Get up to a $50 bonus when you open a new Upgrade Rewards Checking account and make 3 debit card purchases within 90 days of account opening. No direct deposit requirements. Full details of this bonus offer and other Upgrade promotions below.
For more current bank offers, see our bank bonuses page. The most popular offers are from Chase Bank, SoFi, and Axos Bank.
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About Upgrade
Upgrade is a fintech company that provides mobile banking products that are FDIC insured through its partner, Cross River Bank. Based in San Francisco, Upgrade products include personal loans, credit cards, a savings account, and a checking account.
The checking account is called Upgrade Rewards Checking and right now you can earn a $50 bonus when you open this account and complete qualifying activities. There are no direct deposits required for this promotion- see below for offer details.
Upgrade Rewards Checking Promotions
Offer #1: Upgrade Rewards Checking $50 Referral Bonus
Get a $50 bonus if you use an existing customer’s referral link to open a new Upgrade Rewards Checking account and make 3 debit card purchases within 90 days of account opening.
Referral Bonus Step-by-Step Directions:
- Sign up for an Upgrade Rewards Checking account using this link.
- Complete three debit card purchases within 90 days of account opening.
- Receive a $50 bonus within three days of completing offer requirements.
Offer Details
Availability: Nationwide
Expiration: 5/31/2023
Household Limit: None
Direct Deposit Required: No
Hard/Soft Pull: Soft
Early Account Termination Fee: None
Avoiding Fees
Good news – there are no monthly account fees or early termination fees to worry about.
Referral Bonus Terms & Conditions
- This is for new customers only which means for the purposes of this referral bonus that If you do not currently have or have not previously had a Rewards Checking account through Upgrade (a “New Customer”).
- You can receive a Welcome Bonus if you use an existing customer’s unique referral link to (1) open a new Rewards Checking account, subject to account approval, by the Offer Period, and (2) complete three (3) eligible purchases with the Rewards Checking debit card within ninety (90) days from account opening (a “Qualified Registration”).
- If you complete a Qualified Registration, you will receive a welcome bonus in the amount presented to you when you open your Rewards Checking Account if your account is opened by the Offer Period (the “Welcome Bonus”).
Offer #2: Upgrade OneCard with Rewards Checking $200 Bonus
Get a $200 bonus after opening a Rewards Checking account and making 3 debit card transactions within the first 60 days.
With the no-fee OneCard, you’ll earn 3% cash back on everyday purchases and 2% on everything else.
Bonus Step-by-Step Directions:
- Open an Upgrade OneCard with Rewards Checking account using this link.
- Complete three OneCard or debit card purchases within 60 days of account opening.
- Receive a $200 bonus within three days of completing bonus requirements.
Upgrade OneCard with Rewards Checking Offer Details
Availability: Nationwide
Expiration: None listed
Household Limit: None
Direct Deposit Required: No
Hard/Soft Pull: Hard
Early Account Termination Fee: None
The Bottom Line
Upgrade has promotions for their other banking products too, like the Premier Savings account that provides one of the highest APY rates in our best high-yield savings accounts list.
I got approved instantly when I applied, but had to wait a day for them to formally give me access to the checking account. Reports indicate that some users were asked to provide verification of their identity to make sure they were the ones opening the account.
Once I got the Upgrade debit card, I reloaded my Amazon account three times for $1 each to complete the bonus requirements. The $100 bonus got deposited into my Upgrade checking account four days later.
Ninja Update: The Rewards Checking referral bonus used to be $100 before it was decreased to $50. Still, it’s a quick and easy bonus with no direct deposit requirements.
I’ll keep this account as the unlimited 2% cashback on debit card purchases at places like gas stations, utilities, and monthly subscriptions is a pretty good perk.
After you open an Upgrade Rewards Checking account, you can invite others to join with your referral link. Both of you will receive a $50 bonus after the person you refer successfully opens an account and completes three debit card purchases.
Note that while you can refer as many people as you want, you can only earn a maximum of 20 referral bonuses in one calendar year. Now go find 20 friends and hustle for the $1,000!
Whats that OneCard 3% ” on everyday purchases and 2% on everything else” ? What do they consider whats everyday purchase and what doesn’t count?
Since offer here says $400 and on the Upgrade site says $200 for the OneCard I’m going to assume its $200 for the Checkings account and $200 for the OneCard.
“Everyday” purchases for this card means transactions made at convenience stores, drugstores, restaurants and bars (including deliveries), and gas stations. It also includes recurring payments on utilities and monthly subscriptions including phone, cable, TV, and other streaming services.
The bonus was just adjusted tonight and I have revised the post to reflect this.
I thought this didn’t end until this month. I have 3 that are pending….
It doesn’t, but new users aren’t able to generate a referral link. The current end date for the $100 referral bonus is 1/31/23.
Upgrade end the referral program? No link available to share 😌
It looks like they removed the referral link from the website and app. I’ll reach out and see what they say. Existing links are still working so people who have it can still share it to others.
Opened account. Referred a friend. Got the card and loaded amazon 3 times. $100 added two days later. Then my referral link. I called and they said that the promo ended 11/11.
This seems much less complex than other bank Bonuses; you can open an account with no DD requirements, make essentially 3 $1 purchases, receive the bonus in a matter of days, and then close the account in a matter of days with no penalty?? Seems like a losing strategy on their part, no ?
Yes, that’s it! The offer is very straightforward, but not unheard of – like Fidelity and Novo.
Banks will adjust their promotions if customer acquisition costs outweigh the benefits. Just keep in mind sign-up offers are significantly less expensive than running television ads. Plus, it gets a ton of people in the door and a good number of them stay as customers.
There were a few accounts I opened earlier this year and I ended up keeping them because the features/benefits were interesting (e.g. Juno, Amex Business, SoFi).
I hadn’t heard of Juno, now that this has come to an end I need a new one preferably just like this!
We keep a list of all bank bonuses on this page (there are MANY of them). Enjoy!
I attempted to open an account and they are asking for 2 years of tax returns? I have never heard of this requirement to open a checking account
It’s not common, but banks may request this if their systems are unable to verify who you are. It happened to me for the first time with a bank bonus I did a few years back.
I believe they asked for tax info. because they couldn’t verify your annual earnings and much of their business model is geared toward making personal loans. They are not an actual bank. That service is contracted through Cross River Bank.