American Express Rewards Checking: $300 bonus for new customers

American Express is out with another bonus offer for its Rewards Checking account: Earn a $300 bonus when you open a new American Express Rewards Checking account and receive a direct deposit totaling $7,500 or more within 90 days.

Note that you must be a current consumer cardholder for at least 5 days to apply, and you can’t have had a Reward Checking account before. (h/t: Doctor of Credit )

The Deal

• Amex is offering a bonus of $300 when you open a new consumer Rewards Checking account and receive qualifying direct deposits totaling $7,500 or more within 90 days of account opening.

Direct link to Offer

Key Terms

• Earn a Welcome Bonus of $300 after you complete each of the following qualifying criteria:

  • Open your first American Express Rewards Checking Account in your name by 07/30/2026, which is subject to approval; and
  • Have a total of $7,500 or more of Qualifying Direct Deposit(s) posted to your American Express Rewards Checking Account within the first 90 days of account opening.

  After you have completed the above qualifying criteria, American Express will deposit the Welcome Bonus into your Rewards Checking Account within 8-12 weeks.

• A Qualifying Direct Deposit is a single ACH transfer from an employer or the government for a paycheck, pension, government benefit (such as Social Security), or tax refund. Qualifying Direct Deposit(s) totaling at least $7,500 or more are required to qualify for this offer. The following are not Qualifying Direct Deposits: person to person transfers (P2P) such as money transfer apps, deposit account to deposit account transfers (for example, from a checking account to another checking account or from a savings account to a checking account), deposits or ACH transfers not from an employer or the government (for example, online transfers or bank transfers), internal transfers from your American Express^® Savings account, deposits made via check, and Membership Rewards^® points redemption for deposits.
• You are not eligible for the Welcome Bonus if you have an existing or have previously had a Rewards Checking Account. Each individual customer may only have one Rewards Checking Account.

Quick Thoughts

There are no monthly fees or minimums on Amex Rewards Checking, so it’s an easy enough account to open with no ongoing “gotchas” to worry about. The account features a debit card that earns 1 Membership Rewards point for every $2 spent. I personally wouldn’t even think about using that for anything Amex wouldn’t like, since the rewards are relatively small.

It is a big bummer that current and prior Rewards Checking account customers are not eligible for the bonus, which may disqualify many readers. On the other hand, if you haven’t ever had a Rewards Checking account, this could possibly be an easy $600 in a 2-player household.

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