Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 11/14/21: Deal is back and valid until November 30, 2021. Can’t have had an account within 24 months or received a bonus within 24 months (previously it was 12/24). Hat tip to Burnout1749
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:Â $500
- Availability:Â In branch only, branches are in IL, IN, IA, WI
- Direct deposit required:Â None
- Additional requirements:Â 10 debit or credit card transactions
- Hard/soft pull:Â Soft
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding:
ÂUp to $2,500, no American Express (not sure if possible in branch)ACH or cash deposit only now - Monthly fees: $15, avoidable
- Early account termination fee:Â $15, 12 months
- Household limit:Â None listed
- Expiration date: May 31st, 2019 December 18, 2020
Contents
The Offer
- First Midwest Bank is offering a bonus of $500 when you open a new business checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Open any eligible business account (Essential, Essential Plus, or Essential Deluxe Business Checking) with $100 minimum deposit
- Maintain a $2,500 average collected balance for the first three statement periods
- Complete 15 debit or credit transactions within 60 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- To receive the bonus, the new to business checking client must: 1. Open and fund a new Essential, Essential Plus, or Essential Deluxe Business Checking Account with $100 minimum deposit in new money to the bank by December 18, 2020. New money is defined as funds not on deposit at First Midwest Bank within the last 90 days. Account opening subject to First Midwest Bank approval in its sole discretion. Proper identification and verification of business status is required. 2. Enroll and log into in Business Express online banking within the first 60 days. 3. Complete 15 debit or credit transactions within the first three statement periods. ATM transactions do not qualify. 4. Maintain a $2,500 average collected balance for the first three statement periods.
- Once all requirements have been met, $500 credit will be issued as a credit to the account approximately 120 calendar days after account opening. The account must be open with a balance greater than zero on the day of bonus processing to receive the $500 credit. Promotional credit may be subject to IRS 1099-INT form reporting and may be considered taxable as interest income to you. Consult your tax advisor.
- Limit of one bonus per client, regardless of the number of accounts and includes all entities owned by or associated with client. Thus even if client has multiple accounts or has ownership in one or more entities, only one bonus will be paid to all of these collectively. If multiple accounts are opened with the same signers, only one account will be eligible for the premium.
- Limit of one bonus per mailing address.
- Offer is not available to existing First Midwest Business checking clients (including authorized signers on multiple accounts), accounts that have been closed within the past 12 months, business clients who received a promotional bonus in the last 24 months or First Midwest colleagues.
- This offer is subject to change and may be discontinued at any time. Bonus is not available to local, state, or federal government entities or agencies.
- Offer available to businesses located within Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin and must be opened inside the branch only.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
Essential business checking looks to be the easiest to keep fee free. This account has a $15 monthly fee and that is waived with $1,500 in average collected balances.
Early Account Termination Fee
There is an early account termination fee of $15 if closed within 12 months of account opening
Our Verdict
Previously they offered a bonus of $250 with very similar requirements. This $500 bonus is obviously much better, according to this comment it doesn’t look like they require onerous documents to open the account. Because of how easy the bonus requirements are, how big the bonus is and how easy it is to keep the account fee free I will be adding this to our list of the best bank bonuses.
Hat tip to reader mailordersausage
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
12Nov: Opened in branch, funded with money order+checks in excess of $2,500
8Dec-7Jan: 16 ACH pushes from a CU of random value between $1-$4
2Mar: $500 Bonus posted “PROMO MISC. CREDIT CLIENT INCENTIVE SMALL BUSINESS PROMO”
Poor experience opening the account at a location in IL, where I had an existing personal account. The branch manager was less than welcoming and wanted a DBA certificate from my County. Only having a “sole proprietorship” in my name (no EIN), I provided my 1040 Schedule C from last year. Banker made two phone calls to higher authorities, then finally opened the account and made a copy of my Schedule C. Got a debit card on the spot. The banker said if my Schedule C didn’t end up sufficing, they would close the account within 30 days. Geez.
They are strict about needing DBA, wouldn’t accept my Schedule C + EIN last year for opening. They made calls & didn’t open. Said I needed a DBA, so I got a DBA from the county, which cost like $40. Of course the process to get a DBA was long, so I was waiting for this $500 offer to return. It’s good to have a DBA for business checking accounts, it pays for itself if it allows you to open even one extra account. EIN letter is free from the IRS, so you should get one, too.
Does the exclusions language indicate those with closed PERSONAL accounts in the last 24 month also not eligible?
No, business checking only.
Looks like it’s back, but with 24/36 restriction instead of 12/24.
Changed to 36 mo since last bonus:
“Offer is not available to existing First Midwest Business checking clients (including authorized signers on multiple accounts), accounts that have been closed within the past 24 months, business clients who received a promotional bonus in the last 36 months or First Midwest colleagues.”
11/05: Opened in branch, funded with check $2500
12/7-12/28: Completed various $1 online transactions with debit card (amazon reload, donations, etc)
2/5: $500 Bonus posted
10/30 – account opened in-branch and funded with $2,500
11/18 – 15x $0.50 Amazon reloads
2/5 – $500 bonus posted
It looks like First Midwest was decimated by COVID-19 last year so we might not be seeing any more bonuses from them in the future. https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/first-midwest-bank-saw-its-profit-plummet-by-50-last-year-plans-to-close-17/article_1a37c2af-0203-505d-8a4c-9dd54c57ed2f.html
Quick update, you are able to close this account via secure message once your balance is at $0. Closed on 11/8/2021 after 1 year and change. Sucked leaving $1,500 in there that whole time.
as other comments indicate, prepared to jump through a LOT of hoops to try to get this bonus. not going to be worth the effort for most people. very confusing, unpleasant experience to open.
I got the same experience for debit card delivery. Opened on Nov 4th, after 2 weeks, they said it hadn’t been deliveried because of glitch after I called to them. So, it would take another 7-10 bizdays or I could pick up in branch. I called to my banker to double check the location near my place opening or not. However, when I arrived, the lobby closed where is 40 mins away from my house and I walked in chicago’ winter (not too cold this year but not warm for walking for another half hour to another location). So, I argued with my banker. Next day, they did a fast delivery for free to me.
Now, I swiped 17 times for small amount transactions in Marianos and Jewel Osco. But they all named as ‘ATM/POS DB’. does it count for debit or credit transactions? I sent a secure message but I assumed they will take a while to fgiure it out.
Called an IL branch, banker was unprofessional, clueless about the required business documents, and someone on the other end burst into laughter after he said goodbye. They seem to require EIN and operating agreement for LLC
Terrible experience so far. Opened account 16 days ago. Called several days ago and was told to wait 7-10 business days for the DC to arrive. Called today because it had been 11 business days. Was told the DC was never ordered.
Finally received debit card, 27 days after opening account. Fortunately I still have 33 days to meet the debit card spend requirements.