Bank of the West Offers $250 Checking Account Bonus
Now through April 15, 2022, Bank of the West (BotW) is offering a $250 bonus when applying for a new, qualifying consumer checking account (the account must be opened no later than April 29, 2022).
As stated on the bonus landing page, there is only requirement to earn the $250 bonus:
Customer must make qualifying direct deposits of $1,000 or more, monthly for three consecutive calendar months within the corresponding qualification period.
A qualifying direct deposit must be payroll, Social Security, pension or other government benefits. Non-qualifying direct deposits include transfers from Bank of the West or Bank of the West affiliate accounts, credits from Bank of the West, ACH bank-to-bank transfers, person-to-person transfers using a mobile payments service such as Zelle®, or deposits made at a branch or ATM. Qualifying direct deposits must be funds new to the Bank.
The three consecutive calendar month requirement has some leeway. For example, if an account is opened in January, three months of sequential direct deposits made in January, February and March; February, March and April; or March, April and May would each qualify.
The “qualification periods and key dates” listed on the bonus landing page is too long to post here, but it breaks down like this:
- The three consecutive months of direct deposits falls within a five-month period, e.g., Jan-May, Feb-June, etc.
- At the end of the fifth month, the account must be open to be eligible for the bonus.
- The bonus will be credited by the end of the next (sixth) month.
Limitations
- Not available to existing BotW customers with an open checking account as of January 9, 2022.
- Only one checking bonus per individual between June 1, 2020 and September 29, 2022.
- Limit of one bonus per residential address.
- If applying online, the promo code will be applied automatically. If applying in-branch, the promo code must be requested beforehand and will be sent via email.
Any Deposit Checking
Frankly, this is the most confusing part of the entire offering. As I was searching for bank bonuses, I saw “any deposit checking account” qualifies for the bonus, but I couldn’t find any listing of the “deposit checking accounts.”
All I can say is, “who’s on first?” The account name is ANY DEPOSIT CHECKING. The name denotes that the $10 monthly service fee will be waived with any one deposit (in-branch, ATM, mobile, or direct deposit) of any amount (1¢ or more) during each statement cycle. If the account owner is under 25 years of age, there is no monthly service fee.
This non-interest bearing account has no minimum balance requirement and can be opened with as little as a penny. Unlimited checking writing is available and a debit card will be issued following account opening. If the account is closed within 91 days of opening, an early termination fee of $25 will be assessed. Paper statements are available at a cost of $3 per month.
Availability
Headquartered in San Francisco, Bank of the West’s market area covers much of the country west of the Mississippi, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The $250 bonus is available now through April 15, 2022 to U.S. citizens/resident aliens who live in the market area and have a valid Social Security number.
Applying for the $250 bonus can be done online (promo code automatically applied) or in person at any of 534 full-service branches located in 19 states (promo code must be requested beforehand and will be sent via email).
Bank Overview
Bank of the West has an overall health grade of "A+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 3.18% (excellent), based on September 30, 2021 data. In the past year, BotW has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $10.1 billion, an excellent annual growth rate of 13.59%. Please refer to our financial overview of Bank of the West (FDIC Certificate # 3514) for more details.
Founded in 1874 as Farmers National Gold Bank, the Bank was one of only ten banks nationwide that were authorized to issue paper currency backed by gold reserves. Nearly 150 years later, Bank of the West is the fifth largest bank headquartered in California and the 33rd largest bank in the country, with assets in excess of $105 billion and more than 1.8 million customer accounts.
Bottom Line
The six-month time frame required to earn the $250 bonus is definitely longer than most of the bonuses I’ve been writing about lately. Once the direct deposit is set up, all you have to do is wait for the qualification period to be over and collect the bonus. To earn $250 in six months in a top-rate online savings account (currently earning 0.65% APY) would require a minimum balance of approximately $77k.
If you don’t qualify for the Bank of the West bonus, check out our full list of the best savings and checking account bonus offers.
The above information and rates are accurate as of 1/21/2022.
