Best Bank Bonuses and Promotions For May 2022

Available nationwide with the ability to open online, Citi is offering up to a $1,500 cash bonus when you open a new Citi Priority Account.

This is a tiered bonus based on the amount you're able to deposit and maintain in your new account. $15,000 in new funds will earn you $300; $50,000 will earn you $700; or $200,000 will earn you the full $1,500.

Depending on when you deposit the cash (it needs to be there by the 20th day), the bonus represents an effective rate of roughly 5-11% on your savings. The $300 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.

Fifth Third Bank has revived their personal checking account bonus, and made it sweeter this time around. They've increased the offer amount from $250 to $350 AND decreased the deposit requirement from $1,000 to $500.

You can open the account online through the promotion's landing page, or choose instead to enter your email address to receive a unique code that you can take into your local branch.

Another perk? Users report receiving their bonus just days after the qualifying deposit is posted.

Chase has recently decreased their welcome offer from $225 to $200. While $200 is what Chase has historically offered as a new checking account bonus, it's still a slight bummer to see the amount go down.

That said, Chase Total Checking® is the most popular account from one of the top national banks.

The 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. Definitely check it out!

Monifi is offering a $250 bonus to Spend customers who set up direct deposits into their new Spend account. You'll need to be a relatively new Spend customer (account opened between January 1 and May 31), but you don't need to have opted into the bonus at account opening to qualify.

BMO Harris Bank is giving you 3 months to accumulate $4,000 in direct deposits to earn a $200 welcome bonus for opening a new Smart Advantage™ or Smart Money™ checking account. Even better? They're also offering a $5/month kicker if you save regularly.

It's not available nationally, but if you're in one of the targeted states, you can open an account online to grab that cash.

Huntington is offering a welcome bonus to those opening new personal checking accounts. This one offers $200 for a $1,000 deposit into their interest-earning account.

This account comes with a monthly fee. If you don't qualify for the waiver, you can opt instead for a smaller bonus by making the same deposit into their basic (and fee-free) checking account.

Bank of America is offering $100 for opening a new personal checking account. They recently upped the direct deposit requirements from $250 to $1000, which is quite steep for a bonus of this size.

It's not a huge bonus, but it's available nationwide and the requirements are super low.

HSBC is offering a sign-up bonus of $500 to new Premier checking customers. It's available nationwide and you can open the account online, but highly targeted to more affluent customers. They've bumped up the offer a little, but also doubled the direct deposit requirements.

Keep in mind that HSBC is known to have a more involved account opening process than most of their competitors. Expect a "pending" status after applying online, and you may be asked to verify information by email or by phone before being approved.

That said, this $500 welcome bonus for opening a new Premier checking account is still worthwhile in our book if you can swing the $10,000 necessary in direct deposits each month.

Wells Fargo is offering new personal checking account customers a $300 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 offered last year to the $300 now. Can't complain about that!

Keep in mind that this is their public offer. Wells Fargo is also targeting some customers with higher amounts (we've seen up to $400). Up to you whether it makes sense to wait for a targeted offer (if it comes), or to take advantage of this one.

M&T is offering $250 if you open one of their premium checking accounts and make a small direct deposit within 90 days.

If you're not able to meet the requirements to waive the maintenance fees, you can alternatively opt for their basic checking account.

Regardless, be sure to enter your zipcode on the linked offer page, which will auto apply the appropriate promo code if you're within a targeted zipcode. Many readers have tried to apply the promo to an outside zip, and while the system allows you to move forward, you'll be "surprised" with no bonus payout when that time comes.

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.

CIT Bank is offering a unique bonus for opening a money market account and maintain a minimum balance. Not only will you earn interest on you money (0.45% APY currently), you'll also receive one year of Amazon Prime absolutely free. This is valid for new Amazon Prime customers or existing customers to be applied at time of renewal.

Discover – one of our top picks for online banks – is currently offering up to $200 for opening a new 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, so you can deposit and withdraw immediately. Doesn't get much easier than that!

Bask Bank is offering new account holders an additional 1,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® miles – on top of what the Bask Mileage Savings account already accrues.

You'll need to be a brand new Bask Bank customer to take advantage, but this offer is otherwise available nationwide with the ability to open online.

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!

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.

Available nationwide with the ability to open online, Axos is offering a $100 welcome bonus when you open a new self-directed trading account. This is a limited time offer for Axos to promote their new investment platform.

Available nationwide with the ability to open online, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management is offering up to a $625 welcome bonus when you open a new Self-Directed Investing account with qualifying minimum funding.

This is tiered bonus, meaning that the more you deposit, the more you may be eligible to earn. New for this iteration, J.P. Morgan has introduced a lower tier at $25,000, down from the previous $100,000 entry point!

Here are all 3 tiers of this investing bonus:

This is the highest offer that we've seen to-date from J.P. Morgan.

Ally Invest is offering new investors up to $3,000 in bonus cash when you open and fund a new self-directed investing account. You'll need at least $10,000 to earn the first tier bonus ($100), up to $2M to earn the full $3k.

Ally will also cover any transfer fees your current brokerage might charge, up to $150.

Here are the tiers of this investing bonus:

If you already have funds invested on another platform, you can earn big when you transfer funds to an M1 Finance account.

Right now, you can earn a bonus of up to $2,500 for making the switch. All you have to do is open a new account that matches the type you’re transferring from, upload some documents, and you’ll be in line for the bonus.

The total bonus that you get depends on the amount of your transfer:

• $100,000 – $249,999.99: $250
• $250,000 – $499,999.99: $500
• $500,000 – $999,999.99: $1,000
• $1,000,000+: $2,500

What's more, if you're a new M1 Invest customer, you can stack this bonus with their new account bonus, which offers $30-$500.

Available nationwide with the ability to open online, Tradestation is offering new customers a $150 cash bonus when you open a new securities investment account or $150 in Bitcoin when you open a new crypto trading account.

What's more? You can stack this offer with their earn up to $5,000 promotion after your account is opened.

Available nationwide, SoFi is offering up to a $100 welcome bonus when you open a new SoFi Crypto account and buy at least $50 in cryptocurrency. This is a tiered bonus, the bonus payout is determined by the amount of your first purchase of Crypto.

The tiers are as follows:

• Tier 1 | Balance Maintained: $50 - $99.99: $10 in BTC
• Tier 2 | Balance Maintained: $100 - $499.99: $15 in BTC
• Tier 3 | Balance Maintained: $500 - $4,999.99: $50 in BTC
• Tier 4 | Balance Maintained: $5,000+: $100 in BTC

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

The requirements are pretty easy to meet: deposit $2,000 and maintain it for 2 months, and complete just 5 qualifying transactions in the first 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 a $200 welcome bonus when you open a new Business Interest Checking account and maintain a minimum balance. This is double their previous offer so now might be a good time to jump on it!

It's important to note that only new businesses (those incorporated after 06/01/2020) are eligible for $200 and must use promo code NEWBIZ200. If your business is older than that, you'll only be eligible for a $100 bonus and must use promocode NEWAXOSBIZ.

Available in select states within their footprint, BMO Harris is offering up to a $400 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.

Available nationwide with the ability to open online, Axos is offering a $200 welcome bonus when you open a new Business Premium Savings account and maintain a minimum balance. This is double their previous offer so now might be a good time to jump on it!

It's important to note that only new businesses (those incorporated after 06/01/2020) are eligible for $200 and must use promo code NEWBIZ200. If your business is older than that, you'll only be eligible for a $100 bonus and must use promocode NEWAXOSBIZ.

Wanna get a checking account instead? They're also running this $200 promotion on their Business Interest Checking account.

Huntington is offering a welcome bonus to those opening new business checking accounts. This one offers $750 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!

Available nationwide with the ability to open online, Amex is offering a $300 welcome bonus when you open a new business checking account and make qualifying transactions. This is a rare offer from American Express and relatively easy to earn.