T his secret allows some people to make over $1,000 in a month by following a couple of easy steps. Unfortunately, you can’t just walk up to a bank and ask for money there are a few small steps you need to take to receive a cash bonus.
Before we talk about how you can receive this bonus, we should ask, “Why are some banks just handing out money?”. The truth is there can be many reasons why banks give away money to new or existing customers, but it boils down to getting more clients to bank with them. (I know, crazy, huh.) Banks have rotating promotions measured by their marketing and finance teams to see what may attract more clients to bank accounts that, in turn, can help the bank make more money. Besides cash, some banks can give you other bonuses, such as an Amazon Prime subscription for a year or Spotify. Although this may suit some people’s daily habits, cash is my preferred payout method, so for the sake of this article, I am going to leave out “cash equivalent” promotions banks may be running.
Banks usually run these promotions at periodic intervals based on their analysis, but they typically are not run indefinitely. This, however, should not scare you as there are usually more promotions in future years or at different banking institutions. However, this comes with a caveat, most promotions banks run are aimed toward “new” or “existing” members. So for each promotion, be very careful and read the fine print about who the offer is targeting. The last thing you want is to have your money locked up and an extra bank account to manage.
At this point, I know you are dying to see how you can start harvesting all the free money banks are giving away. However, there are a couple of details that need to be discussed before you go searching for this hidden goldmine. A few things to think about when finding these bank promotions are:
- Do you have the cash needed?
- Did you check if the offer is regional?
- Have you read about early account closure fees?
- Could that money be better allocated elsewhere?
The first point, “Do you have the cash needed?” is essential because the promotions generally have a cash deposit requirement, a direct deposit requirement, and a minimum cash balance requirement that all need to be fulfilled to receive the bonus and avoid fees.
The second point is about the regional space in the promotion being offered. I have run into this issue many times. I may live in one state and get to the final part of the application process, where they ask for the “code” for the promotion, and I receive an error message. When I checked the fine print, I realized that the offer was only valid in a few states I do not reside. Reading the fine print is extremely important in these promotions despite its boring and repetitive nature.
Another aspect that warrants consideration is the early account closure fees. Many people jump over this because it seems less relevant. This is until they have 13 bank accounts, and none of them can be closed for the next six months without a $25-50 fee. This is why it is vital to understand when you can close an account without incurring early closure penalties.
The last step is a bit redundant. Make sure that you have enough cash that you are willing to allocate to this account opening. There may be better uses of your money that you aren’t aware of because you may have tunnel vision about a specific intro bonus. This is important to be mindful of because although most account bonuses can be worth the investment, others may be a meager return on investment and not worth the time or energy.
In conclusion, some incredible offers from banks seem never to stop, but it isn’t without a little effort from the individual. This needs to be considered carefully, and evaluate the alternatives other banks may offer or investments that may require that money. If you are interested in finding some of the most up-to-date bank promotions, I highly recommend visiting Bankrate or DoctorOfCredit.
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