Secret Merrill Brokerage Bonus Of Up To $7,500

Merrill brokerage has a secret brokerage bonus with higher tiers than are publicly available. You can get this bonus by requesting it from a Merrill advisor.

Merrill Brokerage

A lot of us like to keep $100k+ in a brokerage account or retirement account with Merrill in order to get their top-tier relationship status. That gives the potential of earning  2.62% back on all credit card spend with various Bank of America credit cards.

Along the way, you can typically get a bonus for opening a new brokerage account with Merrill. The tiers vary by offer: the standard range is between $100-$600 for deposits of $20k-$250k. There’s also another version which goes in-and-out of availability, that one gives $100-$1,000 for the same deposit amount.

Secret Bonus Tiers

Interestingly, there is a similar brokerage bonus which is available exclusively via Merrill advisors and is typically available upon request. The ‘secret’ offer has mostly-similar tiers to the public offer, and also has higher tiers with a larger bonus for larger investment amounts:

  • $20,000 to $49,999 – $100
  • $50,000 to $99,999 – $150
  • $100,000 to $199,999 – $250
  • $200,000 to $299,999 – $600
  • $300,000 to $499,999 – $1,000
  • $500,000 to $999,999 – $1,500
  • $1,000,000 or more – $2,500
  • $2,000,000 or more  – $3,500
  • $5,000,000 or more – $5,000
  • $10,000,000 or more – $7,500

Signing Up With Merrill

When I asked a Merrill advisor about their bonuses, he casually mentioned this secret bonus offer. A reader reported the same offer some years ago; it appears to be consistently available upon request. You’ll have 30 days to open the new account after the Merrill advisor sends you the email with a signup link. And then you’ll have to fund the account within 45 days.

Some people have had success getting this secret brokerage bonus attached to their existing Merrill account. A Merrill advisor told me instead to simply open a second Merrill brokerage account – there’s nothing stopping someone from having more than one. He advised me that if I’d like to simplify my accounts, after completing the bonus they can easily combine the two brokerage accounts into one.

Offer Details

This offer requires keeping the funds in with Merrill for 9 months. The bonus will be deposited within 2 weeks after the 9 months ends.

Tangentially, Merrill cash rewards are determined by the qualifying net new assets in your account, irrespective of any losses or gains due to trading or market volatility.

Data points indicate that Merrill does send a 1099 for bonuses above $600, and apparently not for bonuses less than that. Regardless, you’d legally have to self-report, though possibly you can deduct any transfer fees incurred. Some people like doing brokerage bonuses with IRA funds to maximize their tax-free growth. (Please consult a tax advisor for all tax related issues.)

Our Verdict

A lot of us transferred $100,000 into Public for their brokerage bonus from late last year and/or transferred $250,000 into Wells Fargo for their brokerage bonus. Some people might be considering moving on to other brokerages. Please consult our List of Best Brokerage Bonuses for all options.

This secret Merrill bonus can be another option for someone who wants to hit a higher tier which is not available publicly. The E*Trade bonus shown on our list also looks like another good option with high tiers.
    Chuck
  • On June 29, 2023, 10:00
Tags: bigbrokerage bonusesmerrill

View Comments (46)

    • @guest_1816101 Do you recall how you got this secret bonus offer?

      I spent 30 minutes talking to Merrill Edge and could not get a code. They were mildly confused and suggested to talk to a local branch of what I assume is Bank of America that has Merrill Edge advisors inside.

  • Can someone confirm if its a new language or was it there before as well? Because people in the past were able to enroll their existing accounts in the promo and get the bonus. Not sure being this language there, existing account enrollment would even work now?
    "Offer valid for new individual Merrill IRAs or Cash Management Accounts (CMAs)."

  • Just chatted with and advisor and he said no cash bonus available right now. And seems like ME750 link is dead now too.

    Anyone know of any bonuses that are live right now?

    • I just called this morning, same story - he said that Q3 is when they need to prove their ability to get deposits without cash offers. No clue how true that is, but hopefully that means we'll see something in October.

    • I spoke to an advisor and he thought I would be able to get a bonus with manager approval, but after checking for a few days, confirmed it was not possible.

      I'm just going to wait for another offer, as there will likely be another bonus at some stage.

    • Nice find.
      Note that it excludes folks that had a checking account in the last year:

      "You are not eligible for this offer if you were an owner or co-owner of a Bank of America personal checking account within the last (12) months."

      • This offer appears to be for a full service Merrill brokerage account, right? Not Merrill Edge with no commissions.

        I had assumed Chuck's post was for Merrill Edge, but I'm not so sure about that anymore. Would be good if he could clarify.

        I don't think there are any bonuses currently available for Merrill Edge :(

        • The webpage for that "bullish" offer seems geared towards Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. But the terms of the offer say "eligible Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) investment accounts. ... eligible Merrill investment accounts include personal Cash Management Account (CMA) and IRA accounts (Traditional, Roth, Rollover, Simplified Employee Pension, SIMPLE)".

          Since the terms don't explicitly say "Guided Investing" or "Wealth Management", and they don't exclude "Merrill Edge", maybe Merrill Edge also qualifies. But I'm not sure, and you might still need to talk to an advisor to get enrolled in the offer.

      • They extended this to 12/31. It seems this offer requires a new checking account, has anybody been able to get the bonus without doing so?

  • "though possibly you can deduct any transfer fees incurred"

    Not any more; this was a "itemized deduction subject to 2% of AGI", and those are eliminated under TCJA - they will come back in 2025 unless a new tax law extends this.

    • True you cannot deduct investment fees on your taxes currently. A 2% AGI limitation made it unlikely for most people anyways. I e. You would have to have a rather large large amount of fees compared to your AGI (i.e. You're ~ income.)

  • Very interesting. Just yesterday I chatted with Merrill asking if I can still get the $1k / $250k bonus I missed or else when it will return. They didn't even mention it's possible to get $1k if I can deposit $300k instead.

    • For $300k, you might as well do Chase Private Bank or Wells Fargo Premier Checking which is $3,000 and comes with a higher reward of $2500-$3000.

      • Thanks. I didn’t know about those bonuses. I’m surprised Merrill and others don’t offer more to match.

        However depositing money at chase seems like a bad idea due to shutdown reports. Wells Fargo is not in my area which I’d prefer. Will have to consider it though.

        • I mean the Citibank Business checking offer is good too. Chase should be good as i is JPMorgan Chase.

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