We’ve found some of the best bank bonus and promotional offers available right now.
Banks make money in all sorts of ways, but one of the main things they want to do is have a lot of cash on hand — so they can loan it out to others, or meet their own legal liquidity requirements. That’s why they offer you amazing bank bonus offers!
Because banks need giant piles of cash on hand, they need to offer the rest of us incentives to choose their FDIC-insured bank over someone else’s.
Banks compete on their ability to offer personal service to local residents, on the number of their national locations, and on fee levels for basic services like checking and savings. But they also offer cash incentives to use their deposit and checking services! With the economy picking up, and interest rates rising, there seem to be more and more of these on offer.
Here’s our list of the best ones!
Best Checking And Savings Promotions
Check out this quick summary, with more details below. Remember, terms and conditions apply to each offer!
Here’s the list for personal checking and savings accounts:
|
Bank |
Bonus |
Requirements |
Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$2,000 |
Deposit $10k/$25k/$50k/$100k/$250k; maintain for 90 days |
1/14/2026 |
|
|
$400 |
Direct deposits of $500/$2k/$5k+ within 60 days |
1/5/2026 |
|
|
$400 |
$4k+ in direct deposits within 90 days* |
1/28/2026 |
|
|
$300 |
Deposit $50k for $300, $25k for $225 |
1/28/2026 |
|
|
$300 |
$2k+ direct deposit within 90 days |
5/22/2026 |
|
|
$200 |
$30k within 30 days, maintain for 120 days |
3/31/2026 |
|
|
$200 |
Open with personal loan; 3 debit transactions within 60 days |
Ongoing |
If you’re looking for business promotions and offers, check out our full guide to the Best New Business Bank Account Promotions and Offers.
Best Bank Bonus Offers Right Now
If you have a lot of cash that you don’t mind having in the bank for a few months, these are the best promotions out there right now:
Up To $2,000 With Raisin
Raisin is currently offering a fantastic tiered bonus for new deposits. Raisin is a platform that connect you with savings accounts, money market accounts, and CDs. Their partners offer some of the highest interest rates available.
Right now, they are offing the following tiered bonus, paid in quarterly installments:
- Deposit $10,000: $20 Quarterly Bonus, $80 Total Potential Bonus
- Deposit $25,000: $50 Quarterly Bonus, $200 Total Potential Bonus
- Deposit $50,000: $100 Quarterly Bonus, $400 Total Potential Bonus
- Deposit $100,000: $200 Quarterly Bonus, $800 Total Potential Bonus
- Deposit $250,000: $500 Quarterly Bonus, $2,000 Total Potential Bonus
You can also add more funds anytime before the next bonus deadline to move up a tier and earn even more.
This bonus is open to all new customers for all products. The first deposit date must be between December 1, 2025 at 12:00 AM and January 14, 2026 11:59 PM. Customers must input the code `GIFT` at the time of sign-up to qualify. Funds must be deposited within 14 days and maintained for 90 days.
Read our full Raisin review here.
Get up to a $1,600 bonus!
Up To $400 With PNC Virtual Wallet
PNC Virtual Wallet has three primary features: Spend (checking), Reserve (earning interest on checking), and Growth (savings). In a nutshell, it’s a checking account with an interest-earning option.
To avoid the $7/month fee in the basic Virtual Wallet checking account, you’ll need to do $500/month in qualifying direct deposits, maintain a $500 balance, or be at least 62 years old.
Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend earns interest on balances of $2,000 or more. It has a $15/month fee, but you can avoid it in several ways — $2,000 in qualifying direct deposits, a $2,000 balance, or $10,000 in combined PNC consumer deposits.
Virtual Wallet with Performance Select also earns interest on balances of $2,000 or more. It has a $25/month fee that is waived by $5,000 in qualifying direct deposits; a $5,000 balance (including up to 7 linked checking accounts); or $25,000 in combined balances or PNC consumer deposits, and/or investments. This account is also eligible for the higher relationship rates.
And right now, they have a promotional offer where you can earn up to $400 when you complete qualifying activities. Offer valid through January 5, 2026. Member FDIC.
Earn $100 with a new PNC Virtual Wallet and you establish total qualifying direct deposits of
$500 or more to the new Virtual Wallet within the first 60 days.
Earn $200 when you establish total qualifying direct deposits of $2,000 or more to the new
Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend within the first 60 days.
Earn $400 when you establish total qualifying direct deposits of $5,000 or more to the new
Virtual Wallet with Performance Select within the first 60 days.
Read our full PNC Bank review here.
Get up to a $400 bonus!
$400 Cash Bonus* with BMO Smart Advantage Checking
The Smart Advantage Checking account is a great basic checking account with $0 monthly fees with paperless statements.
This account also gives you access to 40,000 fee-free ATMs nationwide! And, if you enroll in paperless statements, the $3 monthly fee for check images are waived.
Right now, earn a $400 cash bonus* when you have a cumulative total of $4,000 in qualifying direct deposits within 90 days of account opening between 9/9/25 – 1/28/26. *Conditions apply. Accounts are subject to approval and provided in the U.S. by BMO Bank N.A. Member FDIC
Read our full BMO Bank review here.
Learn more about BMO Smart Advantage account here.
Earn up to a $400 cash bonus!
Up To $300 With CIT Bank Platinum Savings
The CIT Bank Platinum Savings is one of our top accounts because they consistently have one of the highest interest rates offered to consumers. Also, their platform in incredibly easy to use, with the ability to sign up and get started in minutes.
CIT Platinum Savings a two-tiered savings account. Right now you can earn up to 3.75% APY* with a $5,000 minimum balance. Otherwise you’ll earn 0.25% APY. See website for full details.
There is a $100 minimum deposit required to open an account.
Bonus: You can qualify for up to a $300 cash bonus when you open a new CIT Bank Platinum Savings Account and complete qualifying activities. You can early $225 cash with a minimum deposit of $25,000, or $300 cash with a minimum deposit of $50,000. Use promo code PS2025 when opening the account. See CIT Bank for full promotion details.
Read our full CIT Bank review here.
Earn a $300 bonus!
$300 with Key Smart Checking®
Key Bank offers the Key Smart Checking® Account. This checking account is a free, non-interest-bearing account that has no minimum balance requirement, offers automatic overdraft protection from a linked KeyBank savings account, paper checks, and more!
They are very mobile friendly, have access to over 40,000+ KeyBank and Allpoint® ATMs nationwide.
Plus, right now they are offering a great bonus offer! You can earn a $300 cash bonus when you open a Key Smart Checking® account online by May 22, 2026 and complete qualified activities.
To qualify, you must do the following:
- Open a Key Smart Checking® account online by May 22, 2026.
- Make the minimum opening deposit of $10, and a total of $2,000 or more in eligible direct deposits within the first 90 days of account opening.
Your $300 cash bonus will be deposited into your account within 60 days of meeting requirements. Accounts must not be closed at the time of gift payment.
Learn more about Key Smart Checking® here.
Read our full KeyBank review here.
Earn a $300 bonus!
$200 with Barclays Bank
Barclays Bank has a tiered savings account that’s highly comparable to other high yield online savings accounts.
Unlike others on this list, there are no monthly maintenance fees on this account with Barclays. They are about as traditional a bank as you get.
Bonus Offer: Right now, Barclays is offering a $200 bonus to new bank customers who open a Tiered Savings account and deposit at least $30,000 within the first 30 days. You’ll need to maintain at least $30,000 for the next 120 days, and the $200 bonus will be added directly to the account. Terms apply.
Read our full Barclay’s Bank review here.
Earn a $200 bonus!
$200 With Upgrade Rewards Checking
Upgrade Rewards Checking is currently offering a $200 bonus when you open a Rewards Checking account with a personal loan, and make three qualifying debit card transactions within the first 60 days.
The Upgrade Rewards Checking account is one of our top picks for free checking because there are no minimum deposits, no monthly maintenance fees, no ATM fees, and more!
Bonus: Right now, you can earn a $200 bonus if you combine the Rewards Checking account with an Upgrade personal loan and make 3 qualifying debit card transactions.
- Just open an Upgrade Personal Loan and Upgrade Rewards Checking Account
- Fund your account and make three debit card transactions within the first 60 days
- $200 bonus will be credited to your account within 60 days of completing the above requirements
Read our full Upgrade review here.
Earn a $200 bonus!
Other Great Savings Accounts
These accounts don’t always have bank bonus offers, but they do have some amazing interest rates!
Check out our lists of:
Things To Remember
Done right, switching banks for bonuses can be a great way to make some extra side cash. But you do need to be careful: look at the terms and conditions and be sure you can avoid monthly fees, account closing fees, and so on. Also, remember that you’ll have to pay income tax on this cash, so you might want to set some of it aside for that.
That said, if you pay careful attention to the terms of these offers, you can make much more than you make even by parking your money in a high-interest savings account. You might want to just do this once for a few hundred dollars, but if you invest a little more time, you can make thousands of dollars a year treating it as a regular side hustle.
And who among us doesn’t like free money?
These offers change every month, but right now here’s the best of the best on offer, divided into offers that require you to begin with large amounts of cash on hand, and offers that let you start with very little money.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there are some great bank bonus offers out there right now. I’d advise you to decide what kind of bonus hustler you are: do you want to do this once while you’re switching to a new account permanently? Or do you need a complex calendar to keep track of your multiple bonus accounts?
Be careful, but also, take advantage of free money if you’re sure you can follow the rules! If this is all too much, check out our list of the best online banks and just park your cash there!
CIT Bank
For complete list of account details and fees, see our Personal Account disclosures.
* Platinum Savings is a tiered interest rate account. Interest is paid on the entire account balance based on the interest rate and APY in effect that day for the balance tier associated with the end-ofday account balance. *APYs — Annual Percentage Yields are accurate as of November 20, 2025: 0.25% APY on balances of $0.01 to $4,999.99; 3.75% APY on balances of $5,000.00 or more. InterestRates for the Platinum Savings account are variable and may change at any time without notice.The minimum to open a Platinum Savings account is $100.
Editor: Clint Proctor Reviewed by: Richelle Hawley
The post Best Bank Account Bonus Offers In December 2025 appeared first on The College Investor.
