Update 1/6/2021: Deal is back and valid until March 31, 2021. Hat tip to reader AllwaysLearning22.
Update 9/16/20: Deal is back and now requires $2,000 (or $1,000) in direct deposits unfortunately. Better to wait for the no direct deposit deal to return.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: Only in the following states: FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MI, NC, OH, TN, WV (may be only for those within a 50-mile radius of a branch). A lot of the time you’ll need to go in branch to complete the account opening.
- Direct deposit required: $2.000+
- Additional requirements: Maintain $500 balance for 60 days
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Yes
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: None listed
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: S
eptember 30th, 2017 December 31st, 2017.March 31st, 2018 June 30th, 2018September 30th, 2018December 31st, 2018March 31st, 2019April 30th, 2019 June 30th, 2019 October 31st, 2019.August 31, 2020.September 30th, 2020October 31, 2020 December 31, 2020March 31, 2021 Note these offers are known to expire earlier than the expiration date so do not leave it to the last minute.
The Offer
- Fifth Third is offering a $250 bonus when you open a new Fifth Third Essential checking account when you complete the following requirements:
- Make direct deposits totaling $2,000 or more within 45 days of account opening
- Maintain an average balance of $500 for 60 days
The Fine Print
- Offer not available to existing checking or Express Banking customers or to those with a Fifth Third Checking or Express Banking account that has been closed within the last 12 months.
- Bank reserves the right to limit each customer to one new account-related gift incentive per calendar year.
- Essential Checking account must be opened between 3/29/2018 and 6/30/2018.
- Bonus will be deposited into your new checking account within 10 business days of completing requirements.
- Basic Checking, Express Banking and Business Checking accounts are excluded from this offer.
- Bonus may be taxable as interest income and reported on IRS Form 1099-INT.
Avoiding Fees
Some states are able to open the Free Checking Account with Extra time, that’s the best option if available. Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan all have the free option. Other states have another free checking offer.
Early Account Termination Fee
This account does not have an early account termination fee
Our Verdict
We haven’t seen the $300 bonus with the same requirements for a long time, so I don’t think it makes sense to wait for that bonus to come back. Given that there is a direct deposit requirement this time around I’d recommend waiting for the no direct deposit offer to return and will be removing this from the best bank bonus page.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
Post history:
- Update: Some offers now requiring direct deposit, make sure to triple check your offer.
- Update 6/12/20: Deal is back and valid until August 31, 2020. It looks like they are split testing offers though as I’ve seen offers for $50, $150 and $250 depending on the device I used. Make sure you see the $250 offer before applying, the $150 also has a direct deposit requirement whereas the $250 offer does not. You can try using a VPN or clearing cookies to get the $250 offer to show. Hat tip to reader newbie & Ben
- Update 1/4/20: Deal is back and valid until April 30th, 2020. This replaces the $500 deal. A lot of people will prefer this deal as it only requires $500 to be deposited rather than $20,000.
- Update 7/1/19: Deal has been extended until September 30th, 2019
- Update 5/20/19: Deal has been extended until June 30th, 2019. Hat tip to YAR
- Update 1/6/19: Bonus is $250, I’d still recommend waiting for a bonus of $300 instead. There was also a recent $200 + $200 deal as well.
- Update 07/01/18: Bonus has been extended until September 30th, 2018 but reduced to $200. I’d recommend waiting for the bigger $300 bonus to come back.
- Update 04/02/18: Bonus is now $250 instead of $200. Can be opened online (e-mail yourself a coupon and then follow the prompts)
- Update 01/07/18: Bonus is back but is now only $200 instead of $300. Might be worth waiting for a bigger bonus to come along.
Bonus has been increased to $300 and can be opened online again! Hat tip to reader Yaobang. Looks like $300 offer is only showing for some people, try incognito mode or google search for ‘Fifth Third’ or ‘Fifth Third $300’ and see if there is an ad for the offer or look at the comments for more ideas.
