Bank Account Bonus Results 2021 Edition – How Much $$$ Did I Make?

Bank Account Bonus Results 2021 Edition

Any long time readers know that I have an affinity for bank account bonuses.  These are great options to rack up some easy money.  Or the perfect alternative if you are on Chase 5/24 ice. I always try to grab a few each year.  I have shared my 2017, 2018, and 2019 (below) results in the past?  So how did 2020 stack up?  I didn’t have a lot of quantity but the quality of what I did go after was pretty good.

Related: Best Bank Bonuses Of April 2022

My 2021 Bank Account Bonus Results

After putting together my first quarter report, where I was able to make almost $14,000 using miles and points, I remembered that I had never done my 2021 bank bonus results post. I remembered to do the one for how much I spent on credit card annual fees but missed this one. No better time than now I guess.

I started off 2021 really strong with some large offers, Brex most notably, but my desire faded until later in the year. Let’s take a look at the results:

• Citizens Bank – this is a regional bank that had a nice combo checking and savings account bonus. The total net was $600 for this one.
• Brex – This was one of the best, if not the best, deals in 2021. I really wanted to like Brex too since they have some interesting earning opportunities but the site and interface is super clunky. For a Fin Tech company that is the kiss of death in my book. I was able to net a cool $1,000 from their offer though.
• Betterment – the Betterment offer was as easy as it gets. Open the account and deposit anything, bam $128! I did it for myself and my wife for a total of $256.
• US Bank – US Bank had a checking account offer where you can earn $400 after doing $4K in direct deposit. They like to only approve people that live near a branch but I was able to get in. This is my second time doing it with them.
• Huntington Bank – another regional bank that routinely offers $150 after $1000 in deposits. Easy peasy, so I grab the $150 every year or two.
• Charles Schwab Brokerage Account – I needed to get a Schwab Platinum for my wife so that meant signing up for a brokerage / checking account. She was able to nab one of their $100 new account bonuses.
• E Torro – I jumped on this Swagbucks deal towards the end of 2021. It was fairly easy and I was able to earn $115 in Swagbucks.
• Kabbage – If it wasn’t for Betterment I would call this the easiest bonus of 2021. It was right up there and more lucrative. We did it twice for a total haul of $600.

That comes to a total of $3221. The crazy thing is all of that was earned in the first 2-3 months of the year. The E Torro and Kabbage bonuses were earned at the end. So that left a big gap where I wasn’t doing anything. I seem to lose interest on bank bonuses every year for some reason. Having said that it was still the best bank bonus earning year of the last 3. That is mainly because of some massive offers from Brex and Citizens Bank.

Let me know how you did in 2021 in the comments below!

My 2020 Bank Account Bonus Results

I was shooting for at least $3000 this year as you can see from my 2019 notes below.  I’ll give you the cliff notes, I didn’t make it. I started off the year on fire and then did basically nothing the second half of the year.  Even though we were mostly stuck at home I was busier than ever this year with the new Diamond group and the YouTube channel so I pushed bank bonuses off to the side.  That is something I need to make room for because the hourly wage is off the charts! Here is what I was able to grab in 2020:

• Citizens Bank – A regional bank with one of the best offers out there. My wife was able to nab $600 from this combo savings and checking bonus.  It did require locking up $15,000 for several months which wasn’t the best. Luckily we had just done a refinance and had the money just kind of sitting there anyway.
• Fifth Third Bank – Another bonus that required locking up money in for the combo bonus. I moved onto this one once the funds from the Citizens Bank bonus were released. It had a combo bonus of $550 between the savings and checking accounts.
• SoFi Direct Deposit Offer – I was targeted for this easy offer for $100.
• Discover Savings (X2) – This bonus is a little unique since you can hit the $25,000 bonus over time and it doesn’t require it to be in there the entire time.  So you can deposit and withdraw the same $5,000 etc.  It was $400 between the two of us.
• SoFi Crypto (X2) – Another easy win from SoFi.  I was able to get $25 per account so $50 total for the both of us.
• Wells Fargo – This bonus offer comes and goes but it is one of the best ones out there. It got me $400 and having a checking account makes getting Wells Fargo cards a lot easier.  I guess you could say it is a double win!
• SoFi Invest – This was another targeted SoFi bonus that could get you a 1%-3% match from any new deposits into your invest account.  It didn’t even require you to invest the money, just to deposit it. That was a $300 win for us.

If you are keeping track at home that was $2,400 in added income for 2020. That fell a little short of 2019. But, that is with me not doing anything since June.  A lot of these bonuses ended up going towards our college savings fund.  You can track our process here (I update it monthly).

My 2019 Bank Account Bonus Results

I am a little embarrassed by my 2019 results honestly.  With all of the travel I had last year, especially at the end of the year, I didn’t have time to focus on these like I would have liked.  Having said that I was able to hit some good sized ones at least.

• Charles Schwab – $100 – I grabbed this one hoping to get the Charles Schwab Platinum.  That didn’t work out too well but I got the $100 bonus at least.  And now that I am off the Amex Pop-up I can try for the Schwab once again.
• Citizens Banks – $450 – This bonus came with a nice bonus perk, $1,000 in credit card funding.  I put it on my World of Hyatt card so it would help with my wife’s $15K free night.
• Chase Business Checking – $300
• Credit Union One – $300 – I was able to put another $600 on a credit card for this one.
• SoFi Money – $1200 – This one is a little misleading since a huge chunk of it is from referrals for my friends and family.  I will still count it since it was tied to the bank account.
• SoFi Invest – $250 – same thing as above, most of it is from referrals after the initial bonus.

Overall the total comes out to $2,600 but if I didn’t count referrals the number would be $1300, which isn’t great.  I like to get at least $2000 in bank bonuses each year but in 2020 I am going to shoot for $3000.

2018 Results

I came a little short of my yearly $2000 goal minimum.  I was fortunate enough to get some larger bonuses which helped out even though my overall accounts added was down.  Here are the figures:

• Fifth Third Bank – 2 bonuses totaling $500 (my wife and I each got one)
• Chase – 2 bonuses totaling $600 (one for the wife and myself)
• Citizens Bank – $150
• TCF Bank – $250
• Keybank – $200
• Fidelity – $100 Amazon gift card (I calculate this as cash equivalent)
• MSGCU – $175

A lot of these were local banks or Midwest banks.  Chase was a big nationwide one and one of the easier bonuses although they have changed the rules some.  Overall I ended up with $1,975 from 9 accounts. The overall numbers are lower compared to 2017 but the per bonus average was over $200 which is pretty solid.

These figures don’t include my tax rate since these are all taxed as interest income.  Be sure to file them with your accountant during tax time.

2017 Results

I started off 2017 hot and heavy but ended up slowing down the second half of the year.  It seems like I had less time to focus on them, new job and all :).  These figures are for both myself and my wife…we are a combo package!

I will list the bank, the number of bonuses, and the overall total:

• Bank Of America – 1 – $300
• MTB – 4 – $700
• Flagstar – 1 – $250
• US Bank – 1 – $200
• Chase – 1 – $150
• Citizens – 1- $150
• Huntington – 2 – $400
• TCF Bank – 1 – $250

The total came to $2400 for 2017. All of the above mentioned bonuses are personal checking account bonuses, except for the Chase bonus. That bonus was a savings account bonus. I still have to pay taxes on those earnings which will lower my total haul some.

My Game Plan For 2021

I am just starting to lay the ground work for 2020. There are a few things on my radar already.

• Huntington Bank – I plan to grab this offer X2. I will probably just grab the easier $200 offer for each of us.
• Comerica Bank – I got a mailer for a $200 bonus after 3 x $500 direct deposits.  That one is easy enough and will be on my list for sure.
• PNC – I will likely grab a PNC bonus or two for $200 a pop this year too.

Other than that I need some juicy $500-$600 offers so I will keep an eye out for those and we will of course cover the best nationwide bonuses on the site.

Final Thoughts

Just remember that you need to claim these bonuses as interest income on your taxes so that knocks 15%-20% off the top for most people.  Either way it is easy money that you should be picking up.  We sign up for a lot of credit card offers that are less valuable than $600 cash and they take more effort.

I like to use bank account bonuses as a way to offset my on location costs when traveling.  It covers food, transportation and award fees etc.  It is a great compliment to credit card welcome offers.

Be sure to check your mail for targeted mailers.  Sometimes they have them in the coupon packs sent to you too or the welcome to the neighborhood packets at the post office.  We will post the best nationwide offers but if you want more local offers too Doctor of Credit has a great resource as well.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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