Deal has expired, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 7/30/19: Still possible to get $100 and $10 in Swagbucks but you must go through Swagbucks to get both bonuses.
Update 7/3/19: Extended until 7/31/19
Update 6/17/19: Go through Swagbucks and get $100 + $20 in Swagbucks
Update 6/2/19: Bonus has been extended until 6/30/19. Keep in mind people have been receiving bonuses of only $50 instead of $100, not sure why.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $100
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $10+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: Optional
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date:
May 31st, 2019June 30th, 2019
Contents
The Offer
No direct link to offer, must go through Swagbucks
- Aspiration is offering a bonus of $100 when you open a new Spend & Save account and complete the following requirements:
- Set up and receive a direct deposit of at least $10 from your paycheck or government benefits by August 31, 2019
The Fine Print
- Bonus will appear in account by August 15th, 2019
- Offer is only valid for new Aspiration customers. Account must be created directly though this link.
- Customer must complete the following activities: (1) Between 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time 5/7/2019 and 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time 5/31/2019, open and fund an Aspiration Spend & Save Account with a deposit of $10 or more, and (2) by 11:59 Pacific Time on 6/28/2019, set up and make an electronic direct deposit of your paycheck, pension or government benefits (such as Social Security) from your employer or the government.
- Aspiration Spend & Save Account must be open and in good standing, in the sole determination of Aspiration, through the date of the credit.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Aspiration checking works on a pay what you want model, so you can choose anywhere between $0 and $20 per month.
Early Account Termination Fee
I wasn’t able to find a fee schedule, so I’m unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not.
Our Verdict
The bonus isn’t mentioned on the Aspiration checking site, but the Penny Hoarder is a large website so I doubt they would be running a fake offer. We’ve talked about the Aspiration account before, it does a lot of things well but doesn’t really excel in any particular category. Probably worth doing for most people, because of that we will be adding this to our best bank bonus page.
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
Thanks, will have a post in the morning.
Offer is back with much more requirements.
“Offer Terms and Conditions: Offer is only valid for customers who open a new Aspiration Spend & Save Account or a new Save Account. Secondary owner joining an already established account as a joint user does not qualify for promotion. Offer only applies to accounts created through the following URL: http://www.aspiration.com/get-account-100?utm_source=ph. Customer must complete the following activities: (1) Between 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time 2/15/2020 and 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time 2/29/2020, open and fund an Aspiration Spend & Save Account with a deposit of $10 or more, (2) by 11:59 Pacific Time on 6/30/2020, set up and receive three (3) electronic direct deposits of $500 or more each from your paycheck, pension or government benefits (such as Social Security) from your employer or the government (contract work such as Uber/Lyft does not qualify as direct deposit for the purpose of this promotion), and (3) use your Aspiration debit card to make at least $100 worth of transactions by 11:59 Pacific Time on 6/30/2020. Allow up to July 17, 2020 for the $100 offer credit to post to your Aspiration Spend & Save Account.”
looks like it might be back til the 29th
Update for anyone that only got $50… I joined via the Penny Hoarder link. I did real employer direct deposits back in Spring 2019 for several months. I got $50 in May like a lot of folks. I never bothered to reach out to them. I finally went to zero out my account this week and decided I’d have a go asking for my other $50. One email and they next day they credited my account.
Has anyone gotten a 1099?
I haven’t, was also wondering if other users had…
I was thinking the same, so looked on their site and found this:
Tax Forms: As an investor in one (or both) of our funds, you will receive a Form 1099 reporting any income resulting from your investment with Aspiration. You will receive an email notifying you that your Form 1099 is available to download by February 15th.
I asked their support and after getting a very generic response, I got this:
Upon looking further into your account, the $100 promotional credit is not considered interest, and you account was not eligible to receive a 1099-INT. The promotional bonus would be considered income and we do not have a form for you to report that – I recommend discussing with a tax professional to determine how you can report that miscellaneous income.
Which is confusing because in their original response to me, they said “If you earned $10 or more in interest or other income from Aspiration in 2019” so it’s income, but not “other income”?
Doesn’t seem right, but given their issues with paying vendors, maybe they just didn’t pay their tax people or USPS to mail out the forms.
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
Not as of 2/12/20, and nothing under “account statements and documents.”
$25 referral at https://my.aspiration.com/app/token/referral/0VKG84LBP94SQJ1F
Went to close my account and was told “Just so you’re aware, account closures with us are permanent. Once closed, your accounts cannot be reopened (this includes reapplying).” May just keep it open with a $1 balance.
Had to contact customer service in order to get my bonus to post. They handled it within 2 days and I got the bonus.
$25 referral:
https://my.aspiration.com/app/token/referral/6AQZRUM56N29C682
7/3 Opened
8/28 $20 Serve ACH
No bonus as of 11/9