Update 1/14/22: Check offers for existing users:
- 2 purchases within 7 days for $10.00. Each needs to be at least $1.00 or more
- 3% back on groceries.
Deal has ended, Cheese sent out an e-mail stating they have reached their marketing budget already and referrals made after 4PM PST 1/7/2022 will not be eligible for bonuses
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $70
- Availability:Â Nationwide
- Direct deposit required:Â No
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: No, not sensitive
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees:Â None
- Early account termination fee:Â None
- Household limit:Â None
- Expiration date:Â None listed
Contents
The Offer
No direct link to offer, requires a referral link. You can find/share referrals in this linked post.
- Cheese is offering a $70 referral bonus to both parties. The referral bonus is broken down as follows:
- $2 when you sign up
- $45 when you fund $50+
- $23 when you spend $5+ on debit card
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
The account itself is useful as it offers APY of up to 3% APY. The $70 bonus is easy to meet the requirements for as well. Normally I suggest sticking to bonuses that are $100+ but this might be worth doing for some people, especially if you can refer a few friends or family members. Don’t share your referrals in the comments here, but you can share them in this linked post instead. (Reader Evan notes that there’s a limit of 15 referrals per referrer.)
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
Looks like on July 5th Cheese decided to do payouts for those who finished the requirements previously. P2 did receive the email that
bankbonus mentioned below on 6/18/22, Subj: Notice to Cheese Cardholder Regarding Referral Campaign.
P2 DP:
1/7/22 $2 Cheese Referral Bonus for signing up
1/10/22 $5 Cheese internal transfer deposit from P1
1/10/22 $5 USAA insurance payment using the virtual card
1/12/22 $51 Transfer from Fairwinds CU via Plaid
1/12/22 $45 Cheese Referral Bonus for funding with $50+
1/12/22 $5 Cheese Referral Bonus for funding within 7 days
1/12/22 Three $1 USAA insurance payments via virtual card.
1/13/22 $10 Streak Challenge Reward
2/25/22 Nearly zeroed account and left the account with pennies.
7/5/22 $25 Cheese Referral Bonus – Purchase
So, if you left your account open, check your balance. Those that gave up, you might want to inquire about the bonus, but I imagine they will weasel out. P2 never submitted complaints and never activated the physical card.
William Charles 
Chuck
Yup same happened to me
1/7/2022 7 separate $2 referral bonuses
1/13/2022 $5 welcome bonus (award I earned)
1/21/2022 $45 Referral deposit bonus (award I earned)
1/28/2022 Brought account to 1¢
7/5/2022 Two $25 referral purchase bonuses and two $45 referral funding bonuses
I never even received a physical card
Here are the updated terms for the referral offer.
https://www.earncheese.com/campaigns/cheese-referral-v2
Do we know that it’s still valid?
Negative.. there is nothing to suggest that new customers are going to get the same referral offer. This is just merely doing reparations for the people who stuck it out. It’s total b******* if you ask me but whatever. Seems they are requiring the customers that signed up for the promo to redo the requirements. Plus I’m sure many people have already closed their accounts because they gave up.
Are you asking if it’s valid for new people? If so, I don’t think so. They were probably forced to honor the promo for people that signed up before they took it down.
Wow, looks like they were forced into doing the right thing. Just got this email:
We appreciate you being a loyal customer of Cheese and are glad you joined us through the Referral Campaign Promotion.
After additional consideration of the rules and requirements, we have determined that you are still eligible to receive the Referral Campaign’s reward(s) by completing one or more of the following:
Successfully sign up
Funding your account
Making the first eligible purchase
We are opening this window of opportunity to allow you to complete the necessary steps for fulfilling the referral campaign so that you can receive up to $45 bonus for funding your account, and up to $23 bonus for making a purchase of over $5. All of the same restrictions from the initial campaigns still apply, and you are encouraged to review our amended Terms below.
You have until 09/10/2022 to complete the steps in order to receive the appropriate amount. Once you have made any eligible referral campaign steps, we will deposit the appropriate amount in your account within 10 business days. In order to receive the bonuses, your account must be in good standing as defined in our Terms and Conditions. We reserve the right to withhold any bonus payouts or to suspend the account if the account is in violation of our Terms and Conditions.
Received the same email.
William Charles 
Chuck
I received this email also. I just looked back through my history and I received the $45 and $5 bonuses but not the $23. I did the required spend so I should have received that already. I always meant to email them about it but never did.
I noticed they didn’t mention anything about receiving the matching bonuses for referrals that we made so they are probably only honoring our own bonuses. I only received $2 for the people that I referred before Cheese nuked the offer.
Are you both in a similar boat?
I filed a complaint to my state regulator (for me, it’s NYS Department of Financial Services) and received all referral bonuses after the complaint. Just attach the email evidence of invitation before Cheese’s shady notice deadline 4.00pm on 1/7/2022.
I definitely do plan on emailing Cheese to tell them that I should have already received the $23 rather than making another $5+ purchase (although that wouldn’t be a big deal if I have to).
When you wrote “received all referral bonuses” are you referring to the $5, $23 & $45 bonuses only or also matching bonuses for people that signed up using your referral link (if there were any)?
I just checked the transaction history, the referral bonuses I received include 3 parts: $2 referral bonus (not 5), $23 referral purchase bonus and $45 referral bonus. For myself, I only received $5 welcome bonus, and have not received the $23 and $45. I will try to make a $5+ purchase and fund the account again to see if I can get the bonus.
So are you saying that you didn’t actually receive anything after filing your complaint?
The $5 that I received must have been for another bonus that had nothing to do with the referral. I think I received the $2 also.
Did anyone sign up through your referral link? I’d like to know if anyone received more than the initial $2 match for referrals.
For myself, you’re correct. The $45 and $23 were missing.
For the referral bonus, I referred 2 persons, and both of them are my friends. They confirmed they had received the bonuses (45+23, besides the initial $2) after my complaint.
Can you email Cheese to ask if they will now be matching those bonuses that your friends received since that was part of the original promo? Since they are your friends, you have all of their information if Cheese asks subsequent questions.
Before the complaint, I email them 5 times and received no response. Since I received this email this morning, I’m gonna fund $50+ and make a $5+ purchase to see if they make their promise.
I went through the terms & conditions (see below) and found why there is confusion about the amount of the signup bonus. I signed up on 1.7.22 so that’s why my signup bonus was $2.
If by the end of 1/6/2022 at 11:20am PST, you were accepted to our Cheese program by successfully opening an account, you will be eligible for the following referral bonus terms:
Successful Signup: $5
Valid Fund $50+: $45
Valid Spend $5+: $20
If after 1/6/2022 at 11:20am PST, you were accepted to our Cheese program by successfully opening an account, you will be eligible for the following referral bonus terms:
Successful Signup: $2
Valid Fund $50+: $45
Valid Spend $5+: $23
I was able to get the $23 spend bonus after a BBB complaint to their partner bank (Coastal Community Bank). Their response included the line “CCB Compliance is working with Cheese to review the promotion and determine if additional action is needed for customers that signed up under the promotion” so I wonder if others who should’ve received bonuses will indeed get them.
I closed mine without any issues.
Any DP’s on closing immediately after bonus? Not an account I’d like to keep for 6 months if I don’t have to.
Any DPs of people getting their money without asking? I used P2’s referral and got $45 after emailing support. P2 got $45 after emailing support, but not the other $45 they should have gotten from me using their referral.
Judging by the DPs here and my own experiences, they only seem to be paying out if you explicitly email them asking for the money, whilst forwarding them your “Transfer Request Received” email. Either that or the dispersal date for everyone is now 1/28.
After forwarding them this from a browser set to UTC+0, they incorrectly stated that I initiated the transfer past the deadline. I resent the email after setting my timezone to PST, and they finally told me I would be getting my $45 on 1/28.
In the case that we do not see people getting their funds within this week (far later their original promise of within 10 business days), you may want to consider reposting this page with the recommendation that people should manually email Cheese to get their funds.
William Charles 
Chuck
Emailed them with the initial fund transfer confirmation (few hours before the deadline). Received my $45.
Finally received $45 in my account and $45 in my wife’s account. No word about my signup referral bonus or if the person whose referral I used. Sigh… is it worth more gray hair or just move on…