Churning Bank accounts for sign-up bonuses

[SouthJamaica]

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@randomguy1 wrote:
Good to know, thanks. Perhaps if I leave a bit of money on each account and not close them it should be okay? Or will they still flag that I’m opening so many accounts.

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Yes they will flag you for opening accounts.

IMHO it's not worth it to get into that game.

I would do it only where there's a superior account that is giving you something better than what you have (which is not usually the case, since the bank wouldn't have to be offering a bonus if it were offering great accounts).

[randomguy1]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@randomguy1 wrote:
Good to know, thanks. Perhaps if I leave a bit of money on each account and not close them it should be okay? Or will they still flag that I’m opening so many accounts.

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Yes they will flag you for opening accounts.

IMHO it's not worth it to get into that game.

I would do it only where there's a superior account that is giving you something better than what you have (which is not usually the case, since the bank wouldn't have to be offering a bonus if it were offering great accounts).

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So far it is pretty worth it to me IMO. YMMV obviously. I have a couple of main banks and credit unions I don't touch... The other ones profit by getting my deposits and I don't close early. No early termination fees or monthly fees for me.

[DaveInAZ]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@randomguy1 wrote:
Good to know, thanks. Perhaps if I leave a bit of money on each account and not close them it should be okay? Or will they still flag that I’m opening so many accounts.

---

Yes they will flag you for opening accounts.

IMHO it's not worth it to get into that game.

I would do it only where there's a superior account that is giving you something better than what you have (which is not usually the case, since the bank wouldn't have to be offering a bonus if it were offering great accounts).

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IMHO Banks offer a bonus because the bean counters tell them it's more cost effective than blanketing the airwaves with multi million  dollar ad campaigns that result in maybe 1 in 100 paying attention to and maybe 1 in 1000 induced to open an account. Also IMHO it's well worth it to get in that game.

In 2018 I made $1200 in bank SUBS:

$200  Vantage West CU Checking (southern AZ CU)

$100  Memory Bank Checking

$200  Capital One 360 Money Market

$300  Chase Checking

$150 Discover Savings

$250 Premier Members CU Referrals (Colorado CU)

- I still bank with Vantage West and Memory Bank, all others were "dine & dash", Cap One & Discover are once only SUBS

So far in 2019 I've made $1475 in bank SUBs:

$250 BBVA Bank Checking

$300 Chase Checking

$200 HSBC Checking

$225 HSBC Savings (through Slickdeals promo)

$250 Wells Fargo Checking

$250 Bank of the West Checking

- I will continue to bank with BBVA, I will have Bank of the West until mid November when I can close without penalty. Chase Checking SUB is now limited to only every two years, I slipped in under the wire with my 2018 SUB.

I especially dislike Chase, Wells Fargo & HSBC from past experience so have no problem playing their SUB game. The others I think of as "well, I gave you a shot but didn't see any reason to stay".

I have perfectly clean EWS & Chex reports with only the inquiries/account openings reporting, and have never been declined for opening any bank account. I intend to continue the bank SUB game, it's fun and rewarding. I also have $450 in CC SUBS so far in 2019, which includes a $250 SUB from Amex for upgrading my BCE to Preferred. I do play the CC SUB game more carefully & judiciously  - inquiries & new accounts hurt the credit score.

[randomguy1]

Good data points, thanks.

I have only been declined by PNC and First Bank (Lubbock). PNC, they referred to EWS and First Bank, I'm guessing since I'm a new resident of Texas, they probably would let me open the bank account in person. Chase and BB&T both declined me online, but in person they did not mention anything.

These are on my radar. The credit unions are maybes as they require hard pulls. IF I do actually join, it won't be to chase a sub. Their published auto look good. JSC allows some credit card funding so that might be good for helping reach a CC bonus SUB. 

Bank	Opened	Close After	Closed	Re-eligible	Bonus	Bonus Expected	Bonus Post	Deadline	Deposit
BB&T	10/9/2019				$250.00
BofA Business Checking (exp 12/31)					$500.00				$20,000.00
Capital One 360 Savings					$100.00				$10,000.00
JSC Credit Union		180 days			$100.00				$25 or more (use CC!)
A+ Federal Credit Union (exp 11/31)					$100.00
Texas Dow FCU (exp 11/30)					$200.00	60 days			$200.00
Region Business Bank					$150.00				$500.00

[Anonymous]

You don't want to just jump in blind. Ask the experts. Doctor of Credit is one of them.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/a-beginners-guide-to-bank-account-bonuses/

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-bank-account-bonuses/

I personally don't "churn" the same bank. I know many do, I don't. Some people do it in order of highest bonus first. I do it in order of most Chex Systems sensitive bank first. Then work my way down. I never been denied a bank account using this method. I never pay fees and I don't close the bank account early. I don't do anything to get labeled as a bad customer. I might even pick up a no bonus product occasionly if it's makes financial sense (which is why banks give out these bonuses) I regular review my Chexsystems report, and my EWS. (EWS is the devil and it's worse than Lexis Nexis. Do you know every single ACH you make is reported for the core banks. Except Discover. They report your balances not every single ACH).

I found some good banks doing this. One of the things I learned is that although rebuilders people know Cap1, Discover, maybe some predatory  cards too and some credit unions offer secured cards. Hundreds of banks do too. I wish I knew this when I was rebuilding.

[randomguy1]

^^DoC is my holy grail. Great data points. I read and re-read them all the time. I put in all my data points in my spreadsheet.

The columns in case anyone was wondering are as follows:

Bank

Opened

Close After

Closed

Re-eligible

Bonus

Bonus Expected

Bonus Post

Deadline

Deposit

Final Deposit

Avoid Fees

Minimum Balance

Terms

Churnable

Chex/EWS Inquiry

Link

Notes

[DaveInAZ]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You don't want to just jump in blind. Ask the experts. Doctor of Credit is one of them.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/a-beginners-guide-to-bank-account-bonuses/

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-bank-account-bonuses/

I personally don't "churn" the same bank. I know many do, I don't. Some people do it in order of highest bonus first. I do it in order of most Chex Systems sensitive bank first. Then work my way down. I never been denied a bank account using this method. I never pay fees and I don't close the bank account early. I don't do anything to get labeled as a bad customer. I might even pick up a no bonus product occasionly if it's makes financial sense (which is why banks give out these bonuses) I regular review my Chexsystems report, and my EWS. (EWS is the devil and it's worse than Lexis Nexis. Do you know every single ACH you make is reported for the core banks. Except Discover. They report your balances not every single ACH).

I found some good banks doing this. One of the things I learned is that although rebuilders people know Cap1, Discover, maybe some predatory  cards too and some credit unions offer secured cards. Hundreds of banks do too. I wish I knew this when I was rebuilding.

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Very good points! Yes, DoC is my go to reference, I hear good things about reddit but have never figured out how you navigate the site. DoC even did a PSA asking folks to not immediately close Wells Fargo accounts after getting a SUB so as to not discourage them from offering SUBs. I did immediately close my account, but because they sent me a mailer with pre-qual code for one of their CCs. They denied me and the letter listed 3 reasons: The middle one did say "recent inquiries", but the other two reasons basically said I didn't have a big enough bank account balance with them, so that's the reason I gave the rep for closing my account.

Yes, EWS is the absolute worst, not only do most report your ACH transactions & statement balances but also your phone # and email. I keep my mobile number very private and only give it out to banks to text me security codes, not to publish it to the world.

[randomguy1]

I want to dump WF but haven't yet. I have a primary (real employer) DD going there so haven't made the plunge. All but 2 bills are being made with this account.