[Expired] [NY only] M&T Bank $160 Checking Bonus – Available Online

This offer has now expired, you can view more bank account bonuses here.

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $160
  • Availability: NY only, only available in these counties: Albany, Allegany, Cayuga, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Columbia, Erie, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Herkimer, Jefferson, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Oswego, Orleans, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Seneca, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates
  • Direct deposit required: Yes, $100
  • Additional requirements: None
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft
  • Credit card funding: None
  • Monthly fees: Waive-able
  • Early account termination fee: $50 180-days
  • Expiration date: November 30th, 2016

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Open any personal checking account with M&T Bank and receive a $160 bonus when you do the following:
    • Make one qualifying direct deposit of at least $100 within 90 days of account opening

The Fine Print

  • We will credit one bonus (the “Bonus”) to the account if the account receives a minimum of one direct deposit in the amount of at least $100 within 90 days of account opening.
  • This offer is valid on new accounts opened before 11/30/2016.
  • Qualifying direct deposits include, but are not limited to, electronic deposits such as payroll or Social Security and do not include electronic money transfers or credits such as account-to-account transfers or those made through internet payment services.
  • Bonus will be credited to the account within 90 days of direct deposit activation as long as the account is in good standing. Bonus is reportable for tax purposes.
  • Only one bonus will be rewarded regardless of the number of accounts, titling on account and the number of direct deposit arrangements established.
  • Bonus offer is not available for Health Savings Accounts, may vary by product and region, is limited to one per customer, and is not available to employees of M&T Bank or any of its affiliates.
  • Valid only for accounts opened in New York in the following counties: Albany, Allegany, Cayuga, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Columbia, Erie, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Herkimer, Jefferson, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Oswego, Orleans, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Seneca, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates
  • You’re required to pay taxes on all bank account bonuses

Avoiding Fees

The bonus is available on any personal checking account, including: EZChoice Checking, MyChoice Checking, MyChoice Plus Checking, MyChoice Premium Checking, Classic Checking, Basic Banking. Let’s look at the easiest options for keeping fee free.

[Note that M&T Bank is one of the few banks that doesn’t give you a grace period, the requirements mentioned below must be completed your first month to keep it fee-free.]

EZChoice Checking

This account has a monthly fee of $9.95, soon changing to $6.95.

  • Monthly fee is waived by making just ONE transaction such as a deposit, withdrawal, or debit purchase.

MyChoice Checking

This account has a monthly fee of $6.95 that can be waived with any of the following methods:

  • Receive direct deposits totaling $200 or more
  • Make 10 or more monthly debit card purchases
  • Keep an average daily balance of $500 (might be $1,500 depending on your area) or more

Basic Banking

This account has a non-waivable $3 monthly fee.

Early Account Termination Fee

Update: Looks to be $50 now.

Our Verdict

M&T have two other bonuses currently:

The fine print says only one bonus per customer, but in practice this isn’t currently enforced (although I suspect only a matter of time until it is). I’d complete the larger $200 bonus first, followed by this and then finally the $150 bonus if you live in NY. This is probably the easiest bank account bonus to get at the moment, bonus typically posts a day after your direct deposit hits.
    William Charles
  • On September 5, 2016, 10:00

View Comments (24)

  • Hello DOC, this is now up again. Same direct link, but not all towns in NY state will work. So far I've only tried 14760.

    Will expire on 3/24/2017

  • when i click link it keeps on changing to the 150 offer on my phone and on my computer it doesn't show any offer?

  • DP: I opened the EZ Checking account for $160 bonus eventhough I do not live in that region (after getting past the main screen, gave my true out of region address), used the zipcode 13069 to get past that main page and after yesterday's $100 ACH transfer from Discover, today I got the $160 bonus. I got all three $200, $150 and $160 bonuses.

    Hope it helps!

  • I'm not in any of those required counties. I have existing account with M & T already. Enter 14591 which is the zip code for Wyoming. Seeing that the promotion code is still QF on the address then it directs me to the account opening screen.

    You can compare the below two links:

    https://raisethegreenflag.com/AccountSelection/14591?promo=QF
    https://raisethegreenflag.com/AccountSelection/10006?promo=QF

    However when clicking next after selecting an account type, the webpage shows session timeout. I've tried it on google Chrome, Microsoft Edge & Firefox, not working at all. I guess their webpage detects my I.P. not in one of those counties therefore prevent further access.

  • I haven't tried, as I thought it's limited to 1 bonus per customer.

    I just checked their online offerings of checking accounts for upstate NY, and the MyChoice Checking is not offered!?! I see the others like EZ Choice ($6.95 monthly fee, waived with min 1 transaction), MyChoice Plus Checking ($14.95 monthly fee, waived with min daily balance of $2500), Basic Banking, and the premiums only.

  • has anyone tried to do all three bonuses? I live in NY and have done the earlier two that aren't restricted to NY, but I worry if having three accounts at the same time raises eyebrows. Should I close one of my existing two accounts first?

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