[Kintsukuroi]

Thoughts on bank account churning?
I have multiple jobs, so the direct deposit requirement isn’t an issue.

As it stands, I could make about 1k in various offers in 120 days.

“Is bank account churning worth the effort for someone who can easily meet deposit and transaction requirements?

I’ve heard that some people open multiple accounts to take advantage of sign-up bonuses and other promotions, but I’m wondering if the rewards outweigh the time and effort involved.

Are there any risks I should be aware of, like potential impacts on credit scores or account management hassles?

I’d love to hear from people who have experience with this strategy—was it beneficial for you in the long run, or did the process become more complicated than expected?”

Tell me the good, bad, ugly.

[Anthony]

I did it one year. Made about $1,500. It was nice, but enough work that I haven’t done it again since.

[Shamil]

Lots of work to track, meet bonus, deal with account closures and early closure fees. Can be time consuming but depends on the bonus rewards.

Then, expect a 1099 for each bonus and hope it comes or you’re chasing that too.

[Tony]

I make about $1500-2000/year off bonuses. I’m surprised at the people that say it’s work or that it requires significant tracking.

Anyone who does normal travel hacking would think this is a total breeze.

Once you’ve been doing it a while and tapped most of the low hanging initial eligible bonuses/banks there are really only 2-3 new promotions a year worth going after, so very manageable.

I made $580 on my most recent Sofi bonus – it took me 10 min to open the account and another 10 min to switch over my direct deposit.

It’s hard to beat $580 for 20 min of work, without even needing to leave my couch. Most are that easy.

[Jillian]

I’m churning as we speak. Up about $1,200 in the last 60 days. No negatives.

[Katie]

Chase was time consuming to close in person. I’m wondering now if that was because there was a balance remaining and if it might have been easier by phone or online somehow.

Obviously, they do these incentives to get accounts and don’t want them to turn over.

[Chris]

As long as you have the big money invested properly. Keep track of the time spent doing this and translate that into dollars per hour.

If that amount of dollars per hour is high enough for you, then it’s worth it.

[Ryan]

I do it. Same effort as credit card cycling. Even less cause it’s set it and forget it once you set up DD.

[Elizabeth]

I think it’s a nice easy side hustle
Just keep good track of dates and requirements for each.

[Barbara]

I just started doing this last year. Pretty much only when I come across a decent bonus – I probably wouldn’t bother for just $100 or so or if the requirements were too hard to meet.

But it’s really not much work – open the account online, make sure you enter whatever special code to activate the bonus.

Switch direct deposits over.

Make sure you know what’s needed to avoid fees and maintain that minimum balance or whatever.

I track it all in a spreadsheet and put a reminder on my calendar to close the account when it’s time (make sure you know how long it needs to stay open after receiving the bonus – some of them don’t really have a deadline, but for some they need to stay open for a certain number of months).

Honestly the most time-consuming part is calling to close the account if it can’t be done online.

[Lexi]

I think I’m up 2750 and a few more I hope come through. Unemployment sucks.

There are many more opportunities if you have a high paying job and like 25k+ savings l/e-fund to just hop between accounts.

Beware EWS/Chex will start getting denials for too many inquiries so spread out your applications and keep accounts open for about 6 months before closing if you can.

[Charlen]

The only real con is tracking them and making sure you’re following all the rules.

If that’s not your strength, I’d reconsider participating. Otherwise, it’s just a bit of extra money!

[Bill]

Just be sure to read all the fine print. Most require that you keep the account open a certain length of time.

Also, a crappy interest rate might eat up most of the bonus vs just leaving it in a Hysa

Beyond that, the downside is that it’s annoying and takes time.

If you are hustling in other areas, you might get better return by spending your hours on that.

[Joy]

My son just had his Citi account locked down due to “fraud” while churning, but daughter had no issues.

[Travis]

I do about 1 a year. It’s not too much work and it gives me a little spending money.

[Laura]

The only annoying part is waiting for all the docs to come in at tax time. Depending on the bank some don’t make the documents available online.

I keep a spread sheet of my earnings so I already know the earned amount anyways and don’t forget to list an account bc it was delayed in the mail etc.

[Author]

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