Best Bank Bonuses and Promotions of December 2023

U.S. Bank is offering up to an $800 bonus for opening a new U.S. Bank Smartly® Checking and Standard Savings account. This is back towards the high end of bonuses we've seen from U.S. Bank. This is a multipart bonus, meaning the more activities you complete, the more you can earn.

The direct deposit threshold for the checking bonus is steep, at a minimum $5,000 to earn a checking bonus, but if you have the income, this is an easy bonus. You'll have 90 days to reach this target, but keep in mind that unlike some banks that let you hit the bonus in a single transaction, U.S. Bank requires at least two direct deposits to qualify for this promotion.

The second part of the bonus is for opening a Standard Savings account and maintaining a minimum balance. Again, be ready for very steep requirements with $25,000 being the minimum balance to earn this portion. Earn a $100 kicker for completing both!

Citi® is offering up to a $2,000 cash bonus when you open a new Citi Priority Relationship Tier account with activities. Like most Citi promotions, this is a tiered offer based on the amount you're able to deposit and maintain in your new checking account.

Citi recently added a lower tier to this bonus, making it easier for more people to participate. However, some of the middle tier requirements have increased. All told, the bonus amount ranges from $200 for depositing $10,000, up to the full $2,000 for depositing $300,000.

Depending on when you deposit the cash (it needs to be there by the 20th day), the bonus represents an effective rate of roughly 4-11% on your savings. The $200 offer nets you the best effective rate, but every offer is significantly more than what you can find on most savings accounts. So if you have the cash, this is a great way to put it to work, risk-free.

It's important to note that this offer is available in most, but not all states.

Discover Bank, member FDIC, has a cool twist on the old-fashioned debit card: cash back rewards. Open an account online, and they'll give you 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month, for up to $360 each year as a bonus to your normal spending. See website for details.

Upgrade is offering a $200 welcome bonus when you open a new Rewards Checking Plus account and make 3 debit card transactions.

To qualify for this promotion, you'll first need to sign up for any Upgrade Card (for example, the Triple Cash Card), which is a blend of a credit card / line of credit. Then, you'll need to open a free Rewards Checking Plus account. Finally, you'll need to make just 3 purchases using your new debit card.

All in all, this is an easy bonus to earn.

Overall, it's rare to find a cash offer this high that does not require a direct deposit, minimum balance, or a monthly fee. Check it out!

Chase Total Checking® is the most popular account from one of the nation's best banks. You'll have access to more than 4,700 branch locations and 16,000 ATMs, along with a top-rated mobile app.

Your new account can be opened easily online, and earning the bonus is super straightforward: receive a qualifying direct deposit into your new account within 90 days, and Chase will reward you within 15 days.

Keep in mind that Chase Total Checking® does charge a $12 monthly maintenance fee, but there are several ways to have this waived, including maintaining a minimum daily balance of $1,500 or making at least $500 in electronic deposits each month.

Assuming you can keep the account free, we definitely recommend taking advantage of this easy cash bonus from Chase!

BMO Harris Bank is giving you 4 months to accumulate $4,000 in direct deposits to earn a $400 welcome bonus for opening a new BMO Smart Advantage Checking or BMO Smart Money Checking account. This is $100 higher than previous versions.

What's even better? They're also offering a $5/month kicker if you save regularly.

It's now available nationally, so now's a good time to open an account online and grab that cash.

Huntington is offering a couple of welcome bonuses to customers opening new personal checking accounts. This promotion offers $800 for a $25,000 deposit into their premium Platinum Perks Checking account.

They're also running a similar deal for new Perks Checking accountholders, which is their middle-tier personal checking product. That one offers $400 for a direct deposit, in case you don't have the cash to meet this promotion's terms.

TD Bank is offering a $300 welcome bonus for opening a personal checking account and using direct deposit within the first 2 months. What's more, you can maximize this promo by also opening a new personal savings account — stacking an extra $200 on top of this offer for a total of $500.

If the $2,500 in direct deposit is too high, they're also running a smaller offer with only a $500 deposit requirement.

While this isn't available nationwide, it is open to a healthy list of states, and is no longer targeted to select customers.

If you're eligible, we definitely recommend claiming this easy bonus.

Offer is available in these states: CT, DC, DE, FL, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, SC, VA, VT

SoFi is offering new and existing SoFi Checking & Savings customers up to a $250 bonus. You'll need to set up direct deposit, but you'll have until the promo ends to complete one.

From there, you'll have 25 calendar days (or until the end of the promotion, whichever happens first) to accumulate direct deposits towards the total that will be used to determine your bonus. This is still setup as a tiered bonus, the more you direct deposit, the more you'll earn.

Wells Fargo is offering new personal checking account customers a $325 bonus.

To be eligible, you'll first need to open a new Clear Access Banking℠, Everyday Checking, Prime Checking, or Premier Checking account, and then you'll have 3 months to receive $1,000 in direct deposits in order to qualify for the promo.

This is a pretty easy bonus that's available nationally without restriction. Plus, the deposit requirement has been cut in half (from $2,000 to $1,000), and the reward amount bumped up: from the $200 default offer. Can't complain about that!

Bank of America is offering a $200 bonus for opening a new personal checking account. The offer applies to any of their Advantage Banking accounts: Bank of America SafeBalance®, Bank of America Advantage Plus®, or Bank of America Advantage Relationship®.

Recent versions of this bonus had a direct deposit requirement of $1,000, but this time around Bank of America has increased the ask to $2,000. With that said, they've also DOUBLED the bonus, and you do have 90 days to meet that total in cumulative deposits.

Overall, a fairly easy bonus from a nationwide bank, so worth checking out.

Truist, has a very solid offer for a new One Checking account, but $100 less than when it was previously offered. Available mostly along the East Coast and Southern states with the ability to open online, Truist is offering a $300 welcome bonus when you open a new One checking account and set up direct deposit.

Discover – one of our top picks for online banks – is currently offering up to $200 for opening your first Online Savings account. You'll need to deposit $25,000 to earn the full amount, but $15,000 only results in a loss of $50.

One perk to this bonus is that Discover doesn't have a requirement for how long you need to keep the cash in the account; however, with interest rates soaring, it makes a great place to stash some cash. Doesn't get much easier than that!

Citi offers a really competitive APY rate in their Citi® Accelerate Savings account, a high-yield savings product.

You can find slightly higher rates elsewhere, but nearly all of those will have balance limits. In other words, you'll earn a great rate on the first $15k, but then the rate drops considerably.

Citi, on the other hand, has no limit. So for those who have sizable savings they'd like to keep liquid, Citi® Accelerate Savings will often win out.

There's no opening deposit minimum or ongoing balance requirements, but do keep in mind that having a $0 balance for longer than 3 months could cause your account to be closed.

Back for 2023, Alliant Credit Union has partnered with Suze Orman to encourage people to make saving a priority. To that end, they've launched “The Ultimate Opportunity Savings Account” promotion, where you can earn a $100 welcome bonus by opening a new savings account and making the commitment to deposit $100 each month.

Keep in mind that these deposits don't need to be made via direct deposit, as is common with many bank bonuses. Instead, regular transfers each month will work.

The first transfer will need to be made within 30 days of opening the account, and while it does take a full 12 months to satisfy the requirements, the ROI on your cash is impressive.

This is a nationwide bonus from one of the best credit unions, so definitely check it out!

TD Bank is offering a $200 welcome bonus if you open a new savings account by November 30st, 2023. It works out to effectively be an interest rate of about 4%.

What's more, you can maximize this promo by also opening a new personal checking account — stacking an extra $300 or $150 on top of this offer for a total of up to $500.

While this isn't available nationwide, it is open to a healthy list of states, and is no longer targeted to select customers.

The main draw of LifeGreen Savings is its bonus offer, which pays out up to $100 per year when you set up automated transfers (in addition to the normal APY). If you transfer at least $10 into the account per month, you'll get a 1% savings bonus at the end of the year (up to $100).

The best part of this offer is that it isn't a one-time cash back deal. LifeGreen Savings bonuses are eligible each year that the account is in good standing.

U.S. Bank is offering up to a $800 welcome bonus when you open and fund a new, eligible business checking account. This is a tiered bonus where you can earn more if you're able to deposit more. To earn the full $800 just deposit $25,000 in new money and maintain that balance for at least 60 days. This offer has increased since the last time it was offered to reward businesses with higher balances, so now might be a great time to jump on it if you've been considering U.S. Bank for your business banking needs.

Chase Bank is offering business owners a $300 bonus to open a new Chase Business Complete Checking® account.

The requirements are pretty easy to meet: deposit new money at least $2,000 and maintain it for 2 months, and complete just 5 qualifying transactions in the next 3 months. Several activities count as "qualifying transactions", including purchases on your debit card, deposits into the account, setting up a bill payment, and more. See the fine print for the full list, but needless to say, meeting that requirement should be painless.

What's especially awesome about this bonus compared to other business checking account offers is that Chase recently launched the ability for customers to open an account online. Compared to the vast majority of business checking accounts which require you to visit your local branch, opening an account at Chase is significantly more convenient.

If you prefer live help, however, you can still enroll in this offer by entering your email address on the bonus landing page to have an offer code sent to you. Just be sure to take that code with you when you visit a branch.

Available nationwide with the ability to open online, Axos is offering up to a $400 welcome bonus when you open a new Business Interest Checking account and maintain a minimum balance. You'll also need to use your debit card to qualify. This is double their previous offer (and quadruple one before that!) so now might be a good time to jump on it.

Available in select states within their footprint, BMO Harris is offering up to a $600 welcome bonus when you open a new business checking account and meet the minimum balance requirements. This is a tiered bonus, the higher the balance, the more you can earn. It's worth noting that this bonus is higher than a recent one offered for similar tiers.

PNC is running a couple of welcome bonus offers targeting small business owners. For this one, you'll need to open either a Business Checking or Business Checking Plus account and then meet balance and debit card requirements.

This is a straightforward, nationally-available bonus for business owners.

If your company has higher balances or transaction volume, PNC is running a larger bonus for their enterprise checking accounts, so check those out, too!

If you're a business owner in the market for a new checking account, be sure to check out this offer from Bank of America.

They're offering a $200 cash bonus when you open a new Bank of America® Business Advantage Banking account and maintain qualifying deposits. See offers page more details.

To qualify, you can choose between the Bank of America Business Advantage Relationship Banking or Business Advantage Fundamentals™ Banking accounts. Both have monthly fees that can be waived if minimum deposits amounts are met. See below for more details.. Then, you'll just need to deposit $5,000 into your new account. Pretty simple!

Available nationwide with the ability to open online, Amex is offering a 50,000 MR Points welcome bonus when you open a new business checking account and make qualifying transactions. Previously, this was a cash offer (and about half as much), but Amex is now offering it as Membership Rewards points which means you can likely stretch it further if you redeem for travel. This is a rare offer from American Express and relatively easy to earn.

Huntington is offering a welcome bonus to those opening new business checking accounts. This one offers $1,000 for a $20,000 deposit. Don't have $20k? They're also running $100 and $400 offers for $2,000 and $5,000 deposits, respectively.

While the account needs to remain open for 6 months to avoid forfeiting the offer, you will get the bonus within 2 weeks of meeting the requirement which is pretty great!