Bank Bonuses: Is There Any Drawback or Repercussions to Opening Many Checking Accounts?

[TravelNut]

With all these checking account bonuses being offered i have opened 8 checking accounts in the last couple years to get the bonuses on them and other than the time spent doing it I can't seem to find any real drawbacks of doing this.

Is there any credit risk to this or anything that i'm not thinking about that will bite me later for going after this free money?

I mean it literally takes me about 10 min to do it and always do it when it's only a soft pull and can complete fully online and within a couple months i make about $200-400 per account for just signing up and shifting my direct deposits around.  I double the bonuses most times by having my wife open one too.

I understand that I will most likely get a 1099 come tax time but still a pretty good net gain if you do enough of these a year.

What's your thoughts on this?

[Anonymous]

Too many inquries on ChexSystems or EWS could lead to denials or account closures, much like when opening too many credit cards.

I'm not sure how risky this is, or even why banks would care how many checking accounts you open, as long as you don't overdraw them, but whatever.

[TravelNut]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Too many inquries on ChexSystems or EWS could lead to denials or account closures, much like when opening too many credit cards.

I'm not sure how risky this is, or even why banks would care how many checking accounts you open, as long as you don't overdraw them, but whatever.

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@Anonymous So essentially could only effect potentially opening another checking account in the future which by that time I will have 20 accounts so would not need to open another one HA !

[Ficoproblems247]

Another question: Do certain FIs ever do periodic ARs on your checking account via Chex SPs? I only have 1 bank and 1 credit union account currently so I don't really care, just curious. The last time I pulled a Chex report the only thing in there was the good 'ol Apple Card SP, and I believe a HP from Chase. (Could be mistaken on Chase.)

[BearsCubsOtters]

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@TravelNut wrote:

With all these checking account bonuses being offered i have opened 8 checking accounts in the last couple years to get the bonuses on them and other than the time spent doing it I can't seem to find any real drawbacks of doing this.

Is there any credit risk to this or anything that i'm not thinking about that will bite me later for going after this free money?

I mean it literally takes me about 10 min to do it and always do it when it's only a soft pull and can complete fully online and within a couple months i make about $200-400 per account for just signing up and shifting my direct deposits around.  I double the bonuses most times by having my wife open one too.

I understand that I will most likely get a 1099 come tax time but still a pretty good net gain if you do enough of these a year.

What's your thoughts on this?

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As others have stated, if you do them too often, eventually you could start to be declined. The other issue, which you probably don't have if you are using real direct deposit, is that banks are getting smarter about differentiating between ACH from another FI and real direct deposit triggering the bonus. I found that out the hard way with PNC last year. PNC specifically is cracking down on that. Not really an issue if you already use direct deposit or can easily switch temporarily. 

Other than that, no. At least as of now, other than possibly being denied new accounts, there does not seem to be any drawbacks. 

[Anonymous]

Avoid Union Bank because they will approve you and then soft pull your Chex numerous times to see if you open more accounts. They closed my acct after opening 2 more after them smh.

[longtimelurker]

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@TravelNut wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Too many inquries on ChexSystems or EWS could lead to denials or account closures, much like when opening too many credit cards.

I'm not sure how risky this is, or even why banks would care how many checking accounts you open, as long as you don't overdraw them, but whatever.

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@Anonymous So essentially could only effect potentially opening another checking account in the future which by that time I will have 20 accounts so would not need to open another one HA !

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Well in theory it could also impact existing accounts (including credit cards).  Just like opening lots of cards, opening lots of bank accounts is unusual behavior, and thus if an issuer looks at EWS (I think US Bank does for example) they could decide "something is going on" and take action.  But not sure if that really happens!

[Anonymous]

Been a while for the latest round up of good offers, how are others doing?  I've been eyeing Key Bank and WF and I just collected Cap One a couple months back, though I think I actually opened it in 20 so no new accounts in 21 yet.  I generally don't open more than two in ayear anyways just to stay off that radar. The Citi offer is tempting at $300 but I don't exactly like the idea of keeping $15K tied up (in one place) for 75 days, and it also seems like a small return on said balance compared to other bonus offer requirements. 

[TravelNut]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Been a while for the latest round up of good offers, how are others doing?  I've been eyeing Key Bank and WF and I just collected Cap One a couple months back, though I think I actually opened it in 20 so no new accounts in 21 yet.  I generally don't open more than two in ayear anyways just to stay off that radar. The Citi offer is tempting at $300 but I don't exactly like the idea of keeping $15K tied up (in one place) for 75 days, and it also seems like a small return on said balance compared to other bonus offer requirements. 

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@Anonymous Been a pretty busy year for me so far.  I finishing my 7th one since January LOL!

I'm in AZ so half were specific to AZ but so far so good: Cap 1 - $400, PNC - $200, 1st Bank - $300, BBVA - $250, US Bank - $300, Bank of West - $250, BMO Harris - $400.  Most of these I was able to double with my wife also getting in on it.

You should wait on Wells Fargo, it usually goes for $400 bonus but only offering $200 right now.