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Personal Finance and Investing Blog
Updated: 13 hours 26 min ago

Live Oak Bank: $200 Bonus on $20,000 Deposit (New and Existing Customers)

Wed, 04/22/2026 - 02:58

(Update: Offer is back. Again available to both new and existing customers depositing new funds. For existing customers, the deposits must be in addition to your balance as of 4/19/26.)

Live Oak Bank is an FDIC-insured internet bank that is focused on lending to small businesses. Their personal savings account has a limited-time offer of a $200 bonus if you deposit $20,000+ in new funds into their online savings account by 11:59 p.m. ET on 5/31/2026 via this special offer page and keep it there for 60 days. The current interest rate is 3.80% APY. Direct deposit is not required. Valid for both new and existing customers, as long as you are adding new money (lookback date is 4/19/26).

Unlike some other deposit bonuses, the 60-day window starts when the new money hits:

Beginning on the date in April or May 2026 when the new account attains a balance of at least $20,000, if the balance remains equal to or exceeding $20,000 for 60 consecutive days, then the account will be eligible for the bonus if all other conditions are met. If all eligibility criteria are met, the $200 cash bonus will be deposited to your open, eligible account within 45-days following the expiration of the 60-day period.

Bonus math. This is a 1% bonus on $20,000 if you keep it there for 60 days, which makes it the equivalent of 6% APY annualized. Bonus will be paid around Day 105 and the account must be open at that time, but you only need to maintain full balance through Day 60. The bonus is on top of the standard interest rate, currently a competitive 3.80% APY as of 4/22/26.

This equivalent of roughly 9.80% total APY over 60 days makes it a solid offer for those with compatible balances looking for short-term place to hold their cash for a few months. Live Oak Bank seems to come and go with the competitiveness of their rates, but it’s nice that this is available to existing customers.

Categories: Finance

JP Morgan (Chase) Brokerage Transfer Bonus: Up to $1,000 for $250k/90 Days

Sun, 04/19/2026 - 20:54

Updated offer details. Brokerage firms compete for “assets under management”, and many are willing to give you cash to encourage you to move your assets over to them. The bonus size will usually vary with the amount transferred, but also pay attention to the minimum required holding period. This one has a relatively short 90-day hold.

JP Morgan Self-Directed Investing (a part of JP Morgan Wealth Management, which in turn is part of JPMorgan Chase) is currently offering up to $1,000 new money bonus, depending the value of assets that you move over (either moving cash, transferring securities, or rolling over existing retirement assets from another institution). The current offer end date is 7/21/2026, but it is often extended.

  • $50 with $5,000 – $24,999 in qualifying new money.
  • $150 with $25,000-$99,999 in qualifying new money.
  • $325 with $100,000–$249,999 in qualifying new money
  • $1,000 with $250,000+ in qualifying new money

Here are the steps:

  1. Open a J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account through this page by 07/21/2026. (Includes Individual/Joint Taxable Brokerage, Traditional IRA, or Roth IRA accounts.)
  2. Transfer – You have 45 days to fund your account with qualifying new money (cannot be existing deposits, funds or securities held by you at JP Morgan, Chase or affiliate partners). Your bonus will be determined on day 45.
  3. Maintain your new funds for 90 days and the bonus will be added directly into your account within 15 days. (Losses due to trading or market fluctuation will not be taken into account.)

The features for the account itself seem like most other online brokerages. Unlimited commission-free online stock, ETF and options trades (+ $0.65 per-contract fee). You can trade ETFs, fixed income, mutual funds, and options. The interface is more on the basic side, but you can perform instant funds transfers between the brokerage account and your Chase checking account, which may be convenient.

Here is their fee schedule. They have recently eliminated their $75 IRA annual maintenance fee, but they still have a $75 IRA account termination/transfer fee. They also have a $75 outgoing ACAT transfer fee.

Here is more fine print:

You can only participate in one J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing new money bonus in a 12 month period from the last bonus coupon enrollment date. Coupon is good for one time use and only one bonus per account. To receive the bonus the enrolled account must not be closed or restricted at the time of payout. Account types and other restrictions apply. Offer terms are subject to change and/or termination without advance notice. The value of the cash award may be considered income, and we may be required to send you, and file with the IRS, a Form 1099-MISC (“Miscellaneous Information”), or a Form 1042-S (“Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding”) if applicable. You are responsible for any tax liability associated with the award. Please consult your own tax advisor if you have any questions about your personal tax situation.

Thoughts. These bonus tiers are not the best in terms of percentage (1% of $5,000, 0.6% of $25,000, 0.325% of $100k, 0.40% of $250k), but you technically can wait to fund until the end of the initial 45-day window, and then hold the assets there for a minimum of 90 days which is a relatively short period. You might get 2% somewhere else, but have to keep it there for 5 years.

If you are transferring cash, you can immediately purchase an ETF like SGOV or VBIL if you want to earn some competitive interest. Usually, the easiest thing is to perform an in-kind ACAT transfer of existing securities, which takes less than a week and all of your tax basis information should also move over after another few days. Your old broker may charge you an outgoing ACAT fee – you may ask Chase/JPM if they can reimburse you for this fee (especially if you have a in-branch rep to speak to) but they don’t advertise it as a benefit.

Categories: Finance

Citizens Bank $400 Checking Bonus (Direct Deposit Required)

Thu, 04/16/2026 - 15:17

Citizens Bank is offering a $400 checking bonus with relatively simple requirements. However, they only offer checking accounts to residents of certain states mainly in the Eastern and Northeastern US (CT, DC, DE, FL, MD, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT or VA; they will use your zip code to verify). Thanks to reader Steve for the tip.

Bonus requirements. You must open your first new personal checking account between 4/1/26 and 6/30/26 and have at least one single direct deposit of $1,000 or more within 60 days of account opening. Note: Primary signer may not be or have been a signer on any other Citizens personal checking or savings account within the previous six months. New account(s) must have a balance greater than zero and remain open and active through the payout date.

Eligible checking accounts. The lowest-cost option appears to be the “One Deposit Checking”, which has no monthly fee as long as you make one deposit of any kind during each statement period (otherwise it is $9.99 per month).

This is another relatively easy bonus for those that can switch/split their paycheck direct deposit easily online. Mine is split five different ways sometimes…

Categories: Finance
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