Regions Bank $200 Checking Bonus + $50 Referral [ AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN & TX]

Update 5/10/21: Deal is back with promo code WINTER2021, valid until May 28, 2021.

Update 10/9/19: Deal is back and valid until December 29th, 2019. Hat tip to reader Mike.

6/27/19: Deal has been extended until September 30th, 2019.

6/23/19: Deal is back and valid until June 28th, 2019.

4/21/19: Deal is back and valid until June 15th, 2019. Hat tip to reader -t. Looks like online statements aren’t required this time, but might as well sign up for them just in case.

1/9/19: Deal is back and valid until 3/29/19. Hat tip to reader Mike.

Offer at a glance

Maximum bonus amount: $200/$250 with referral
Availability: AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN & TX. Note that opening online doesn’t seem to work in some areas, according to some, you need to live within 50 miles of a branch. [Branch locator]
Direct deposit required: Yes, or ACH deposit $500+
Additional requirements: See below
Hard/soft pull: Soft
ChexSystems: Unknown
Credit card funding: Up to $100 (and another $100 when you open a free savings account). Only Visa accepted.
Monthly fees: $8-$18, waive-able
Early account termination fee: $25 if closed within 180 days
Household limit: None mentioned
Expiration date: ~~June 30th, 2017~~ ~~September 30th 2017 December 29th, 2017 March 31st, 2018 June 30th, 2018 September 30th, 2018 December 31st, 2018 March 29th, 2019~~ June 28th, 2019

The Offer

Direct link to offer

Receive a bonus of $200 when you open a new Regions Bank checking account with promo code WINTER2021. Bonus is broken down as follows:
- Earn $100 when you maintain an average daily balance of at least $500 for the first 60 days after account opening
- Earn $25 for each of the following you complete:
  - Download and log in to the Regions Mobile App.
  - Deposit at least one check using Regions Mobile Deposit.
  - Set up Regions Direct Deposit and make $500 or more of qualifying ACH direct deposits such as payroll or government payments.
  - Make 10 or more purchases with your Regions Visa CheckCard that post to your account within 30 days of account opening.

The Fine Print

Our goal is to be your new bank. We think that once you bank with us, you will experience our award-winning customer service and become a long term customer. We reserve the right to terminate this offer without notice at any time in the event of any suspected or actual abuse or fraud.
Offer valid in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Present a personalized voucher with applicant’s name and registered email address in order to open in branch. This offer is non-transferable, may not be combined with any other offer, does not apply if you have or had an ownership interest in a Regions checking account on or after October 1, 2018 only applies to personal LifeGreen checking accounts, and may be withdrawn at any time without notice. To earn this bonus, you must meet all requirements of the offer described above within 60 days of opening your new account. If earned, the bonus will be issued within 120 days of meeting these requirements and will be in the form of a credit to the new checking account which must be open at the time the credit is issued.
All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Regions offers six LifeGreen checking accounts. One applies only to ages 62+, one applies only to students, and one has a $5 non-waive-able fee, leaving three. Of the three, the eAccess Account is the easiest to waive the fee on, given the requirements of this bonus, though the LifeGreen Checking account will also work.

LifeGreen eAccess Account, $8 Monthly Fee

The monthly fee goes from $8 to $10 if you opt for paper statements instead of online statements, but this bonus requires you to opt for online statements. The monthly fee is waived if you make 10 or more Regions CheckCard purchases per statement cycle.

LifeGreen Checking, $8 Monthly Fee

Receive a single ACH direct deposit, such as a recurring payroll or government benefit deposit, of at least $500, OR
Receive multiple ACH direct deposits, such as a recurring payroll or government benefit deposit, with a total combined amount of at least $1,000, OR
Have an average monthly balance of $1,500 or more (this is presumably calculated using a daily average and is not the same as a minimum monthly balance)

LifeGreen Preferred Checking, $18 Monthly Fee

The monthly fee of $18 is waived if you meet any of the following:

$5,000 average monthly balance, OR
Combined minimum deposit balances from all of your Regions checking, savings, money markets, CDs and IRAs of $25,000, OR
Combined $25,000 minimum outstanding loan balances from all of your Regions personal installment loans, lines of credit, equity lines of credit, equity loans, direct loans and credit cards in good standing, OR
Any first-lien home mortgage with Regions in any amount and in good standing (excluding home equity loans and home equity lines of credit, and construction, manufactured housing and business loans)

Regions notes that the balances for the middle two requirements are determined at the beginning of the last day of your checking account statement period. (They also note that “good standing” means you are not past due or in default under your credit agreement, but hopefully everyone already knows that!).

Early Account Termination Fee

There is an early account closure fee of $25 if you close your account within 180 days of account opening.

Deal History

10/01/18: Deal is back and valid until December 31st, 2018. In addition it’s open to people who haven’t had an open account since October 1, 2017. Thanks to reader Mike.
04/15/17: Offer is back, thanks to reader _here_.

Referral Bonus $50

There is also a referral bonus you can receive in addition to this $200 bonus (bringing the total to $250). This has worked in the past, but it is no guarantee to work this time around. Feel free to share yours in the comments below.

Our Verdict

Update: It’s now been awhile since the bigger bonuses, so might be worth going for this one.

They have offered recent bonuses of $300/$350 & 400/$450 so this bonus is significantly worse. Before that $200/$250 was fairly standard. We can only hope that the larger bonuses come back in the near future. Because those larger bonuses were so recently offered and the fact you usually need to wait a year+ before getting the bonus again I don’t consider this one of the best checking sign up bonuses currently available.

Big thanks to reader, Haywood J who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.

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