How to profit from bank account sign up bonuses

OVERVIEW:

Opening a new bank account can be a great way to make additional money each year. Many banks consistently offer new account sign up bonuses in varying amounts ranging anywhere from $25 to upwards of $500.

Over the past few years I have consistently made extra money by simply opening and closing bank accounts each year. In this post my objective is to share my results and teach you how to earn additional money each year by opening bank accounts and earning a sign up bonus.

MY ACTUAL RESULTS:

Since 2015 I have been opening and closing bank accounts with the sole purpose of earning the cash sign up bonuses offered. The additional income that I have earned for each year is outlined below: ($2,400 from 2015 to 2018 - details below)

2015: Total Earned: $750 from five banks - $50 Capital One 360, $200 Nationwide, $200 Key Bank, $150 Citizens, $150 M&T

2016: Total Earned: $300 from two banks - $150 Santander Bank, $150 US Bank

2017: Total Earned: $500 from four banks - $200 M&T, $100 Charles Schwab, $50 Amboy Direct, $150 Discover Bank

2018: Total Earned: $850 from five banks - $200 Chase, $100 Bank of America, $200 Capital One, $150 TD Bank, $200 HSBC

DETAILS ON THE PROCESS THAT I USE:

The first step in the process is to identify a bank that is currently offering a promotion or bonus for opening a new account. I usually identify opportunities by using a google search for current bank account bonuses. I also sometimes receive promotions by mail.

Once I have identified a bank promotion, the second step is to read through the fine print to determine the requirements that need to be met in order to earn the sign up bonus. This step is the most important as each bonus has unique requirements that need to be met before the bonus is paid. Usually these requirements are explained in the fine print at the bottom of the banks website when signing up.

The most common requirement is a direct deposit requirement. Most banks require that a certain amount be direct deposited into the newly opened account before the bonus is paid.

For example, the current bonus that I am working on with Citizens bank for $200 requires one $500 direct deposit to be made within 60 days of account opening. Once this deposit is made the bonus will be credited to my account within 60-90 days.

The next thing that you need to take into consideration is how to avoid any monthly fees if applicable. Most of the time these fees can by avoided by maintaining a direct deposit or a minimum balance.

In my citizens bank example all I need to do to avoid the monthly fee after the $500 direct deposit is made is to maintain a $1 direct deposit going into the account until it is closed.

After any fees are dealt with another common requirement is the minimum time the account must be kept open. Typically this is between 6 months and 12 months. If an account is closed before the minimum time in most cases there is a fee or the bonus can be taken back by the bank so it is important to make sure that the account is closed after the minimum time required.

Another important point that I do not practice as well as I should is to close the account right after the minimum time period the account is required to be open to receive the bonus. Doing this is important as many banks do not allow you to repeat a bonus with them if you have had an account within the past year (time frames vary between banks). Closing the account as soon as possible starts the clock on that requirement which allows you to earn bonuses from the same bank over and over again more frequently. I have done this with a few banks as shown in my actual results above. One example of this is how I earned $150 from M&T in 2015 and another $200 in 2017. I plan on doing another bonus with M&T in 2019 if offered. Closing the bank accounts as soon as you can allows you to create a residual income stream.

As you can see opening bank accounts in order to receive a sign up bonus can earn you additional money each year. On average it takes me about an hour of my time from start to finish to earn the sign up bonus/close the account which translates to a decent return on your time if the bonus is $100-$200. You can definitely earn more money than I have as I treat this more as a hobby to earn additional cash than something that I devote a substantial amount of time to. If I was to devote more time and effort to this I could probably double my earnings going forward. I do plan on spending additional time in 2019 doing this and making my process more efficient as I have a few vacations coming up that I would like to completely fund with bank account bonuses!

Below is a link to hustlersmoneyblog.com which is a website that I frequently use to find many of the bonuses that are currently available from various banks. This has been a great resource for me in finding the majority of the bonuses that I have completed. The site gives you a brief summary of the bonus/requirements and also provides a link to the bank where you can sign up. See below for the link that I use:

https://www.hustlermoneyblog.com/best-bank-promotions/

Hope everyone finds this article useful and will be able to use the information to earn some additional income!