Checking Account Offers for 2024

Opening an interest-earning checking account and going after checking account bonus offers are the easiest ways to give your savings a boost without completely moving your money in and out of different accounts.

Thanks to the disruption of online banks, traditional big banks have stepped up and started offering higher annual percentage yields (APY) or cash bonus offers. If you’re wanting to open an account offering a bonus offer, you may want to be aware of a few things before opening the account. These considerations will help you avoid potential problems and increase your chances of receiving the bonus.

The above checking accounts allow you to earn more with the least amount of work. Most are nationally available, but a few may only be available in certain states.

What you need to know about checking account bonus offers

1. You’ll want to follow the stated requirements to earn the bonus offer

As you can see above, there are various requirements you typically have to meet to earn a bonus, whether that’s meeting a minimum deposit amount or completing a certain number of direct deposits. But there’s often more to checking account bonus offers than what meets the eye. It’s important to pay attention to what the requirements are before you open a checking account with a bonus offer.

2. You’ll need to report the bonus payout as interest to the IRS

In the year you receive your bonus, you’ll also receive a 1099-INT form, indicating you need to file the “income” in your taxes for that year. This lessens the total reward you gain from the checking account bonus offer. The exact amount deducted will depend on your tax bracket, but the higher the bracket, the smaller your final bonus.

3. Banks may pull a ChexSystem verification report when you apply for an account

Many banks do a ChexSystem verification step during account application. ChexSystems is primarily done to ensure you have a history of being responsible with checking accounts. If you have unpaid fees at banks or have written bad checks, banks will report you to ChexSystem, and that can make it difficult to open new accounts. If you apply for an account and the bank looks at your ChexSystem record, those with a record of checking account abuses are likely to be denied. Unfortunately, there’s another reason a bank may deny you an account. A ChexSystem report can tell the banks how many accounts you have applied for at other banks. Each time a bank pulls a ChexSystem report, that goes on the ChexSystem report as an inquiry. Some banks will reject an account application if they see too many recent ChexSystem inquiries. Thus, you have to be careful on how many bonuses you attempt to acquire.

4. You need to keep the account open for at least a few months

If you thought you could quickly open an account, collect your checking account bonus and close the account before moving onto the next one, we’re here to tell you that’s not how it works. Remember all those requirements you need to meet to redeem the offer? Not only is there a minimum deposit requirement, but you also need to keep your balance above that minimum for a certain number of days, typically 60.Even after waiting two months to fully qualify, you may not see the bonus deposit into your account until months later. For example, Citi will deposit your bonus into the qualified account 90 days after you complete all the required activities. You may need to wait even longer if there are delays in depositing your reward. If that does happen, though, contact customer service to see what the delay might be.You could also lose your bonus rewards if you close the new account within a certain time period. For example, Chase will deduct the checking account bonus amount from your account at closing if you close the account six months after opening with the bonus offer. This protects banks from paying out too many bonuses without getting any new account deposits in return.

5. There may be multiple ways to fund the account and earn the bonus offer

A bonus offer may say it requires direct deposit, but in reality, it may not require a real direct deposit from an employer. Any ACH deposit may count. If that’s the case, a direct deposit can be simulated by initiating an ACH transfer from another bank. For example, the customer can log into their account at an internet bank and initiate an ACH transfer from their internet account to their account at the bank offering the bonus. Many internet banks offer a free bank-to-bank transfer service. Unfortunately, there is no certain way to know if an ACH transfer can be used instead of a real direct deposit. Banks often change how they count direct deposit. Sometimes banks will specifically state in the small print about what qualifies as direct deposit and what does not. For example, the small print may say that a qualifying direct deposit is defined as a recurring direct deposit of a paycheck, pension or Social Security. It may also say that a transfer from one account to another does not qualify. It’s best to contact the bank directly to ask them to clarify what constitutes as a direct deposit.