How I Made $5,000 + 30,000 Amex Points by Opening Bank Accounts (And How You Can Too)

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

It all started quite innocently. I was paying a credit card bill to Capital One and saw that they were offering a $350 bonus just for opening a new checking account with them and making a deposit. 48 hours after my first deposit hit my new Capital One account, they put in the $350 bonus. It was so easy. I was hooked.

Soon enough I had also opened up checking accounts with Chase and Wells Fargo, two other companies I already had credit cards with who were also offering bonuses.

I then began scouring websites for offers, wondering just how easy it could be to open an account, deposit some funds, and then collect some sweet cash from a bank or credit union. Being a writer, I decided to take notes along the way, write an article that others could benefit from, and consider myself “paid” for the efforts by all the bonuses I received.

So let’s start with the 28-point scale I created. I awarded points for:

• the amount of the bonus
• how difficult it was to get the bonus
• how quickly it was deposited
• what the ongoing requirements were
• the competencies of the app
• Whether