Wells Fargo is currently offering two business bonuses that might be of interest to readers:
The problem is that the business platinum card requires you to have had a checking account for 12 months. You can avoid this by going in branch to sign up for the business checking account, while you’re doing this you can ask if you have any pre-approved offers and the $500 Platinum deal should show up. If you apply for the Platinum card then the 12 month checking requirement is waived and they also don’t do any hard pull. If you also haven’t gotten the 40,000 Wells Fargo propel world personal bonus, you can do this at the same time (just keep in mind a hard pull will be done).
Hat tip to reader Blue
2/12 – opened account
2/15 – >$1000 deposited
3/30 – 5th ACH transfer complete
4/14 – day 60
5/9 – bonus finally posts
I signed up for Business checking account on 3/15, had pre-approval for Plat card during sign up. I waited and came back to branch on 3/20 to apply for plat card with banker. Banker said he used the pre-approval app for the card but i still got a hard pull on my credit.
I applied for this double whammy promotion in January. I’m reaching 60 days on the checking and hoping the $300 goes through without a hitch. The CC however, has been a hassle. The rep in branch told me I was pre-approved and offered me the $500 after $5000 spend. I said yes. She signed me up but I guess signed me up for the “points” one instead of the “Cash” one. When I received it, I called and said I didn’t want to activate it because it was the wrong card. The rep on the phone said they would change it over and add the bonus, no problem and then activated it right then. Called back later to double check everything had been added and they had no record of that. Still have a ticket out to get the $500 added to the card (not sure if it will happen at this point). On the plus side, no hard pull so I’m back under 5/24 next month! 🙂
I had the exact same experience with my business platinum card application (except that I did get a HP) so I have a feeling it’s not gonna be a smooth post for the bonus, that I might have to fight for it.
I stopped into a WF branch (NY) today with my $300 Business Checking email and code while I was visiting friends out of town as there are no WF branches in my area (Boston). I made an appointment last night via the website for 9:30am and received a confirmation email. My history with them consists of a personal CC that I’ve had for three years now as well as an auto loan that I paid off almost a decade ago. I do have a legitimate registered business in my state.
When I got to the bank I was greeted right away by a teller who took me into an office and introduced me to the banker that would be helping me. The banker offered me a bottle of water and asked what he could help me with. I explained that I wanted to open a business checking account and gave him a printed copy of the WF email I received with the $300 bonus offer code on it. The banker was not familiar with the promotion and made a few calls to verify the requirements and bonus amount. After that he asked for my license and a debit or credit card with my name on it. I provided both and upon inspection of the license he asked why I wanted to open an account with WF when I live in a state with no WF footprint. I told him my business primarily consists of the online sales via my website, ebay, and Amazon and all of the revenue is electronically deposited into my bank account so I don’t need a local branch to make deposits which seemed to satisfy him.
I was asked for and provided the paperwork required by my state to operate a sole proprietor business, asked a long serious of questions about my business and what my business goals are, and then to consent to a business credit check. Once the business credit check was done the bank told me everything looked good but he needed to get a manager over to talk to me a bit more which ended being a 30 minute aggressive sales pitch of WF business services and loans to which I politely declined quite a few times.
After the manager was done and gone the banker told me the pre-approved offer for the Business CC was available just as others have experienced. I accepted and was given an initial $25K line of credit and he went over the offer and terms. Once everything was signed and printed I was issued a temporary WF business debit card and all my paperwork which included a summary with the products open and the bonuses attached to them. All said and done it took almost and hour and a half. I would have liked it to have gone faster, but I wasn’t pressed for time so I wasn’t upset as I think the combo of products received without a hard pull is worth it.
Thanks for the detailed comment!
Just went to and opened up a business checking account for the $300 offer and was hoping for the pre-approved credit card offer as well and was successful even though I had no prior relationship with Wells Fargo. However, I have 2 issues that I am concerned about. I have a legitimate business and was planning to move part of the relationship to Wells Fargo at least initially but the banker opened the Platinum Checking rather then the Choice Checking like I had asked him to do multiple times. I only caught this at the very end when reviewing my paperwork and he converted the account to the Choice Checking but now I am wondering if this will invalidate the bonus through no fault of my own? My business wouldn’t be able to maintain the balances required for the Platinum Checking unfortunately at this time.
Second, the banker told me that I would receive $500 after spending $5000 on the business credit card within 3 months and would also receive 0% APR for 9 months but my paperwork doesn’t show this anywhere and doesn’t even list and APR. To add insult to injury, he told me the card had no annual fee and the rewards program had no annual fee but under features and pricing of the disclosure it says the rewards program has a $50 annual membership fee which will be charged to your account in the first billing cycle. Has anyone else seen this in their paperwork and be charged the fee that opened the card in branch?
Wells Fargo definitely seems very light on the amount of clearly defined disclosures they provide to the customer compared to Bank of America or Chase.
Thanks,
JC
Yes, I received the paperwork stating the $50 redemption fee. But I just received the first statement and there’s no $50 charge. I assume the fee would be charged when I redeem the cash back Rewards?
The banker also told me about the $50 membership fee, but then corrected herself, there is no more $50 fee. I assume this is a recent change that hasn’t propagated to all systems/T&Cs.
I have had personal checking account since Dec 2016. I also opened my biz checking account in Jan 2018. A few days ago I received an email from WF on this Business Platinum Credit Card. The signup bonus offer in the email is the same with the one mentioned in this post.
How I can avoid an HP if I want to open this credit card? Shall I apply online or go to the branch? Or I have to open a biz checking account and biz CC on the same day to avoid HP?
Where do you see that the Bus Plat card requires you to have had an account for 12 months? I can’t see it in the terms anywhere.
Same here. I don’t see such requirement in the T&C.
In Texas, I went into a branch today. Banker couldn’t find in-branch $300 business checking bonus. She even checked w her manager. Mentioned the only bonus they were aware of was $100 for personal checking. Anyone else getting this response? Anyone done this combo in the last few days? Please include your state with data point.
You need the personal code generated from the website….
Did you try pulling the offer up for them?
Thanks, guys. No,I hadn’t prepared well or researched deep enough. Had only read the “combo” post and all its responses. Will try agian with offer codes and DBA certificates for both the wife and me. Any tips on how to get the Platinum Biz cards overnighted?
Not sure on how to get them overnighted sorry
Double Score! The wifey and I . I went in with my unique code and the banker informed me during the Bus. Checking app process that I was offered the Business Platinum card with $500 Cash Advantage bonus. When we were done, I told her I’d like to come back with my wife and do the same thing using her offer code and DBA certificate. So we did, and all was approved on the spot. WF asks more than Chase, for example, how often would the buisness deposit, how many years in business, and value of company assets. Not sure any of it mattered. I had state provided (from County Clerk: $16.00 and no questions) Sole Proprietorship certificates showing Doing Business As “my name” and used my SSN as the Taxpayer Identification Number. The banker was sure the card app would be a hard pull – hopefully not. I’ll wait a few days and let you know. Thanks all.
Where did you apply for the dba? Is the form online?
In my state (Texas), one goes to his local county courthouse or county court annex. I did not do it online. I don’t know if it can be done that way, and it may vary by state.
One week after application, I can confirm, no hard pull.
I went to the branch today, hoping to get this $800 bonus. Opening the biz checking is not a problem at all. There isn’t even too much questions asked. Unfortunately, there is no pro-approval of the credit card popping up, bummer. The banker seems to be very familiar with all the process, and even has a sense that he know I am just there for the bonus LOL.
So the question now is should I check with the banker from time to time to see if there is pre-approval? Is there a time limit, like 30 days, for wells fargo not to hard pull my report?
My business was established on 1/1/2018 and I got pre-approved for the cc with a $5,000 credit limit.
Do you need regular transactions for the biz checking? If the account is dormant it prob doesn’t help much I’m guessing.