As had been previously rumored, Chase will be launching a 60,000 point bonus for those who sign up for or upgrade to a Sapphire bank account and move $75,000 in new deposits / investments to Chase and leave it there for at least 90 days. That will be too steep a requirement for some, but for those with cash or investments to move and a Sapphire Preferred or Reserve in their wallet, it could be worth the time and effort depending on how you use and value your points.
The Deal
- Coming in October, Chase Sapphire cardholders who open or upgrade to a new Sapphire Banking account and move at least $75,000 in new deposits / investments to Chase will be able to earn a bonus of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
Key Terms
- $75,000 must be new money to Chase (i.e. anything you currently have on deposit or invested with Chase will not count)
- Bonus will start in October
- You must maintain the required deposit / investment amount with Chase for 90 days and then points will be awarded within 45 days
- Chase Private Client members or those who were automatically upgraded because they have in excess of $75K in deposits / investments with Chase are not eligible
Quick Thoughts
We often see bank account bonuses in the low hundreds of dollars for opening new checking accounts. If you are just looking at the 60K bonus as its $600 cash value or even $750 value when used towards travel with a Sapphire Preferred card or $900 when used for travel with a Sapphire Reserve card, I think this bonus isn’t all that compelling. You could probably open two or three accounts with a much lower deposit threshold and get the same kind of value if that’s your intent for the points.
On the other hand, if you primarily use Ultimate Rewards points for premium cabin international travel, you might have a different perspective on the bonus. For example, we wrote yesterday about excellent Iberia business class availability. Ths 60K bonus would be almost enough points for round trip flat bed business class between New York or Chicago and Madrid (which would cost 68K Iberia Avios, a Chase transfer partner). Iberia has run promos over the past couple of years where low-season business class flights can be had for as little as 25.5K each way. That’s just one example of many where you could potentially get enough value out of the points to make the account worthwhile.
This deal certainly won’t make sense for those who would find the deposit requirement to be a stretch, but those who can do it comfortably might find this to be an intriguing offer, especially if they would otherwise be locked out of Ultimate Rewards bonuses by 5/24.
H/T: CNBC
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I considered moving in my brokerage from Vanguard but the taxes seem like they’d be astronomical, right?
I’m seriously considering this as I have a heloc I can pull and put back in easily with a different bank.
Question is what is the ongoing balance you need to keep? Also… I have 8 accounts with Chase currently. 2 business and 6 regular. I upgrade or open another new one?
Am I eligible?
Haha… Lots of questions sorry.
You need to keep $75K or more for 90 days. Then the bonus is said to post within 45 days after that.
I think you would just upgrade your existing account. I’d wait until the bonus gets launched in October and then call and ask.
I got 50k points opening a Chase Private Client late last year. My $100k balance has been sitting there for almost a year now. If I move my money to another bank, downgrade the CPC account (it’s really never been beneficial for me, frankly), and then apply for this, will I be eligible?
No idea. I doubt it, but I don’t know for sure how long your money needs to be out of Chase for them to consider it “new” money, nor do I know if your prior status as CPC would preclude you.
I received a bonus for opening a Chase Total Checking account in late 2017. Will that disqualify me go from getting this bonus? I.e. isn’t it just one Chase account bonus per rolling next 12 months, or is it calendar year?
Calculate the cash value of the 60K at the 1c per pt guaranteed value, this equals to $600 for $75K deposit for 90 days + 45 days, i.e. 6 months or so interest earning without paying tax.
That is 1.6% APY. Hardly a compelling value.
At 1.5x with a CSR, the $900 change it to 2.4%, There are many financial institutions paying close to 2% APY on HY Savings / MMA these days, albeit taxable.
But if you already have CSR, you may not in desperate need for an extra 60K UR.
Besides, banking with Chase is not always a pleasant experience even just for normal banking.
it’s 3.25% with the CSR. 900 x 2.7 / 75000.
and it’s tax free.
worth up to 5-6% tax-equivalent based on your tax bracket.
Annoying that people who were CPC and upgraded into Sapphire checking are ineligible. I could have moved out my money, gotten downgraded to some sort of basic checking, then moved it back and upgraded to Sapphire to get 60k points, but if I just kept it there, I get nothing? Seems silly.
What if you’re CPC and was not upgraded to Sapphire checking, are you still in eligible?
For those with big investments and a travel hacking desire, this is a no brainier. I can simply transfer investments in and out yo get the bonus.
I disagree this isn’t attractive.
Note that on bank account balance transfer in / signup $ bonuses the $ are reported as taxable income so remember to mark it down by your marginal tax rate. For the miles promotion, likely there will be no tax implication.
No Chase banks within 120 (at least) miles of me. Unless this is doable online, that’s just another Chase bonus opportunity I will miss. I’m really starting to question my decision to switch to Chase cards.
and for all you real estate investors…..I got an offer yesterday for 75,000 UR points for doing a mortgage through Chase….I doubt their rates are competitive, and most deals like this they play a shell game and add a fee or maybe raise the rate slightly to pay for the points they give you, but you never know. If you have a property to flip or are in the market for a loan, it might be worth a look.
When I was shopping for a mortgage a few years back, I had a 50,000 point offer from Southwest/Chase. Chase did not initially offer me the best rate & terms, but I showed them my best offer, and they agreed to beat it. And I still got 50,000 Rapid Rewards points on top. So it’s doable.
Nick, while I agree with the rest of your thoughts, the cash value of 60,000 points will be $900 (1.5x) when used towards travel with a Sapphire Reserve card.
Absolutely correct. $750 would be with the CSP. Fixed that, thanks.
Another benefit of points over cash is that this $900 with not be taxed while a cash bank bonus will get a 1099
You say this isn’t available to private clients so i’m out since I got signed up to bypass 5/24 for the CSR when it was 100K and bypass was possible. Interestingly my whole family was added as PC as well so are ineligible. I wonder about downgrading them and then adding them when done
It very well might be taxed. Or do you have some inside knowledge that it won’t be.
won’t be taxed. points never are
Citi has definitely sent out 1099’s for bank account bonuses in the form of points. They still do for thankyou points.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/citibank-class-settlement-issuing-1099s-aa-mileage-bank-bonuses/
I would bet $500 that it will be taxable since it isn’t a rebate on credit card spend but a straight up bonus for bank business…..
Sigh, over 5/24 with no Sapphire card. Will have to wait till I can sign up for a card, then sign up for this.