American Express Bank Bonuses – $250 Checking, 30k Biz Checking

American Express is a bank most well known for its credit card offers. I know American Express credit card offers are often quite generous and their Membership Rewards program is one of the best.

But until recently, American Express hasn’t had too many bonuses on their bank accounts.

Last year, they had an offer for their High Yield Savings (it has since expired) and they always seem to have their ever green Business Checking offer, but now they’ve added a nice little offer on their Rewards Checking account too:

Table of Contents

1. American Express Rewards Checking – $250
2. American Express High Yield Savings – $350 [EXPIRED]
3. American Express Business Checking – 30,000 Membership Rewards Points
4. How do these offers compare?

American Express Rewards Checking – $250

American Express has a Rewards Checking account that really should more attention than it really does. It’s an checking account that offers you 1.00% APY, which is already noteworthy in a world where most checking accounts offer nothing.

There are no monthly fees, no minimum deposit, and you earn 1 Membership Rewards point for every $2 of eligible debit card purchases. Being able to earn rewards on a debit card is also quite rare.

Plus, they have a welcome bonus of $250 when you open an account by 10/31/2023 and when you have a total of $4,000 or more in qualifying direct deposits within the first 90 days. Bonus is deposited within 8-12 weeks of satisfying the requirements.

👉 Learn more about American Express Rewards Checking

(Offer expires 10/31/2023)

American Express High Yield Savings – $350 [EXPIRED]

American Express previously had a high yield savings promotion where you could get a $350 cash bonus when you deposited $25,000 or more into a high yield savings account. This offer last expired in late 2022 and has yet to return.

We will update this post if they bring it back.

American Express Business Checking – 30,000 Membership Rewards Points

Do you run a business? Does it need a checking account?

American Express has an offer where you can get 30,000 Membership Rewards Points if you:

• Deposit $5,000 within 20 days of opening your account, AND
• Maintain an average account balance of $5,000 for 60 days, AND
• Make 10 or more qualifying transactions  within 60 days of opening your account.

Qualifying transactions include mobile deposits, and electronic/online transactions including ACH, Wire, and Bill Payments.

This account also offers 1.30% APY on balances up to $500,000 and has no monthly maintenance fees.

👉 Learn more about this offer

How do these offers compare?

For the American Express Rewards Checking offer, it’s pretty good for an offer that requires just a single direct deposit. It has a very long time horizon, you have until December 10th, so you have a long time to switch it over. I know a lot of retirees on Social Security often complain that switching that direct deposit takes several weeks, which makes it hard for other bonuses, but this one seems tailor made for that timeline.

Here are comparable offers – as you can see, the welcome bonus amount is quite competitive for a direct deposit of that size: