Update 7/21/22: see updated details on this program in this newer post.
Update 9/17/21: Marcus has now changed the offer to doubling the current savings rate for 3 months for referrer and new member. Given the current .50% regular savings rate, referrer and new member will now get 1.00% APY for 3 months.
Update 1/24/21: They’ve increased the limit from 3 referrals per calendar year to 5 referrals per calendar year. Hat tip to reader Chase
Original Post:
Marcus bank introduced a referral program whereby the referrer and the new member get a bonus of .20% APY added to their Marcus online savings account rate for 3 months. For example, if the regular savings account rate is 1.00%, both the referrer and the new member earn 1.20% APY for the next three months.
Additional details:
- You can earn a maximum of
35 Referral Bonuses in each calendar year. - A Referral Bonus will automatically start 2 business days following a Successful Referral.
- If you are already receiving a Referral Bonus, the next Referral Bonus you earn will begin on the day after your current Referral Bonus expires. Only one Referral Bonus will be applied to your OSAs at any given time.
- Referral offer is valid from October 22, 2020 through December 31, 2020.
- The new member gets the referral bonus of .20% APY if they haven’t had a Marcus savings account or CD in the past 12 months.
You can find your referral link under the My Account tab at the top-right corner in your Marcus login. Do not leave your referral link in the comments below, you can find and leave links in this dedicated post.
Related: Marcus Bank: AARP Members Get .10% APY Increase In Savings Account Rate
View Comments (74)
@will are we allowed to post referral links like Riz posted above?
Nope
Ha now you can post ref link here ?!
No
Can we open up the Referral thread for the new $100 bonus offer? @chucksithe
I think not
I would second the request to open the thread annually at this time when the Marcus bonus runs not just for the reason that I opened my first account and want to post my referral link but when I looked into the existing thread, I had to scroll several levels down to find posts by well known doc contributers and even if I were to use any links from unknown people at the top, likely they would have closed their accounts with the result that the referral would get wasted.
Moderating referrals just takes too much time, we can't constantly be opening and closing threads and taking hours and hours of our time to make sure people don't break the rules.
@will Then why not remove the referral thread altogether? Can't help but be salty that some users even newer and with almost zero contribution have locked down their referral link on your site while others who probably contribute regularly can never get a chance to post theirs. Kinda unfair.
Because keeping the current links there doesn't take any effort what so ever, whereas opening them up or deleting it entirely does. I'm sorry that it makes you upset but there is only so much time in the day for me to run this website and I have a job and life outside of it.
@will I totally understand the time and effort constraint. But it's unfair to many of your followers and active users who can't post while some selected few will keep getting benefited. It should be all or none. That's just what I think. Of course your site, your rules!
I don't really think it's that unfair, we kept the original referral post open for almost TWO years. We closed it once people breaking the rules started eating up too much time. You're welcome to use other active referral threads and share your link there.
The alternative isn't that we delete just that page, it's that we ban all referrals on the site entirely. Is that honestly what you would prefer?
@will But new users keep pouring in to follow you? They wouldn't have been around in those two years? They don't stand to have same participation?
I understand people are breaking rules, so solution should be either actively ban such users or level the playing field with no referrals at all. Admittedly managing these threads and actively banning is hard.
I'm sure my personal opinion doesn't decide this, but since you asked, yes, I'd honestly prefer no referrals on the site entirely over unfair advantage to the few.
Nobody asked my opinion but I want to jump in here anyway :)
As a new-ish reader, I was grateful for the ability to use one of the links posted in that closed referral thread. Sure, it sucks that I now can't post my own link, but the creators here allow numerous opportunities to post referrals elsewhere, in addition to maintaining a site that provides so many helpful resources for the community.
Instead of dwelling over the possibility of getting an additional 1% interest for 3 months, why not do one more easy bonus to offset your supposed loss?
BTW: 1% of $10k for 3 months yields a whopping $25.
I think you're being incredibly selfish if you'd prefer no referrals on the site just because you can't share your link in this instance. If you really feel that way I'd recommend you just ignore any thread with referral in the title, you could probably set up a rss feed to even filter anything with referral in the title.
We do ban people that break the rules, but there are ways of getting around that as well.
@will How is this incredibly selfish when I will also lose the benefit of referral myself? That's just and fair.
People are pointing out the benefits and amazing work this site does. I agree 1000% with them. I'm all praise and gratitude for the work you do. But that doesn't mean one can't bring up something unfair. It's $25 or mere 1% or just one time, the fact is that locking that thread with few referrals is unfair to many. Just bringing up other benefits and contributions of site doesn't change that.
I know my options and can filter or ignore the threads I'd like. You asked me my opinion and I stated as I feel. If one person, website, business or charity is doing wonderful amazing work, but you don't like one thing you notice, it's absolutely okay to bring it up.
If managing a referral thread is actually a problem, then how can you have any new referral thread ever? Wouldn't it have same issues and problems? Locking ONE thread is not the solution.
> If managing a referral thread is actually a problem, then how can you have any new referral thread ever? Wouldn’t it have same issues and problems?
Yes, it does have issues and problems but at this stage we are happy to deal with them for a short period of time until people breaking the rules become the main issue.
I think at this stage we will just have to agree to disagree.
@will just as an fyi, the very first three post in that referral thread are by users who have only ONE post ever on this site. If that says anything.
@will Sure, as I said before, your site, your rules. I was just sharing my honest opinion. Agree to disagree it is!
@will you and Chuck provide an unbelievable service. Thank you for all you do for your readers. Sorry some have a hard time taking a step back and seeing the big picture.
Just a thought for those who feel slighted - some other resources don't even allow comments. So many awesome details come out through this opportunity to have dialogue with others here. Please reconsider using this feature for browbeating Will and Chuck and remember what an awesome place this is.
If people are dying to share their referrals, look up other places to do so. There are quite a few if you just take some time to search.
Roger that.
This is a good offer. With referral it would provide the highest rate for a good savings account
@chucksithe @will
It looks like the current offer is now an extra 1% APY bump for both people. (https://www.marcus.com/us/en/savings/referrals)
The current APY is listed as 1.2%. This would make it 2.2% and then 2.3% APY (when combined with the 0.10% bump from AARP). The offer terms mention the promo period as being 7/1-9/30.
Posted thanks https://www.doctorofcredit.com/marcus-bank-1-00-apy-referral-bonus-for-new-member-referrer/
When will you open referral links in the dedicated post?
No plans to reopen
@will @chucksithe Looks like Marcus is doubling their rate for 3 months for referrals instead of the .2%
No end date mentioned in email.
Good things? They’re meant to be shared. With Marcus Referred, you can help your friends and family double the APY on their Online Savings Account!
Refer someone to Marcus savings and they’ll receive an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) Referral Bonus of 0.50% on an Online Savings Account for 3 months. You could receive the same Referral Bonus, too.
Got that too, we'll post soon
Just opened this post to add a comment for the same bonus offer. The email that I got today has an end date of December 31, 2021.
Marcus updated, As a Marcus customer, you can pay it forward and help your friends grow their savings, too. When you refer a new customer to Marcus, you both could earn a Referral Bonus: an additional 0.50% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on your Online Savings Accounts for 3 months. PM if you need a refer
Hi admin, can you open referral posts in the link. I need it thanks.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/marcus-bank-referral-thread/
We're going to leave it closed at this time
The January 27th email I got about an approved referral said I was at 3 referrals out of 5 max for the year, but the February 10th email said I’m at 4 of the max 3. Did the limit go back down to 3 per year but they’re grandfathering?
Either way, I’m getting 0.8% for the whole year (with AARP bonus, if the rate doesn’t drop) which just means I didn’t have move funds back to Customer Bank’s lack of an interface to get their consistently more competitive rate, which is 0.75% at the moment.