Bank Of America $500 Checking Bonus

Bank of America is offering a $500 bonus when you open a new checking account! This checking account bonus offer is targeted to select customers. See below for more details.

For more current bank offers, see our bank bonuses page. The most popular offers are from Chase Bank, SoFi, KeyBank, and Axos Bank.

Ninja Update: Offer has expired. For current Bank of America offers, see our Bank of America promotions page.

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Bank of America $500 Bonus Offer

Bank of America is offering a bonus of $500 when you open a new checking account with them and complete one of the following requirements:

• Set up and receive a qualifying direct deposits totaling $10,000 or more within 90 days of account opening; OR
• Make qualifying deposits of $50,000 or more in new money into your new personal checking account within 30 days of opening and maintain that balance for 90 days

The checking accounts eligible for this bonus is the Bank of America Advantage banking product line.

Where Do I Enroll?

There’s no direct link for this offer.

According to BoA, “this exclusive offer is only for select Bank of America customers who don’t already have a personal checking account with us”.

From my research, it appears that customers with a personal BoA credit card account have a higher probability of seeing this offer show up on their main account page after login.

Related:

• List Of The Best Bank Account Bonuses
• What Counts As A Direct Deposit When It Comes To Bank Sign Up Bonuses

What Are The Details?

Availability: Targeted
Expiration: 12/31/2021
Household Limit: None (everyone in your family can get the bonus!)
Direct Deposit Required: $10,000 within 90 days (or reach deposit requirement)
Hard/Soft Pull: Soft
Early Account Termination Fee: None

Avoiding Fees

The monthly fee ranges between $4.95 to $25 depending on which Advantage Banking account you open. There are 3 different account types:

Bank of America Advantage SafeBalance Banking

The monthly fee of $4.95 can be waived if you do one of the following:

• Students under age 24 are eligible to have this fee waived while enrolled in high school, college, university, or vocational program; OR
• Preferred Rewards clients get this fee waived (waiver applies to the first 4 checking account)

Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking

The Advantage Plus Banking account is the easiest account to keep fee-free. The $12 monthly fee can be waived if you do any one of the following:

• Maintain a minimum daily balance of $1,500 or more; OR
• Receive a direct deposit of $250; OR
• Students under age 24 are eligible to have this fee waived while enrolled in high school, college, university, or vocational program; OR
• Preferred Rewards clients get this fee waived (waiver applies to the first 4 checking account)

Bank of America Advantage Relationship Banking

The monthly fee of $25 can be waived if you do one of the following:

• Maintain a minimum daily balance of $10,000 or more in eligible linked accounts (combined average daily balance in checking, savings, CDs, IRAs, and Merrill investment accounts); OR
• Preferred Rewards clients get this fee waived (waiver applies to the first 4 checking account)

The Bottom Line

Some people may not see this offer on their account home page, but a similar offer for $300 instead.

I haven’t found the exact reason why some people are getting the $500 bonus offer, while others are seeing the $300 version, and the rest of the folks have nothing offered at all.

There is some evidence that it’s tied to what type of demographic you fall into.

A common trait seems to be that you need to have some type of personal credit card with Bank of America. Beyond that, it appears that those who have specific cards like the old Merrill+ cards are seen as “high value customers” and thus the $500 bonus shows up more often for them.