This year I made a resolution to indulge in some bank and credit card shenanigans. I used to do this casually years ago, but stopped when life got too hectic. So this month I’m just getting started on easy offers that should pay off by May or June at the latest.
Bank Bonuses
Started:
Ally Bank: $170 offer on Upromise for opening a checking account and receiving a direct deposit from a payroll, pension, or government benefits provider within 60 days.
Opened: 01/17/2024
Expected bonus date: Up to 45 days from the first qualifying direct deposit, so the absolute latest is May 1st.
Huntington Bank: $400 – $600 when you open a new Perks Checking or Platinum Perks checking by February 7th, 2024.
Opened: 01/31/2024
Expected bonus date: Within 14 days of meeting requirements. One requirement is to keep the account open for 90 days, so the latest is May 14th (104 days later).
Notes: Perks checking has a monthly fee if you don’t receive $1,000 in direct deposits. Terms and conditions don’t say that direct deposit has to come from an employer or government benefits provider, so I guess that includes transfers from another account?
OnPath Credit Union: $100 ReferLive bonus and a $40 offer on Upromise.
Applied: 01/30/2024
Expected bonus date: Honestly, I have no idea.
Notes: Had to send in a selfie, id, and utility bill. Still waiting for online access. Not looking too good, but apparently they’re pretty lax with approvals.
Wells Fargo: $325 bonus for opening a new Everyday Checking account and receiving $1,000 in direct deposits. The terms only exclude you if you received a checking account bonus in the last twelve months, so I called in at the last second to close my account.
Closed: 01/31/2024
Notes: The terms only exclude you if you received a checking account bonus in the last twelve months, so I called in at the last second to close my account. Hopefully a week is long enough for them to forget I used to be a customer.
Total accounts: 4
Expected bonus: $1,035
Not a bad start to the year.
Credit Cards
American Express Blue Cash Everyday: $200 bonus after spending $2,000 within 90 days and 10% back on restaurant purchases, up to $150. Pop-up Jail
Applied and approved: 01/20/2024
Credit bureau pulled: None
Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards: $200 bonus after spending $1,000 within 90 days and 0% APR for 15 months.
Applied and approved: 01/20/2024.
Credit bureau pulled: Transunion
X / 24 status: 5 / 24
Arrived: 01/30/2024.
BarclayCard Upromise: $100 bonus after spending $500 within 90 days.
Applied: 01/20/2024
Credit bureau pulled: Transunion
X / 24 status: 5 / 24
Denied: 01/28/2024
Total cards: 3
Expected bonus: $200
POP. UP. JAIL. IT’S BEEN A YEAR AND EIGHT MONTHS, AMEX.
Miscellaneous
I managed to get my hands on $40 worth of Groupon gift cards at a 20% discount (woot woot), only to find out that $40 on Groupon doesn’t get you very far. So I sold them on CardCash at a 82.5% rate and made a $1 profit. (Don’t @ me, IRS, I’ll report it on my taxes next year.)
Profit: $1.
Turns out Upromise has those game offers that you can find on GPT sites like Swagbucks. You know how most of them take forever and pay out peanuts? Well some of them include bonuses for spending money in-game, and sometimes that bonus is equal to or greater than the amount of money you spend (looking at you, mobile Raid: Shadow Legends and Alice’s Dream: Merge Island). If you can find a way to deal with 8% sales tax, these offers pay for themselves within a week to a month.