How I Made Over $1,400 In Less Than an Hour
Bank Churning: Taking advantage of bank account bonus offers
A few months ago, I received multiple offers for new account bonuses from several banks. Chase offered me a $900 bonus for opening both a checking and savings account simultaneously, Wells Fargo offered $325 for opening a checking account, and USAA offered $200 for opening one.
The bonuses are a marketing ploy. Banks hope that giving you money now will turn you into a regular customer, allowing them to make money from you later. They want to earn interest on your money, charge you fees, and pitch other services to you. Behind every bonus offer are potential hidden costs and fees.
However, these bonus offers can be an easy and potentially lucrative opportunity to earn thousands of dollars from the banks. Bank account churning refers to opening new bank accounts to profit from their sign-up bonuses and promotional offers. It can be an easy way to make some extra money with just a few minutes of your time. However, these offers come with conditions. Reading the fine print is important.
Bank account churning is how I make a little extra money. I open an account where a bank offers a bonus. After I satisfy the terms and receive the bonus, I can close the account and move on to the next bonus offer.
These bonus offers may have minimum balance or direct deposit requirements. Some may require a large deposit, and you must maintain that balance for a certain period of time.
Most people stick with one bank and don’t bother with bank churning. But I have no loyalty to any banking institution. I view them as parasites preying on the poor and working class. They deploy a variety of tricks to charge us exorbitant fees and interest.
Jesus had the right idea about “money changers” when he overturned their tables and drove them out with whips. But following his example will get you labeled as a violent criminal and likely a multi-year jail sentence.
A safer way to turn the tables more in your favor is to extract extra money from them at no cost to you. I take advantage of their offers and am very comfortable constantly moving my money from bank to bank. I currently have nine different checking and savings accounts.
I always make sure I fully understand all the bank’s requirements to receive the bonus. Reading the fine print and understanding how the bonus is earned is essential. Being meticulous and very well-organized helps.
I decided to take advantage of three promotional offers so far in 2024. They were too good to pass up. Here are those offers:
Chase Checking + Savings Deal
Open a Chase Total Checking account, set up direct deposit, and earn a $300 bonus. Open a Chase Savings account, deposit $15,000 within 30 days of opening the account, hold the money in the account for 90 days, and earn a $200 bonus. Do both and get an additional $400 bonus, for a total of $900.
I normally don’t like putting $15,000 in a savings account for 90 days with an abysmal .01% APY. However, the $900 bonus for maintaining both Chase accounts translated to 24% in interest earned over those 90 days. That’s a pretty good return.
After I received the bonus, I closed the savings account with Chase and moved that money into a 6-month CD, earning 5.6%. In cases such as this involving a large sum of money, I will transfer the funds into my high-yield savings account or dump it into a high-yield CD after I receive the bonus.
The Chase Total Checking account had a monthly service fee of $10, which is waived if you have monthly direct deposits totaling $500. There was no early termination fee so I could close the accounts immediately after receiving the bonus.
Wells Fargo Checking Deal
Wells Fargo offered a bonus when opening a new Everyday Checking account with direct deposit. Deposit $1,000 or more in qualifying direct deposits to the new account within 90 days of opening and receive a $325 bonus.
The Everyday Checking account has a $10 monthly fee, but it is waived if direct deposits total $500 or more each statement cycle. Like the Chase offer, there is no early account termination fee. You can take the bonus money, close the account, and move on.
USAA Classic Checking Account
USAA offered a $200 bonus for opening a Classic Checking account. To receive the bonus money, I only had to set up just one direct deposit of $100 or more within 180 calendar days of account opening. It was the smallest bonus but the easiest and the quickest. I got the bonus money just three weeks after opening the account. With just a few minutes of my time, I tripled my money with just one deposit of $100.
I was able to do everything online, and I spent less than an hour setting up four different accounts, including direct deposit for each account. Thanks to current payroll software, you can easily set up direct deposit through your work and split your paycheck into multiple bank accounts. I set up all my direct deposits to meet the minimum requirements and avoided any fees at each bank.
After 90 days, I collected a total of $1425 in bonuses. Once you meet all the terms for the bonus, you can close the accounts and move that money elsewhere. Not bad for less than an hour of work.
Bank churning can be a repeat process where you cash in your bonuses from one bank and move on to the next. I prioritize promotions with the largest bonuses and lowest deposit requirements. I look for offers with minimal conditions and high returns.
Remember, these bonuses are considered interest income and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT. That means it is taxed. You need to make sure you include them when you file your taxes.
Bank promotions and bonuses are plentiful out there and they are just a search away. Take advantage of the banks, walk away with their cash, and move on to the next one.
====
Wow. Never even thought about that!