Last year people said that the golden age of credit card bonuses was over (something I don’t really agree with, but that’s another post). I noticed a lot of people wished that they’d gotten into credit card sign up “hobby” earlier to take advantage of all the great deals.
Well I’m here to tell you that we are currently experiencing the golden age of bank account bonuses and you should get involved before the good times end. At the moment it seems like we’ve hit a nice mix of having lots of people interested in these bonuses (meaning more people are looking for them and providing useful information about different bonuses and banks/credit unions), without hitting that critical mass that causes the good times to end.
If you’re new to bank account bonuses, then I’ve made things pretty easy for you. Start by reading through our beginners guide to these bonuses found here. If you’re still hesitant, then read our post on common misconceptions. Once you’ve done that pick one of the best bonuses listed here and read through our post carefully (as well as any comments in the post).
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect to earn $1,000-$2,000+ in your first year of doing these bonuses. In addition it’s often possible to initially fund an account with a credit card, meaning you can hit credit card minimum spend requirements or just earn some extra rewards.
Remember to also contribute your data points to make signing up for bonuses easier for everybody involved, we have dedicated pages for this below:
- Bank Accounts That Can Be Funded With A Credit Card
- List Of Methods Banks Count As Direct Deposits
- Is Opening A Bank Account A Soft Or Hard Pull?
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
Also just a friendly reminder that we don’t use bank account affiliate links. In fact whenever possible we try to convince financial institutions to give our readers a better deal rather trying to pay us. You can say thank you to this site by helping us find more bank bonuses to share with everybody, you can read more about how to do that here.
My wife and I just started on bank account bonuses last September, so we only made $1000 last year, but this year has been awesome. We’ve cleared $4200 so far already and have another $2000 worth of bonuses in the pipeline. Wish I’d started years ago!
I’m about $2K and single but I’m a non-citizen and therefore INELIGIBLE TO OPEN M&T ONLINE *cries self to sleep*. I even tried to open an account in branch but they enforce the state restriction in branch.
Dang, M&T has been very profitable but $2,000 is still great.
It’s all thanks to you Will :). I even (sloppily) maintain a list of the bank bonuses available in MA for a Facebook group of Boston Churners.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1S0lZkemtOBmoDlhtxLnLEnuXgHK-9n-MWSsqotDAdG8/edit#gid=0
Awesome, we have plans to make it much easier to filter deals in the future!
It’s been a great year! My wife and I are combined at a little over $6,000 currently. I also have helped countless other people get into it and their combined earnings are over $10,000!
Guys…whoever earned these high amounts, can you help explaining how u are able to do so? Iam new to this..never knew we can earn this much in bank account bonuses 😖😠. I read through the post..but most of them are in the range of 200-300$..how did you guys make upto 4500+?
Opening lots of accounts and some of the bigger bonuses can be $400-$500. This is a good starting guide: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/a-beginners-guide-to-bank-account-bonuses/
I have done 1xPNC, 2xChase chkg+savings, 2xMTB, 2xSantander, 1xC1. totalling about 2K+ so far for just this year with couple more in the pipeline. I heard of this site last year and started actively doing only this year and have not churned anything yet The 2x is for self and household member. I missed out on 2xWells (opened accounts but no bonus awarded despite following all the rules – oh well you win some, lose some). So its not like you earn it all in one go, but if you have couple other household adults you can reach those numbers easily. I have been doing slowly because I find it tough to track the rules for each bank and also have a low float, but even with such a slow and conservative rate it has been good picking.
And certainly ow to doc, this site and the readers a big thanks.
Bharat, (I miscounted, ony $4425 so far) It helps to have free ACH-push capable hub accounts and some savings to park for the required period ($15K for 30 days at Citi Bank $300; $15K for 90 days at Chase $300, $15K 3 months at CIT $100 & $125). Sometimes need to park some savings to avoid monthly fees ($7500 at M&T for $250 bonus).
Keep good records of offer terms, deadlines, status; a color-coded, commented spreadsheet helps me. Read people’s comments for the bonuses you’re interested in, that’s how I learned the M&T bonus terms were so loose or unenforced (M&T’s an easy bonanza this year).
I’d have $4875 if BMO Harris had accepted Vanguard ACH as ‘pension’ and Nassau FCU’s vague bonus offer had said upfront that $250 was their offer’s minimum required direct deposit amount (or if I’d had the smarts to ask Nassau to clarify that beforehand).
As Mr. Charles said ‘Opening lots of accounts’: Over 22 so far.
I agree it’s a golden age, thought last year was good for me ($2500+) but 2017’s way better! Already got $4500 and it’s only June! Thank You DoC!
Not a bad haul.
Just wanted to give a big thank you to DoC for writing this post. Previously, I thought bank account bonuses were more hassle than they were worth, especially because they’re subject to income tax, but this post encouraged me to be more aggressive and I’m already up over $6000 this year (before taxes) between me and my wife’s accounts. It reminds me of back in the day when I thought credit card bonuses were a waste of time until I finally got a taste. It’s certainly not free money, but a pretty good side gig 🙂
Wow, there’s two of us here.
Same here…up to $6325 in 2017 between wife and I.
Not possible without DoC!
Standing offer to buy you a beer at the Bedford area Winking Lizard as a THANK YOU for the $1800 you’ve made me (before taxes) this year already… and however much last year =)
Also would help organize a Cleveland Area Meetup
With raising interest rates, perhaps we may be going from a golden age to platinum age. In about 18 months actually free checking may be storming back and banks may increase sign up bonuses. Just a prediction.
We will see 🙂
$1-2k totally doable your first year. Heck, I did >$1k in less than a year, low income/mediocre credit, located out of the country.
I was being conservative, I think 3k should be doable.
Anyone live in Philadelphia that does this? I seem to be just far away enough to miss the easy bonuses for North and West suburban banks and we don’t have banks like Chase. I do not have $15K to drop in accounts for long time periods like HSBC and not really interested in keeping funds in a bank acct because I’m aggresively paying student loans. I’ve done Key, Wells and Citadel and cannot do M &T, PNC and Santander. Anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks Doc for providing this amazing website!
What do you mean you can’t do those three? I’m in Philadelphia and have done all three with several inquiries on my Chex. M+T three times.
I currently have or have had those accounts within the last two months. I also already have Schwab. I was looking to see if there were any other accts you or anyone else suggest since we live just far enough from Huntington, Third Fifth, Chase or have any other regulars you apply for often. I tried People’s with three inquires and they denied me.