Best Bank for Sign-Up Bonuses

How we picked the companies to evaluate:

NerdWallet reviewed the top 25 financial institutions by domestic deposit assets, the top 25 by number of branches, the top 20 by search volume, the top 10 credit unions by membership, the top 10 credit unions by deposits, and emerging and notable players.

How we chose the winner:

The winning bank or credit union was the one with the best ratio of amount of bonus to minimum deposit required.
In case of a tie, financial institutions were compared by category in the following order until one institution remained:
  • Number of people the bonus is available to.
  • Fastest access to bonus.
  • How long money has to stay in account.
  • Required time between bonuses.

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet writers and editors confirmed fees, rates, policies and other key features on each financial institution’s website. If an institution’s website was missing information, we contacted a representative directly for confirmation.