Bank account bonuses

Real cash for opening accounts and routing deposits. The traps live in what counts as a qualifying direct deposit, in monthly fees, and in hard end dates.

32 read & dated re-read weekly How to read this list ↓
The recurring trap here: what counts as a direct deposit, and monthly fees.
Before you tap anything: every link below goes to our own guide for that offer, and none of them is a referral link, so this page earns nothing. A guide that carries a referral link of ours says so on the guide itself.
SoFicash; $400 needs $5,000+ of recurring payroll direct deposit within 25 daysEnds Dec 31, 2026 $50Cash Venmo and self-transfers pay $0, and $4,999.99 of deposits pays $50, not $400 Worth it if ReadOct 2, 2026 Guide Chasecash for $1,000+ of payroll, pension or benefits direct deposits within 90 days of enrollingEnds Jan 27, 2027 $400Cash Zelle, mobile check deposits and your own transfers do not count; $15 monthly fee after two free statement periods unless waived; one bonus per two years Worth it ReadOct 2, 2026 Guide Chimecash to you, the friend who signs up $100Cash Only one single deposit of $200+ from an employer, payroll, gig or government payer counts; transfers, P2P and instant card payouts fail, and missing the 14-day card activation voids it. Worth it if ReadSep 25, 2026 Guide Current$100 cash, or $50 if the friend whose link you use opened their account under 61 days ago and has no $200 payroll deposit yet $50 or $100Cash Recurring payroll deposits only: transfers you make yourself, P2P payments, mobile check and cash deposits, and one-time deposits such as tax refunds pay nothing Worth it if ReadOct 2, 2026 Guide Varocash, but Varo sets the amount per offer and only shows it in your email or the app, so there is no fixed figure to quote VariesCash Only real payroll, pension or government benefit deposits count. Tax refunds, stimulus, Venmo-style P2P, and anything you push in using your own Varo routing number are all excluded, which rules out the obvious self-funding shortcut. If you are not among the first five people paid on the sender's link that calendar year, you get nothing. Bonuses get reported on a 1099-MISC Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Allycash with NO direct deposit required, for a recurring transfer of any amountEnds Dec 31, 2026 $100Cash Anyone who has held any Ally Bank deposit account since January 1, 2024, joint owners included, is an Excluded Friend and gets nothing; Ally can end the program early Worth it ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Axos$100 for checking with a $1,500 direct deposit; $50 tiers for ONE/savings $50 to $100Cash The $1,500 direct deposit bar is the highest of the neobanks, and P2P transfers do not count Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Upgradea cash credit whose size Upgrade does not publish on any of its own pages, so the $100 to $400 figures circulating are third-party guesses VariesCash credit Only recurring employer, payroll or gig deposits count. One-time deposits, tax refunds, trial or verification deposits, PayPal and Venmo, mobile check deposits and cash loads are all excluded Think twice ReadOct 3, 2026 Guide Marcusrate boost for 3 months, lifting the 3.50% savings rate to 4.50%. It is interest rather than a check, so it is worth about $25 per $10,000 you hold +1.00% APYInterest Marcus's current referral terms, updated July 1, 2026, pay a rate boost, not cash, so a guide promising a cash payout does not match them. You also need to have had no Marcus savings account or CD for 12 months to count as new, CDs earn nothing, and a new joint account gets the boost only if every owner is new when it is opened Worth it if ReadOct 3, 2026 Guide Wealthfrontboost for 3 months on the Cash Account; not cash (~$19 per $10k) +0.75% APYInterest Opening with no link already gets +0.65% for 3 months, so the link adds only 0.10 points; boost stops at $150k and closing early forfeits the rest Worth it if ReadSep 25, 2026 Guide OnePayin points: OnePay publishes no amount on its website; the app shows it once you qualify UnpublishedPoints to cash Paid in points that need redeeming, and since Oct 1, 2026 only direct deposits earn the referral: the $5,000-balance route has closed Worth it if ReadOct 3, 2026 Guide Huntingtoncash; $400 on Perks Checking, and $600 on Platinum Perks only if you park $25,000 of outside moneyEnds Jan 15, 2027 $400 or $600Cash Real-Time Payments credits, Zelle, Venmo, PayPal and Huntington-to-Huntington transfers all count for nothing; the promotion code attaches only from Huntington's offer page; 21 states only; $10 a month on Perks unless deposits hit $1,000 every month or you keep a $5,000 total relationship balance Worth it ReadOct 2, 2026 Guide Truistcash; a separate business checking offer pays up to $800, on balance aloneEnds Feb 2, 2027 $500Cash Zelle, Real Time Payments and transfers pushed from your own bank all pay $0, one $2,000 deposit is not two, and the promo code is single use and cannot be added after the account is opened Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Bluevinenothing for a US resident: both promotions with live terms say legal residents of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. are not eligible, and a new member gets nothing from the referral program NothingCash in USD, non-US residents only Payments to entities you own or control, and any payment returned or refunded, do not count toward the $50,000. The bonus is reversible if you close the account within 150 days of funding it, and the free Premier year auto-continues at $95/month, $1,140 a year, unless you actively downgrade Ended Aug 31, 2026 ReadOct 3, 2026 Guide Bank of Americanothing we can confirm: the only bonus page Bank of America still serves, an employee banking offer of $100 to $500, printed an expiry of September 30, 2026 and showed no new date on Oct 3 EndedNothing An account opened after the printed deadline earns no bonus under the terms as written, and Bank of America's public offer address answers that the offer is no longer available. The page is for employees of companies in its Employee Banking and Investing Program in any case Ended ReadOct 3, 2026 Guide BMOcash, paid as $100 a month for up to six months; a separate Savings Builder account adds $5 for each month its balance grows by $200, up to $60Ends Dec 15, 2026 $600Cash A month with $900 of direct deposits pays $0 for that month. Zelle, Venmo, real-time credits and transfers from any bank or brokerage never count. Existing BMO checking clients, including joint owners and signers, and anyone who closed one in the past 12 months are excluded Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Capital One 360cash in a new 360 Checking account with no monthly fee, by card spending or by direct deposit; a separate savings bonus pays $300 to $1,500 on $20,000 or more $250Cash Any 360 Checking, Simply Checking or Total Control Checking account open on or after January 1, 2024, even as a secondary holder, pays $0. One code per account, the payout can take 135 days, and an account not funded within 60 days closes itself Worth it ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Citicash on a new Regular Checking account: $500 for a $30,000 balance or $1,500 for $200,000, in New-to-Citibank Funds; no direct deposit is asked forEnds Oct 26, 2026 $500 or $1,500Cash Your day 45 balance sets the ceiling, so $199,999 earns the same $500 as $30,000; dropping under $30,000 before day 90 forfeits it; the page refuses some home ZIP codes; the $15.00 monthly fee applies unless $250 in Enhanced Direct Deposits lands Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Fifth Third Bankcash for a new Momentum or Preferred Checking account; Fifth Third says Momentum has no monthly service fee and no minimum deposit to openEnds Jan 4, 2027 $300Cash Transfers from other accounts and mobile deposits do not qualify; any ownership of a Fifth Third deposit account, open now or closed within the last 13 months, shuts you out, by the offer's footnote (its FAQ says checking); an account untouched for 12 months is charged a $5 dormant fee every month Worth it ReadOct 1, 2026 Guide KeyBankcash: $300 on Key Smart Checking, which has no monthly maintenance fee, or $500 on Key Select Checking, which charges $25 a month after the first 3 months unless waivedEnds Dec 11, 2026 $300 or $500Cash Teller, ATM and mobile app deposits count for nothing; a primary owner of a KeyBank personal checking account in the last 12 months is excluded; Key Select's $100 annual bonus needs $60,000 of direct deposits in 12 months Worth it ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide PNCcash: $100 on Virtual Wallet for $500 of qualifying direct deposits, or $400 on Virtual Wallet with Performance Select for $5,000, within 60 daysEnds Jan 7, 2027 $100 or $400Cash The $400 account lists a monthly service charge of $25 or $0 and the offer page does not say how to reach $0. Change checking products after opening and the reward can change. The cash takes 60 to 90 days more to arrive, and the account must stay open Worth it if ReadSep 24, 2026 Guide TD Bankcash: $200 on TD Complete Checking or $300 on TD Beyond Checking; the advertised $500 adds $200 for holding $10,000 in a new Signature Savings accountEnds Nov 30, 2026 $200 or $300Cash Any earlier TD checking bonus, ever, or a TD checking account closed in the past 12 months, pays $0. Close within 6 months and TD can deduct the bonus. Monthly fees of $15 or $25 apply unless waived, and payment can take 180 days Worth it if ReadOct 1, 2026 Guide U.S. Bankcash, credited as adjusted interest: $250, $350 or $450 depending on how much payroll or benefits direct deposit lands in 90 daysEnds Nov 10, 2026 $250 to $450Cash, reported as interest on a 1099-INT Apply from any other U.S. Bank page and the offer does not attach. Only a paycheck or government benefits count as direct deposit. A $12 monthly fee starts after two statement periods unless waived. Two sibling offers ($600, $500) pay only their intended recipient Worth it ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Wells Fargocash on a new Everyday Checking account; a separate $125 offer covers Clear Access Banking, the checkless second chance account, and you can take only oneEnds Jan 13, 2027 $325Cash Transfers between accounts, mobile deposits, Zelle and branch or ATM deposits do not count toward the $1,000; a Wells Fargo checking bonus in the past 12 months disqualifies you; the $15 monthly fee has its own waivers, such as $500 in electronic deposits each fee period Worth it ReadOct 15, 2026 Guide Alliant Credit Uniona $100 bonus deposit into a new Alliant High-Rate Savings account, paid after 12 consecutive months of saving; no referral or invitation neededEnds Dec 31, 2026 $100Cash One missed month breaks the 12-month streak. The first $100 is due within 30 days of opening, each later deposit must post by the last day of its month, the average daily balance must stay at $100, and the account is reviewed only after 12 months Worth it if ReadOct 3, 2026 Guide

Showing 1 to 25 of 32 in this list. Every entry above was read on the official terms on the date shown. When terms change, the row changes. “Most people get” is what the terms pay on the typical path; the advertised ceiling and its condition are printed in the same row.

How to read this list

Some of the biggest cash bonuses on the site are in this category, and nearly every one of them is gated by the same phrase: qualifying direct deposit. Each bank defines it differently, and the definition is where most bonuses die. Chase has the widest exclusion list we have read, where Zelle, mobile check deposits, wires and money you push in from your own bank all count for exactly nothing toward the $400. The bank-by-bank version of that answer sits on one page: what counts as a direct deposit.

The second leak is the monthly fee. A checking bonus is not free money if the account charges you while you wait to qualify, so read the fee waiver before you read the bonus table. Chase is the example on this page: $15 a month after the first two statement periods, in any period where none of its waivers is met. The clocks are real too, because several of these offers carry a hard end date published by the bank itself, and it is printed on the row.

No payroll to reroute? At least one offer here pays without any direct deposit at all. Ally's $100 takes a recurring transfer of any size, three months running, which is the quiet exception to this category's biggest trap. The routes that skip payroll entirely are collected on their own page.

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