Wells Fargo offering $2,500 to new and existing customers who open a Premier checking account

Wells Fargo is offering $2,500 to new Premier Checking accountholders who maintain a $250,000 balance in qualifying linked accounts for 46 days. If you have an existing Wells Fargo consumer checking account, you can take advantage of the deal, too, by upgrading your account to a Premier Checking account.

How to earn the bonus:

• Visit https://bonusoffer.wf.com/premierbonus and enter your email address to receive an offer code.

• Visit a branch by April 1, 2023 and open a new Premier checking account or upgrade an existing Wells Fargo consumer checking account to a Premier checking account. 

• Make an opening deposit of at least $25.

• Deposit $250,000 into qualifying linked accounts within 45 days of opening your Premier account.

• Maintain a $250,000 balance through the 90th day of opening your Premier account.

Your $2,500 bonus will be deposited into your Premier Checking account within 30 days of you fulfilling the offer requirements.

Qualifying linked accounts include:

• Bank deposit account balances: checking, savings, time accounts (CDs), FDIC-insured IRAs

• Investment account balances: brokerage available through our brokerage affiliate Wells Fargo Advisors, and eligible foreign exchange transactions

Though the offer is available through April 1, 2023, Wells Fargo warns that the offer could be withdrawn before that date. So, be sure to sign up as soon as you can. 

Aside from the easy requirements for this offer, what’s notable is that the terms for Wells Fargo consumer checking account bonuses usually state that anyone who’s received a “consumer checking account” bonus in the past 12 months is ineligible for the bonus. However, this offer’s terms only list customers who’ve received a bonus for opening a “Wells Fargo Premier Checking account” within the past 12 months as ineligible. So, according to the offer terms, if you were paid a bonus for an account other than the Premier Checking account in the past 12 months, you should qualify for this $2,500 bonus.

Calculate your opportunity cost before making your qualifying $250,000 in deposits

As always, you should consider the opportunity cost. In this case, you can maximize your earnings by transferring your funds into your Wells Fargo Premier account at the most optimal time, which isn’t necessarily right away.

Consider the following:

• The Premier account’s $35 monthly maintenance fee is waived when the statement-ending balances in your qualifying linked accounts total at least $250,000.

• Your Premier account will earn 0.25% APY if the balance is under $100,000 and 0.50% APY if the balance is $100,000 or more.

• The $250,000 balance in your Premier checking account is only required from day 45 through day 90.

After you do the math, you might determine that you’re able to earn more money on your $250,000 by not transferring the funds into your Premier account right away. Technically, you could make the deposit after the first 30 days and just pay the $35 maintenance fee. There’s even a chance that Wells Fargo might waive the first monthly fee either automatically or at your request. 

Although you have 45 days to make your qualifying deposit, you should consider withdrawal policies of the financial institution that you’re withdrawing from, as well as Wells Fargo deposit posting times and other hiccups that may cause your deposit to be delayed.