Chase, $300 Checking Account Bonus (Must Open In Branch)

Chase has a $300 bonus offer when you open a Chase Premier Plus Checking account and set up direct deposit. This offer originally expired on 4/16/17 but is available again till 7/17/2017 and now you need to go into a branch to open the account.

Requirements

To receive the bonus:

Open a new Chase Premier Plus Checking account, which is subject to approval
Deposit $25 or more at account opening AND
Have your direct deposit made to this account within 60 days of account opening.

After you have completed all the above requirements, we’ll deposit the bonus in your new account within 10 business days.

Eligibility

This offer is available nationwide.

Offer not available to existing Chase checking customers, those with fiduciary accounts, or those whose accounts have been closed within 90 days or closed with a negative balance.

You can receive only one new checking account related bonus each calendar year and only one bonus per account.

Fees

Chase Premier Plus Checking account has a monthly service fee of $25. However, you have a few options to have it waived:

Keep an average daily balance of $15,000 or more in any combination of qualifying Chase checking, savings and other balances.
Have automatic payments to your qualifying linked Chase mortgage from your Chase account. Payments set up through Online Bill Pay do not qualify. Mortgages must be in good standing and be first mortgages with servicing retained by Chase
Also fee free for active duty and veterans.

The $15,000 balance requirement is very high, but you can downgrade to Total Checking after receiving the bonus and then you’ll only need a balance of $1,500 to waive the monthly fee.

Keep in mind that Chase usually waives the fee the first two months and you can also ask them to waive a monthly fee at least once.

Guru’s Wrap-Up

If you have a branch nearby you’re better off going for a $300 bonus for the Total Checking account, which can be kept fee-free with a $1,500 balance. This offer was great when could be done online, but now it doesn’t make much sense as long as the Total Checking bonus is around.