Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $200
- Availability: Nationwide but restricted membership
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $100+
- Additional requirements: No
- Hard/soft pull: Unknown
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Can fund up to $100 with a credit card
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: 4/24/2025
Contents
The Offer
- USAA is offering a $200 bonus when you open a new savings account, deposit $15,000 and maintain that for 90 days
The Fine Print
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has no monthly fee
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no EATF.
Our Verdict
This account earns 0.05%. Having to tie up $15,000 for 90 days makes this bonus work out to be ~5% APY and not really worth doing based on other basic savings rates.
Hat tip to reader RJ
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
USAA’s savings and checking interest rates aren’t even close to being competitive (and haven’t been competitive since… it’s been so long that I cannot even remember when). Maybe USAA is hoping that the new banking customers will stick around by grabbing an insurance product or two. Otherwise I don’t see how USAA will keep any new banking customers after the 90 days is done.
USAA is where I have my longest banking/credit/insurance relationships (and brokerage before USAA sold that off). So I’m still around mostly out of habit, lol. If I wasn’t already a USAA member for decades, I’m not sure why I would signup (and stay after 90-days) today.
Darn. How short is the edit window for comments? I edited my reply a bit, but could post the edits after just 9 minutes. Oh well, lol.
I think 10 minutes. Some of the more active users might get more but not sure if that’s distinguishable.
Their rates really disappoint. I want to give them my business!
That makes it worth considering.
There’s interest lost during money in transit, too.
And it’s 90 days starting from day 30, so for most people that could be up to 4 months that it’s earning near-zero. If you try to get it there exactly on day 30, you might be too late. Not worth it for me.
Meh