Update October 2018. Here is a new promotion link with an extended expiration date and an extra $100 on top of the previous bonus. The requirements are nearly identical to before, but now you can get $300 for Total Checking + $20 for Savings + $100 for doing both.
Original post about previous similar offer:
Chase Bank has a Total Checking + Savings account promotion offering up to $500 total for new customers. The notable requirements are that you must switch over a “real” direct deposit to get the $300 checking bonus, and you’ll need a $15,000 deposit for 90 days to get the $200 savings bonus. You enter your e-mail address, and you will get a unique code for your online application. Some of the language suggests you should reside near a physical Chase branch, but the link lets you apply online and it should work from anywhere (you will know via instant approval). If you already have a Chase credit card, the application can be pre-filled.
Chase Total Checking $300 bonus details. Checking offer is not available to existing Chase checking customers, those with fiduciary accounts, or those whose accounts have been closed within 90 days or closed with a negative balance. You must:
- Open a new Chase Total Checking account, which is subject to approval;
- Deposit $25 or more at account opening;
- Have your direct deposit made to this account within 60 days of account opening. Your direct deposit needs to be an electronic deposit of your paycheck, pension or government benefits (such as Social Security) from your employer or the government.
- After you have completed all the above checking requirements, [Chase will] deposit the bonus in your new account within 10 business days.
Avoid monthly service fees on Total Checking when you do at least one of the following each statement period. Otherwise a $12 Monthly Service Fee will apply.
- Have monthly direct deposits totaling $500 or more made to this account; OR
- Keep a minimum daily balance of $1,500 or more in your checking account; OR,
- Keep an average daily balance of $5,000 or more in any combination of qualifying Chase checking, savings and other balances.
Chase Savings $200 bonus details. You must:
- Open a new Chase Savings account, which is subject to approval.
- Deposit a total of $15,000 or more in new money into the new savings account within 20 business days of account opening;
- Maintain at least a $15,000 balance for 90 days from the date of deposit. The new money cannot be funds held by Chase or its affiliates.
- After you have completed all the above savings requirements, we’ll deposit the bonus in your new account within 10 business days.
- 0.01% effective APY as of 5/7/18. Interest rates are variable and subject to change.
Avoid monthly service fees on Chase Savings when you do at least one of the following each statement period. Otherwise a $5 Monthly Service Fee will apply.
- Keep a minimum daily balance of $300 or more in your savings account; OR,
- Have at least one repeating automatic transfer from your Chase checking account of $25 or more. One-time transfers do not qualify; OR,
- Have a linked Chase Premier Plus Checking, Chase Premier Platinum Checking, or Chase Private Client Checking account.
With a total opening deposit of $15,025 in new money, you can open both accounts and avoid both monthly fees. You’ll still need to change your direct deposit (any amount). I have read no reports of a “hard” credit check, and did not experience one myself either this time around or from a previous Chase offer from a couple years ago. Looks like a “soft” check to confirm your identity only (which is all banks should do…).
As reader R. Dannewitz helpfully points out:
Account Closing: If either the checking or savings account is closed by the customer or Chase within six months after opening, we will deduct the bonus amount for that account at closing.
After getting the bonus, you can avoid monthly fees until the 6 month requirement is over by taking the $15,000 out and just maintain a $500 direct deposit and a $25 auto-transfer from checking to savings. Alternatively, you could leave all but $1,500 in checking and $300 in savings and no worry about any other activity (my plan).
Bottom line. If you can switch over your paycheck direct deposit, Chase is offering $300 to try out their checking account. If you can move over $15,000 of new money for 90 days, Chase is offering another $200 to try out their savings account (a “savings” account that pays 0.01% APY??). Earning $500 on $15,000 in 90 days is the equivalent of 13.3% annualized return. That’s a lot more than a bank CD. The bonuses are considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT.
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A big caveat to the Chase promotion deal is in the fine print below:
>>>Account Closing: If either the checking or savings account is closed by the customer or Chase within six months after opening, we will deduct the bonus amount for that account at closing.
You have to keep the accounts for at least 6 months or you lose the entire bonus!
Thanks, I will add that. The good news is that staying around another 3 months past the bonus qualification isn’t that hard. You can take the $15,000 out and as long as you maintain a $500 direct deposit and a $25 auto-transfer from checking to savings, you will avoid monthly fees on both accounts. Alternatively, you could just leave $1,500 in checking and $300 in savings for another 3 months and have no other activity.
From my experience, 6 months is standard for pretty much all checking account bonuses.
Is there a way to avoid the $25 wire transfer fee?
Jonathan, do you know how many transfer links Chase allows to establish with other banks?
Thank you.
Sorry, I don’t know.
I am not sure of a limit either. I currently have 4 external accounts and it seems to allow me to add more.
Minnesota 🙁
Important:
We can’t open this type of account for you.
This product isn’t available in your region.
Need to get a debit card so I can fund it. My wife’s debit cards don’t work. Wish there was option to transfer form a bank or write a check.
I agree. Did you resolve the issue? I don’t have a debit card. I tried to use some prepaid visa debit gift cards that I received for Christmas…they didn’t work.
Update: Got my $300 checking bonus on 4/10. My first direct deposit was 4/5.
I have to wait to around 6/15 (3/15 plus 90 days) to get the $200 savings bonus.
I already received my $300 Checking Bonus without having a direct Deposit land yet from my employer. I had a couple ACH incoming transfers from ALL AMERICA (RedNeck) BANK to get my savings up to $15,000
How should I get the coupan
You can use several links below. My snail mailbox has been filled with coupons also.
https://accounts.chase.com/consumer/banking/online?px=AV66266
https://accounts.chase.com/consumer/banking/online?px=TE99727
Just got my $300 bonus as well! My pay is monthly, so it took a while for payroll to switch, but the bonus was paid a week after the direct deposit went through. Thanks for bringing this (and so many other) great deals to our attention, Jonathan!
Do you know if they consider me a “current chase checking customer” if i am a secondary user on my wife’s checking account?
For Total checking, if your direct deposit is less than $500, you must maintain a minimum balance of $1500 to avoid the service charge. I have opened both accounts and already received the checking bonus. Thanks for the information, Jonathan.
Didn’t work where I live (Philadelphia suburb): got a note that is not available in “my region..”
Not available in Philadelphia? 🙁
I tried applying 5 different times from 2 different PCs using 3 different Web Browser versions to no success.
The last time the application failed (using MS Edge) was during funding, where the website could not fund the new account using my Debit card (with plenty of balance on it).
All the previous attempts were using Internet Explorer or Firefox (Adblockers were disabled). The process in those attempts failed after I provided my new user ID and pass for the website. Error “Something went wrong. Resetting application process.”, so I couldn’t even reach the funding page.
This is a complete joke on their behalf – obviously they don’t want my money.
Jonathan, once you get your $300 checking account bonus, can you cancel the direct deposit and keep $1500 in checking to avoid the monthly fee, rather than the direct deposit?
Yes, you only need to do one of those on the list.