Update 7/3/26: New link for non-retirement accounts, some better tiers here. (ht BG) Here is the link for the other offer for retirement accounts. Terms also state ‘You must be the original recipient of this offer to enroll.’
Update 5/6/26: New offer link for existing users. This link is for retirement accounts only.
Update 1/13/26: Existing E*Trade users can enroll to get bonus of between $50 and $20,000 when transferring over outside funds to your brokerage (non-retirement). Offer valid through 2/3/26. Tiers are a bit different than last time around, see the updated tiers at this link. Hold time is now 12 months. (ht reader Relax and Smile)
The Offer
- E*Trade is offering a bonus of up to $6,000 for existing E*Trade customers who enroll. Bonus is tiered depending on how much you deposit in cash or securities within 60 days of enrollment.
- $5,000+ will receive $125;
- $25,000+ will receive $250;
- $100,000+ will receive $625;
- $200,000+ will receive $1,000;
- $500,000+ will receive $2,000;
- $1M+ will receive $4,500;
- $2M+ will receive $6,000
The Fine Print
- Note: terms state ‘You must be the original recipient of this offer to enroll.’ But it might work for everyone. Certainly if the system allows you to enroll I’d think that would mean that you are eligible.
Funds must remain in the account for six months after transferred.Offer expires April 30, 2024.- Each customer is limited to a maximum of two new account offers.
Our Verdict
There’s also an offer available for new users. I suppose anyone can signup without any promo, and then enroll in the existing users promo. (Or maybe you can even do both as a stack? but I doubt that will work.)
It’s nice to see an offer for existing users. We might add this to our list of best brokerage bonuses.
Hat tip to reader TJ
SGOV is easier to transfer between brokerage accounts, not every brokerage has Vanguard funds. But VUSXX is easier for tax purposes if need to sell frequently because you don’t need to report the transaction.
did it deny you after pressing “Enroll Now” button or just after logging in? were you leaving funds full year? thanks
P1 and P2 were eligible even though the offer only showed on P2’s home page. So just because you didn’t get the offer sent to you doesn’t mean you’re not eligible. However it appears from comments above that many people couldn’t register for the offer so definitely YMMV.
The only thing about VUSXX is it requires 3k minimum initial purchase. I was in a situation earlier where I didn’t have that amount in my Etrade account and bought MALXX instead.
I hit the same issue. I ended up doing Merrill -> Fidelity -> Etrade. I keep Fidelity as a transfer hub. Fidelity requires $500 worth of stock/cash left in the account to keep the transfers partial so keep that in mind. I don’t think the rejection is done on Merrill’s end. You can call ML and check though.
FWIW – Existing customer, got email, tried to enroll, got message saying I wasn’t eligible. Since I’m a frequent flyer on these things, thinking I may have been flagged. On to P2 ..:
AllwaysLearning22 Many thanks! Seems the Cap1 bonus is only for new customers as well. I am an old customer for many years unfortunately.
Also, the 12 month holding here is a bit long. Ideally it would be less. Depending on how much funds you have you might go for their other (savings accounts) bonus and maybe the one from Capital One. I think both were $1,000 bonus for $100K funds. APY is decent
I prefer SGOV. Last year it was 98% treasury if I remember correctly
I would not count on this if I were you. A lot of the times these bonuses are extended (not always). Or something else might come along.
In case anyone else runs into same issue transferring from Merrill Edge… if you can’t link account automatically and have to add manually, don’t pick the Merrill Edge icon. Search for Merrill in the searchbox and select Merrill Edge from the populated choices.
We’re sorry! You are not eligible to participate in this promotion. Thank you for your interest. Please visit our homepage for other new product announcements and offers. Seems to available for everyone.
I am trying to fund E*trade brokerage with Merrill Edge CMA. When I tried to link the account in E*Trade, I get an error message that says no account available. Then when I input the transfer manually, I get an immediate rejection email. I spoke to E*trade CS and was told the contra firm (Merrill) rejected the transfer but I don’t understand how when the rejection happens as soon as I hit the submit button. E*trade will look into it. I am wondering if anyone here has run into similar issue transferring from Merrill Edge, and if so how was the issue resolved
I had completed a 20K for $300 (IRA) 4 months ago. Was interested in transferring another chunk over and saw this thread. I couldn’t work out how to apply the promo online so as suggested below I just called. Associate was able to easily locate the promo and add it to my existing account. I have received email confirming it. So all I need to do now is request an acat which can be done online. The lowest tier of the promo they sent me was 25K+ for $250, but that’s fine for me. Happy to get these 1% bumps for only the 12 month commitments.
Shark The money there can be invested in whatever way you want (e.g., QQQ for fast growth or SGOV for safe interest at similar APY). This bonus is additional to that investment.
$200K @ 4% APY is $8k. what is the point of this bonus?
Doing the HSBC offer now and the fund will be locked until 09/30/2026 . It makes the money perfectly miss the deadline for this offer if the account is opened on the last day here (07/31/2026+60 day funding period to 09/30/2026 ). Any idea to play around this? Thanks in advance for your intelligence.
Owned an account for a while and moved some asset over and got $8K bonus late last year.
Why would you suggest an overpriced fund with 0.2% expense ratio? You can buy Vanguard MM funds at E-Trade. VUSXX is 0.07% expense ratio. It is 100% (or close to 100%) treasury, which is relevant for state taxes.
The 12m holding period should be 12m after the deposit date
WMPXX is a good MM fund for pahking.
Is there a way to become eligible by just making a new brokerage account w/ a new brokerage account offer and trying to “stack” this offer too?
I have had some incompetent behavior from them. Followed up with them 4-5 times every time they say it has been fixed the next rep says oh sorry the previous agent didn’t do it correctly and ask for few more days. This incompetence is only after their Morgan Stanley acquisition. Had them ever since Scott Trade days and never had bad experiences. I am slowly moving my stash to Schwab.
What I planned to do was: participate one promo and fulfill its requirements; after the funding period, do another promo with a smaller amount but the ROI is better in terms of percentage, rinse and repeat. Then after the holding period of the first promo ends, withdraw the first promo’s positions. this was based on a chat with a CSR on the web chat. I was told that each promo is tracked differently so I should be able to withdraw without affecting other promos. however, I called them again later to ask about that. And the CSR over the phone gave me a different answer. Therefore to not risk it, I will only withdraw almost all amount after my last promo’s holding period ends and only participate once per year
Warning for existing users who enrolled in previous promotions: if you participate to another promotion while in your previous promotion’s holding period, you’ll extend the holding period. I called a CSR and discussed this with him and that’s what I got. also the 12m holding period is usually 12m after the 60d funding period. looks like should just do it once per year, or 12.5 months.
That’s awesome, thanks for the info. I did the bonus of the retirement account and checking account. I’m going to do the savings and regular investment account now.
I also got the wrong date in the confirmation message.
so if we’re already with etrade we should pull the money out and then enroll?
Great timing, I was just thinking to myself, “that ten million dollars I have stuffed in my mattress is making it too lumpy. I ought to put it in an investment account.”
I signed up yesterday, but the confirmation message in my account has the wrong date. You are now enrolled in the promotion below. Here is how to get your cash credit: Deposit cash or securities from any external account Get rewarded based on net new deposits made within 60 days (see table and disclosures below) Deposit AmountCash Credit$5,000-$9,999$50$10,000-$24,999$100$25,000-$99,999$250$100,000-$199,999$625$200,000-$499,999$1,000$500,000-$999,999$2,000$1,000,000-$1,999,999$5,000$2,000,000-$4,999,999$8,000$5,000,000-$9,999,999$15,000$10,000,000 or more$20,000 Offer valid for clients with an E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage (non-retirement) account (“E*TRADE account”). Investing in securities involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Cash credits will be granted based on deposits of new funds or securities from external accounts made to your brokerage account within 60 calendar days of enrollment, as follows: $5,000-$9,999 will receive $50; $10,000-$24,999 will receive $100; $25,000-$99,999 will receive $250; $100,000-$199,999 will receive $625; $200,000-$499,999 will receive $1,000; $500,000-$999,999 will receive $2,000; $1,000,000-$1,999,999 will receive $5,000; $2,000,000-$4,999,999 will receive $8,000; $5,000,000-$9,999,999 will receive $15,000; $10,000,000 or more will receive $20,000. All reward tiers will receive their cash credit within seven business days after the 60 day period expires. Deposits made in eligible linked accounts during the 60 day period will be aggregated for purposes of the reward and the credits will be paid pro-rata to all accounts where deposits were made during the 60 day period. For example, if you have deposited $500,000 in your brokerage account during the 60 day period and during the same period you deposited $1,000,000 into another eligible linked brokerage account, then you will receive $5,000. OFFER RULES FOR BROKERAGE (NON-RETIREMENT) OFFER PARTICIPANTS New funds or securities must be deposited or transferred to your brokerage account within 60 days of enrollment in offer, be from accounts outside of E*TRADE, and remain in the account (minus any trading losses) for a minimum of twelve months, otherwise the cash credit(s) may be surrendered. For purposes of the value of a deposit, any securities transferred will be valued as of the closing price of the securities at market on the business day the deposit is received as reflected in transaction history. Removing any deposit or cash during the promotion period (60 days) may result in a lower reward amount or loss of reward. *Any assets transferred from Morgan Stanley AAA brokerage account(s) or Morgan Stanley at Work account(s) to E*TRADE are not considered to be from accounts outside of E*TRADE and may not be included for purposes of offer eligibility or reward amount calculations, at E*TRADE’s sole discretion. If you are attempting to enroll in this offer with a Joint Account, the primary account holder may have to fulfill at the tiers noted before the secondary account holder can enroll in this offer. If you experience any issues when attempting to enroll with a Joint Account, please contact us at 800-387-2331 and we will be able to assist you with your enrollment. BROKERAGE (NON-RETIREMENT) OFFER LIMITATIONS This offer is valid for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC customers with an eligible E*TRADE brokerage (non-retirement) account and funded within 60 days of enrollment day with $5,000 or more. The following account types may be excluded from this offer: any business (incorporated or unincorporated) accounts, retirement accounts, advisory accounts, E*TRADE Futures accounts, Morgan Stanley AAA brokerage accounts, Morgan Stanley at Work account(s), Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association accounts (“Excluded Accounts”). This offer excludes non-U.S. residents, and residents of any jurisdiction where this offer is not valid. You must be the original recipient of this offer to enroll. Clients may only be enrolled in one offer at a time. This offer cannot be combined with any other offers. Offer expires May 31, 2026. Other restrictions may apply.