The five bonuses below ask for very different amounts of work. One credits $175 after ten debit card swipes, Zelle transfers, or bill payments.
Another pays $400, but only to AARP members who can leave $40,000 alone for 120 straight days. None of the five requires a direct deposit; what they ask for instead is either a stack of small transactions or a pile of money that sits still.
Transaction Counts and Balance Tests Replace the Direct Deposit
Banks attach conditions to sign-up bonuses because they want deposits that stay put. A direct deposit is the cleanest proof of that, so when it's off the table, something else takes its place. Usually one of two things:
- An activity test asks for a set number of qualifying transactions in a set window. Debit purchases, ACH credits, online bill pay, and Zelle transfers typically count.
- A money test asks for a minimum deposit of new money that stays where you put it, for 60 days, 120 days, or in one case a full year of monthly deposits.
Activity tests are usually cheap to satisfy and pay less. Money tests pay more and tie up funds. That trade-off is what separates the five offers here.
Bonus Amounts, Requirements, and Expiration Dates for All Five
| Account | Bonus | Core requirement | Offer expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Secure Banking | $175 | 10 qualifying transactions in 60 days | 10/14/2026 |
| Wells Fargo Clear Access Banking | $125 | 10 qualifying transactions in 60 days | 10/13/2026 |
| Alliant Ultimate Opportunity Savings | $100 | $100 per month for 12 consecutive months | 12/31/26 |
| Chase Business Complete Checking | Up to $500 | $2,000 or $10,000 balance held 60 days, plus 5 transactions | 10/15/2026 |
| Select Savings from Barclays for AARP Members | $400 | $40,000 held 120 consecutive days | 10/31/2026 |
Chase Secure Banking: $175 for 10 Transactions Inside 60 Days
There's no minimum opening deposit on this account, and the bonus climbed from $125 to $175 in July 2026, when Chase also pushed the expiration to mid-October.
The steps are short: open the account online, or enter your email to get a physical coupon you bring to a branch. Once you're enrolled, complete 10 qualifying transactions within 60 days.
Transferring funds with Zelle, debit card purchases, incoming ACH credits, online bill pay, and Chase QuickDeposit all count, so hitting ten is rarely the hard part. The bonus shows up in the account within 15 days of finishing.
What you get afterward is thinner. Chase Secure Banking carries a $4.95 monthly maintenance fee that can be waived, and the account has no paper checks and no ATM fee reimbursement.
On the plus side, Chase runs more than 5,000 branches and more than 14,000 ATMs, so cash access isn't an issue.
The Barclays AARP Offer Needs $40,000 Held 120 Days for $400
This is the largest personal bonus here and the most demanding. You need to be an AARP member and a new Barclays savings customer, open a Select Savings account, deposit $40,000 within 30 days, and keep that balance in place for 120 consecutive days. Payment arrives roughly 60 days after you qualify.
Barclays doesn't insist on one lump transfer; two or three deposits inside the 30-day window get you to $40,000 just as well. The harder part is what comes after. Once the balance is there, it has to stay there for the full 120 days, and any withdrawal that drops it under $40,000 puts the bonus at risk.
Picture someone who funds the account in three transfers, clears $40,000 on day 28, then pulls $2,000 out in month three to cover a car repair: the deposit requirement was met, and the maintenance requirement wasn't.
The account charges no monthly fees, pays different rates across balance tiers, and is online only.
Alliant's $100 Bonus Requires a Deposit Every Month for a Year
The $100 bonus on the Alliant Credit Union Ultimate Opportunity Savings Account is the smallest on this list, and it pays for a habit rather than a one-time move. You open the account, move your first $100 in within 30 days, then deposit at least $100 per month for 12 consecutive months.
The account earns 3.01% APY (as of 07/02/26), and there are no monthly fees when you enroll in digital statements. What narrows it: you have to become an Alliant member, and there are no physical branches. It's also the offer here that a single missed month would break.
Wells Fargo Clear Access Banking Runs the Same Test for $125
The requirements mirror the Chase Secure Banking offer closely: be a new Wells Fargo checking customer, enroll in the offer, and complete 10 qualifying transactions within 60 days of opening. Debit card purchases, Zelle transfers, and bill payments are among the activities that count. This promotion was extended through October in July.
The differences are in the details. The minimum opening deposit is typically $25, the bonus is $125 rather than $175, and the credit takes up to 30 days after you finish the requirements instead of 15. There's a monthly fee to account for as well. Few moving parts, small payout.
Chase Business Complete Checking: Two Deposit Tiers up to $500
This one is for business owners, and the bonus scales with what you bring in:
- Deposit at least $10,000 in new money within 30 days and hold that balance for at least 60 days: $500.
- Deposit at least $2,000 in new money under the same terms: up to $400.
Either tier also requires five qualifying transactions within 90 days of enrollment: debit card purchases, ACH credits, wires, Chase QuickAccept and QuickDeposit transactions, or Chase Online Bill Pay.
The monthly service fee is $15, and it can be waived through qualifying account activity, such as maintaining a linked Chase Private Client Checking, JPMorgan Classic Checking, or Private Client Checking Plus account.
Ongoing features include card acceptance through Chase QuickAccept with same-day deposits from card payments, unlimited ATM transactions, up to 20 paper or teller transactions, and up to $5,000 in no-fee cash deposits per statement cycle.
Those caps on free cash and teller activity are the ceiling to watch if your business handles a lot of currency. Branch and ATM access covers 4,700 branches and 15,000 ATMs.
New Money and New Customer Rules Decide Eligibility First
Eligibility gets settled before the requirements even start. These promotions are written for people who don't bank there yet, and the funding has to cross in from outside.
What the bank checks is where the dollars came from, not which account they land in, so money already sitting under its roof stays ineligible no matter how it's rearranged. Current customers are usually shut out of the offer entirely.
Enrollment details matter too. Some offers require you to enroll in the promotion, present a coupon, or enter a code, steps that are easy to skip and hard to fix after the fact. Accounts also typically need to be open and in good standing when the bonus is scheduled to pay, which is why closing an account the week you finish the requirements can undo the work.
One more piece that surprises people: bank bonuses are generally treated as interest income and reported to the IRS, so the headline figure isn't necessarily what you keep.
Qualifying Windows Run 30 to 120 Days, and Payment Comes After
There's no such thing as an instant no-deposit bank bonus in this group. Qualifying windows run from 30 to 120 days depending on the offer, and payment comes after that:
- Chase Secure Banking: within 15 days of completing the activity
- Wells Fargo Clear Access Banking: within 30 days of meeting all requirements
- Barclays Select Savings: about 60 days after qualifying
Stack the two stages together and the Barclays offer is a months-long commitment before any money moves in your direction, while the two checking offers can wrap up inside a couple of months.
Monthly Fees Outlast the One-Time Bonus
A bonus happens once; the account terms are permanent. The two Chase accounts here carry monthly maintenance fees, $4.95 on Secure Banking and $15 on Business Complete Checking, both waivable under specific conditions that get retested each cycle.
Wells Fargo Clear Access Banking has a monthly fee to be aware of as well. Alliant charges no monthly fee with digital statements, and Barclays Select Savings has no monthly fees.
That's the gap worth measuring. A stripped-down checking account with a fee and no ATM reimbursement looks different a year later than it does on the day the bonus posts.
Where Each of These Bonuses Fits
The activity-based offers from Chase and Wells Fargo suit someone who wants a small, quick payout and doesn't mind a fee-bearing basic checking account.
The Alliant account fits a saver willing to trade a year of consistency for a modest bonus and an ongoing rate. The Barclays offer is built for AARP members with a large cash cushion they don't need to touch, and the Chase business account for owners who'd want a business checking account regardless of the promotion.
Whichever one fits, the same gate comes first: new money, a new customer, and whatever enrollment step the bank requires before the clock even starts running.
