If you’ve been looking for a reason to switch checking accounts, American Express is sweetening the deal.
For a limited time only, new Amex Rewards Checking customers can score a pretty good welcome bonus: Earn $300 after opening an account by July 30, 2026, and receiving a total of $7,500 or more in qualifying direct deposits within the first 90 days. You can’t have previously held an Amex Rewards Checking account, and the $300 will be deposited within up to eight to 12 weeks of satisfying the requirements.
Here’s more on the Amex Rewards Checking.
American Express® Rewards Checking Account
American Express National Bank is a Member FDIC.
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Monthly maintenance fee
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Minimum deposit to open
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Minimum balance
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Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
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Free ATM network
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ATM fee reimbursement
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Overdraft fee
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Mobile check deposit
Click here to view terms and conditions.
Pros
- Free ATM network
- No monthly fees
- ATM fee reimbursement
- No minimum deposit to open an account
- No overdraft fees
- Can transfer rewards
Cons
- Only available for existing Amex cardholders who’ve had a card account open for at least three months
What else Amex Rewards Checking offers
Pro tip: You can pair this card with an Amex bank account
Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
3.10% APY as of 5/19/2026
With this checking account, you’ll earn 1 Membership Rewards® point for every $2 of eligible purchases on your debit car, with no cap on how many points you can earn. Usually, checking accounts don’t come with spending rewards like that. If you have an Amex credit card that earns Membership Rewards, you can link to your debit card so that all points earned on both accumulate together.
The Amex Rewards Checking debit card offers zero liability fraud protection for unauthorized charges, as well as purchase protection. Purchase protection is seen as more of a credit card feature where purchases made with your card are protected from accidental damage or theft up to a certain amount of days.
You can make unlimited, fee-free ATM withdrawals with your Amex Rewards debit card at over 70,000 Allpoint® and MoneyPass® ATM locations nationwide.
More checking account bonuses
If you already have the Amex Rewards Checking, here are some other bonuses worth checking out (no pun intended):
The SoFi Checking and Savings* account offers $50 if you receive between $1,000 and $4,999 in direct deposits within the bonus period, or $400 if you receive $5,000 or more. Meanwhile, the Capital One 360 Checking account is offering a $250 cash bonus when you open a new account and receive two direct deposits of $500 or more each within 75 days of opening.
Explore checking and savings options built to help your money go further.
Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.
Sign-up bonus of $50 or $400
No account, service or maintenance fees for SoFi Checking and Savings.
*Click here for important disclaimers and disclosures.
And, for a limited time, new Chase Total Checking® account holders can get a $400 bonus when making at least $1,000 in direct deposits within the first 90 days.
- No minimum deposit to open an account
- Overdraft assistance
- Top-rated mobile app
- Chase is no. 2 on J.D. Power’s 2019 U.S. National Banking Satisfaction Study
- Send and receive money with Zelle®
- No APY
- No reimbursement for out-of-network ATM fees
How to avoid the monthly fee:
- Electronic deposits made into this account totaling $500 or more,
- or a balance at the beginning of each day of $1,500 or more in this account
- or an average beginning day balance of $5,000 or more in any combination of this account and linked qualifying Chase checking, savings and other balances
Information about Chase Total Checking® has been collected independently by CNBC Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
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*New and existing Checking and Savings members who have not previously enrolled in Direct Deposit with SoFi are eligible to earn a cash bonus of either $50 (with at least $1,000 total Eligible Direct Deposits received within 25 calendar days of your first Eligible Direct Deposit of $1 or more) OR $400 (with at least $5,000 total Eligible Direct Deposits received within 25 calendar days of your first Eligible Direct Deposit of $1 or more). Cash bonus amount will be based on the total amount of Eligible Direct Deposit received within 25 calendar days of your first Eligible Direct Deposit of $1 or more. If you have satisfied the Eligible Direct Deposit requirements but have not received a cash bonus in your Checking account, please contact us at 855-456-7634 with the details of your Eligible Direct Deposit. Direct Deposit Promotion begins on 5/15/2026 and will be available through 12/31/26. See full bonus and annual percentage yield (APY) terms at sofi.com/banking/checking-offer/SoFi Checking and Savings is offered through SoFi Bank, N.A., Member FDIC.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
