Porte is an online-only bank that is offering a $100 signup bonus to new customers. To earn your Porte referral bonus, you have to do the following:
- Open a Porte account using a referral link (here’s my referral link).
- Receive a direct deposit of $500 or more.
- Your $100 Porte referral bonus should post about a day after a qualifying direct deposit.
What makes Porte interesting is that, in addition to a good signup bonus, they also offer an FDIC-insured savings account that gives 3% interest on up to $15,000. That makes Porte a good bank that you can use for your emergency fund or any other short-term goals you have. If combined with other 3% and 5% interest savings accounts, you can put away a lot of money earning rates well above any other bank.
In this post, I give you step-by-step directions you can follow to earn your Porte referral bonus.
What Is Porte?
Porte is an online bank that offers both a checking and savings account with no fees or minimum balance requirements. It’s a mobile-only bank, which means that you can only access your account via their app. Porte partners with Metabank, an FDIC-insured bank that is most famous for partnering with the Netspend brand of cards (these are prepaid debit cards that offer a 5% interest savings account – for more info, be sure to check out my guide on how to get 5% interest with Netspend).
The checking account is fine, but ultimately not one I would recommend using as a primary checking account because I think there are better banks out there (SoFi Money, N26, and Ally come to mind).
What Porte does have that is useful is their savings account. Porte is one of the few banks that offer a mega high-yield savings account – i.e. savings accounts that offer 3% or more interest. In this case, Porte has a savings account that gives you 3% interest on up to $15,000.
Even without the referral bonus, I’d recommend opening an account with Porte just to gain access to another mega high-yield savings account. The fact that you can also earn a signup bonus for using a referral link is icing on the cake.
Step-By-Step Directions To Earn Your Porte Referral Bonus
Earning your Porte referral bonus is straightforward. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your bonus.
1. Open Your Porte Account With a Referral Link. Here’s my Porte referral link. You have to open your Porte account on your phone. If you’re opening this link on your computer, you’ll be asked to enter your email address so that Porte can send you a download link. If you’re opening the link on your phone, then it should bring you to the app store and should automatically track it.
Here’s the weird thing. It appears that every Porte referral link will give you an error message when you enter your email on the referral link page. It’ll then tell you to manually type in the referral link on your phone. What I think is happening here is that their email system doesn’t work. If you click the referral link on your computer and see the $100 offer, then I believe the referral link is valid. So once you confirm that the link is valid, you can then open the link again using your phone and it should track the referral offer. That said, document everything you do in case you have issues getting your bonus.
One thing to know (and this is really important) is that Porte limits you to $500 worth of referrals. I think if you hit $500, you’re no longer able to refer other people. My recommendation is to first check the referral link on your computer to make sure it shows the bonus offer. Then you should take a screenshot of that page in case your bonus doesn’t post for some reason.
If you receive a message saying my link is not valid, get in touch with me and I’ll try to update the link to a valid one. You can either email me or just leave a comment down below.
To recap:
- First, open the referral link on your computer to confirm you see the bonus offer.
- Then, open the referral link using your phone. This should bring you to the app store to download the app.
- Finally, follow all of the steps to get your bonus.
2. Do a Direct Deposit of $500 or More. After you open your account, you’ll need to then do a direct deposit of $500 or more to trigger the bonus.
If you can easily do a real direct deposit from your employer, then I’d recommend doing that. If you can’t, then there are a lot of banks that will trigger the direct deposit requirement. This will be a trial and error process and you might need to try multiple banks to see what works. The good thing is that the bonus posts within a day of meeting the direct deposit requirement, so if the bonus doesn’t post within a day or two, try again with another bank.
I also recommend doing a direct deposit of $1,000 or more to activate the savings account. So, instead of direct depositing $500, it’s best to simply direct deposit $1000. If you have no interest in the savings account, then you don’t need to do that, but I think you should consider having this savings account even if you aren’t sure that you’ll use it.
3. Your $100 Bonus Should Post Within a Day. If you’ve met the above two requirements, then your bonus should post within a day. After that, you can withdraw the money to your primary bank account. You can either use Porte to transfer the money out, or the better bet is probably to withdraw the money out of Porte using your primary bank account.
Porte’s 3% Interest Savings Account
As previously noted, the best thing about Porte (and really the only reason I use it) is for the 3% interest savings account. The savings account pays 3% interest on up to $15,000.
The terms state that to activate the savings account, you need to have a recurring direct deposit of $1,000 or more. In practice, funding the account with basically any amount seems to activate the savings account. And once activated, you don’t have to do any more direct deposits to keep the savings account active.
In other words, if you open your account and move $1,000 into your account from an outside bank, it should activate the savings account and will stay active forever.
There are a lot of ways to earn 3-5% on your savings account. Be sure to check out this post if you’re interested in all of the ways you can do this: Where To Get 5% Interest Savings Accounts Now That Insight Is Gone.
Some Issues I Had With The Porte Referral Bonus
I signed up for this bonus about a year ago and while I did earn my bonus, I had a few weird issues that you may encounter. The first is that my Porte account kept getting locked when I first opened it. Customer service answered my calls quickly and unlocked my account each time, but it kept getting locked again. The issue was eventually resolved, but it took a couple of phone calls and wasted a bunch of my time.
*Update: I recently had my Porte account locked again for a security issue. The customer service rep indicated that if you have the Netspend app on your phone and check both the Porte app and Netspend app on the same day, their security algorithm sees it as someone trying to hack your account and will lock it. This is a bit annoying, but essentially, it means if you have Netspend and Porte, you need to check Netspend on your computer and avoid checking the app on your phone, otherwise you’ll have to deal with getting your account unlocked.
The other issue was that I referred my brother to Porte, but he never received his bonus. I don’t know why he didn’t get his bonus, but I suspect that I might have maxed out my referrals and the link I sent him was no longer valid. This is why I recommend checking the referral link on a computer to confirm that it’s valid.
The final issue is how many referrals you can do with Porte. The terms state that you can earn $500 worth of referrals. In practice, though, I’ve found I can only earn $450 worth of referrals. I don’t know why this is the case, but it’s what I’ve noticed.
All of these issues initially made me hesitant to use the 3% savings account, and admittedly I haven’t been using the Porte savings account because of the issues I had. That said, I’ve seen enough positive data points over the past year to make me comfortable with putting my money into Porte, so I’ll be using it for at least part of my emergency fund.
Final Thoughts
Porte is a relatively simple bank bonus that you can earn. After you open your account, you’ll also get a referral link that you can use to refer family and friends. If you have a spouse or partner, you can easily open your own Porte account, then refer your partner. You’ll earn $100, then your partner will earn $100, and you’ll earn another $100 for referring them. That’s good for $300 in bonuses without much work.
What makes Porte particularly interesting is the 3% savings account. I recommend taking advantage of the 5% interest savings accounts first, but once you max those out, it makes sense to move money to Porte to gain another $15,000 of mega high-yield interest.
There are a lot more bank account bonuses out there and a lot more you can learn about bank account bonuses. If this is a topic that interests you, be sure to check out my post, The Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses. That post goes into great detail about bank account bonuses and how you can take advantage of them.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a message.
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 ($100) – 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 $100 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.
- GO2Bank ($100) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $100 referral bonus.
- 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.
- US Bank Business ($750) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- 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.
- Fifth Third Bank ($225) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you don’t live in one of those states, you won’t be able to open an account online but you can still open an account in-branch if you happen to be visiting a city that has a branch. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, especially since there are plenty of data points showing what will trigger the direct deposit requirement. In addition, you can open the Fifth Third Momentum Checking bank account, which comes with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Read my guide on this bonus here.
- 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.
- Netspend ($40 + 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 $40 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 $40 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- 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.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $750 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- 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 $100 for opening an account.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 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.
- 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.
Signed up for Porte a couple days ago. Got a legitimate direct deposit yesterday from a small company I do contracting work for and got the referral bonus today! Thanks!!
Did have an interesting situation though. Opened the account and was pretty much instantly approved. Linked the Porte account and routing number in Ally the same day I applied and was approved. Ally sent two small deposits to the account (which usually take a couple days to show up). Two small deposits showed up within hours but were never removed. Got an email from Porte saying my account was temporarily on hold because I need to verify my identity by sending a couple pictures of documents (driver license, utility bill, etc.). I sent those documents and the next morning Porte fully approved my account over the phone. The two small deposits are still sitting in my Porte account. I then went into Ally and the Porte external account shows as suspended with a note that I need to call Ally. I called Ally and explained what happened and am now just waiting to hear back from Ally. They said they will more than likely either A.) try to pull the deposits back and the account link will be complete or B.) remove the linked account and have me add it again. If they go with option B then I apparently just earned $0.82 from the small deposits they might not try to pull back!
Are you able to send money from Chase Bank to Porte to qualify for this benefit?
I’m curious about this too. Wondering the same thing.
Hi, Ally worked for trigged the direct deposit requirement?
I can’t confirm it personally, but see this site
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/knowledge-base/list-methods-banks-count-direct-deposits/#Porte_Bank
Hi everyone,
I attempted to trigger the bonus by making an Ally deposit of a little over $1,000 and it did not work. I then directed $1,000 of my next paycheck into my Porte account and the bonus posted the same day that the payroll deposit was received. So Ally may no longer be a viable option for triggering this bonus.
The referral link you used is no longer valid. You can try another referral link or download Porte in the App Store or Google Play.
Can anyone confirm that what FP said (below) is the case?
“The terms state that to activate the savings account, you need to have a recurring direct deposit of $1,000 or more. In practice, funding the account with basically any amount seems to activate the savings account. And once activated, you don’t have to do any more direct deposits to keep the savings account active.”
Thanks.
Also: FYI
The deal that Porte is currently offering is $50 for a referral. According to their offer statement, the offers should still be running at $100 but the agreement also says that they reserve the right to change it at any time – a right that they have exercised.
Let me correct my above post. My referral said the bonus was $50 but the promotion that they are currently running is for $100 nonetheless. However, this promotion ends 9/4/2021 and the promotion requires that you satisfy the direct deposit requirement while the offer is active. So unless you have a direct deposit that is going to post on or before 9/4, you’ll get $50 (unless, of course, they extend the promotion).
Used referral link, only offering $50 now 🙁
Anyone else having Issues with linking an external bank account to his/her Porte account to move money out? I’ve maxed out my DCU and Netspend accounts, and was going to use the Porte Savings account for Emergency money. None of my other bank accounts are linking, including Ally or Capital One. I’m very hesitant to put emergency funds into a bank that I cannot easily access the funds in case I do have an emergency.
Any advice for getting around those issues?
I figured out the issue, or, how to avoid the issue. Sign up first with Chime, then sign up with Porte. These banks seem to talk well with each other.
RIP Porte
Starting January 1st in order to get the 3% savings you must (1) receive 3k in direct deposits per quarter AND (2) make 15 transactions on the Porte debit card.
See in the app, there is a button on the home page that says “Savings changes are coming.”
Porte is now only $50 bonus and condition changes are coming January 1st, 2022.
Hello, does Porte still offer the smaller $50.00 bonus for posting a $500.00 direct deposit?
Thank you
Don’t think so. Porte is done.