Something banks and similar providers will do to attract business is offer special deals and interest rates to people looking at opening accounts. One common ‘special deal’ is that of a savings account bonus. This is usually a sign on payment that is made one time in order to secure your business. Depending on your situation they can help a great deal towards your savings goal, or they can deter you from hunting down the best long term interest rate. Knowing a little bit more should help you make the decision.

The bonus payments vary in value quite substantially. A sign on bonus out there today could range from $25 to $250 – or possibly even upwards from there. The reason they vary so much is they have different restrictions attached.

At face value you would expect a sign on bonus to be credited to your account once, well, the account is created. This is actually not too common. It does happen but more than likely you’ll be expected to deposit and maintain a certain balance for a set period of time before they will then credit you with the bonus payment.

Sometimes the savings account bonus may have household restrictions. This means only one person living at your address will qualify for this payment – best to check this beforehand if you are hoping to sign the family up too. It’s also likely that it will only apply to one savings account per person – meaning you can’t sign up for several savings accounts to receive the bonus several times.

A lot of times you’ll be required to kick start your savings account with a specific deposit amount in order to be eligible for the bonus. The amount is usually much higher than the bonus being offered.  Check about the rules surrounding earning interest on your total balance – including the bonus payment.

It’s quite likely you won’t earn interest on the one off payment from the bank.  To qualify for some bonus payments you need to make regular deposits into your savings account – for example one payment per month for six months, perhaps with a specified minimum value – and you’ll be eligible.

So before you decide on a savings account bonus over perhaps a competitive interest rate ensure you are able to fulfill all the necessary criteria to be eligible for the payment first.

If you happen to be a small business owner looking for savings account bonuses, check out this great link to business finance software.