DOC Compass — Offers, decoded

Deal has expired, view more bank bonuses by clicking here

Update 3/4/19: It’s also possible to get a $300 bonus by opening the Premier Checking account in branch. To get that offer to show you just need to e-mail yourself a coupon.

Update 2/7/19: Offer is back, but requires a direct deposit this time. Hat tip to readers Varaprasad k & Raj

Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: $300
Availability: AZ, CA, CO, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI, WY
Direct deposit required: Optional, $250+
Additional requirements: Optional, 10 or more debit card transactions
Hard/soft pull: Soft
ChexSystems: Yes (inquiry sensitive)
Credit card funding: $500 max, Visa/MC only
Monthly fees: $10, avoidable
Early account termination fee: $25, 91 days
Household limit: One per mailing address
Expiration date: ~~August 18th, 2017 September 27th, 2017~~ ~~March 3rd, 2018 April 13th, 2018 August 24th, 2018 October 15th, 2018 November 2nd, 2018~~ ~~May 31st, 2019~~ March 15th, 2019

The Offer

Direct link to offer (send e-mail to yourself to get $300 offer)

Bank of The West is offering a $150 bonus when you open a new Any Deposit checking account. Complete the following requirements to get the bonus:
- $100 for setting up a direct deposit of $250 or more, must post to account by 05/31/19
- $50 for making 10 debit card transactions per month for the first two months
Open a premier checking account with Bank of the West and receive a $300 bonus ($500 minimum opening)
- Must maintain a combined balance of $25,000 for the first two full calendar months immediately following the month in which the opening deposit posts to the account

The Fine Print

Requirements to Receive Up to $150 Bonus: Open a new personal Any Deposit Checking account at a branch or account application submitted on bankofthewest.com between 02/04/19 – 3/15/19 with any opening deposit amount ($0.01 or more) with funds new to Bank of the West (Bank) received and posted to the account no later than 3/22/19. This offer is also available for any other consumer checking account (minimum to open $100). UCB Student Checking and Premier Checking excluded.
To receive the $100 bonus, customer must have a direct deposit of at least $250 (two or more direct deposits that add up to $250 do not qualify) posted to the account by 05/31/19. Direct deposit must be payroll, Social Security, pension or other government benefits.
To receive the $50 bonus, customer must request, receive and use a new Bank of the West Debit Card linked to the new checking account for 10 or more debit card purchases all of which must post to the account by the last business day of the month for each of the first two full calendar months immediately following the month in which the opening deposit posts to the account, for a total of 20 or more transactions. Each purchase must be $3 or more. ATM transactions are excluded. All required purchases must be posted by 05/31/19.
Bonus limitations:
- Offer is not available to existing Bank of the West customers with an open checking account as of 02/03/19.
- If the customer or other individuals residing at the same address received or may receive any other consumer checking bonus from the Bank between 06/01/17 – 06/27/19, then no one at that address is eligible.
- Limit of one $50 and one $100 consumer checking bonus per individual and per mailing address.
- Account must be in open status and have a positive balance as of 05/31/19 to be eligible to receive any bonus.
- Bonus will be credited to the open checking account by 06/28/19.

Avoiding Fees

Any Deposit Checking $10 Monthly Fee ($150 Bonus)

This account has a $10 monthly fee. This is waived if you qualify for one of the following:

Choose any deposit method (mobile, ATM, in-branch, or direct) and make a deposit of any amount each statement cycle
If any account holder is under 25 years of age

They also charge a $3 paper statement fee, so make sure you have paperless statements set up.

Premier Checking Account $30 Monthly ($300 Bonus)

Waived when you do the following:

Maintain at least $25,000 combined average monthly balance4 in this Bank of the West Premier Checking account plus other eligible personal Bank checking, money market, savings, CDs, and IRAs, and prior end-of-month account balances in eligible BancWest Investment Services5 investment accounts

Early Account Termination Fee

There is an early account termination fee of $25 if your account is closed within 91 days of account opening.

Bonus History

Update 09/23/18: Previously you got a $100 bonus for completing the direct deposit requirement and a $50 bonus for completing the debit card requirement. Now you can just do one or the other and get the full $150 bonus. Hat tip to readers calwatch and Andrew.
Update 07/17/18: Deal is back and available until September 24th, 2018. Thanks to kit_tea_kat.
Update 03/13/18: Back until April 13th, 2018. Hat tip to reader Casey

Our Verdict

They have offered bonuses of up to $300 in the past but that required deposits of $50,000. The $300 deal is back and only requires $25,000 this time. This account earns 0.01-0.02% APY, so basically nothing. If you put the $25,000 into a 2.5% APY account for 91 days (enough for the bonus to hopefully post and avoid the early account termination fee) you’d earn $155, so I think you’re best off sticking with the $150 bonus.

The $150 deal is the one most people usually went for and that’s the same except it’s a little bit more difficult to keep the account fee free this time around as having $1,000 in there no longer waives the monthly fee. Still worth doing if you’re in the area I think and because of that I am adding it to our page on the best bank account bonuses. Some people might want to wait for the version with no direct deposit to return.

Big thanks to reader, Trippy who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.

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