Can you really get paid to open a bank account?
Yes, from a bank: Wells Fargo offers new checking customers $325, with conditions. Moving money for someone you met online is another matter, the FTC warns.
The real version
Banks pay bonuses for new accounts. One example, read on 5 Nov 2026, is Wells Fargo’s offer of $325 to new checking customers.
- The condition$1,000 or more in qualifying direct deposits within 90 days of opening an Everyday Checking account, with a bonus code.
- The end dateThe offer ends on 13 January 2027.
- The feeThe account has a $15 monthly service fee, which the bank says you can avoid.
- The taxWells Fargo says you are responsible for any taxes due on the bonus, and that it will report it as income.
Our sum: at an example tax rate of 22%, $325 leaves $253.50. Guides agree that a bonus is taxable and that banks typically send Form 1099-INT or 1099-MISC. The IRS says you should receive a Form 1099-INT or 1099-OID for interest of $10 or more. These are US facts: banks elsewhere run their own offers, which we have not read.
The version that can cost you
The FTC says scammers look for people to help them move stolen money, and that the story often involves online dating, work-at-home jobs or prizes. It warns that if you help, you could get into legal trouble, even if you did not know the money was stolen. If you give a scammer your account details, it says, they may misuse them.
Before you open one
- Read the full terms: the deposits, the dates and the fee.
- Never move money through your account for someone you only know online.
- If this has happened, the FTC says to stop, tell your bank and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
“Never pay anyone to get paid, or to get a job. That’s a sure sign of a scam.”US Federal Trade Commission
Read next
Sources
- Wells Fargo: $325 new checking customer offer, checked 5 Nov 2026
- BankBonus: are bank account bonuses taxable?, checked 5 Nov 2026
- Beancount: 1099-INT v 1099-MISC for bank bonuses, checked 5 Nov 2026
- The Points Guy: are bank account sign-up bonuses taxable?, checked 5 Nov 2026
- IRS: Topic no. 403, interest received, checked 5 Nov 2026
- FTC: avoiding a money mule scam (3 Dec 2021), checked 5 Nov 2026
- FTC: what’s a money mule scam?, checked 6 Nov 2026
- FTC: how to spot and avoid task scams (Aug 2025), checked 5 Nov 2026