It used to be when you opened a bank account, you’d get a pen and pencil set or a toaster. MAYBE. Nowadays, banks give you cold hard cash.
Frankly, many of the banks make you jump through too many hoops to get the bonus. But not this one from Chase. I got a “targeted” offer in the mail for $300! Sometimes there’s gold in the “junk” mail. I’ll tell you about their non-targeted similar offer in a bit.
My offer: Open a Chase business checking account with at least $1,000. Make 5 debit transactions in the first 60 days. Keep a daily balance of at least $1,500 or else pay the $12/month for paperless statement fee.
I set the stopwatch on my phone as I walked into my Chase branch. I had the junk mail with my coupon code and a check for my opening deposit. I walked out 38 minutes later with a new business checking account.
Although this is a business checking account, I opened my account under my name, as a sole proprietor. No DBA, LLC, LP or other acronym. Just my name and my social. That’s how I get paid for one of my side-gigs. It’s all legit.
Five days later my debit card arrived in the mail. I do not like things hanging over my head. So I jumped onto my account at Amazon.com, clicked on My Account>Gift Cards (view balance or redeem a card). I clicked “Reload Your Balance”, added my new debit card and used it to reload my balance five times: $1, $2, $3, $4, $5.
Done and done. I have met all the requirements to get my bonus. I will leave the $1,500 in there so I never dip below the requirement to avoid paying the $12 monthly statement fee. My bonus will show up within 45 days of meeting the requirement.
The Takeaway: Junk mail is not always junk mail.
Chase has a similar offer right now through April 23rd. You can probably find it on the front page of Chase.com or try this link. I don’t get anything for this, so do not feel obligated to click that link. Check it out. See if it works for you!
