Bank of the West is a regional bank with an enormous footprint in the Midwest and Western United States. With over 600 branches and 9,000 employees, it’s headquartered in San Francisco and is a subsidiary of financial giant BNP Paribas.
Bank of the West is FDIC insured up to $250,000 under FDIC certificate #3514 as a State Chartered Bank and regulated by the FDIC.
In December 2021, BMO reached an agreement to acquire Bank of the West for $16.3 billion. BMO runs bank promotions so now you’ll want to look at those as Bank of the West will no longer be, at least under their name, be offering them. We will keep you updated as we learn more.
🚨 BMO has a $300 bonus available!
They periodically run some good promotions but at the moment both are expired. (likely because of the acquisition)
They had previously offered two – one for $250 and one for $600, here were the details:
💵 U.S. Bank – up to $450
Earn up to $450 when you open a new U.S. Bank Smartly® Checking account and complete qualifying activities. Subject to certain terms and limitations. Offer valid through December 31, 2024. Member FDIC.
Offer may not be available if you live outside of the U.S. Bank footprint or are not an existing client of U.S. Bank or State Farm.
Table of Contents
Bank of the West Checking Bonus — $250 [EXPIRED]
Bank of the West has a checking account bonus of $250 when you open an Any Deposit Checking account (except for UCB Student Checking and Bank of the West Premier Checking) with any opening deposit amount (a penny or more).
Then, set up a direct deposit with your employer or benefits provider and make direct deposits totaling $1,000 or more per month for three months in a row. Check the offer qualification periods and key dates in the terms and conditions for all the details.
That’s the only active requirement – after that, you get the bonus.
The account has a $10 monthly fee that you can waive if:
- You make any deposit per statement cycle (this can be using the mobile app, in-branch, via ATM, or directly into the account)
- You are under the age of 25
Otherwise, no minimum balance and it takes just ten minutes to open the account.
You can open an account online (it’ll enter the promo code automatically) or go into a branch but you must be a resident of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin or Wyoming.
Learn more about the Bank of the West promotion
(Offer expires 9/30/2022)
Bank of the West Premier Checking Bonus — up to $600 [EXPIRED]
This offer is higher because the requirements are a bit higher.
First, you get $500 when you open a Premier Checking account by 8/6/2021 and deposit at least $25,000 that same month and maintain a $25,000 average monthly balance for three full calendar months.
Then, you get an additional $100 when you open a Choice Money Market Savings account by 8/6/2021. You must deposit a minimum of $10,000 in funds new to Bank of the West and maintain an average monthly balance of $10,000 for three full calendar months to get the extra $100.
The Premier Checking has a $25 monthly service charge that is waived for the first two statement cycles. It’s also waived with a $25,000 average monthly combined balance, which you’ll meet if you meet the bonus requirements.
You can open an account online (it’ll enter the promo code automatically) or go into a branch but you must be a resident of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin or Wyoming.
Learn more about the Bank of the West promotion
(Offer expires 8/6/2021)
Bonus Offer Restrictions
There are a few restrictions on both offers (confirm this on the offer page, we may be out of date):
- You can’t have had an open consumer checking account as of 8/15/2021
- You can only get one consumer bonus between 2/1/2020 and 2/27/2022
- One individual per residential address
- Must keep the account in open status and with a positive balance as of 1/31/2022
How Does This Offer Compare?
This is an above average bonus for a checking account with no minimum and no maintenance fee (with a direct deposit), you typically see offers like this at around the $200 – $250 range so this offer is good.
U.S. Bank – up to $450
Earn up to $450 when you open a new U.S. Bank Smartly® Checking account and complete qualifying activities. Subject to certain terms and limitations. Offer valid through December 31, 2024. Member FDIC.
Offer may not be available if you live outside of the U.S. Bank footprint or are not an existing client of U.S. Bank or State Farm.
BMO Checking – $300
BMO is offering a $300 bonus* when you open a BMO Checking account and have $4,000 in direct deposits within 90 days of opening. It is a very straightforward offer that is available nationwide.
*Conditions apply
Bank of America – $300 Bonus Offer
Bank of America offers a $300 Bonus Offer cash bonus if you open a new account and Set up and receive Qualifying Direct Deposits* totaling $2,000 or more into that new eligible account within 90 days of account opening. Bank of America Advantage SafeBalance Banking® for Family Banking accounts are not eligible for this offer. It has a monthly fee that is easy to have waived.
Chase Total Checking® – $300
Chase Bank will give you $300 when you open a Total Checking account and set up and receive direct deposits totaling $500 or more within 90 days. There is a $12 monthly fee that is waivable with a monthly direct deposit of just $500, so no gotchas on this deal!
If you can get this Bank of the West promotion, it’s a solid offer that’s easy to satisfy.
How do I get a promo code?
When you click through to the bank page, the page says that the promo code is applied automatically.
i plan to apply at the branch, how to get the promo code for premier checking $500 bonus through email?
Why not apply online and save yourself a trip?
Hi, I just call Bank of the West to make an appointment to open the account for $500.00 bonus promotion, but the banker said that I have to have a “mailer” from the bank in order to do so or I have to have a promotional code. It does not say “Targeted” on your website. Am I mistaken and the bank is right? Any suggestion? I have only couple days to open it, if so. I know you will suggest to do it online, but I always prefer to go to the branch. I live just 2 miles from it.… Read more »
Hi Meri – unfortunately I don’t have any more information than what you see. If it was targeted, it doesn’t say so on the page I was sharing because it says your promo code will be applied automatically.
Bank of the West didn’t give me the 500 bonus and after 9 months of asking what was the reason this is what they told me: “Your checking account was opened on March 25, 2021. You only deposited $5,000.00 in March 2021. Therefore, the account did not qualify for the bonus. We apologize for any inconvenience.” I think they should not let people apply after the 20th of the month since most banks have monthly transfer limit and definitely will take about 10 days to transfer $35K (March was the start of USA COVID lockdown and we only do online… Read more »
Oh no… I didn’t even think about the timing of it and I think that’s a pretty abysmal rule. I’ll amend the post to warn folks about how they calculate this.
I don’t have the original post anymore (I tried finding an archived version online but struck out) but the language seems to match up to their explanation, I just never considered transfer limits and all that (I never did the Premier deal).