[Expired]BMO Harris $200 Checking Bonus – Available Nationwide

This bonus has now expired, you can view other checking bonuses that are still valid here.

Warning: The BMO Harris reps are pretty much useless, don’t bother calling them as they say stuff like it’s not a valid promotion and not hosted on their website (when it clearly is) people in the comments have reported getting the bonus without issue.

Update: Looks like the online application still isn’t working unfortunately.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $200
• Availability: Nationwide
• Direct deposit required: $300
• Additional requirements: None
• Hard/soft pull: Soft, make sure you opt out of overdraft protection
• Credit card funding: Up to $1,000
• Monthly fees: $10, waivable
• Early account termination fee: $50 if closed within 90 days, you’ll also forfeit the bonus if you closed the account within six months.
• Expiration date: January 26th, 2016 April 30th, 2016 July 2nd, 2016 July 31st, 2016 August 30th, 2016 October 31st, 2016

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Open a BMO Harris checking account (BMO Harris Select Checking and BMO Harris Portfolio Checking) and receive a bonus of $200 when you set up a qualifying recurring direct deposit of at least $300. You need to make sure you open this account using a coupon code (click “email myself a coupon and find a banker)

The Fine Print

• $200 cash bonus is valid for a new BMO Harris Everyday Checking®, BMO Harris Select Checking® or BMO Harris Portfolio Checking® account opened between July 27, 2015 and July 2, 2016 and is limited to one per account.
• Offer not available to existing BMO Harris personal checking account customers (including all signers on joint accounts) or those who have closed a BMO Harris personal checking account within the past 12 months of opening a new account as part of this promotion.
• To receive the cash bonus, you must mention or use the promo code, open the checking account and have qualifying direct deposits into the account
• Qualifying direct deposits” are recurring direct deposits of a paycheck, pension payment, Social Security payment, or other government benefits payment electronically deposited into your new personal checking account on a recurring basis, at least monthly, from an employer or an outside agency. Each direct deposit must be in an amount of $300 or more
• First direct deposit must be received within 60 days of account opening
• Bonus will be received after approximately 120 days of account opening if requirements are met
• You must pay taxes on all bank account bonuses

Avoiding Fees

Your best option is to open the BMO Harris Everyday Checking ($10 monthly fee), the monthly fee is waived if you meet any of the following requirements:

• You receive an external deposit of $500 or more
• The minimum daily balance is $1,000 or more
• You’re a college student and you request a fee waiver. This will result in the account being fee free for a period of four years
• Your BMO Harris Select Checking® account meets its $10,000 minimum Combined Balance requirement, and you have requested we link this account to your BMO Harris Select Checking account to receive benefits under Relationship Waiver. (Monthly maintenance fee waiver is limited to one (1) BMO Harris Everyday Checking account.)
• Your BMO Harris Portfolio Checking® account meets its $25,000 minimum Combined Balance requirement, and you have requested we link this account to your BMO Harris Portfolio Checking account to receive benefits under Relationship Waiver. (Monthly maintenance fee waiver is limited to a total of two (2) BMO Harris Everyday Checking accounts.)
• Your Wealth Checking account meets its $25,000 minimum Average Daily Balance requirement, and you have requested we link this account to your Wealth Checking account to receive benefits under Relationship Waiver. (Monthly maintenance fee waiver is limited to a total of two (2) BMO Harris Everyday Checking accounts.)

Early Account Termination Fee

You need to keep your account open for a minimum of six months to keep the bonus, in addition to this if you closed it within 90 days you’ll be charged an additional $50.

Our Verdict

This is a great bonus and I recommended signing up when the bonus was only $150, now that it has been increased it’s an even better deal. Here is how I’d complete the deal

• Open the every day account, use a credit card to fund $1,000 (this will earn you credit card points and give you enough in the account to keep it fee free. You can see what credit cards have/haven’t coded as a cash advance here for BMO Harris)
• Set up a direct deposit of $300+ for four months, you can see what has worked as a direct deposit in the past here, you can also transfer money out of the account so your balance sits at $1,000 to avoid losing too much in interest.
• Wait for the bonus to post
• Wait six months, close account

One thing that’s nice about BMO Harris promos is that they can be churned (like the Chase checking bonuses). We’ve added this bonus to our list of recommended checking promotions and also our complete banking bonus database.

Hat tip to reader David