As I’ve talked about in the past, banking bonuses can be easy money — at least when they’re reasonable. Well, Wells Fargo happens to have a pretty attainable offer happening right now as the bank has brought back a new account bonus that could earn new customers $300. Actually, while the Wells Fargo homepage advertises a $300 bonus, a post from Frequent Miler features a link to a similar but better offer of $325. Either way, attaining this bonus is fairly straightforward.
First, new customers will first need to deposit at least $25 when opening their account. Then, they’ll need to receive a total of $1,000 in qualifying direct deposits within their first 90 days. Note the word “total” there, as this means that customers can receive multiple smaller direct deposits if need be and still earn this bonus.
The catch here is that the Wells Fargo Everyday Checking Account does have a $10 monthly service fee. However, this fee can be waived if a few conditions are met. Specifically, customers can avoid the fee by fitting one of these requirements:
- Maintain a daily balance of at least $500
- Receive at least $500 in qualifying direct deposits per month
- Be between the ages of 17 and 24
Yes, that last one is a bit interesting but Wells Fargo does waive the monthly fee for younger adults (and even older teenagers). However, once the primary accountholder turns 25, then they’ll need to meet one of the other requirements in order to keep avoiding the monthly fee.
Seeing as I’ve had a Wells Fargo account since I was 18 years old, I’m sadly unable to take advantage of this deal. But, since I’ve never actually added my wife to my account, we’re considering whether or not she should open an Everyday Checking just to claim this bonus. After all, we did just buy a house so that extra $325 would be useful.
Overall, earning a $300/$325 bonus with a requirement of just $1,000 (well, technically $1,025) seems like a pretty good deal to me. That said, the ongoing threat of that $10 monthly fee does complicate things. Luckily, the $500 balance or $500 direct deposit requirements are pretty reasonable — especially since you can usually have money directly deposited into your account and then just move it right away. So, while you will likely want to leave your new account open for at least a few months after claiming your bonus, it hopefully won’t be too hard to do so without incurring fees.
If you’re interested in trying for this bonus, be sure to check out Wells Fargo’s offer page.