 4 months of no bonus. They told me that I didn't meet the requirements (even though I definitely did). Stay far away. Scam bank.
02/06/24 - Opened
03/01/24 - Real DD
05/17/24 - $300 Bonus Posted
I was one of those who took a gamble on the second round where the page reappeared. Two days after opening, I received an email with an updated disclosure that included the $300 bonus.
Guess I could post my DP
11/02/23 - opened w/ $100 (last day before they ended the promo early)
11/20/23 - Fidelity push $1500
12/21/23 - Branch Messenger push $1500 (gig economy payer)
02/28/24 - credit memo $300
Got the bonus, not sure if it was Fidelity, Branch or both.
This place is a hot mess as others have mentioned. Planning to close in a couple days.
I remember seeing that you get a free safe deposit box with checking acct if I'm not mistaken.
You can close via "Secure message" SM, but do make sure to include a closure reason. P1 & P2 both, they responded that they needed a closure reason before they would proceed, closing the message, so you have to "reopen" the message, wasting my time and another round of checking messages.
The reason for closure: Consolidation of my finances
Account opened 60 days ago. Made 3 real DD( total over 2K).
Can't use Zelle and can't link 2 different external accounts. Scary. No bonus also.
Try use this account to pay bills and credit cards if you can over time will be able to empty the account.
This bank needs work. Applied 11/3, had to call and verify with CSR that the bonus applied, because it wasn't showing the offer in my confirmation email. They had pulled the bonus PAGE, but hadn't pulled the bonus CODE itself, so the code did still work.
12/21/24 HSA claims $330
1/3/24 Real DD $1
1/17/24 Real DD $750
1/31/24 Real DD $750
Still hadn't received bonus, called 3/12. and the first CSR claimed I never applied with the code. I let her know I kept all my notes, including the code, dates of calling, and whom I called -- the next CSR had it more together and actually *looked* at the account and its notes and saw the code. Bonus arrived 3/15 for $300.
I kept on this and had a reach out by the person handling my concern, a former colleague from another institution. I think they discovered an error in their system, and are re-processing a number of households to properly credit those who qualified.