Update 10/2/26: Extended to 01/27/2027
Update 7/15/26: Extended until Extended until 10/14
Extended to 7/15/2026
Note: There is a $900 checking & savings bonus as well. This $400 bonus is only worth considering if you’re unable to complete the savings portion of that offer (requires $15,000 deposit for 90 days).
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $400
- Availability: Nationwide, online or in-branch
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,000+ within 90 days. Click here to view what triggers this bonus.
- Additional requirements: None for checking; $15,000 balance for savings
- 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: 04/15/2026
The Offer
- Chase is offering a $400 bonus when you open a new total checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Make $1,000 in direct deposits within 90 days of account opening
The Fine Print
- 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
- 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 $15 which is waived if complete any of the following:
- Have monthly 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 is no longer any EATF.
Referral
You can use a referral for this bonus. The person signing up gets the standard $400 bonus, the person referring gets $50. You can find referrals in this linked post. Please do not share referrals in the comments below and remember there is no advantage to using a referral link for the person signing up apart from helping somebody else get $50.
Our Verdict
The $900 bonus is better unless you don’t have the funds available as it works out to be over 13.3% APY for that 90 day hold period. Obviously not everybody has access to $15,000 and can hold it for 90 days so this is an extra $100 over the standard $300 checking bonus. We will add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses.
Hat tip to reader Montgomery
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
thanks dude
8/31 fid eft transfer $1004 to someone else coded as fid web 9/4 bonus tracker updated deposit within 25 days
Get hired for Chase and ask. Doubtful, but not impossible. The $900 bonus is pretty good as is. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/targeted-chase-900-checking-savings-bonus/
Anyone know if Chase will potentially do a $500 Bonus? To compete with Wells Fargo/ Bank of America
ACH transfer from Citadel credit Union savings account to Chase total checking on September 1 2026 with Memo “Direct Deposit”, Chase received on September 2 2026 as a Direct Deposit. I got a notification from Chase that “….You received a direct deposit” Today September 3 2026 the bonus tracker has updated and says “Great job! Your $400 bonus will be deposited into your account within 15 days.”
what was it coded as?
8/7/26 – Bank opened 8/20/26 – $1100 push from FID CMA someone else 8/21/26 – $1100 push from FID CMA someone else 8/25/26 – $400 posted
8/5 open 8/21 real DD of $1001 9/1 $400 bonus posted
5/30: Denied online due to the phone number on file, which has been the same for two and a half years. Thanks Chase. 6/2: Opened in branch, no opening deposit. Later deposited $20 check to prevent auto closure. 6/9: BoA MyCredit alert informs me of the new account reporting to EWS. However, Chase did not do an EWS inquiry, possibly because I am a returning Chase checking customer. 8/23: Sent $1000 LemFi payment with PAYROLL in “Narration” field. 8/24: Payment posted and triggered the “A direct deposit …” notification. 8/24, evening: Tracker updated to say congrats you qualified for the bonus. 9/1: $400 bonus posted as “$400 for New Checking”.
Did this end up working?
Unsuccessful NOVO DP: Pushed $5 from Novo. Posted in Chase as MY NAME 2D1FB9456F PPD ID: 814357085 (I added “PAYROLL DD” in the comments line which did not show in the transfer info in Chase) I did a real $1k DD which also didn’t trigger the bonus tracker. I emailed the banker late on Friday who opened my account in branch for assistance & will report back. (Obviously regarding my real DD, not Novo)
Online or in branch? If online, try in-branch if you can. Worked for me. Joe
Wait? Really? Are you saying the internet answers are not true? Oh boy, must rethink my life. I’ll ask ChatGTP what to do next. 🙂 Chase is my main bank, which is unfortunate for me in the churning space, and I’ve debated debanking them and churning, but I wonder if their recent crackdown on credit cards will make its way to that side.
Chase is not tough on churners at all, and for me they did not even pull EWS.
They probably saw something on Reddit that said not to churn Chase checking as they will shutdown their CC’s… It’s on the internet, so it must be true.
lol Chase doesn’t pull Chex…
Chase is notoriously harsh on chex. Wym
It does not matter. They code the same. Only transfer to someone else is different coding
There’s no EATF
No you can’t. Also chase isn’t that bad when it comes to churning their bank accounts.
Finally I just add the account name with no blank between first name and last name. It was approved by Fidelity.Then I push $1000 to Chase on Aug.24th. The bonus is OK on Aug.26th.
$900 is the combined bonus. If you open a savings account separately the bonus for that alone is $200.
I’m sure this is answered somewhere but I can’t find it. Are we able to avoid the ews check by opening in branch? I know Chase is notoriously tough on the churners
Can we do the $400 checking and $900 15k savings separately?
08/20/2026 – Denied an account when applying. No idea why, never been Chase customer, only my 3rd account opened this year.
Data Point: 08/06/26: $384.40 deposit from Upwork 08/07/26: $22.50 deposit from Upwork 08/11/26: $815.48 deposit from Upwork 08/13/26: In-app tracker notified that deposit requirement was satisfied 08/18/26: $400 opening bonus credited to account Upwork deposits all coded as PPD
Data Point: 7/24 $500 Work DD 8/7 $500 Work DD 8/18 $400 Bonus (Seems like bonuses always post on a Tuesday)
anyone have any issues with eatf after getting the reward and closing account?
Brokeareg or CMA? It matters?
Same name for someone else transfer still works. Not sure why it isn’t working for you.