Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: See below
- Hard/soft pull: Unknown
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: None
Contents
The Offer
- Baselane is offering a $300 bonus when you open a new account and complete the following requirements:
- Deposit minimum of $500 within 30 days and maintain that average balance for 60 days
- Use your Baselane Banking debit card on 5 qualifying transactions within 90 days
- Collect at least two $500 rent payments via Baselane’s Rent Collections tool within 90 days
The Fine Print
- 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
I wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so unsure if there is any EATF.
Our Verdict
Not sure what the baselane rent collection tool is like and if it’s worth switching just for this $300 bonus.
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
For those Landlords that want to use this account to pay rental unit expenses, be advised that it currently does not allow check writing and does not offer online bill payments to vendors. You can only pay vendors by direct ACH transfers. This makes it impractical for use as a primary rental account as many small business contractors and vendors do not accept ACH transfers. I found out the hard way when my check (with my Baselane account info) to pay an insurance deductible for my rental unit bounced…
Baselane announced that they will be
migrating accounts to a new bank partner, Thread Bank, on November 27, 2023. This change will means account holders will be able to write checks. There was no mention how this change will impact the APY
Is this still an issue? I’ve read several articles on Baselane and I was under the impression I could use the debit card for general purposes. That I would have the flexibility to use this similar to a normal bank.
(I am looking for a one stop shop bank for real estate investments)
Easy enough for me:
$500 funding early June
$500 “rent” from P2 (who paid through Baselane portal) late June
5X Amazon reloads mid July
$500 rent late July
$300 Bonus late August
STAY AWAY FROM THIS BONUS. Baselane will make your life a living hell to try to even get this bonus.
When I attempted, they kept categorizing my debit card purchases as “bill pay” and saying these do not qualify for the promotion, even when nothing in the terms say so. When I turned over my unit to a new tenant, they told me my new tenant is not “bona fide” just because they were a witness on the lease for my last tenant (these are all my friends and had kindly offered to witness each other’s leases) and is considered a “close associate”, which they consider to be a violation of their terms and straight out denied the bonus completely.
They have robbed me of the $300 even though I had diligently completed the requirements using genuine information and followed their additional instructions multiple times. Scammers!
I think I blew up this bonus, let my balance fall below $500 accidentally while spending so much time on meeting rent collection requirements *crying*
Can anyone confirm if this does or does not work for PayPal BillPay? I’ve seen mixed reviews.
You know my DP but you could also just try it for yourself, they don’t pull Chex as I applied with mine frozen. Also, after I withdrew all but $1 and left account unused for some time, they sent me a targeted email to spend $50 and get $25 back, hopefully posts automatically within timeframe specified (30 days) without action from me. I did sign up with the $300 bonus link but have no plans to do bonus as their FAQ states pretty clearly they will send out 1099-K and $1000 in “rent” would exceed $600 reporting limit
Does anyone use Stessa (that’s assets spelled backward)? No SUB but I like how it imports transactions and categorizes them and they offer 1.01% cash back debit card (no category bonus) and HYSA of 3.03% if you are on the free plan or 5.05% if you are on the $20/month plan. It looks like Baseline is going after a similar audience of smaller landlords / real estate investors.
Interesting – I see both Stessa and Baseline use Blue Ridge Bank for banking services.
Enzo I believe was also blue ridge bank
I’ve used Stessa for 5 years.. I like it though it’s not super sophisticated for bookkeeping. The cash account is new within the last year, as is the “premium” to get 5.05%. I don’t keep money in that account nor do I pay for the plan.
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“Baselane reserves the right to exclude any users from participating in the Program for any reason, including suspected fraud, misuse, or if suspicious activities are observed, including without limitation, in the case of payments to and from the same individual or entity, payments between relatives or close associates, and other actions inconsistent with a bona fide landlord/tenant relationship.”
Davis
It’ll be interesting to see how much they scrutinze “rent payments”.
That was the verbiage they used to screw me out of the $150 bonus. That bonus did not even state that a rent payment was necessary.
Ya I didn’t get the bonus. “Tenant” used a bank account with my name and they identified it. Oh well
Is there a plan to create a referral page for this? It’s $100 to both parties.
William Charles 
Chuck
Good idea. I’d rather do a referral than trying to convince tenants to sign up using the app.
You must have someone in your life who’s willing to pay you “rent” a couple times. They can even get some MS for a SUB.
You would be worse off, because both parties need to collect $500+ rent payments to get the bonus.
https://www.baselane.com/baselane-rent-collection-referral-program-terms-conditions/
You and the Referred Party will each receive one hundred dollars ($100) in your Baselane Banking account (“Reward”) if all of the following conditions are satisfied within a 45-day period (“Qualification Period”): (1) you collect at least five hundred dollars ($500) of rent through the Service into a Baselane Banking account, (2) the Referred Party is not a previous Baselane user and signs up for a Baselane user account for the first time, and (3) the Referred Party collects at least five hundred dollars ($500) of rent through the Service into a Baselane Banking account.
Just so you know, this bonus requires that the tenant, not just the landlord, opens an account with Baselane. Baselane sends a link to the tenant after landlord provides tenant’s email and phone number and the tenant needs to sign up as well. So landlord cannot just accept an ACH transfer for rent. This is how they track whether you receive rent or not. Plus you need to do many things to setup the account, like the rent amount, late fees, a copy of contract, due dates, etc. . This is a hard pass for me, you cannot force a tenant to open an account with them just so I can win $300!
That is NOT true. I can’t tell if you’re misinformed or deliberately trolling. The tenant needs to create a login and provide payment method, but doesn’t need to create an actual account. Also, the landlord doesn’t need to provide the lease contract, and of course they need due dates and the rent amount, how else would they manage a system of paying rent? Either read up on the product in question or gtfo with your lack of knowledge.
whats the difference between “create a login and provide payment information” and “create an actual account”?
What Danno was clarifying was that the tenant doesn’t need to open a bank account with Baselane, despite Jennifer’s claim. I have an actual rental property with a tenant using Baselane so I can tell you Jennifer is just wrong on a few points. Baselane lets tenants pay rent from whatever bank info they provide. They do not require a copy of the contract. I also didn’t force my tenant to use Baselane, but they chose to because it’s free and convenient for them.
Thank you Warner for backing me up on this. I’m not saying it’s the best choice for ANYONE, but I just hope people on here realize that it’s not like the tenants are getting roped into anything.
The demo video from Baselane says tenants need to set up an account. It will have their invoice history, contract information, and will be where they set up a payment method. ACH is free, debit/credit has a 3% fee.