DOC Compass — Offers, decoded

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Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: $500
Availability: MT, ND, SD, MN, WI
Direct deposit required: Yes, three consecutive months of $500+ a month
Additional requirements: $25,000 savings deposit
Hard/soft pull: Soft
ChexSystems: Mixed reports, likely doesn’t pull
Credit card funding: None in branch
Monthly fees: $10, waivable
Early account termination fee: None
Household limit: None
Expiration date: March 22nd, 2019

The Offer

Direct link to offer

Wells Fargo is offering a bonus of up to $500 when you open a new checking and savings account. Requirements are as follows:
- Open a new checking account with an opening deposit of $25 or more and within 150 receive at least 3 consecutive monthly direct deposits of $500 or more
- Open a new, eligible consumer savings account with a minimum deposit of $25 and within 10 days, deposit at least $25,000 in new money and maintain a balance of at least $25,000 for 90 days

The Fine Print

We will deposit the bonus into your new checking account within 45 days after meeting all offer requirements.
The new checking account must remain open in order to receive any earned bonus payments.
You are responsible for any federal, state, or local taxes due on the bonus and we will report as income to the tax authorities if required by applicable law. Consult your tax advisor.
A qualifying direct deposit is the customer’s salary, pension, Social Security, or other regular monthly income, electronically deposited through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network by your employer or an outside agency.
Non-qualifying direct deposits for purposes of this offer include transfers from one account to another (for example, transfers between your own accounts, or person-to-person transfers using a transfer service such as Zelle®**), or deposits made at a branch or ATM, or through mobile deposit.
This is an exclusive, non-transferable offer. A valid bonus offer code will be provided to each customer while meeting with a banker. You are not eligible for this offer if:
- You are a current owner of a Wells Fargo consumer checking account or savings account
- You are a Wells Fargo team member
- You have received a bonus for opening a Wells Fargo consumer checking account or savings account within the past 12 months
Offer is only available to customers in the following states: Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin.

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

The Everyday Checking account comes with a $10 monthly fee. Get the fee waived with one of the following:

10 debit card purchases and/or payments each statement cycle from this checking account, OR
Direct deposits totaling $500 or more each statement cycle, OR
Maintain a $1,500 minimum daily balance, OR
Link checking account to a Wells Fargo Campus ATM or Campus Debit Card

f you have a Wells mortgage, you might be able to get a higher-level account with no fees.

Early Account Termination Fee

There is no early account termination fee.

Our Verdict

The standard best bonus we see from Wells Fargo is $200 for their checking account, either an online offer or an in-branch offer. This is a $500 bonus but also requires $25,000 be deposited for 90 days, this is fairly similar to Chase’s combined checking & savings bonus (although it’s worse due to the lower bonus, higher balance requirement and more direct deposits).

It’s probably still worth doing for a lot of people, think of it as a $300 savings bonus for $25,000 deposited. That’s effectively a 4.8% APY rate for those 90 days. We’ve also seen this same offer available before, but this time we have a direct link and it’s available in different states.

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

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