(EXPIRED) HSBC $500 bonus for new Premier Checking Account

HSBC has had a series of various promotions for opening a new Premier Checking Account over the last few years. These bonuses have been as low as $300 and as high as $700.

They’ve recently released a new bonus of $500 that effectively requires up to five months of direct deposits. Although that’s a long time to have to stay engaged, triggering the DD requirement has historically been quite easy and the size of the bonus will make it worth taking a look at for some folks.

The Deal

• HSBC bank is offering a bonus of $500 when you open a new Premier checking account and make direct deposits totaling at least $10,000 for three consecutive months from the second full calendar month after account opening.
• Direct link to this offer

Key Terms

• This offer is available only online for applications completed using the ‘Apply now’ button on the offer webpage.
• You must be at least 18 years of age, have a Social Security Number, have a U.S. mobile number, currently have a U.S. residential address and have had U.S. residency for the past one year to apply for a deposit account online.
• To qualify for the HSBC Premier $500 Welcome Deposit you must: (1) open your new HSBC Premier checking account from August 15, 2022 through and including February 15, 2023; and (2) make recurring Qualifying Direct Deposits totaling at least $10,000 per month from a third party to your HSBC Premier checking account(s) for 3 consecutive calendar months from the second full calendar month after account opening.
• You will automatically receive the $500 Welcome Deposit in your new HSBC Premier checking account approximately eight weeks after completing all qualifying activities.
• Qualifying direct deposits are electronic deposits of regular periodic payments (such as salary, pension, Social Security, or other regular monthly income) deposited through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network to this account by your employer or an outside agency (please check with your employer or outside agency to determine if they use the ACH network).
• Direct deposits that do not qualify include but are not limited to transfers from one account to another, mobile deposits, or deposits made at an HSBC Wealth Center or ATM.
• Customers who have a current or past HSBC account in the U.S. on file are not eligible for this offer.

Keeping the account fee-free

To qualify for an HSBC Premier relationship, you need to open an HSBC Premier checking account and maintain:

• Balances of $75,000 in combined U.S. consumer and qualifying commercial U.S. Dollar deposit and investment* accounts; OR
• Monthly recurring direct deposits totaling at least $5,000 from a third party to an HSBC Premier checking account(s); OR
• HSBC U.S. residential mortgage loan with an original loan amount of at least $500,000, not an aggregate of multiple mortgages. Home Equity products are not included.
  Consumers who maintain Jade status.
• A monthly maintenance fee of $50 will be incurred if one of these requirements is not maintained.

Quick Thoughts

At first glance, $10,000 in direct deposits will seem a big mountain to climb for many folks. Good news #1 is that HSBC is one of the easiest banks around in terms of counting non-traditional direct deposits towards meeting the DD requirements despite the terms indicating otherwise (see here for Doctor of Credit’s list for what counts). Good news #2 is that the $10,000/month is in cumulative direct deposits. I transferred the same $1000 in and out of the checking account via ACH 10x/month for three months and was able to trigger the bonus…and there’s many more positive DP’s of other people successfully doing the same thing.

The second part of this deal is that you’ll need to make direct deposits of at least $5,000 per month to make the account fee-free. That’s easy during the first three months when you’re transferring $10K/month to get the bonus, but you may need to continue with $5k/month for a couple of months afterwards as well.

Why?

The terms indicate that the bonus period begins at the beginning of the first month following the account opening and then you’ll receive the bonus within approximately 8 weeks after the point at which you meet the criteria. In other words, if you open an account in August, your bonus would be awarded based on your direct deposits between September and November and the $500 could be awarded as late as January (although many have had it credited much earlier). In this situation, you’d need need to continue with $5K monthly direct deposits until you receive the $500 payment because the terms state that you can not have closed or downgraded your account before receiving the bonus.

All that might be to much hullabaloo for many folks, which I would completely understand. For me, setting up the ACH transfers was simple and it only tied up $1000…pretty good for $500 return.

Note that anyone with a past US HSBC account is ineligible. DP’s indicate that HSBC’s memory goes back 7 years (h.t: DOC).

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