DOC Compass — Offers, decoded

Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: $300
Availability: AL, AR, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, WV, VA, and D.C Only
Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
Additional requirements: 10 debit card transactions + use promo code
Hard/soft pull: Soft
ChexSystems: Unknown
Credit card funding: Up to $250 (lots of reports of it coding as a cash advance)
Monthly fees: Up to $25, waivable
Early account termination fee: 180 days or bonus is forfeit
Expiration date: ~~December 31st, 2016~~ ~~January 9th, 2016~~ ~~March 30th, 2017~~ ~~July 3rd, 2017~~ ~~October 2nd, 2017~~ January 2nd, 2018

The Offer

Direct link to offer

SunTrust are offering a sign up bonus of up to $300 on their checking accounts when you use the promotional code Q417CHKNG123OL:
- Earn $100 for opening the Essential Checking
- Earn $200 or opening the Select Checking
- Earn $300 for opening the Signature Advantage Checking
You also need to complete the following requirements:
- Deposit at least $100 within 14 days of account opening
- Complete at least $500 in direct deposits within 60 days of account opening [Read: What has coded as a direct deposit in the past]
- Make at least 10 debit card purchases wihtin 60 days of account opening [Read: How To Meet Minimum Debit & Credit Transaction Requirements]

The Fine Print

You must be a new SunTrust personal checking client. Clients with an existing personal checking account with SunTrust (either as the primary or secondary account holder) are not eligible.
You must not have closed a personal checking account within 180 days of the promotion start date (on or after January 6, 2017).
The primary account holder of the participating checking account must be 18 years old or older at the time of account opening.
Employee-designated accounts are not eligible for this promotion.
Offer available only to U.S. residents with a U.S. address and a U.S. taxpayer identification number.
The checking account must be opened online with an address in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
After meeting the qualification requirements, the applicable reward will be credited to the new checking account up to 8 weeks after all qualifications are met. “Q4 2016 123 Online Checking Offer Reward” will appear on the checking monthly statement when the reward is credited to the account holder’s checking account. The reward amount will be based on the type of checking account open when SunTrust verifies that all promotional offer qualifications have been completed. This promotion is only applicable once per client. SunTrust may report the value of any reward received through any offer to the Internal Revenue Service as required by law. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the recipient.
The new account must remain open and in good standing with a minimum balance of $0.01 until the reward is processed in order to receive the reward. If the checking account is closed by you or SunTrust within 180 days after opening, SunTrust reserves the right to deduct the reward amount from the account at the time of closing.
Direct Deposit: A qualifying Direct Deposit is an electronic credit of your salary, pension, Social Security or other regular monthly income deposited to your account by your employer or an outside agency. Transfers from one account to another or deposits made at a banking location or ATM do not qualify as a Direct Deposit.
Complete at least 10 qualifying PIN Point of Sale or signature-based purchases using your associated debit card* within 60 days of account opening. ATM withdrawals and withdrawals at a branch using your debit card are not qualifying transactions.
All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Early Account Termination Fee

You need to keep your account open for at least 180 days otherwise your bonus will be forfeit

Essential Checking – $7 Monthly ($100 Bonus)

This account is the easiest to keep fee free, the monthly fee on this account is waived if you do any of the following:

10 or more debit card transactions
Minimum daily balance of $500+
Total monthly direct deposits of $500+

Select Checking – $15 Monthly ($200 Bonus)

The $15 monthly fee is waived if you do any of the following:

Make $2000 or more in total qualifying monthly Direct Deposits¹⁰ OR
Maintain a $2000 minimum daily Select Checking balance OR
Hold $10,000 total combined relationship balances linked across deposits, investments, mortgages, and loans¹¹ OR
SunTrust First Mortgage with SurePay^SM12 OR
Linked Small Business Checking account¹³

Signature Advantage $25 Monthly ($300 Bonus)

Avoid the $25 monthly maintenance fee with $25,000 minimum daily balance in linked deposits and investments

Our Verdict

Update: It doesn’t look like a new offer is coming so probably makes sense to go for this bonus. At least one reader also had success going for the $300 bonus and downgrading via phone before any fees hit.

Previously you’ve been able to get a $250 bonus from just the Essential checking account, so the only bonus that is better is the Signature Advantage account but that requires a massive $25,000 to keep it fee free. Personally I’d probably recommend just waiting until this offer expires and seeing what they offer next as this offer doesn’t make much sense (you’d be better off putting that $25,000 into a high interest savings account). You can view our list of what we think are the best bank bonuses here.

Big thanks to reader, Caroline K who let us know. Please consider sharing bank bonuses with this site so we can make it even better.

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