Brokerage & investing bonuses

Many brokerages pay new customers in stock instead of cash. The traps are lock-ups before you can sell, maintenance periods before you can withdraw, and lottery ceilings.

19 read & dated re-read weekly How to read this list ↓
The recurring trap here: holding periods and lock-ups on stock rewards.
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.
Robinhoodgift stock for ~99% of people; $200 is the 1-in-1,000 ceiling $5Gift stock The stock is triggered by linking a bank, not by opening the account; unclaimed rewards expire in 60 days Worth it ReadOct 2, 2026 Guide Webullin 10 fractional shares for a $100 first deposit; each is $3 to $300, and Webull prints the odds: $3 at 98%Ends Jan 6, 2027 $30Fractional shares Any withdrawal inside the 10-day hold forfeits the shares, anyone who has ever funded a Webull account is excluded, the bundled Premium trial bills you once its 30 days end, and fractional shares cannot transfer to another broker in-kind Worth it if ReadOct 3, 2026 Guide Moomooin NVDA stock; $1,000 needs $100k parked up to 180 daysEnds Dec 31, 2026 $30 to $1,000NVDA stock Withdrawing below your tier during the freeze forfeits the stock. A dip from trading or market moves with no withdrawal can also put you under, and the terms say only that you can contact customer service for help Worth it if ReadOct 2, 2026 Guide Publicin a stock or ETF you pick from their pool $100Fractional stock A $1,000 deposit locked for 12 months for a $100 reward, and withdrawing early can cost up to $100 Worth it if ReadSep 14, 2026 Guide Acornsin reward shares for a $5 deposit, but only once you start a paid Acorns subscription at $4, $8 or $12 a month; no cash option $5ETF shares Acorns is a $4+/mo subscription, which outruns the bonus if you were not staying anyway Think twice ReadOct 3, 2026 Guide Stashcash of $5 to $50, or a stock reward worth up to $20, named only in a private in-app offer message; Stash's statement for invited customers, effective May 13, 2021, sets that range $5 to $50Cash or stock in your Stash account The bonus must stay in the Personal Portfolio 90 days and selling does not end the hold, and the $12 a month subscription outruns the $5 floor in its first month Think twice ReadOct 3, 2026 Guide M1 Financefor you, but only with a $10,000+ deposit; among the brokerages we list, only Schwab ($25,000) and Merrill Edge ($20,000) set a higher entry bar $75Cash $10k minimum, and if you use an IRA the money then lives under retirement withdrawal rules Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide tastytradecash for a $1,000 deposit; the current program window runs through Nov 30, 2026Ends Nov 30, 2026 $100Cash Your deposit must stay 6 months, and the bonus cannot be withdrawn until that hold ends Worth it ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Charles Schwabtiered by net deposit: $100 at $25,000, $300 at $50,000, $500 at $100,000, and $1,000 at $500,000, all paid to you as the person opening the account $100 to $1,000Cash Below $25,000 you get nothing at all, only genuinely new-to-Schwab money counts, and the net deposit must stay at Schwab for at least one year or the bonus can be charged back Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Fundrisein fund shares, sized by your friend's account value; you are paid only if you become a Fundrise Advisors client within the 30-day invitation period $25 to $100eREIT shares The no-investment line does not cover you: your reward needs you to become a client, no minimum is named, and the reward is illiquid fund shares Worth it if ReadSep 25, 2026 Guide Groundfloorin restricted credit: $50 for $100 invested on two undated Groundfloor pages, $100 for $1,000 on its only dated one $50 or $100Restricted credits Credits must be invested in a loan and that loan repaid (months to years) before the money is withdrawable Think twice ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Bettermentcash paid into a Betterment managed investing account, tiered by new money: $100 at $1,000, $125 at $10,000, $250 at $25,000, up to $2,000 at $200,000; no referral link neededEnds Nov 30, 2026 $100 to $2,000Cash into the investing account For three years after the reward lands, moving the deposit out, even into Betterment Cash Reserve or a joint account, triggers an Early Removal Fee of up to the whole reward. Betterment's investing page says $1,500 where the terms say $2,000, and a friend's invitation does not stack Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide E*TRADEa cash credit tiered by deposit: $50 at $1,000, $150 at $5,000, $300 at $20,000, $1,500 at $500,000, $10,000 at $5,000,000; the banner's $1,500 is not the ceilingEnds Oct 31, 2026 $50 to $10,000Cash credit to the new account The deposit must stay, minus trading losses, for twelve months after the 60-day funding period or the credit may be surrendered. Withdrawals inside the 60 days can cut or lose it. Existing clients are capped at $1,000 on the new account Worth it if ReadSep 24, 2026 Guide Fidelitynothing: Fidelity's Refer a Friend pages name no reward for the new customer, and the one cash offer page still online ended on 04/08/2023 NothingNothing A $25 for $50 cash offer page still loads on fidelity.com, but it was limited to existing customers Fidelity had sent it to and required funding by 04/08/2023. Do not fund an account expecting $50 Think twice ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Firstradecash tiered by your net deposit in the first 30 days: $100 at $10,000, $400 at $30,000, $700 at $100,000, $1,000 at $500,000 $100 to $1,000Cash credited to the brokerage account Only projected until the deposit stays a year; each withdrawal resets it to the tier of what remains, and under $10,000 it is lost. Family and housemates cannot refer Worth it if ReadSep 25, 2026 Guide Interactive Brokers$1 of IBKR stock for every $300 of net deposits in your first year, capped at $1,000, which takes $300,000; IBKR's own example is $100 for $30,000 $1 per $300IBKR stock, locked for one year Shares cannot be sold for one year, a withdrawal in the first year claws shares back by formula, and closing the account before the anniversary forfeits them. Nothing is paid when you and your friend are family or live at the same address Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investingcash added to the new account, tiered by new money: $50 from $5,000, $150 from $25,000, $325 from $100,000 and $1,000 from $250,000Ends Oct 21, 2026 $50 to $1,000Cash Money moved from Chase or any JPMorganChase affiliate does not count, so a Chase customer can earn $0. The fee schedule charges $75 to transfer all assets out, more than the $50 tier pays. One bonus per year Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Merrill Edgecash paid into a new Merrill IRA or Cash Management Account with offer code 600ME: $100 from $20,000, $150 from $50,000, $250 from $100,000 and $600 from $200,000 $100 to $600Cash Less than $20,000 pays $0, and the code must be entered at account opening. The separate $1,000 code, 1000BR, needs BofA Rewards enrollment at day 90, and between $200,000 and $249,999 it pays $400 where 600ME pays $600. No end date; Merrill can cancel without notice Worth it if ReadSep 18, 2026 Guide Vanguardnothing: Vanguard's Cash Plus invitation form sends your friend an informational email, and its FAQ says Vanguard currently offers no referral incentives NothingNothing There is no bonus to lose, but Vanguard's page says new accounts are generally subject to a 60-day holding period on cash and check deposits and transactions may face a 7-day hold. The 0.25% APY boost its page advertised through September 30, 2026 is no longer mentioned, and the APY may change at any time Think twice ReadOct 1, 2026 Guide

Showing all 19 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

Many brokerages hand new customers stock instead of cash, and stock arrives with strings: lock-ups before you can sell, maintenance periods before you can withdraw, and fractional shares that cannot move to another broker in kind. Every row states the hold, because the hold is the price. The full comparison is on one page: lock-ups, holds and transfer rules.

The advertised ceilings are lottery odds, not offers. Robinhood's gift stock is $5 for about 99 in 100 people, and the figure in the advertisement is the 1-in-1,000 outcome. Moomoo's $1,000 needs $100k parked for up to 180 days. We print the realistic number first and label every ceiling with the condition that gates it.

One test decides most of these: never park money you might need during the hold window. A bonus that is forfeited the moment you withdraw is not yours until the calendar says so.

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