Goldman Sachs Bank USA Offers Up To $500 Savings Account Bonus
Goldman Sachs Bank USA (Marcus) has recently launched a new savings account promotion which allows you to earn up to $500. It’s similar to their March promotion, but this one allows you to earn a lot more. The only mention of this promotion is on this Marcus landing page, which has the following promotion summary:
Deposit $1,000 or more in new funds into a new or existing account within 10 business days of enrollment in the offer, maintain your balance at enrollment plus the new funds for 90 days, and we’ll give you a 1% cash bonus up to $500. Enroll in this offer at the link below or by calling 1-855-730-SAVE (1-855-730-7283) by 11:59 pm ET on 7/29/19.
With interest rates starting to fall, bonuses might become a more common strategy that online banks will use to attract deposits. Marcus recently lowered its Online Savings Account rate by 10 bps on June 28th after the June Fed meeting when the Fed opened the door to rate cuts at its future meetings.
This Marcus promotion is similar to the ones that Ally Bank and Capital One have offered in the last year. Ally Bank’s October Payback promotion offered a 1% cash bonus with a maximum bonus of $1,000 (it has long expired). Capital One has often offered bonuses for deposits to its 360 Money Market Account. The latest promotion offers a $500 bonus for $50,000 in deposits. Unlike Ally’s Payback promotion and this new Marcus promotion, Capital One typically limits their bonuses to new customers.
Thanks to DA reader, MAKNYC, for posting on this promotion in the DA Forum.
Marcus Promotion Details
Right below this summary on the promotion landing page, Marcus has a link to the page with the promotion details. Three steps are described to qualify for the bonus.
The first qualification is to enroll. The promotion landing page has two enrollment links: one link is for new customers and the other is for existing customers. The only limitation mentioned in the promo details page is that Marcus customers must not be currently enrolled in another Marcus bonus offer.
The second qualification involves making the deposits. I’ll provide the excerpt from the promo details page to ensure accuracy since these details can be confusing:
Deposit at least $1,000 in new funds (internal transfers won’t count) into a Marcus Online Savings Account within 10 business days from enrollment. Multiple deposits may be made during this time and can be made by any owner on the account. Funds deposited in your account prior to enrollment are not eligible for the cash bonus. Your balance at the end of your enrollment period is your “Enrollment Account Balance”.
It’s not clearly defined, but the enrollment period is specific to when the customer applies for this promotion. The date the customer applies begins the enrollment period, and it ends 10 business days after that. So if you enroll on July 22nd, your enrollment period will end on August 5th (10 business days after July 22).
The third qualification is maintaining the deposit for the required time. According to the promo details page:
Maintain your Enrollment Account Balance through 11:59 PM EST of the 90th day following the enrollment period (the “Maintenance Period”).
First, the 90 days is calendar days. So if your enrollment period ends on August 5th, the Maintenance Period will end on November 3rd.
The CSR informed me that their online banking software provides a timeline for the customer that lists the date that the Enrollment Period ends and the date the Maintenance Period ends. That should eliminate any confusion about these important dates.
Besides dates, there can also be confusion in understanding what balance will qualify for the bonus. This complication primarily occurs when you make withdrawals during the maintenance period. According to the promo details page:
If you do not maintain your Enrollment Account Balance for the Maintenance Period you will receive a cash bonus of 1% of the average amount of the new funds in your account during the Maintenance Period, up to $500.
Lastly, Marcus states in the promo details page that the “bonus will be deposited into your account within 14 days after the end of Maintenance Period. The bonus will be treated as interest for tax reporting purposes.”
Online Savings Account Overview
It’s common for banks to offer bonuses on accounts that you will probably not want for the long run. That’s not the case for this one. The Online Savings Account has a history of competitive rates. You can review the rate history of the Account by clicking the “details” arrow of the following table:
In addition to a history of competitive rates, the Online Savings Account has features that do make it a strong contender for one’s primary online savings account. A summary of the important features of the Online Savings Account is listed below:
- No minimum deposit
- No hard credit inquiry in the application
- Initial funding options include ACH, wire, or check (no credit card option)
- Rate applies to all balances of $1 or more
- Free ACH bank-to-bank transfer service
- Allows links to up to 4 external accounts
- Maximum outgoing transfer is $125K per transaction if done online (no limit if done by phone)
- No incoming transfer limit (as long as the maximum balance limit is maintained)
- ACH Transfers out take 1 to 3 business days
- Funds received by ACH transfer initiated at Goldman Sachs Bank available on the third business day. Funds received by ACH transfer initiated by another bank available on the next business day (see FAQs for full details)
- Maximum balance of $1 million for individuals (new customers)
- You may add up to six beneficiaries to each account.
- A beneficiary must be an individual; you may not name a trust or other entity as a beneficiary
- Social security numbers for beneficiaries are required
- Trust accounts are not offered
- No charge for sending or receiving wire transfers
Availability
Goldman Sachs Bank USA operates the internet bank under the brand Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Savings Accounts and CDs are available nationwide and can be opened using the Bank’s online application. Account owners must be at least 18 years old and must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
To be eligible for the bonus, you must enroll for this offer at this Marcus promotion page or by calling 1-855-730-SAVE (1-855-730-7283) by 11:59 pm ET on 7/29/19.
Bank Overview
In April 2016, Goldman Sachs Bank USA completed the acquisition of the internet bank portion of GE Capital Bank. That’s when the brand name GS Bank was established. The brand name Marcus by Goldman Sachs was established in October 2016 as an online platform offering unsecured personal loans to consumers. As I described in November 2017, Goldman Sachs decided to consolidate savings accounts, CDs and personal loans under the brand Marcus by Goldman Sachs. All loans and deposit products are provided by Goldman Sachs Bank USA.
Goldman Sachs Bank USA is the 14th largest bank in the nation based on assets. As of the latest FDIC data (March 31, 2019), the bank has $196 billion in assets and $145 billion in deposits. The bank has an overall health rating of “A+” on DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 1.10% (excellent), based on March 31, 2019 data. In the past year, the Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $23.8 billion, an excellent annual growth rate of 34.06%. Please refer to our financial overview of Goldman Sachs Bank USA (FDIC Certificate # 33124) for more details.
Value of the Marcus Online Savings Account Bonus
Earning a 1% cash bonus on money that’s held for three months is equivalent to earning about 4% interest rate on that money for those three months. That will be on top of the standard interest that is earned on the Online Savings Account. As of 7/19/2019, the APY is 2.15%. If the Fed cuts rates, the savings account yield will likely fall. If you assume the APY will average 2% for the three months, it’s possible that your effective interest rate that factors in the bonus will be equivalent to around 6%.
If you’re late in withdrawing the money once the Maintenance Period ends, that effective interest rate of 6% will fall. Let’s say that money remains in the account for four months. Thus, earning a 1% cash bonus on money that’s held for four months is equivalent to earning about 3% interest rate on that money for those four months. Adding that to the estimated average APY of 2% results in a total effective rate of around 5%.
In summary, this Marcus promotion is a good deal. It’s easy to earn a bonus of between $10 and $500 if you can maintain the balance requirements.
Be sure to check out our full list of the best savings and checking account bonus offers.
... It will be nice to get full tank of gas in a single go, rather than doing $5, $6, $7 etc to make-up additional transactions for RCA for coming 3 months. :-)
I have very little free cash other than the $50k in my RCAs. I have a CD maturing on 8/26 and I am hoping to buy a 30 month Jumbo at Keesler if its still available at that time. If its not, I could replenish the RCA money.
I have another CD maturing 9/18. I am not interested in terms over 30 months. And part of me wants to invest it in the market. (See the Barrons article I posted in the financial forum)
My IRA is 71% invested so I have buying power there. Do not have a separate IRA.
The other thing about this deal is Goldman may repeat it in the future at a time when i might not have to pull money from my RCAs.
Even I entered the transfers. For one of my external accounts the Marcus was able to make link immediately, for the other one I will need to verify micro-deposits made by Marcus to external accounts.
This will allow me to take a pause from my routine of meeting monthly RCA requirements for next 3 months.
Thanks for letting me know it was easy.
The big variable is what they are going to do to the underlying rate. I don't think it's coincidence that the enrollment cutoff date is July 29th, the day of the next Fed meeting. And I wouldn't rule out a big cut in the rate. But again, even if they cut it to zero, it might being unwise marketing move, but you'll still make a profit for tying up the money. Whether that profit is worth the effort, or trying up those funds is another question.
But if you're feeling skittish after a rate drop, you always have the option to pack your bags and leave whenever you wish. Your money is not committed there. Move it out to Northern or elsewhere, anytime you choose . . .
I am leaning heavily toward opening the account on or shortly before 7/29 and funding it by the by the deadline.
-------------------
Deposit $1,000 or more in new funds into a new or existing account within 10 business days of enrollment in the offer, maintain your balance at enrollment plus the new funds for 90 days, and we’ll give you a 1% cash bonus up to $500. Enroll in this offer at the link below or by calling 1-855-730-SAVE (1-855-730-7283) by 11:59 pm ET on 7/29/19.
As the first comment (above) says: "This is like a 4% CD of 3 month term"
Close the account after the reward posts, and transfer the funds, optimally, into your Northern's 2.5% account -- guaranteed through the end of the year. (After that, you're on your own.) But your annual return on your money will surely be a cut above most other folks!
The net loss on a $50k deposit for 3 months versus 2.50% is roughly $43.75. But we are getting $500 so the net gain is...$456.25. (assuming they do not drop their 2.15%)
A better way is to quote the percentage return based on the actual 3-month term of the deal, in this case 1.5375% if you assume the underlying rate is not going to change for the three-month period.
Then you can compare it to the actual 3 month return the other options.
To see this, consider a three month liquid account with a guaranteed APY of 4% and a 12 month liquid account with a guaranteed APY of 4%.
Even though they both have the same APY, the 12-month deal is obviously better because unlike the 3-month deal it guarantees you that you will earn the stated APY for the full year. The stated APY for the three-month account relies on an assumption that probably will not come to pass.
Best to compare apples to apples in my book. No matter which way you look at it, it is a good deal compared to any Deposit account rate out there for a 3 month yield.
I have not seen a lot of people on here worried about their monthly yield on their money market or online savings account. Of course if a 12 month was available at 6.15%, that would be a better deal. Let us know when you find that, I would love to sign up! But for a 3 month deal, this is tough to beat for liquid funds.
I rarely close any of them and keep them at the minimum when they are not offering a rate I am willing to accept. I use a home made spread sheet that calculates my blended APY for Annual and monthly for the lump total of my deposits. The monthly rate (the APY /12) or total return does matter, but easier to talk about these things using the common APY or APR terms to compare them to other available products.
Just my two cents, but both numbers add up to the same, so whatever works for you is great as long as the math is solid.
After those three months, of course, it's anybody's guess. But where would you stash emergency funds (or 3 months living expenses) anyway?
[from the Offer Terms]:
Is planning to move most of your money out after you meet the terms of the deal considered "gaming"?
Re. Citi Double - Yes, you got lowballed, but I would have taken the card anyway. I have one from 3 years ago with a higher limit, and my credit profile is only slightly higher than yours. I've heard elsewhere that Citi may be lowering their limits more recently. Did you ask them to reconsider or "appeal" the limit to a manager? That's worked in the past for me a couple times, although can't recall if that was Citi. At that point you've already incurred the hard credit pull, and declining the card doesn't change that. BTW the Fidelity VISA is also 2% cash-back. Main requirement is that it has to pay the cashback to a Fidelity account, but that can be a simple money market fund.
My income is way below CCHs but my score is 29 points higher. When i was younger, I cared about high limits. Now, I could not care less.
Both of my cashback credit card deals were pretty easy that I've decided I should probably do them more often. Planning on looking for another deal in Nov/Dec.
I think my deals were $250 for a $1000 spend and $150 for a $500. I had to manufacture some of the spending for them. I picked up some Ebay and Aldi gift cards. Right after loading up on Aldi gift cards, my store moves from 4 miles away to 7.5. And the 7.5 has a ton of speed breakers over about 1.5 miles of that which slows me down. As a result, I shop at Aldi less than I used to. Plus, they jacked up a lot of their prices ticking me off in the process. (Pretty much everything on the first aisle when you walk in was jacked up a good bit. A lot of it was junk we should avoid anyway like chips & cookies)
Fidelity is my primary card for the 2% but I think Amex & Cap One both pay 3% at grocery stores.
The gain versus an RCA rate is less and it leaves me wondering if it might be better to hold off and do this if & when they have a future promo where I don't have to drain my RCAs to participate.
A phone call to a CSR will solve your dilemma, they have different checking accounts and different rules for each one.
Quick, simple, easy. $500 bonus on 50k.
$250 interest earned while waiting for 90 days.
750 clams to blow on my golf game. See you on the links!
This Marcus deal is really easy, and you don’t have to wonder what you have signed up for as it is all in writing. I had never come across any bonus deals with such clear acknowledgement from the FI.
You must maintain your new funds PLUS any balance you had prior to enrollment for 90 days following the end of the enrollment period.
For example, recently one of my questions asked "Which is closest to you.". They listed four of five streets none of which I had ever heard of and none of which are in the town that I live in. As far as I could tell after trying to Google the street names you have to get a surveyor to figure out whether the one in Kansas is closer or the one in Wyoming is closer. They obviously didn't intend to ask a question that you could answer from Google.
I just guessed and in that case apparently I guessed right. If I had guessed wrong maybe I would have been rejected. It's a little bit ridiculous that they ask you questions about yourself that is impossible for anyone to answer ...even you.
These identity questions are provided by the credit bureaus not by the FIs. It's an identity service the credit bureaus provide.
But it's so annoying when they give you an ambiguous question.
Oh they also asked me a question once about a car I bought like 30 years ago. Who remembers that stuff?
It's a bad process.