You might be able to get an offer of up to $150 by doing a withdrawal at Wells Fargo ATM, but most people have only been getting offers for $50-$100.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $100
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required:Â No
- Additional requirements: 10 debit card transactions
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Chexsystems: Mixed reports
- Credit card funding:Â Can fund up to $50 online
- Monthly fees: $10, waivableÂ
- Early account termination fee:Â None
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration Date:Â December 16th, 2016
Contents
The Offer
Receive a $100 sign up bonus when you open a Wells Fargo checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Open a new Everyday Checking account with a minimum opening deposit of $25 (not including the bonus) from this page online by December 16th, 2016.
- Within 60 days of account opening, make 10 debit purchases and/or payments with your Wells Fargo debit card [Tips for meeting those debit card requirements can be found here]
The Fine Print
- Purchase requirement must be completed within 60 days of account opening
- We will deposit the bonus into your new checking account within 45 days after eligibility and qualifications have been met
- All consumer checking accounts except Teen CheckingSM and prepaid WellsFargot EasyPay card are eligible for the $100 bonus
- You cannot be: a current owner on a Wells Fargo consumer checking account, a Wells Fargo team member, or a recipient of a consumer checking bonus in the past 12 months
- A qualifying direct deposit is your salary, pension, Social Security, or other regular recurring monthly income of an accumulated $500 or more
- Offer can not be paid without providing a valid U.S. taxpayer ID (W-9)
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fee
The Everyday Checking account comes with a $10 monthly fee. Get the fee waived with one of the following:
- 10 debit card purchases and/or payments each statement cycle from this checking account, OR
- Direct deposits totaling $500 or more each statement cycle, OR
- Maintain a $1,500 minimum daily balance, OR
- Link checking account to a Wells Fargo Campus ATM or Campus Debit Card
If you have a Wells mortgage, you might be able to get a higher-level account with no fees.
Early Account Termination Fee
There is no early account termination fee.
Our Verdict
These Wells Fargo bonuses are fantastic as they can be opened online and there is no direct deposit required at all. It’s pretty easy to keep the account fee free and it’s also easy to trigger the debit card requirement as well. Because of these factors we’ve added this to our best bonus page. The other reason it’s good to have a Wells Fargo checking account is that it’s easier to get approved for their credit cards when you do (and they offer great cell phone protection). Here are some of the better sign up bonuses:
- Wells Fargo Propel World: $400+ sign up bonus
- Wells Fargo Propel 365: $200 sign up bonus
- Wells Fargo Cashback Card: 5% cash back at select categories for six months (read this post before applying)
- Various cards now come with $150 bonusÂ
Big thanks to reader, John K who let us know. Please consider sharing bank bonuses with this site so we can make it even better.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- 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
Does WF not issue 1099-INT’s for bonuses?
I received my $100 WF bonus on 12/27 (labeled PROMOTION BONUS – MISC INCOME) but when I log in I don’t have any tax documents for 2016, nor did I receive one in the mail.
Does WF somehow not count this as Interest Income and not report it, or am I alone here? Thanks!
I also haven’t received 1099-INT.
Got the $100 (labeled PROMOTION BONUS Category: Other Deposits) during Jan 2016.
From their FAQs.
Wells Fargo generally mails original tax documents no later than January 31, or by the IRS deadline of February 15 for Brokerage accounts. Depending on the postal service delivery, you can usually expect to receive your tax documents by the third week of February or by the end of February for Brokerage accounts. If you don’t receive your tax documents by then, please call us at 1-800-TO-WELLS (1-800-869-3557) or 1-866-281-7436 for Brokerage customers.
Feb 25th and I still have not received anything from Wells Fargo nor I see any online.. should I just skip while filing taxes?
I called them, and their response was that they don’t report opening bonuses. They only report interest (over $10)
Wow, that was fast. Opened 12/14/16, requirements met 01/06/17, bonus deposited 01/17/17.
Clicking on “direct Link to Offer” now errors out.
Yes, bonus expired on December 16th.
12/14 Opened account
12/20 Made 10th debit card purchase
12/22 $100 posted
That was fast!
did you close?
I can’t believe I missed this?! Ugh. Was this offer posted on Twitter? The Wells Fargo link still works, but the expiration date is listed as December 16th. Not sure if it will be extended or not.
Yes it was posted on Twitter.
“You cannot be…a recipient of a consumer checking bonus in the past 12 months”
I hope they mean a recipient of a Wells Fargo consumer checking bonus, and not any recipient.
Besides, how would they know? Does the Chex Systems tell them this?
Yes they mean Wells Fargo
only problem with this deal — it’s with wells fargo — as in “we’ll go far” with your money. As such, absolute non-starter for me. (until this bank is broken up — which won’t happen any time soon) Yup, I’m stuck with one account with them — a residual hung over from an account we had with Wachovia (as in Walk-all-ovia — seems the former inherited the worst practices of the former)
I generally try to avoid contact with WF account specialists…. sure, some happen to be friends…. but then there are the corporate a/k snakes, the ones looking to sign you up for products w/o yr knowledge, (and more massive scandals brewing on that front) the ones asking just too many questions about your personal business. (for political reasons even)
Looking to do new banking business, but we’ll go far, far away from the chuck wagon fraudsters.
As a WFB team member –
Use Early Warning systems (created by Chase/Wachovia(now WFB) and Wels + a few others.
SOFT PULL only
Fee is waived for TWO full months and 3rd month is where monthly requirements start kicking in.
And Wells can be a bit stingy on credit limits.
Thanks very much. I might go ahead and do this now.
Any idea if the Cash Wise has a minimum credit limit in order to be approved? Does Wells allow people to request a credit increase immediately or do people need to wait a certain amount of time?
Thanks again.
No idea on minimum credit limit, but why do you need such a big credit limit anyway? Better off putting that on a 2%+ card instead. You can request a credit limit increase, more on that here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/credit-cards/which-credit-card-companies-do-a-hard-pull-for-a-credit-limit-increase/#Wells_Fargo
Does the $10/month fee kick in immediately or is it waived for the first 2-3 months like at a lot of other banks?
Also, anyone know if Wells pulls Chex? My Chex is clean, but I’m at the point where I’m trying to limit Chex pulls. (There’s only one data point on the “Is Opening a Bank Account a Soft to Hard pull” page.)
Thanks.
id also like to know.
i applied for a WF checking account 2 years ago.. hard pull.
Hard pull? Did you apply for overdraft or opt out (or was it not a choice)?
No way I’d take a hard pull for a $100 checking bonus.
Definitely a soft pull now
Mixed reports of chexsystems: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/banks-credit-unions-dodont-pull-chexsystems/#Wells_Fargo
Thanks. I had only checked the first link I mentioned above.
Anyone here have the Wells Fargo Cash Wise credit card? I’ve been thinking of applying for that for the 0% intro APR, but the application requires an existing Wells Fargo banking relationship. This checking offer would satisfy that requirement, but I’m wondering if it’s worth it, since Wells might be stingy with credit limits for first-time customers. Thanks.
Thanks. I applied and got conditional approval and it also states “your bonus offer has been linked to this application.”
i got a conditional approval too – i think it means they just want the signed packet back first