[Expired] SunTrust Up To $750 Checking Promotion [AL, AR, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, WV, VA, and D.C Only]

Deal has expired, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $750
  • Availability: AL, AR, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, WV, VA, and D.C Only
  • Direct deposit required: Yes, $3,000
  • Additional requirements: Deposit $100 and 10 debit card transactions + deposit requirements
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft
  • ChexSystems: Mixed DP
  • Credit card funding: Up to $250 (lots of reports of it coding as a cash advance)
  • Monthly fees: $20, avoidable
  • Early account termination fee: 180 days or bonus is forfeit
  • Household limit: None
  • Expiration date: July 1st, 2019

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • SunTrust Bank is offering bonuses of up to $750 when you open a new checking account. All three tiers require opening a SunTrust Advantage checking account. Bonuses are as follows:
    • Earn $250:
      • Deposit at least $100 within 14 days of account opening
      • Receive $3,000 in qualifying direct deposits within 60 days of account opening
      • Make at least 10 debit card purchases within 60 days of account opening
    • Earn $500:
      • Bring back to $25,000 in total new balances within 30 days and maintain that balance for 90 days from account opening
      • Deposit at least $100 within 14 days of account opening
      • Receive $3,000 in qualifying direct deposits within 60 days of account opening
      • Make at least 10 debit card purchases within 60 days of account opening
    • Earn $750:
      • Bring back to $100,000 in total new balances within 30 days and maintain that balance for 90 days from account opening
      • Deposit at least $100 within 14 days of account opening
      • Receive $3,000 in qualifying direct deposits within 60 days of account opening
      • Make at least 10 debit card purchases within 60 days of account opening

The Fine Print

  • You must be a new SunTrust personal checking client. Clients with an existing personal checking account with SunTrust (either as the primary or secondary account holder) are not eligible.
  • You must not have closed a personal checking account within 180 days of the promotion start date (on or after November 2, 2018). The primary account holder of the participating checking account must be 18 years old or older at the time of account opening. SunTrust employee-designated accounts are not eligible for this promotion. Offer available only to U.S. residents with a U.S. address and a valid U.S. taxpayer identification number.
  • The qualifying checking account must be opened online using the applicable promotion code with a mailing address in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, or the District of Columbia.
  • After meeting the qualification requirements, the applicable reward will be credited to the new checking account up to 8 weeks after all qualifications are met. “Advantage Checking Online Reward Q1 2019” will appear on the monthly checking account statement when the reward is credited to the account holder’s checking account.
  • If the checking account opened in response to a Promotional Offer is converted to another account type or product, it may no longer be eligible to receive the promotional offer. No reward will be earned if the checking account qualifications are not met within the required timeframe. This promotion is only applicable once per client and per account, including all individual and joint accounts. For the purpose of promotion reward qualification, the first name listed on the Savings, Money Market, CD, and IRA accounts will be considered as the participating client.
  • SunTrust may report the value of any reward received through any offer to the Internal Revenue Service as required by law. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the recipient.
  • The new checking account must remain open and in good standing with a minimum balance of $0.01 until the reward is processed in order to receive the reward. If you close an account that was opened in response to a Promotional Offer, you are no longer eligible for that promotional offer and will not be able to receive any rewards applicable to that offer. If the checking account is closed by you or SunTrust within 180 days after opening, SunTrust reserves the right to deduct the reward amount from the account at the time of closing.

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees ($20)

Account required for this bonus has a $20 monthly fee. This is waived if you do any of the following:

  • Make $3,000 or more in total qualifying monthly Direct Deposits OR
  • Hold $10,000 total combined relationship balances linked across deposits and investments OR
  • Linked personal SunTrust Credit Card, Mortgage, or Loan OR
  • Linked Small Business Checking account

Early Account Termination Fee

You need to keep your account open for at least 180 days otherwise your bonus will be forfeit

Our Verdict

So this is $250 more than the previous best SunTrust bonus, but keep in mind the large deposit requirements. Previously you could downgrade the account to help keep it fee free, but this is specifically called out as not working in the fine print and now the deposit is required for the bonus rather than for keeping the account fee free so I think this will be enforced.

You’ll need to have the $25,000/$100,000 in the account for at least 90 days (we will ignore the monthly fee for now). If you put that same amount in a 2.5% APY savings account you’d earn:

  • ~$154 ($25,000)
  • ~$616 ($100,000)

I don’t think the $750 bonus is worth considering because of that. I think the $500 bonus is probably the sweet spot as having the $25,000 invested would also keep the account fee free for those first 90 days. After that you’d either need to do the direct deposit or have $10,000 invested or have a SunTrust credit card.

Hat tip to Danny Deal Guru

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On May 4, 2019, 20:33

View Comments (125)

  • Any body here downgraded account after receiving bonus? No issues with claw back of bonus as stated in the T&C's?

    • The terms refer to downgrading BEFORE receiving the bonus, not after. I downgraded last year AFTER receiving the bonus and there was no clawback.

      • I went ahead and moved all the funds from the MMA to the checking. Submitted a request to close the MMA via chat and also downgraded the checking from Advantage to Essential. Hopefully no claw-backs of the bonus.

  • I just got my bonus posted. 180 days is at the EOY. Can I close the account? or will they prevent me from withdrawing all of the money?

    • If the checking account is closed by you or SunTrust within 180 days after opening, SunTrust reserves the right to deduct the reward amount from the account at the time of closing.

  • DP:
    06/22 – Opened Checking/MMA accounts in-branch with $100 initial deposit into checking.
    06/27 – Reached $25000 balance in MMA account. Received 2.25% only for 1st 3 months.
    07/03 – $1000 Employer DD
    07/03 to 07/15 – 12 Zelle transactions
    07/19 – $1450 Employer DD
    07/24 to 08/05 – 10 Debit Purchases
    08/16 – $551 Employer DD
    10/01 – The $500 Reward for SunTrust Advantage will be deposited as ‘Advantage Checking Offer Reward Q2 2019’ into the qualifying checking account within 8 weeks provided that the checking account remains open,in good standing,and an eligible account type,all as outlined in the offer Terms & Conditions.
    So, looks like it really takes over 6 weeks for the bonus to post.
    10/07 – Moved $10000 out. Looking to move another $5000 out keeping the combined Checking/MMA accounts balance just over $10000 to avoid monthly fees.
    11/14 - $500 Bonus posted yesterday "MISCELLANEOUS CREDIT ADVANTAGE CHECKING OFFER REWARD Q2 2019"
    So, they make you wait for close to 5 months before one gets the bonus.

    Thanks Doc!

      • It's still not 6 months from account opening. So, will have to wait for 6 months or 180 days to be over before closing the account. I might transfer all the money into the checking and close the MMA.

        • Thats what I did. i then downgraded the account so the minimum balance is $500. my 180 is up on 12/29 so I will be closing it then.

          • But their T&C's said, if you downgrade or change to another type of checking account, it will affect your bonus. I know we have already received the bonus. But do you think they can claw back? How long has it been since you downgraded?

  • DP

    5/17 - opened in branch
    5/22 - 3k Ally DD
    5/31 - venmo for debit purchases
    8/9 - bonus posted

  • I got the $500 bonus. This DP shows that you can open a money market and use it to hold the $25000.

    5/17 opened checking online; completed $3000 Chase push + 10 debit card/Zelle transactions in May
    6/14 opened money market online (2.25% promo rate for 60 days), deposited $25000
    8/21 offers website says $500 bonus requirements met
    10/7 $500 bonus posted :-)

    • Just curios. If you opened your MMA account 06/14, looks like you did not maintain a balance of $25000 for 90 days from account opening considering you received $500 reward pending on 08/21. How is that possible?

      • The terms required only 60 days minimum: Bring balance to $25,000 within 30 days and maintain that balance for 90 days from account opening @guest_774005

        • Thanks for the clarification. But that indeed sounds like a weird T&C when it says in the latter part "maintain that balance for 90 days from account opening". No one would really be physically maintaining a balance of $25000 for 90 days if the funds were brought in on the 30th day from account opening. So, it could have been worded better if they said just maintain a balance of $25000 for at least 60 days from the day the balance reached $25000.

          But if you look at my time line above, the 10/01 date on which the offers website showed $500 reward as pending was exactly 1 week after 90 days (09/24) of maintaining $25000 balance since I reached that balance on 06/27.

          • Yes, the bank could have put it in plainer English. I can see how you and I interpreted the terms two different ways.

            My DP also shows that the offers site switched to reward pending 1 week after 90 days after account opening.

            I do have one correction to my earlier post: my money market promo rate was valid for 90 days (not 60).

            Enjoy your $500! :-) @guest_774005

          • Did you keep the $25000 in the MMA after 90 days or did you move it out just keeping $10000 in combined balance to avoid monthly fees?

          • I withdrew the $25000 when the promo rate expired in mid-September. Before the withdrawal, I asked a rep via chat if they could extend the promo rate. He/she said no.

            I did a $3000 DD to checking in September to avoid the monthly fee.
            @guest_774005

          • Are you doing Employer DD or have you tried moving $3000 to satisfy the DD from one of the banks where ACH transfers code as DD?

            Also do you still have your MMA account open or have you closed it? If closed, are there any early termination fees on the MMA account?

          • I use ACH transfers to meet the checking DD requirement. I closed the MMA account. It was open for about 4 months. There was no fee to close early.

            How long does/did your MM promo rate last? @guest_774005

          • My MMA 2.25% promotion was for 90 days. I just completed 4 months since account opening. I still have both checking & MMA open.

    • Holy S***. So, they really make you wait 5 months since account opening to give you the bonus.

      06/22 - Opened Checking/MMA accounts in-branch with $100 initial deposit into checking.
      06/27 - Reached $25000 balance in MMA account. Received 2.25% only for 1st 3 months.
      07/03 - $1000 Employer DD
      07/03 to 07/15 - 12 Zelle transactions
      07/19 - $1450 Employer DD
      07/24 to 08/05 - 10 Debit Purchases
      08/16 - $551 Employer DD
      10/01 - The $500 Reward for SunTrust Advantage will be deposited as 'Advantage Checking Offer Reward Q2 2019' into the qualifying checking account within 8 weeks provided that the checking account remains open,in good standing,and an eligible account type,all as outlined in the offer Terms & Conditions.
      So, looks like it really takes over 6 weeks for the bonus to post.
      10/07 - Moved $10000 out. Looking to move another $5000 out keeping the combined Checking/MMA accounts balance just over $10000 to avoid monthly fees.

  • SunTrust $250 Checking Bonus DP
    – 6/27 – Opened checking account online
    – 7/15 – $3K Ally ACH
    – 7/12 – 10x $1 Amazon reloads
    – 9/20 – $250 bonus posted

  • SunTrust $250 Checking Bonus DP
    - 7/1 - Opened checking account online
    - 7/5 - $3K Ally ACH
    - 7/13 - 10x $.50 Amazon reloads
    - 9/19 - $250 bonus posted

  • 2 x DP for $250 bonus for P1 and P2:

    5/9/19 - initial deposit of $101 by ACH from another bank posted after opening account online, triggered a checkmark on the offers website

    5/20 and 5/21 - 10 x .50 Amazon reloads with new debit cards posted and triggered debit requirements on offers website

    May 30 - Ally bank transfer $3001 counted as DD on offers website and triggered bonus marked as pending

    (Recurring monthly transfer of $3001 to each account from Ally is being used to waive monthly fee)

    July 25 - bonuses posted to both our accounts

    Now trying to figure out if we are brave enough to downgrade the account since the bonus is now complete and paid. I'll post if we do this. If anyone else has or has tried, DPs appreciated!

      • I haven't tried yet because we have "DDs" (Ally) that posted Aug 1, so we are good for a few weeks. My plan is to do a few more transactions so the bonus isn't so prominent in the recent account history, then call a rep to ask and downgrade my account at the end of the month. If that works, I'll downgrade P2 as well. Will post an update when I do.

        • @guest_795155 Update: I did just downgrade P2 to the Essentials Checking today, using 10 x Venmo debits (.01-.10) to keep it fee free for Sept. Chat rep promised no fees or charges to change the account, and I have a copy of that transcript in writing just in case. I did not specifically ask about bonus claw back because I didn't want to draw negative attention to that, but I'm pretty confident there won't be any since his bonus posted a while ago. For my account, I had been declined for a Suntrust cc online (too many recently opened accounts from churning), but phone recon told me that I would prob be approved in branch and I was, so my account is now free from the linked card.

          I will update this again if P2 has any clawback. If i don't post again, all is clear.

  • My data point: 6/15/19: Opened an account online with Chase United; didn't go through.
    6/17: deposited a $100 check.
    6/28: added $0.50x10 to Amazon gift card account.
    7/2: ACH deposit of $25K from Discover Savings account.
    7/24: Suntrust Offers website shows I've fulfilled (1) Deposit at least $100 into your new SunTrust Advantage Checking account within 14 days of account opening (2) Complete at least $3,000 in Direct Deposits to the new SunTrust Advantage Checking account within 60 days of account opening (3) Make 10 of any, or a combination equaling 10 or more, of qualifying Debit Card purchases, and/or SunTrust Credit Card purchases and/or outgoing Zelle payments within 60 days of the checking account opening (4) Deposit at least $25,000 in new balances into qualifying SunTrust accounts within 30 days of opening your new SunTrust Advantage Checking account

    So I'm waiting for completing the last requirement which is (5) $25,000 in new deposit balances in qualifying SunTrust accounts must be maintained for a minimum of 90 days after the SunTrust Advantage Checking account opening date.

    Thank you Doctor!

  • Has anyone else used cc purchases to meet the activity requirement?

    According to the offers.suntrust website, I have met the requirement for DD, which would've included my push from Merrill and then my employer DD on the 28th. It doesn't show that I've met the activity requirement (I've made Zelle transfers and small CC purchases, the 10th of which was on the 28th as well), but I don't know how long that takes to track on the offers.suntrust website. Maybe it needs the cc statement to post first?

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