DOC Compass — Offers, decoded

This bonus has expired, you can view bonuses we recommend here.

[Updated post with a less restrictive offer courtesy of Curmudgeon.]

Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: $250
Availability: Nationwide
Deposit Required: $15,000 for 90 days
APY: 0.65%
Additional requirements: None
Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
ChexSystems: Yes
Credit card funding: None
Monthly fees: None
Early account termination fee: None
Expiration date: December 5th, 2016

The Offer

Direct Link

TIAA Direct is offering a $250 bonus when you open a high yield savings account by December 5th, 2016, deposit $15,000 within 10 days, and maintain the $15,000 minimum daily balance for 90 days
Use promo code: S106MB250

You’ll also receive an APY of 0.64%.

Eligibility

This offer is available nationwide.

The fine print indicate that this offer is only for those who received it via email. According to the CSR I spoke with, this offer is only available for existing TIAA retirement account holders who want to expand their relationship to include banking.

Update: We’ve added an offer link with less restrictive language that doesn’t include the existing-client requirement. This offer link should work even for someone without a relationship. I’d recommend getting a copy of the offer for your records.

The Fine Print

This offer will be available for a new TIAA Direct High Yield Savings account, applied for online or by calling 844-567-8939 using promotion code S106MB250
Only one (1) offer is available per customer
This offer ~~is only intended for the addressee of the email that was received, may not be combined with any other offers from TIAA Direct and~~ is not available to existing savings customers
TIAA Direct will credit a $250 bonus to a new High Yield Savings account if the account is opened by 12/5/2016, at least $15,000 is deposited within 10 days of account opening and at least that minimum balance is maintained in the account every day through the 90th day after account opening
Funds transferred from an existing TIAA Direct account do not count toward the qualifying minimum balance for this promotional offer
The bonus payment will be reported as interest to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
If the qualifications described above are met, the $250 bonus will be credited to the account within 91 to 104 days of account opening, provided that the account remains open and is not overdrawn or subject to any holds, restrictions, or legal action or dispute on the bonus payment date

Avoiding Fees

There is no monthly maintenance fee for this account.

There is also no mention of an early account termination fee on this account but the account needs to remain open until you receive the bonus.

Our Verdict

The APY on this account isn’t bad, but still isn’t quite the ~1% you can get with other high-yield savings accounts.

If you keep $15,000 in this account for 90 days you’d earn a total of $274 ($250 from the bonus and ~$24 regular interest). Overall, you’ll net ~7% APY interest rate which is quite good. Because of that we’ve added this to our list of the best savings account bonuses.

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses: