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American Express will give you 5000 bonus points when you sign up for their Green Rewards Card and use it to make any purchase. The card is available both as a consumer credit card and also as a business card. The 5000 points are worth $50 and are redeemable for gift cards from major retailers (e.g. Banana Republic, Dell, etc.).

There are a couple of reasons why American Express seems to be able to give away such generous bonuses:
1. Merchants have to pay American Express relatively high fees when customers pay them using American Express cards. That’s right. And it’s usually more than Visa and MasterCard charge.
2. Cardholders usually pay annual fees. In turn, they can earn better rewards with their cards. Many Visa and MasterCard credit cards, on the other hand, do not charge annual fees. At the same time, their rewards programs are generally not as good as the American Epxress rewards program.

As a potential cardholder, you need only be worried about the fees that you have to pay American Express. So what are the fees? Do you have to pay to get the $50 bonus? Actually, no. With this card, there is no annual fee for the first year. If you decide to cancel the card before the second year, you do not have to pay any annual fee. Either way, the bonus is yours to keep.

I admit the $50 bonus is not quite as generous as the $100+ bonuses available with some of the other cards we list, but $50 is still something. And if you apply for more than one card, the total value of the bonuses quickly add up to a considerable sum. At last count, it was more than $1,100. Not bad, eh? All of that is basically free money considering that you don’t have to pay any fees to get the bonuses.

You can apply for the American Express Green Card right online and instant approval is available for both cards.

Link to American Express Preferred Rewards Green Card (Consumer Credit Card)

Link to American Express Business Green Rewards Card (Business Credit Card)

Got IRA?

Washington Mutual will give you a $100 bonus when you open a new IRA account with them. This is an awesome deal, especially if you are already a Washington Mutual customer.

You will need to make monthly $100 transfers from your Washington Mutual checking account. The bonus will be deposited within 30 days of the first such transfer from your checking account. Also, there is no maintenance fee for the IRA account as long as you make those regular deposits.

Link to Offer

From Washington Mutual website:

“$100 bucks says you’ll love your retirement plan
Have you started planning for your retirement yet? If you haven’t, we make contributing to a retirement account simple with our Retirement Made Easy program—and $100 says you’ll love it.

Open a Washington Mutual IRA through WaMu Investments with as little as $250, then set up automatic monthly IRA contributions for at least $100 per month from your Washington Mutual consumer checking account—and you’ll get a $100 contribution reward toward your new Retirement Made Easy IRA account.
We’ll even waive the annual IRA maintenance fee if you meet certain program requirements.

See important information below for details.*

Ready to start saving?
We’re here to help. Call us at (800) 888-0055 to find a Licensed Personal Financial Representative at a Washington Mutual financial center near you.”

Get $125 from Chase when you open a personal checking account with direct deposit. Either apply online or print out the coupon and take it with you to a local Chase branch.

This offer expires October 15, 2008.

Note: To qualify for this offer, you need to be an existing Chase customer (either credit card or deposit account). You have to be signed in to your online account or the link won’t work.

Link to Chase Offer

Here’s what it says on the offer page:

You already enjoy the benefits of Chase. For even more convenience and value, open a Chase Free Checking account with Direct Deposit by October 15, 2008 and you’ll receive $125 to thank you for your business.

It’s easy to get $125!

1. Print this page and take it to your local Chase Branch or apply online by October 15, 2008.
2. Open a Chase Free Checking account with Direct Deposit.
3. Watch your account. We’ll deposit $125 into your new Chase Free Checking account within 6-8 weeks of establishing direct deposit.

Chase Free Checking is more than free, it’s:

* FREE with Direct Deposit or 5 debit card purchases*
* FREE access to more than 9,000 Chase ATMs
* FREE Online Bill-Pay - including our Online On-Time GuaranteeSM**
* FREE Visa® Check Card with Zero Liability*** protection
* FREE Account Alerts sent by phone or e-mail to help you avoid fees
* FREE access to any of our 3,000 branches nationwide

Take advantage of all Chase has to offer. Open a Chase Free Checking account with Direct Deposit today. But hurry - this offer ends October 15, 2008.
*Chase Free Checking has no monthly service fee when you have a direct deposit or five or more debit card purchases post to your account each statement period (withdrawals from the ATM or cash advance transactions do not qualify).

Chase Free CheckingSM requires a $100 minimum opening deposit of new money (money not currently held by Chase or its affiliates) to qualify for the $125 offer. Also, you must open a new checking account and initiate a repeating direct deposit such as payroll, Social Security, or other government benefits. The first direct deposit must be completed within 60 calendar days of account opening. The $125 reward will be deposited into your new account within 6-8 weeks after the initial direct deposit and is not considered part of the minimum opening g balance. Limit one personal checking account-related reward/premium per customer, per calendar year. Offer not available on account conversions or in combination with any other offer. Checking account must remain open for a minimum of six months or the reward will be debited from the account at closing. Account is subject to approval. Reward is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT.

**See the Chase Online Service Agreement for details on the Guarantee.

***Zero Liability protection - Chase reimburses you for any unauthorized card transactions made at stores, ATMs, on the phone, or online when reported promptly.

Bank of America is offering a $50 bonus to customers who open a new checking account. Too bad, they used to offer $75.

The minimum deposit required to get this bonus is $100. This offer is valid until October 31, 2008 and is available online and at an Bank of America banking center.

Link to Offer

Here are the details from the offer page:

Open a new checking account and you can receive $50.
Make the move to better banking and you can receive $50.1 Just open a new, personal checking account, and you’ll enjoy access to your money on the nation’s largest network of bank-owned ATMs. And the freedom to bank from your new home with our free Online Banking service with unlimited Bill Pay.2

With Bank of America you can expect:
- Many ways to enjoy checking with no monthly maintenance fee.
- Free Total Security Protection® package on Bank of America Visa® Check Cards and Credit Cards.2
- Access near home, work or school with over 5,700 banking centers.
Find a location near you >
- Saving made simple with Keep the Change™.
- Free remittance to Mexico with SafeSend®3 and a Bank of America personal checking account.
- Plus, receive $50 when you open a new account.

Your gift is waiting
To receive your $50, apply online or go to your nearest banking center. Use offer code AOU260808, and open a personal checking account before October 31, 2008. Click here for a location near you.

Sign up for the Discover Business Cashback Card and you’ll receive a $100 cashback bonus after your’ve made your first $1000 in purchases with this credit card within 3 months of opening your account. Your $100 Cashback Bonus award can be redeemed for a $100 check, $100 statement credit, or a $100+ gift card from a major retailer. You decide.

Other benefits of the Discover Business Cashback Card include an introductory 0% APR offer on purchases for up to 1 year, 5% cash back on office supplies, 2% cash back on gas, and up to 1% cash back on everything else.

Purchase checks are another special feature. Discovers offers fee-free purchase checks that you can use to pay vendors and suppliers that don’t accept credit cards.

There is no annual fee with this credit card.

PNC Bank is offering a $100 bonus when you open a new checking account with them. Offer is valid thru June 14, 2008.

Link to PNC Bank Bonus Offer

An exclusive web offer!

Get $100 when you open a new checking account with qualifying direct deposit1. Hurry, this offer ends June 14!

Fine Print

1. Payout of $100 will be credited to the qualifying account within 7 days of the first qualifying Direct Deposit, which must occur before 7/31/08. The payout will be identified as “Direct Deposit Reward” on your monthly statement. A qualifying Direct Deposit is defined as a recurring Direct Deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security or other regular monthly income electronically deposited into a Free, Performance or Performance Select Checking account. The minimum amount of any single Direct Deposit must be at least $500. Direct Deposits must be made by an employer or an outside agency. Transfers from one account to another or deposits made at a branch or ATM do not qualify as Direct Deposits. Offer ends June 14 and cannot be combined with any other offer. Offer may be withdrawn or modified without prior notice and may vary by market.

E*Trade is offering up to $500 to customers opening new accounts with them. Actually, they have two offers:

E*Trade Mutual Fund Bonus Offer

E*Trade IRA and 401k Rollover Bonus Offer

In both cases, the amount of the bonus you will receive depends on the size of the deposit you make.

Yes, we know. If you had $250,000 dollars laying around, you probably wouldn’t care about $500. But hey, you’re still getting a risk-free return just a little effort on your part. That’s got to count for something. In fact, some banks don’t even offer that much for their savings account.

Signing up for credit cards that offer sign-up bonuses is an easy way to earn extra money on the side. It doesn’t cost you anything to apply and with no annual fees, you don’t pay anything just to have a credit card.

These days, applying for a credit card can’t get any easier. You don’t have to mail any paperwork. You can apply right online and instant approval is available.

You can easily make over a $1,000 on credit card bonuses. Of course, not all credit cards offer bonuses. In fact, relatively few do. Don’t worry though. We’ve done the work for you. To make your life easy, we have decided to put together a list of the top credit card bonuses available.

Click here here to view a summary of top consumer credit cards with sign-up bonuses.

Note that the list is a work-in-progress. We will periodically update it to show new bonuses and remove expired ones.

Review

Citibank has a very attractive bonus offer for customers signing up for their Premier Pass MasterCard. Actually, there are two different versions of this card with different bonuses.

The regular Citi PremierPass Card gets you 10,000 bonus points after you’ve made $300 in purchases. The 10,000 points are redeemable for a $100 gift card from major retailers like CircuitCity, BestBuy, Target, Macy’s and Amazon. There is no annual fee with this card.

The Citi PremierPass Card - Elite Level gets you 20,000 bonus points after $600 in purchases . The 20,00 points are redeemable for a $200 gift card from major retailers. Another feature of this card is a free companion ticket whenever you buy another qualifying ticket. However, you’re also charged a $75 annual fee.

How to Apply

You can apply online with instant approval available.

1. Go here, scroll down and click on “Citi PremierPass MasterCard” . A new window will pop up with the $100/$200 offer.

2. Click on Apply.

* Be sure to have your browser’s pop-up blocker turned off.

** You may receive this error message: “A system error has caused a delay in processing your application. Please try again later.” If you get this message, try clearing your cache and then follow the link again. Or use another browser (Firefox/IE).

Description (from Citi PremierPass Card webpage)

Citi PremierPass Card - Elite Level

0% APR on balance transfers for up to 12 months, depending on our review of your application and credit history.4
Earn 1 point for every dollar you spend on all purchases.
Earn 1 point for every 3 miles you fly, on any airline.
Earn 1 point for every 3 miles friends and family fly on tickets purchased with your card.
Redeem points for cruises, hotels, car rentals, gift cards and more with ThankYou Network, a free rewards program brought to you by Citi
APR on purchases will be as low as 11.99% based upon our review of your application and credit history4
Points never expire, as long as you make 1 purchase every 3 calendar years.
No Annual Fee.

Review

Audi is offering a $50 gift card when you sign up for their Audi Visa Signature Card and spend $50 on purchases.

If you drive an Audi, this may be a good deal even without the bonus because you earn double points at Audi dealers.

How to Apply

Link to Offer

Description (from Audi Visa Signature Card webpage)

* You will receive a $50 gift card with this bonus offer. You will receive your bonus when you make $50 in qualifying transactions. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks after your qualifying transactions appear on your billing statement for delivery. Qualifying transactions include purchases only. To qualify for this bonus offer, account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment. The bonus offer is valid only for first time card members with new accounts. Only one bonus per new account. Existing card members/accounts are not eligible for this bonus offer.

Exclusive Audi Rewards
You’ll earn 2 points for every dollar spent at participating Audi dealers and 1 point for each dollar spent everywhere else***. There is no cap on the amount of points you may earn and no annual fee for card membership. Use Audi rewards toward:

• Audi vehicle purchase or lease
• Auto maintenance at your preferred Audi dealership
• Audi Financial Services monthly lease or loan payment
• Exclusive Audi merchandise and experience packages
• Gift certificates for hotel, travel, restaurants and brand name merchandise