Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 2/4/24: Deal is back until 3/16/2024. Hat tip to reader Blender
Update 7/14/23: Deal is back and valid until 7/30/23. Hat tip to reader Liz.
Update 4/10/23: Deal is back and valid until 04/30/23. Hat tip to readers Shirley & Zindella
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $500
- Availability: Must open in branch, all locations in Florida [Branch locator]
- Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum specified
- Additional requirements: Keep account open until bonus posts
- Hard/soft pull:Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown, sensitive
- Credit card funding:Up to $1,500
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date:
October 20th, 2018None listed 3/31/2022
The Offer
- Open a new checking account with BayFirst and receive a bonus of $400 when you complete the following requirements:
- Establish direct deposit of your salary, pension, SSI or other regular monthly income. They will match up to $400 in deposits (so $300 minimum for full bonus)
- Keep account open until bonus posts (within 30 days of your first direct deposit)
- Open a new statement savings account with BayFirst Bank and receive a bonus of $100 when you complete the following requirements:
- Maintain an active checking account with auto transfers of at least $25
The Fine Print
- To qualify for the $250 bonus, you must be a new First Home Bank checking customer and qualified to open a checking account in accordance with our normal standards.
- You must establish direct deposit of your salary, pension, SSI or other regular monthly income, electronically deposited to your new account
- . Your account must remain open in order to receive the $250 bonus, which you will receive within 30 days of the date your first direct deposit is received.
- This offer cannot be combined with any other offers or coupons and may be changed at any time.
- All other account terms pertaining to the particular checking account you choose will apply, including the minimum balance to open an account, which is $100.
- This offer applies to personal accounts only.
- The $250 bonus will be reported to the IRS in accordance with applicable law.
- To qualify for the $100 savings bonus, you must be a new First Home Bank customer and qualified to open a savings account in accordance with our normal standards. You must maintain an active checking account with auto transfers of at least $25.
- You will receive your $100 bonus within 30 days of the date your first direct deposit or automatic transfer of $25 is received in your savings account.
- The annual percentage yield (APY) on the Statement Savings Account is 0.15%.
- This offer cannot be combined with any other offers or coupons and may be changed or withdrawn at any time.
- All other account terms pertaining to the particular checking account you choose will apply, including the minimum balance to open an account, which is $100. The $100 bonus will be reported to the IRS in accordance with applicable law.
Avoiding Fees
The easiest account to keep fee free seems to be the Simply Free Checking account, this has no monthly fees or minimums to worry about. According to bankers asked in branch there is no early account termination fee.
Our Verdict
They have previously offered a bonus of $160, the advantage of that bonus was that no direct deposit was required. This is an extra $90, so definitely worth doing if you can easily change your payroll or they aren’t strict on what does/doesn’t count. Also remember when opening in branch they have a $350 business checking bonus that you should be able to do at the same time if eligible. I’ll be adding this to our best bonus page.
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
Post history:
- Update: Looks like that was an older landing page from 2021
- Update 8/14/22: Deal is back and now $400 instead of $500.
- Update 7/20/22: Now can be opened online
- Update 6/29/22: There is a $250 bonus that can be done online.
- Update 6/22/22: Deal is back and valid until 7/30/22.
- Update 5/17/22: Now called Bay First.
- Update 4/25/22: Bonus is now $500 ($350 checking & $150 savings)
- Update 4/2/22: Extended until 5/31/2022.
- Update 2/28/22: Extended until 3/31/2022.
- Update 1/1/22: Deal is back and valid until 2/28/2022.
- Update 12/13/21: Bonus is now $400. Valid until 12/15/21, so not much time.
- Update 9/19/21: Deal is back and valid until 9/25/2021.
- Update 6/28/20: $100 savings bonus no longer available. $250 checking bonus is available but says it’s only available to Crunch Fitness members, YMMV if this is enforced or not (share your datapoints in the comments). Hat tip to reader Brian C
- Update 11/10/19: Bonus is back, available at all branches with no end date listed. Hat tip to reader Brian C
- Update 5/30/19: Deal is back but for May 31st and June 1st only at the Pinellas Park, FL branch. Hat tip to reader Nick
Best Bank Account Bonuses page has this listed as Firsthome and as active.
Removed, thanks
This promo is a complete mess. I am having to contact their message center each month for them to manually apply the bonuses after each statement cycle.
Has anyone been matched a $100 Checking DD or $50 Savings deposit yet? I’m yet to receive any matchings for cycles that are well passed a month now.
Nothing yet. Using Ally Savings as DD
Nothin yet here. Ally savings dd
Anyone new to this bank unable to figure out how to connect an external account? I can’t seem to find where on the website/app how to do this, and customer service isn’t answering me. Thanks!
When I called the Bay First bank 5 May 2024. They said I had to be a new new/brand new customer to get the bonus. So not churnable if you have previously been a customer with them before.
I got the bonus from them back in 2022. Haven’t seen anything if I am eligible for this one again or not. Still have the kids club account with them.
Has anyone in the same situation had any luck?
Seems you have to reside close to a branch. Either that or extremely sensitive. Immediate app rejection.
OOS, mine went pending 1-3 day “review” notification after I finished.
They have branches very close to me yet still rejected. I haven’t opened that many accounts so not sure how sensitive they are…
Terns I’m seeing for $400 bonus “At the end of each monthly statement cycle a deposit match of $100 will be deposited for up to 4 monthly statement cycles, totaling up to $400. Each monthly direct deposit must equal $100 or more to qualify for the monthly bonus match.” It looks like need to deposit at least $100 a month for 4 months to get the $400
right, these bumped up articles are never updated to show the current offer.
Excellent Heather. Thank you. So the binus is not as clear as it seemed. I got all excited for a 500 DD to get 400. But now, you cleared it up for everyone. They want FOUR (4) Direct deposits and they will match 100 per month. That is a terrible deal. I just found this site but THAT info needed to be posted on top. There are many better deals where you can do 1 DD and get a $300 bonus. I try to stay in that range to make it worth my while. THANKS AGAIN HEATHER!
Is it churnable? who could give a DP…
Same question. When you go to apply online there’s a question have you had a previous account or stated a application. I closed in 2022. Will give a try tomorrow hopefully won’t get pulled into branch.
Please let us know! Thanks!
Last time I opened an account, online did not really work, had to go to the branch anyway.
I applied online just now. Closed previous account 4/2022. Unsuccessful email right away. Home address may be out of foot print central Florida.
YMMV. When I tried to churn last year (closed previous account over 3 years ago), bonus did not post automatically. Had to call multiple times, and in one of the calls the customer rep mentioned that my previous account could be the reason. Eventually only part of bonus appeared on account and other part was rejected since bonus is supposed to be once in lifetime.
back until 3/16/2024 Chuck