Wells Fargo $325 checking bonus: requirements and what to check

Open on Wells Fargo's official offer page, the page that carries the bonus offer code. How this offer compares: bank bonus statistics. Wells Fargo's checklist is short, and two of the lines are easy to skip: the offer code, and the word posted.

The current offer, as printed

The offer page we read on 14 October 2026 pays a $325 bonus to a new checking customer, as a limited-time offer that ends January 13, 2027. ¹ An earlier version of the same page, read on 3 October 2026, said the offer ended October 13, 2026; Wells Fargo has since moved the date. ¹ To receive it you must use the bonus offer code when you open a new Wells Fargo consumer checking account, subject to approval, by 13 January 2027. ¹ Online, only an Everyday Checking account can be opened for the offer, and the minimum opening deposit in a branch is $25. ¹ Opening a checking account with no code, or after that date, is a different application. How to read a bank bonus offer puts the expiry on line 8 for this reason: it is the open-by date, not the qualify-by date.

The deposit test

You must receive $1,000 or more in qualifying electronic deposits within 90 calendar days of account opening. ¹ A qualifying electronic deposit is a deposit of funds, such as salary, a government benefit payment, or other income, that has posted, and that arrives as one of three things. ¹

1. A direct deposit through the ACH network.
2. An instant payment through the RTP network or FedNow.
3. An electronic credit from a third party that pays your debit card on the Visa or Mastercard network, which the terms call an Original Credit Transaction.

Transfers from one account to another, mobile deposits, Zelle, and deposits made at a branch or ATM are not qualifying electronic deposits. ¹ What counts as a direct deposit compares that list with other banks' definitions.

Pending is not posted

An ACH direct deposit made available early with Early Pay Day does not count until it posts and is no longer pending. ¹ If your window ends while the credit is still an early-availability memo, the bonus math has not started. Pending or posted is the rule to apply before you call the deposit done.

Who is excluded

The offer is not available to customers who received a bonus for a Wells Fargo consumer checking account within the past 12 months. ¹ It is also closed to Wells Fargo employees, and to non-resident aliens or foreign entities signing any version of IRS Form W-8. ¹ Deposit accounts that are part of the Wells Fargo Private Bank experience are not eligible for the offer. ¹ The page limits it to one bonus per customer or account, and it cannot be combined with any other consumer deposit offer. ¹ If you already bank with Wells Fargo, check the date of your last checking bonus before you apply. What new customer means on a bank bonus covers how banks word this line.

Fee waivers that are not the bonus

The Everyday Checking page lists ways to avoid the monthly service fee, including a minimum daily balance, qualifying electronic deposits, a primary owner age 17 to 24, and a qualifying monthly non-civilian military direct deposit in the Worldwide Military Banking program. ² Those lines can make the account cheaper. They do not, on that page, replace the bonus offer's $1,000 test. ¹ A student or military reader should copy both pages. Student accounts and bank bonus offers separates age rules from bonus rules.

Payout, and when to close

Wells Fargo deposits the bonus within 30 calendar days of the requirements being met, and the new account must stay open through the time it attempts that deposit. ¹ If Wells Fargo suspects bonus or promotional offer abuse, it may close or restrict the account and decline or reverse any bonus. ¹ The public page does not name a day after payout when closing is safe. Wait until the bonus has posted, then read any early-close or reversal sentence in the offer you enrolled under before you close. The full sequence is in can you close a bank account after the bonus.

Taxes

Wells Fargo will report the bonus as income to tax authorities, as required by applicable law, and may withhold the required amount if you are subject to backup withholding. ¹ Plan for the bonus as taxable income in the year it posts. Do you pay taxes on bank bonuses explains the form and the timing, and the bank bonus return calculator shows what an offer leaves after tax.

When this offer ends

Wells Fargo replaces checking offers, so the amount and the open-by date on this page will go stale. The offer we read has five parts: a code, a deposit test with a window, an exclusion period for past bonuses, a payout period, and a stay-open rule. Before you open an account under a later offer, read these lines on the offer page itself.

1. The bonus amount, and which account types can be opened for it.
2. The open-by date, and whether the code must be used at opening.
3. The deposit amount, and whether it may add up across several deposits.
4. The window, and the day it starts counting.
5. What counts as a qualifying deposit, and what is excluded.
6. Who is excluded, and for how many months after a past bonus.
7. How long the payout takes, and whether the account must stay open through it.
8. Any early-close, fee, or reversal sentence.

Log the opening date, not the enrollment guess, in the bank bonus tracker, so the window and the payout date count from the right day.