This article was contributed by WeChat reader Wei Yun, and the article uses the contributor’s referral link.

Today’s featured account is Porte Bank, which offers 3% APY on up to $15,000. That means you can earn as much as $450 in interest over a full year with the maximum balance deposited. Right now, opening an account through a referral link earns an increased $100 bonus (valid from 5/4/2021 to 9/4/2021; after that, the bonus drops to $50).

Application Link

Note: Applying on a desktop may show as invalid, so please apply on a mobile device instead; the application also requires a native U.S. IP address, otherwise it may be denied.

It is recommended to copy the link on your phone (or scan the QR code) into your browser, which should automatically redirect you to the app store for download.

Set up $500 in Direct Deposit. Both the referrer and the referred person will receive $100 (valid from 5/4/2021 to 9/4/2021; after that, the bonus drops to $50). (Each referrer account can earn up to $500 in referral rewards.) The author’s referral bonus data is shown below.

Account Opening Process and Bonus

The account opening process is very simple and does not involve a hard pull on your credit report.

When you open the account, you first receive a checking account. After completing the requirement below, a savings account is opened immediately (although the terms say monthly, in practice only one Direct Deposit seems to be needed; see below).

  • $1,000 or more per month with Direct Deposit

The savings account earns 3% APY on up to $15,000. Although the website says you need $1,000 per month, the author’s experience and online data points suggest that only one $1,000 Direct Deposit is needed to unlock the savings account, after which you can continue to enjoy the 3% rate.

If you can use a real Direct Deposit, that is best. If you cannot meet the Direct Deposit requirement directly, you may consider using bank transfers to create a fake Direct Deposit (because of the outdated U.S. banking system and other factors, transfers between banks may sometimes be misclassified by the receiving bank as Direct Deposit).

Author’s savings account data point

After opening the account, the author initiated an ACH transfer from a Discover Savings account to Porte Bank. Inside Porte, it showed up as Direct Deposit from Discover Bank, and successfully unlocked the Porte Bank savings account.
Once the savings account is opened, you can deposit up to $15,000 into it and earn 3% APY.

Author’s referral bonus data point

The Direct Deposit above unlocked the savings account but did not trigger the referral bonus. Later, the author initiated ACH transfers from Chase checking and Discover Savings respectively. In Porte, both showed up as Direct Deposit from Chase/Discover, but neither triggered the referral bonus (as shown below).

In the end, the author used an ACH transfer from HMBradley and successfully triggered the referral bonus. This data point is from 03/2021 and may no longer be current. Overall, the suggestion is that if you cannot do a real Direct Deposit, you can try multiple banks one by one, including methods such as using a Charles Schwab brokerage account, among others. If you use the author’s referral link, feel free to discuss your experience with the author in the reader group.

Interest Rate

  • APY: 3%
  • Cap: $15,000

Interest is paid quarterly. For example, the author opened the account in March and, by the end of March, did receive interest calculated at a 3% annual rate (as shown below; the author kept about $4,000 in the account during March and received roughly 4000*3%/12=10 dollars in interest). The next payout would be at the end of June. If you apply now, you may still catch the end-of-June interest payout.

Fees

There are no fees. It is completely free.

Bank Information

Porte Bank provides FDIC insurance through Metabank, covering up to $250,000.
Porte only provides one checking account number. So transfers sent to Porte from other banks all go into the checking account first, and then inside Porte you can instantly transfer funds between checking and savings. The referral bonus also appears in the checking account.

Other Features

A virtual card is provided.

Summary

With just one Direct Deposit (or a fake Direct Deposit), this bank account can earn 3% APY on up to $15,000, which means up to $450 in interest over a full year. This is a no-risk high-yield account with a very strong rate and a cap that is not too low. The requirement is also quite easy to meet, making it well worth holding long term. Right now, there is also an increased $100 referral bonus for opening an account (valid from 5/4/2021 to 9/4/2021; after that, the bonus drops to $50).

Application Link

Note: Applying on a desktop may show as invalid, so please apply on a mobile device instead; the application also requires a native U.S. IP address, otherwise it may be denied.

It is recommended to copy the link on your phone (or scan the QR code) into your browser, which should automatically redirect you to the app store for download.