Unfortunately, this bonus is no longer available. If you’re interested in other bank bonuses, be sure to check out the list at the bottom of this post for additional ideas.
One Finance is a fintech bank that is currently offering a $50 signup bonus if you open an account using a One Finance referral link and have a direct deposit of $250 or more.
This is a 100% free bank account with no minimum balance requirement, so this is an easy account you can earn the bonus with and not have to worry about managing.
How To Earn Your One Finance $50 Referral Bonus
The steps to earn your $50 referral bonus is straightforward. You have to do two things – once you meet both requirements, you’ll get your $50 referral bonus:
- Open a One Finance account using a referral link.
- Have a direct deposit of $250 or more.
Opening the account is a soft pull and has no impact on your credit score or credit report. The signup process is really easy and should take you 5 minutes at most to complete (I opened my account in just a few minutes).
Meeting the $250 direct deposit requirement is a little bit trickier. At the moment, it appears that you need an actual employer direct deposit, so you should only open this account if you have an easy way to meet the direct deposit requirement. I’m able to meet this requirement easily because my wife’s payroll system allows her to divide her paycheck between as many different bank accounts as she wants (she uses a payroll system called Gusto). We set it up so that $251 of her next paycheck goes into my One Finance account and $251 goes into her One Finance account. If you have a similar payroll system that allows you to easily change your direct deposit, then I would definitely take advantage of this bonus.
Remember, you only need one direct deposit, so you can change your direct deposit to this account one time, then change it back to your regular account after you meet the requirements.
The terms state that your bonus will post within 10 business days of your direct deposit. Mine appeared to post instantly after I made my direct deposit, but I can’t guarantee that will happen for everyone. If you don’t see your bonus right away, give it 10 business days.
Refer Your Friends And Family Members To Maximize Your Bonus
The important thing about One Finance is that once you open an account, you get a referral link that you can use to refer other people. You can find your referral link under the “Details” section in your account.
Each person you refer will earn you $50 once they have a direct deposit of $250 or more (they’ll, of course, get $50 once they use your link and meet the requirements). You can earn up to $500 in referral bonuses, which means you can refer up to 10 people.
Because of the referral bonus, a household could potentially earn $150 with just a few minutes of work. First, open your One Finance account using a referral link. Then refer your spouse or partner using your own referral link. By doing this, you’ll get $50 once you meet the bonus requirements, your spouse or partner will get $50 once they meet the bonus requirements, and you’ll get an additional $50 for referring them.
One Finance 3% Interest Account
One interesting feature of One Finance is the 3% interest savings account that they offer. It’s a little confusing how it works, but essentially, you can save up to 10% of each direct deposit that goes into your One Finance account into a 3% interest savings account, up to a maximum of $1,000 per month. That means you could in theory get up to $12,000 per year into this 3% interest account. Doing so wouldn’t be easy though because you’d need $120,000 of paychecks going into your One Finance account.
I think there are easier ways to earn 3% or more interest on your savings. For example, check out my post: Where To Get 5% Interest Savings or my other post, Getting More From My Emergency Fund With 3% and 5% Interest Savings Accounts.
That said, it’s something that some people might want to take advantage of, so it’s worth sharing.
Final Thoughts
If you have an easy way to meet the direct deposit requirement, then this is a bank account I’d highly recommend simply because of how easy the terms are to meet and how fast it is to open this account.
I opened an account for me and my wife and set up our direct deposits in less than 10 minutes. All told, we’ll make $150 for the little amount of work we put into this deal. It was well worth our time.
Hope this helps!
H/T to Doctor of Credit.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($10) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (5 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 5 free stocks (usually worth around $75-$100) if you open an account using a referral link and deposit $2,000. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (5 free stocks) – Webull also gives you 5 free stock valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free stocks using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($100) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Upgrade ($100) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you open an account and complete three debit card transactions. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Importantly, this bonus says that it’s now scheduled to end on January 31, 2023. As long as you get your account opened before January 31st, you should be eligible. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $100 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- OnJuno ($60) – OnJuno is a fintech/neobank that is currently offering a $10 referral bonus if you open an account using a referral link and make a deposit of $50 or more. You will also get 1000 JCOIN. The 1000 of JCOIN is cryptocurrency. At the time I'm writing this, it'll be worth about $50. Check out my OnJuno referral bonus guide here.
- Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Albert ($150) – If you can manage to do a real direct deposit, Albert is an easy account you can use to earn a referral bonus. Here’s a review about Albert I wrote. And here’s a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Albert referral bonus.
- Netspend ($20 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $20 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $20 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
- Novo Bank. Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. It’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Hi Kevin,
You said, >>>Meeting the $250 direct deposit requirement is a little bit trickier. At the moment, it appears that you need an actual employer direct deposit, so you should only open this account if you have an easy way to meet the direct deposit requirement. <<<
We set up the Chime account with an ACH transfer. Can you explain a little more why we can not do an ACH transfer to accomplish a payroll deposit.
Thank you.
Joe
This is just from the datapoints people have reported online. For whatever reason, anything works with Chime basically. Other’s just don’t because their systems can detect what’s a real direct deposit better.
SoFi has a $100 promotion going on until 01-31-2021
>>>In order to qualify for the $75 bonus, an enrolled member must have $500 or more in total qualifying Direct Deposit transactions within the promotion period.
Qualifying Direct Deposits must be made from the enrolled member’s employer, payroll, or benefits provider via ACH deposit.
Non-Qualifying Deposits are deposits that are not from an employer (such as check deposits; P2P transfers such as from PayPal or Venmo, etc.; merchant transactions such as from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc.; and bank ACH transfers not from employers). <<<
Will an ACH bank to bank work for this one??
https://support.sofi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360050414632–100-Money-Welcome-Bonus
Thanks!
Joe
So my experience with SoFi (and I believe this is still true now) is that SoFi requires a real direct deposit. Years ago when SoFi money first launched, they had a bonus that required a direct deposit and nothing I used triggered it. If that was the case back when they first launched, I doubt its changed now.
In short, SoFi Money likely requires a real Direct deposit in order to trigger the direct deposit requirement. There is currently a referral option for SoFi Money that offers $50 without requiring a direct deposit (all you have to do is fund the account with $500). If you can do a real direct deposit, go with the public offer. If you can’t, your choices are either go for the $50 referral offer or consider waiting to see if a $100 offer that’s easier to hit comes up. No idea if an easier $100 offer comes though.
Thanks for this. New to bank account bonuses. Is there any limitation if a direct deposit of mine under my name goes into a bank account under my spouse’s name? (Of which does not include my name whatsoever). Thanks!
I haven’t had any issues doing that. I use my wife’s payroll system and deposit into accounts with my own names.
Hi Kevin, when I click the referral link above it doesn’t show that I have been referred nor mention a referral bonus, is this normal with One Finance? I’m asking before I go forward.
Hey. Yeah it doesn’t say it in the referral link, but watch the URL and you’ll see that it is a referral link (the link changes fast, so you’ll have to look carefully).
Thank You and Thank You for all you’ve posted on your Financial Panther site. Also Thank you in Advance for your future post!
Hi Kevin, 6 months or so you highlighted Chime’s Referral deal to score $75. Chime, or Stride Bank did not mail any 1099 INT or 1099MISC. I called Chime yesterday and they said go to TSC1099. com No other instructions how to access the website. On this site, https://www.tsc1099.com/ it asks for Site ID # User ID and Password…..Again, no instructions on how to proceed the first time. Chime, I assume was responsible to provide instructions on how to access this site.
I hope you have already have experience in this matter. I use TurboTax, so I entered my Chime bonus as a 1099 INT without any knowledge of how it was reported to the IRS. But what if Chime posts it as a 1099 MISC????
Since I had a few referrals, I feel responsible to let people know how to report their bonus.
Thank you!!
Hey — One Finance is asking for a follow up email from the account holder’s link I used in order to confirm I can get the bonus. They seem real stingy about it and was wondering if you could email One confirming your link? I can send you my email.
I’m having the same issue. Was this ever resolved for you?
This is new. No problems when I did it a few months ago.
Hello, is this referral program still ongoing with the same terms? And is the referral link on this page still valid as well, (since only 10 people per link can be referred)?
Thank you.
Same terms. Yes the link is still valid.
Hello, is this referral program still running on the same terms? And is the referral link on this page still valid? When was the last update in May
Yes, the referral program is still the same as far as I can tell.