The E*TRADE Checking account bonus is back! Make two $1,500+ Direct Deposits within 90 days. The bonus will be paid after 120 days. The 2% APY is just icing on the cake; you only need DDs, so there’s no need to keep money in the account to meet that requirement. Offer expires January 10, 2027.

In addition to payroll, there are other ways to simulate a direct deposit. According to data points on DOC, the following methods have worked. I’d expect brokerage withdrawals to work, too.

  • Chase Business: 1, 2,
  • Current: 1, 2,
  • Fidelity: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
  • ING Direct/Capital One 360 (1, 2)
  • Relay: 1, 2, A,
  • TreasuryDirect: 1,

This is a great bonus, so I added it to the bank bonus rankings.

About E*Trade

E*Trade is a leading U.S. online brokerage. Its acquisition by Morgan Stanley in 2020 further strengthened its financial resources and broadened its product offerings. The company provides a comprehensive range of financial services. Its core offerings include commission-free trading of stocks, exchange-traded funds, and options, as well as a wide selection of no-transaction-fee mutual funds and futures trading. E*Trade also has a banking division that offers services such as high-yield savings and checking accounts. Customers can also open and manage various retirement and education savings accounts, making E*Trade a comprehensive platform that combines investing and banking.

Compared with Morgan Stanley, E*Trade’s products are more geared toward everyday retail investors. There are no monthly or management fees, so it’s worth considering opening an account. You can also use the account to open the AMEX Morgan Stanley Platinum Card, which adds some value.

Its brokerage and bank accounts both offer worthwhile bonuses, so I’ll cover them together here.

Brokerage Account

Sign-Up Bonus

The brokerage account currently offers a bonus of up to $10,000. To qualify, you must deposit the required amount within 60 days of opening the account. The offer ends October 31, 2026. The terms say the bonus will be paid within seven business days after the funds have been deposited for 60 days. It looks like you could time it just right and keep the money there for only 67 days, but it’s probably best to wait until the bonus arrives before transferring the money out.

Here is the table showing the bonus for each deposit tier. Although the ad says the bonus is up to $1,500, depositing more can earn you up to $10,000. Since the money is in a brokerage account, you could buy a money market fund to earn a high yield, so you may still come out ahead. The immediate return for each tier is 5%, 3%, 1.5%, 0.6%, and so on. Since you don’t actually have to keep the money there for very long, the offer is quite attractive. Here are the annualized returns for each tier:
  • $1,000: 27.24%
  • $5,000: 16.34%
  • $20,000: 8.17%
  • $100,000: 3.27%
  • $200,000: 2.72%
  • $500,000: 1.63%
  • $1,000,000: 1.63% (the same as the $500,000 tier)
  • $1,500,000: 1.82%
  • $2,000,000: 1.63%
  • $5,000,000: 1.09%

I added it to the high-APY account bonus rankings.

Fees

This account has no monthly or management fees. The trading-related fees are listed below.

Checking Account

Sign-Up Bonus

None currently.

In addition to payroll, there are other ways to simulate a direct deposit. According to data points on DOC, the following methods have worked. I’d expect brokerage withdrawals to work, too.

  • Fidelity: 1,
  • ING Direct/Capital One 360 (1,2)
  • TreasuryDirect: 1,

Fees

There are two types of checking accounts, as shown below.

Savings Account

Sign-Up Bonus

They’ve increased the APY on their Savings account: 4% for six months (then 3.25%). You can also earn a $400 bonus by depositing $20,000 within 30 days of opening the account, or $800 by depositing $100,000. Overall, this is a pretty good deal. The offer expires on January 10, 2027.

Here are the three steps:

  1. Open a new Premium Savings Account on etrade.com by 1/10/2027 using promo code SAVE800.
  2. Add funds to earn a boosted 4.00% APY for 6 months. Plus, you'll earn a cash bonus when you deposit at least $20,000/$100,000 of qualifying new money within the first 30 days of account opening.
  3. Maintain your balance for 45 additional days after the 30-day funding period ends to earn your cash bonus.

This is a great bonus, so I added it to my bank bonus rankings:

Fees

There are no fees, so you can hold the account without worry.

Open an account