The Bank of America is among the largest banks in the US, serving millions of customers. It offers various services such as checking accounts, savings accounts, CDs, retirement accounts, and much more. As we will see later, you can get an account online or at a physical branch. Various banks offer rewards when you open an account. In this article, we shall see whether you can get the bank of America checking account bonus when you open a checking account.
In the modern world, surviving without a bank account is not easy because many life activities require you to have a bank account. Businesses require you to have an account to deposit your payments and keep the money for your business transactions. For your information, banks offer business checking accounts where you can keep the money for adding stock, repairing any malfunctioning types of equipment and machinery, as well as paying for services rendered.
Again, individuals require banks to keep their savings for future use. Times have passed whereby people kept their money in the house. There are many dangers associated with such practice as your house may catch fire leading to loss of money. Funds are safe in the bank because all banks are insured by FDIC up to $250,000 per account. Therefore, if anything happens to the bank, your money will stay safe.
What is Bank of America?
The Bank of America is an American investment bank and financial services holding institution headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank is abbreviated as BofA or BoA. It was founded in San Francisco and later acquired by the NationsBank of Charlotte in 1998, leading to its present form.
The institution is the second-largest financial services company in the United States, after JPMorgan Chase, thus, one of the Big Four banking companies of the United States of America. Again, it occupies the eighth position among the largest banks in the world.
The institution serves approximately 10.73% of all American banking communities, competing directly with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. Its primary financial services involve wealth management, commercial banking, and investment banking.
As I mentioned earlier, you can get various services such as;
- Checking
- Savings
- Credit Cards
- Home Loans
- Auto Loans
- Small Business
- Investing
- Student Banking
We also have various payment cards such as credit and debit cards that you can use for your financial transactions, such as buying goods and services online and at physical stores.
What is a checking account?
A checking account is a particular type of bank account that allows you to access your money 24/7. You can keep the money for your everyday use in such accounts instead of keeping them in your house. The account has a debit card that allows you to use your money. A debit card is a payment card that links to a checking account and sometimes to savings accounts.
Debit cards come with card numbers, expiry dates, and security codes. These are the details that are needed for your online payment. Paying at a physical store requires you to swipe or tap to pay at the register. When withdrawing funds at an ATM point, you only need to use your PIN to authorize any transaction.
Checking accounts also come with checkbooks. These documents allow you to write checks that authorize the payment of money to a particular person. They must be signed to make them valid. The good thing with most checking accounts is that you can open one online. BOA allows you to open your checking account online. There are institutions where you can get a free online checking account with no opening deposit and keep any amount of money you want.
How to open the Bank of America Checking account
There are various checking accounts that you can open from the Bank of America. Therefore, you need first to decide which bank account is best for you before opening one. You can choose from various checking accounts, and you are good to go. You can get your checking account online or at a physical branch.
When opening online, you have to upload all the required documents, fill out the necessary form online, and submit it. You need to enter your phone number, email address, Zip code, City, Social Security Number, and an identification document number.
The acceptable documents include the driver’s license, passport, or state/national Identity card. You can visit the Bank of America checking account page and select the most suitable bank account according to your personal needs.
When opening your account in a branch, you must fill in application forms and submit original documents plus their photocopies. There up, I have mentioned the documents that you need to apply for your account.
Which are the various checking accounts at the Bank of America?
BofA has three main types of checking accounts. Each of them has unique features that make them suitable for particular individuals. One can send money with a checking account number instantly to accounts of the same branch, and that shows how a checking account is essential. The following are some of the checking accounts that you can open today.
i) Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking
The account is made for individuals and students who want a bank account with a low minimum balance requirement. The account has a monthly fee of $12. However, the bank waives the fee if you maintain a monthly direct deposit of $250 and a daily minimum balance of $1,500. That applies if you are a student less than 24 years old or when you enroll in the Preferred Rewards program.
ii) Bank of America Advantage SafeBalance Banking
The checking account has a “checkless” checking account setting. That means there is no check writing for the account. It is a digital payment platform with a $4.95 monthly fee and is waived for the Preferred Rewards and students.
iii) Bank of America Advantage Relationship Banking
This account set is for people who maintain high balances in their accounts. The account allows you to earn interest and get perks such as zero service fees, free incoming domestic wire transfers, and the option to open other savings or checking accounts with zero monthly maintenance fees.
The Bank of America Advantage Relationship Banking account is among the best bank of America small business checking accounts to help you grow your business to greater heights.
However, suppose you fail to maintain a combined balance of at least $10,000 among all your Bank of America accounts and are not a member of the Preferred Rewards program, you must part with a $25 monthly service fee to benefit from the Advantage Relationship.
Does Bank of America offer a checking account bonus?
BofA is among the banks that give money for opening accounts. It offers bonuses when you open a new checking account. There are varying bonuses that you can get from the bank, and they include $100, $250, $300, $500, $750, and $2,500 for checking, Savings, and Business Promotions.
BofA personal checking offer goes up to $100 and expires on 06/30/2022. We also had a $750 Business Checking offer that expired towards the end of 2021.
Advantage Plus Banking, Advantage Relationship Banking, and Advantage SafeBalance Banking are eligible to get a bonus of $500 when you meet specific requirements. The Bank of America has to make soft credit pull as one of the qualification criteria.
Why open a BofA checking account?
There are various advantages associated with BOA. These include the following.
- Checking accounts gives you a Debit Card with a $0 Liability Guarantee. A debit card allows you to shop online and at physical stores. Again, you can withdraw money from ATMs. When a debit card has a $0 Liability Guarantee, it means that if you lose it, you will not be liable for any illegal usage.
- You can quickly send funds to friends and family with Zelle. Zelle is a money transfer service that allows you to transfer money between financial companies without the account and routing numbers. The Bank of America transfer to another bank is instant when you use Zelle. However, the service advocates transfering money to friends and relatives to minimize cases of losing money.
- You can temporarily lock and unlock a misplaced card. If you lose or misplace your payment card, you can disable it as you look for it. That prevents you from losing money from your account.
- The accounts allow you to set up alerts to stay updated about your account activities. That way, you can know about any suspicious undertaking in your account and take the necessary measures.
- You can choose your cashback deals with BankAmeriDeals. That makes you realize the value of your money.
Bottom line
The Bank of America is an American investment bank and financial services holding institution headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It offers various checking accounts such as Bank of America Advantage SafeBalance Banking, Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking, and Bank of America Advantage Relationship Banking.
It is one of the best institutions to open since its debit cards have Zero Liability protection, allow you to lock lost or misplaced debit cards temporarily, and also allow you to manage your money online.
