Santander Simply Right, Essential, Select or Private Client Checking bonus: up to $500 and what it takes

How to earn it

1. Open Santander Simply Right, Essential, Select or Private Client Checking at a branch, as a new customer.
2. The offer needs a code from the bank that we do not list. Start from the bank's offer page, linked below, and follow its instructions for the code.
3. Receive a direct deposit into the account within 90 days. The terms publish no minimum amount.
4. Keep the balance for your tier for 90 days, the hold period as the bank states it: $2,000 for $300 or $5,000 for $500.
5. Keep the account open for at least 90 days.
6. Wait for the bank to pay the bonus. Its terms say when it pays once you meet the requirements.

Day counts follow the bank's terms, which say when each period starts.

Payments that count differ by bank: what counts as a direct deposit.

When the bank pays. Santander pays within 30 days after the account has been open for 90 days, once you meet the requirements.

Get the promo code by filling in the form on the offer page, then open the account in a branch by December 18, 2026. One qualifying direct deposit is enough and the terms set no amount for it. The average daily balance over the first 90 days sets the tier.

Santander counts pay, pensions, government benefits and other regular income deposited electronically by an employer or the government. Teller deposits, wires, transfers between accounts, ATM, online and mobile deposits, Zelle, Venmo and payroll advanced through a debit card do not count.

Residents of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania qualify. In Florida only Miami-Dade, Monroe and Broward counties and the Collier County ZIP code 34141 do. Current Santander checking customers, and anyone who had one in the last 12 months, are excluded.

The $10 fee on Simply Right Checking is waived in any month with at least one posted transaction, or when an owner is under 26. Select Checking costs $25.

The numbers

Bonus

Up to $5002 tiers, from $300.

Cash to park

$2,000 for $300, $5,000 for $500The larger of the deposit and the balance the bank asks for.

Direct deposits

required, no minimum publishedWithin 90 days.

Hold period

90 daysAs the bank states it. Banks count it from different days.

Annual rate

40.56%$500 / $5,000 x 365 / 90 x 100. The bonus over the cash and the days it asks for, scaled to a year. The bank does not pay it as interest. The tiers table gives the rate of each tier.

Monthly fee

$10 a monthThe bank publishes ways to avoid it. Its terms say which.

Early closure

The terms set an early closure period of 90 days. The bank's page says what applies.

Tax form

Form 1099-INTAs the terms name it.

Guides to these figures: how the annual rate is calculated, monthly fees and how to avoid them and early closure fees and clawbacks.

Who can get it

For

Personal accounts

Customers

New customers only

Where

9 statesConnecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island

Minimum age

18

Before you apply: how often you can earn a bonus from one bank and whether opening an account affects your credit.

Source

Checked against the bank's own page on October 6, 2026.

Read the offer on Santander's page (opens in a new tab)

Bonus Tally may earn a commission when you open an account through links on this page. It never changes the math or the ranking.

Pages we read

• Offer page on www.santanderbank.com, read October 6, 2026

• Banks change and end offers without notice. Confirm every term on the bank's own page before you apply.
• Bank bonuses are generally taxable as interest income, and banks usually report them on Form 1099-INT. Are bank bonuses taxable has the detail.
• Bonus Tally is an information service, not a bank or a financial adviser. Nothing here is financial, tax or legal advice.

The verification log lists every offer with its source, and the methodology gives every formula.