Examined Sep 18, 2026 Paid in cash No direct deposit required Capital One pays $250 on a new 360 Checking account for 20 debit card purchases, with no direct deposit and no monthly fee.
The two routes are two public promo codes, and you pick one when you open. DEBIT250 asks for at least 20 debit card purchases within 75 days. CHECKING250 asks for at least 2 qualifying direct deposits of $500 or more each within 75 days. Neither needs an invitation, and no minimum balance is required to earn the bonus. A third code, BONUS1500, pays $300 to $1,500 on a new 360 Performance Savings account, but only on $20,000 or more of outside money.
What pays what
| Code DEBIT250: at least 20 qualifying debit card transactions within 75 days of opening | $250 |
|---|---|
| Code CHECKING250: at least 2 qualifying direct deposits of $500 or more each within 75 days | $250 |
| ATM transactions, Zelle, Venmo, ACH payments or cash withdrawals, as card purchases | $0 |
| Wire transfers, or transfers started on Capital One's website or app, as direct deposits | $0 |
| Any 360 Checking, Simply Checking or Total Control Checking account open on or after Jan 1, 2024 | $0 |
| Code BONUS1500, savings: $20,000, $50,000 or $100,000 of outside money held 90 days | $300, $750 or $1,500 |
If you have or had an open 360 Checking, Simply Checking, or Total Control Checking account as a primary or secondary account holder with Capital One on or after January 1, 2024, you will be ineligible for the bonus.
360 Checking is open to US citizens and lawful permanent residents aged at least 18, with an address in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., or a military APO or FPO address, a US mobile number, and a Social Security Number or ITIN.
Do this, in this order
- Check the lookback, then pick one code. Only one promotional code is accepted per account, and the bonus is valid for one new 360 Checking account. DEBIT250 is the one that needs no payroll at all.
- Fund the account early. The comparison page carries a line the two single offer pages do not: “Your 360 Checking account must be funded within 60 days of account opening, otherwise it will automatically close.” A closed account receives no bonus.
- On the card route, make every purchase clearly more than $10. The offer steps say 20 qualifying transactions of $10 or more. The definition underneath says: “A Qualifying Transaction is a transaction above $10 where your 360 Checking Debit Card is used.” A purchase of exactly $10 sits between those two sentences, so do not test it. Only in-person and online card purchases count.
- On the payroll route, it has to be real recurring income. Capital One means salary, pension, government payments or other monthly income, arriving as an ACH or Real-Time Payment credit from your employer or another outside entity. Each of the 2 deposits must be $500 or more. The page notes it may take two cycles for direct deposits to take effect, so start the payroll change the day you open.
- Finish early, then wait anyway. Capital One assesses your status after the first 75 days from opening, and says processing can take up to 60 days, so it tells you to expect the bonus within 135 days of opening. The account must be open and in good standing at the time the bonus is deposited, and the amount is reported on IRS form 1099-INT.
The savings bonus: the same 1.5 percent at every tier
How it works. Open 360 Performance Savings with code BONUS1500, deposit $20,000 or more of new outside money within the first 15 days, then hold it for 90 days after that period ends, through 11:59 pm ET on the 90th day. The bonus arrives within 60 days after that: 15 plus 90 plus 60 is up to 165 days from opening.
The arithmetic. $300 divided by $20,000 is 1.5 percent. So is $750 divided by $50,000, and $1,500 divided by $100,000. Money above a tier floor earns nothing extra: $49,999 earns the same $300, and $300 divided by $49,999 is about 0.6 percent. The account also pays interest, but the pages we saved did not display the rate, so we do not state one.
The tier is fixed on day 15 and can only fall. “If at any time during the 90 days following the Initial Funding Period your account balance drops into a lower tier, you will be rewarded that tier's cash bonus.” Below $20,000 there is no bonus at all, and deposits made during the hold do not lift you to a higher tier. Transfers between Capital One accounts do not count as new money, and Capital One says some deposits pulled through its website from an outside account are subject to limits, so a large sum may have to be sent from the other bank.
Where Capital One's pages disagree, and what it does not publish
Two start dates for one code. The CHECKING250 page says: “Open a 360 Checking account on or after August 22, 2024, using promotional code CHECKING250.” The comparison page says: “Open a 360 Checking account on or after Aug. 22, 2025, at 12:00 a.m. ET using promotional code CHECKING250.” Both dates are behind us, so a new account opened today satisfies either.
No end date. None of the offer pages prints one. Instead: “Capital One reserves the right to end or change the terms of this offer at any time prior to you accepting the offer, with or without notice.” Once an account is opened with a code, the terms will not change without advance notice. The help center adds that Capital One sometimes sends bonus codes to targeted groups.
No referral program for bank accounts. Some sites describe a refer a friend reward for 360 accounts. Capital One's own page says: “The Capital One Refer a Friend program rewards cardholders when they refer friends and family who then open a Capital One credit card account.” We found no Capital One page tying a referral reward to a 360 account.
One phrase it does not explain. Direct deposits and outside savings money must come from a source not affiliated with Capital One prior to Jan. 1, 2025. The pages do not list which institutions that rules out.
Is it worth your time?
For most people who clear the lookback, yes. Twenty purchases of just over $10 each come to just over $200 (20 times $10) of spending you would do anyway, moved to a different card, and they earn $250. There is no monthly fee and no balance to park. The cost is patience: plan on the full 135 days, with the account open and in good standing throughout.
The savings bonus suits someone who already holds $20,000 or more in cash and can leave it untouched for 105 days, which is the 15 day funding period plus the 90 day hold.
