About Wells Fargo Bank

Wells Fargo & Company was founded in New York in 1852. It is a diversified financial services group with total assets of $1.9 trillion. The Wells Fargo of today came from Norwest’s 1998 acquisition of the original Wells Fargo, after which it adopted the Wells Fargo name and moved to the old Wells Fargo headquarters in San Francisco. One notable feature of this bank is that once you have a checking or savings account with them, it can be easier to apply for their credit cards.

That said, the bank has had quite a few scandals in recent years, mainly involving opening credit cards or loans for customers without their permission. Its credit card lineup is also not especially strong, and sometimes applications require U.S. citizenship or a green card, which can be a hassle.

Wells Fargo Everyday Checking

Account Opening Bonus

The current checking account bonus is $200, and you need to open the account by September 30, 2021.

Bonus requirements

  • Open a Wells Fargo Everyday Checking account through the link above or at a local Wells Fargo branch by September 30, and deposit $25
  • Within 90 days after account opening, receive a total of $1,000 via Direct Deposit
  • You must be a new customer. If you currently have a checking account, you are not eligible.
  • You must not have received an account opening bonus within the past 12 months. Wells Fargo employees are not eligible.

Direct Deposit (DD) is a common way for employers to pay employees. The money is sent directly to your bank account via electronic transfer. If you have payroll, you can simply change the account receiving your paycheck to the bank account you need for completing the bonus requirement. If you do not have payroll, you may be able to meet the requirement through a fake DD method.

Current fake DD methods include the following (data source: DOC)

  • American Express:
    • Bluebird: 1,
    • Serve: 1, 2, 3(didn’t work) , 4  (did work)
  • Bank of America: 1, 2, 3,
  • BECU ACH: 1, 2, 3, 4,
  • Citibank: 1
  • DraftKing: 1,
  • Dwolla: 1
  • Elements: 1,
  • E-Trade: 1, 2, 3, 4,
  • Fidelity: 1, 2, 3, 4(did not work) , 5(didn’t work) , 6(did work) , 7(did work) , 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
  • HSBC: 1, 2, 3, 4,
  • Huntington: 1,
  • Keybank: 1
  • Marcus: 1,
  • Meritrust: 1,
  • M&T Bank: 1,
  • PenFed Trial Deposits: 1, 2, 3,
  • PNC: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
  • Robinhood: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
  • Santander: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
  • Schwab: 1
  • Schools First: 1,
  • Sky One: 1,
  • Simple: 1,
  • SoFi Money: 1, 2,
  • SunTrust: 1,
  • Tax refund: 1,
  • USAA: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (didn’t work), 8, 9,
  • Varo: 1,
  • Venmo: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Account Opening Requirements

  • For the checking account, you need to deposit at least $25 when opening the account.
  • Based on reader DPs, you can open this account successfully even if you are not a green card holder or a U.S. citizen.

Features

Pretty standard overall, nothing particularly special.

Fees

Everyday Checking: $10 monthly fee, waived if you meet any one of the following four requirements:

  • Maintain at least $500 in daily balance ($500 minimum daily balance)
  • Receive at least $500 in DDs each month ($500 or more in total qualifying direct deposits)
  • The account holder is between ages 17 and 24 (Primary account owner is 17-24 years old. (When the primary account owner reaches the age of 25, age can no longer be used to avoid the monthly service fee.))
  • Link a Campus card to the account (Linked to a Wells Fargo Campus ATM Card or Campus Debit Card)

In addition, this account does not have an Early account termination fee, but it is still recommended to keep the account open for at least a while after receiving the bonus before closing it.

My Take

Their best bonus is $400, so if you need it, you may want to wait. If you are interested in other bank account bonuses, consider the following offers:

Checking account opening bonuses are taxable. The bank will send a 1099INT the following year, and you can report it as interest income.

Application Link