DOC Compass — Offers, decoded

Link no longer seems to be working? You can still do the $900 checking & savings promotion talked about here.

Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: Up to $900
Availability: Nationwide, online or in-branch
Direct deposit required: Yes, no minimum. Click here to view what triggers this bonus.
Additional requirements: $15,000 balance
Hard/soft pull: Soft
ChexSystems: Doesn’t pull
Credit card funding: Can fund up to $50 with a debit card online (prepaids do not work). Cannot fund with debit or credit in branch.
Monthly fees: $12, waivable
Early account termination fee: None
Household limit: None listed
Expiration date: 07/15/2026

The Offer

Direct link to offer

Chase is offering a checking bonus of up to $900. Each bonus requires a direct deposit, depositing funds and then maintaining them for 90 days:
- Checking bonus offer amount $450 | New Money Deposit Amount $5,000-$9,999.99
- Checking bonus offer amount $600 | New Money Deposit Amount $10,000-$14,999.99
- Checking bonus offer amount $900 | New Money Deposit Amount $15,000 or more

The Fine Print

Bonus/Account Information: Checking offer is not available to existing Chase checking customers or those whose accounts have been closed within 90 days or closed with a negative balance within the last 3 years.
You can receive only one new checking account opening related bonus every two years from the last coupon enrollment date and only one bonus per account.
Coupon is good for one-time use.
To receive the bonus: 1) Open a new Chase Total Checking account, which is subject to approval; AND 2) Have your direct deposit made into the new checking account within 90 days of coupon enrollment.
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.
Person to Person payments (such as Zelle®) are not considered a direct deposit. Micro-deposits do not qualify as a direct deposit for the bonus.
Micro-deposits are small deposits, typically less than $1, that are sent to your account to verify it is the correct account;
AND 3) Deposit a total of $5,000 or more in new money into the new checking account within 30 days of coupon enrollment.
The new money cannot be funds held by you at Chase or its affiliates. At day 30, your new money deposit amount will be determined in the following manner and you must maintain for 90 days from coupon enrollment.
If the new money deposit amount decreases below the threshold during the 90 day period, your offer amount may change or your checking account may no longer qualify for the offer:
- Checking bonus offer amount $450 | New Money Deposit Amount $5,000-$9,999.99
- Checking bonus offer amount $600 | New Money Deposit Amount $10,000-$14,999.99
- Checking bonus offer amount $900 | New Money Deposit Amount $15,000 or more
After you have completed all requirements, we will deposit the bonus in your new checking account within 15 days.
To receive the bonus, the enrolled account must not be closed or restricted at the time of payout. Eligibility may be limited based on account ownership. Bonus is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT (or Form 1042-S, if applicable).
All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

The Chase Total Checking account comes with a monthly service fee of $10-$12 which is waived if complete any of the following:

Have monthly direct deposits totaling $500 or more
Keep a minimum daily balance of $1,500 or more in the checking account
Keep an average daily balance of $5,000 or more in any combination of qualifying Chase checking, savings and other balances

New accounts will not be charged a Monthly Service Fee for at least the first two statement periods.

Early Account Termination Fee

There used to be an six-month period where you would lose the bonus if closed out, but sometime in 2022 (?) they removed that clause and so it’s now safe to close after you receive the bonus paid out.

Our Verdict

So currently there are two other Chase deposit account bonuses:

$400 checking deposit, requires a $1,000 direct deposit but no other deposit. Can also be opened via a referral
$900 checking & savings bonus. This requires a direct deposit and $15,000 into the Chase savings account for 90 days.

This checking bonus seems better than the $900 checking & savings bonus as you only need to open one account rather than two and the deposit amount and hold period ($15,000 and 90 days) is the same. Chase savings only earns 0.01% APY so there is no benefit there and if you have the funds in the checking account it’s enough to keep it fee free. This also opens up the possibility of being able to get a savings bonus in the future as well.

Let me know if I’m missing anything. Will be added to our list of the best bank account bonuses.

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