This offer has now expired and is no longer valid. You can view the best bank promotions here.
Offer Overview
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Only in the following states: FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MI, MO, NC, OH, TN, WV (may be only for those within a 50-mile radius of a branch).
- Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum mentioned; in the past, it’s needed to be $100 minimum. Click here to see what’s been working for the direct deposit requirement.
- Additional requirements: Three bill-payments
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $11-$25, waivable
- Early account termination fee: None listed
- Expiration Date:
April 9th, 2016July 23rd, 2016September 30th, 2016December 31st, 2016March 31st, 2017June 30th, 2017July 31st, 2017
The Offer
- Receive a sign up bonus of $200 when you open an essentials checking account with Fifth Third bank when you complete the following requirements:
- Pay three bills using Fifth Third’s online bill payment service
- Direct deposit into the account (no minimum specified, has been $100 in the past)
The Fine Print
- Offer not available to existing checking customers or to those with a Fifth Third checking account that has been closed within the last 12 months
- Bonus offer not available to new Fifth Third Checking customers in St. Louis and Western Pennsylvania
- Bonus offer available to new consumer checking customers, excluding Basic Checking and Express Banking
- Bank reserves the right to limit each customer to one new account-related gift incentive per calendar year
- ssential Checking account must be opened between 6/29/17 and 7/31/17
- All requirements must be met and qualifying activity must be initiated and post to the account within 90 days of account opening to obtain $200 bonus
- Bonus will be deposited into your new checking account within 10 business days of completing requirements
- All bank bonuses are treated as interest and you’re required to pay interest on them
Avoiding Fees
The easiest option for most is to choose the Essential Checking account which has an $11 monthly fee. The fee can be waived by maintaining an average monthly balance of $1,500 or more across your savings and checking accounts.
The fine print indicates that the Military Banking and Student Banking accounts should also work for this bonus.
- If you are in the military, choose the Military Banking option and you’ll have an additional option for getting the monthly fee waived by receiving $500 in direct deposits each month.
- If you are a high school or college student age 16+, choose the Student Banking option for no monthly fee at all.
Our Verdict
This offer is almost always available (seems to disappear for a few days/weeks after it expires and then comes back). It’s great that you can open the account online and the bonus requirements are fairly easy to meet. Here’s what I’d do if I lived in the targeted area:
- Open an essential checking account
- Add $1,600 via a direct deposit method that has qualified in the past (this will keep the account fee free and also trigger the bonus requirement for direct deposit)
- Pay three bills (total needs to be under $100 to keep the account fee free, or just add more funds initially and pay bigger bills)
- Wait for the bonus to post
- Withdraw funds and close account
Because this bonus is fairly easy to meet and we have lots of data points, I’ll be adding it to our list of the best checking bonuses.
Big thanks to reader, Vijay who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- 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
I got a fifth-third account momentum Checking Account recently. I put in the bonus code that’s going on right now, The only deposits I have had in that account were Cash App transfers from my boyfriend, and I received the Bonus last week. Hop on it, you guys.
i don’t know if this is the place to post this.. the FIFTH THIRD BANK has a new $375 Bonus to open a checking account; link/details are here:
https://www.53.com/content/fifth-third/en/mkg/affiliate-checking-offer.html
Got that here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/fifth-third-200-checking-bonus-fl-ga-il-ky-mi-nc-oh-tn-wv/
P1:
2022-01-06: Opened completely online
2022-01-07: $500 transfer from Marcus
2022-01-10: $300 bonus posted
P2:
2022-01-06: Opened but had to finish in branch
2022-01-07: $500 transfer from Marcus
2022-01-10: $250 bonus posted – going into the branch changed our promotion to the local branch promotion – be mindful of this if you have to go in.
Thanks for this DP
dc . I have a similar timeline: pushed (from Ally) on a Friday, like you. It’s now Monday morning and no bonus yet. Do you remember what time of day on 1/10 your bonus posted? Getting nervous since every DP seems to indicate an almost immediate bonus. Thanks!
$500 push from Marcus worked! Basically identical facts to dc’s P1. (Bonus now $350)
How can I know the transfer is recognized as direct deposit?
I tried twice from chase bank and paypal.
but there are no evidence the direct deposit is recognized.
Please see my bank account’s received list;
8/25 Paypal Transfer 5frxxxxxxxx +$1000.00
082517
8/18 JPMorgan Chase Ext Trnsfr 6447777xxx +$1000.00
081817
In addition, here’s the requirements;
“To obtain the $200 bonus, direct deposit(s) totaling $500 or more must be received within 45 days of account opening AND maintain a $500 average balance for 60 days. Bonus will be deposited into your new checking account within 10 business days of completing requirements.”
Should I go to bank office and ask them whether I satisfied the direct deposit requirement?
Usually not a good idea, if you are trying to “cheat” the system, to ask questions. Some banks care – some don’t. Just be patient. If you had a real DD, then ask as many questions as you want. If you cheat, ask, and get the wrong banker/CSR, they can be jerks, flag your account… unlikely, but it does happen.
There is no rock solid way to know. Some ppl will say if it says P2P that it didn’t count, but that isn’t always the case. It all depends on how the back-end system recognizes the transaction, which also processes the bonus payment. Use a recommended DD method, then wait. Or, use a really DD method, then raise hell when it doesn’t work. Banks do update their systems, and you will never know if someone QA’s your bonus payout, so unless you use a real DD there is always a chance it will fail.
Opened 7/11 with $50
7/17 – $1550 Discover Bank transfer
7/19 – 3 $33 bill payments
8/1 – $101 Paypal transfer
8/2 – $101 TD Ameritrade transfer
8/10 – $10 bill pay
8/21 – $500 TD Ameritrade transfer
8/22 – $550 bill pay
No bonus….
DP
Opened 07/28 with $125.
08/01 – $119 PayPal Transfer
08/02 – 3 Bill Payments totaling $100+ to Chase, Discover and BOA
08/03 – Congratulations! You’ve Earned Your Cash Bonus Thank You For Banking With Fifth Third
Will,
Bonus is back expires 09/30 but now need $1000+ DD within 45 days. I do not see any Bill Payments though.
https://accounts.53.com/banking/offer/checking?cid=disp:dbm:AO17_checking:1686554:2479129
Thanks, will repost soon.
Wells Fargo worked for me in FL.
Opened in branch. About a 20 minute process.
Did about $110 total bill pays, 3 ccs, and the bonus posted in the next day or two.
Adding to the DPs here, I did three bill pays of $25 each to separate chase credit cards all on the same day and they are telling me I have not met the requirement. So either it has to be over $100 as others are saying or don’t do it on the same day to the same recipient as I did. I’ll do a few more and get it over $100 and see what happens.
For those who have exceeded the 10 business day mark and did not get the bonus payout, try paying out at least a total of $100 via bill pay. My bonus paid out on 7/28, the day after a few more outgoing bill payments posted online, but my SO’s account did not payout and she hasn’t paid any more bills. Fixing that now.
Per the bank bonus thread on Reddit, the old Fifth Third promo’s used to specifically say $100 total in bill pays, and I’m guessing the system is still coded to look for that minimum amount.