American Express Rewards Checking Review: $250 Bonus For Existing Credit Cardholders

American Express is continuing their expansion into banking by promoting their Rewards Checking with a new $250 direct deposit bonus. The bonus requirements are pretty straightforward:

• Open a new American Express Rewards Checking Account by October 31, 2?023.
• Have a single direct deposit of $500+ posted to your American Express Rewards Checking Account by December 10, 2?023.
• After you have completed the above, American Express will deposit your Welcome Bonus into your Rewards Checking Account within 8-12 weeks.

This bonus is targeted for existing consumer credit cardholders (you have have received a direct e-mail), although for some reason business checking accountholders are also excluded:

We are currently accepting applications from Card Members with a U.S. Basic Consumer Card issued by American Express National Bank with 3+ months tenure. Current and prior American Express Business Checking customers are not eligible to apply at this time.

If you log into your personal credit card account, the application is mostly auto-filled and just takes a few clicks. There is no hard credit check.

Here are some quick highlights about the Rewards Checking account:

• No monthly fees, and no minimum balance requirements.
• 1.00% APY (as of 9/17/23)
• Earn 1 Membership Rewards® point for every $2 of eligible Debit Card purchases. You can combine these points for redemption using your other AmEx cards.
• Unlimited fee-free ATM withdrawals at over 37,000 MoneyPass® ATM locations nationwide.
• Mobile check deposit is available.
• Free paper checks are not included, but you can purchase them at additional cost.

From the full terms and conditions:

A Qualifying Direct Deposit is a single ACH transfer of $500 or more from an employer or the government for a paycheck, pension, government benefit (such as Social Security), or tax refund. The following are not Qualifying Direct Deposits: person to person transfers (P2P), demand deposit account to demand deposit account transfers (for example, from a checking account to another checking account), and deposits or ACH transfers not from an employer or the government (for example, online transfers or bank transfers).

You are not eligible for the Welcome Bonus if you have an existing Rewards Checking Account. Each individual customer may only have one Rewards Checking Account. You must keep your account open and in good standing until we award you your Welcome Bonus. If your account is closed for any reason prior to such time, including being closed by us, you will not be eligible for the Welcome Bonus. If we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated the Rewards Checking Account Terms or have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with your account, we may determine that you are not eligible for the Welcome Bonus. In such circumstance, we may rescind or decline to award you the Welcome Bonus.