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Bank Overview

Many people may not have heard of OneWest Bank. Its logo is very distinctive: a hollowed-out daisy. This is a regional bank whose business is mainly concentrated in Southern California, and it is part of CIT Bank, N.A. member of FDIC, under the publicly traded CIT Group.

This bank system’s main business is lending, so it is relatively friendly when it comes to attracting deposits and new accounts, and it has account opening bonuses available year-round.

Its mobile APP is not as polished as those of the big banks, with only a few basic functions such as checking balances and mobile check deposit.

It does not have many branches; its several dozen locations are mainly concentrated in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Account Opening Bonus

Right now, its checking account is offering up to a $300 account opening bonus. The bonus tiers are as follows ↓

Official link

Three tiers:

OneAccount Checking: deposit $10,000 when opening, get $300

Premium Checking: deposit $2,500 when opening, get $250

Personal Checking: deposit $500 when opening, get $150

Eligibility Requirements

  1. You must not have received a personal checking account opening bonus from them within the past 12 months.
  2. Each person can receive only 1 bonus, and each household can receive a total of 5 bonuses.
  3. You must open the account in a Branch or by phone.

The other requirements are very relaxed and easy to meet.

First, there is the timing requirement: you must open the account and complete the bonus requirements between July 8, 2020 and December 31, 2020.

Second, there is the hard requirement: fund the account at opening and keep that amount in the account for 90 days.

Then, during those 90 days, complete 3 out of the following 6 requirements ↓

  • At least $650 in direct deposit into the account for two consecutive months
  • Enroll in estatement/paperless
  • At least 10 debit card purchases (minimum $10 each)
  • At least 6 ATM transactions (must be at their own ATM; deposits or withdrawals both count)
  • At least 2 online bill pay transactions (must be through your own online Bill Pay)
  • At least 2 mobile APP check deposits (minimum $100 per check)

Below are the detailed terms ↓

Overview of the Checking Accounts

Personal Checking

$25 opening deposit

Free checks

$5 monthly fee (waivable with any one of the following)

  • Maintain a $1,000 daily balance
  • eStatement/Paperless
  • Primary account holder is age 55 or older, or under age 18

Premium Checking

$1,000 opening deposit

Free checks

$10 monthly fee (waived with a $1,000 daily balance)

OneAccount Checking

$10,000 opening deposit

Free checks

$25 monthly fee (waived with a $10,000 daily balance)

Our Take

This is really a very easy bonus to earn.

There are DPs showing that transfers from Capital One, Chase, and Discover all counted as DD. Even without DD, mobile check deposit, ATM deposits/withdrawals, and eStatement are all very easy to complete.

Also, each type of account has a way to waive the monthly fee, and the requirements are not too strict. Free checks are included as well.

They also allow account opening with a passport, but you need to fill out a form proving that you have an account with another major US bank, such as Chase or BofA.