Merrill Edge is offering an increased bonus right now when you transfer funds over to them using promo code 1000ME. As suggested by the promo code, you can get a bonus of up to $1,000, with the transfer also earning you Preferred Rewards status with Bank of America.
The Deal
- Transfer investments to Merrill Edge and earn one of the following bonuses when using promo code 1000ME:
- Transfer $20,000-$49,999 & get $100 bonus
- Transfer $50,000-$99,999 & get $250 bonus
- Transfer $100,000-$199,999 & get $500 bonus
- Transfer $200,000+ & get $1,000 bonus
- Direct link to offer.
Key Terms
- Must fund your account with at least $20,000 within 45 days of account opening to earn a bonus.
- Assets transferred from other accounts at Bank of America, MLPF&S, Bank of America Private Bank, or 401(k) accounts administered by MLPF&S do not count towards qualifying net new assets.
- The bonus will be added to your account 180 days after meeting the funding criteria.
- For purposes of this offer, qualifying net new assets are calculated by adding total incoming assets or transfers (including cash, securities and/or margin debit balance transfers) from external accounts, and subtracting assets withdrawn or transferred out of the account within the preceding 52 weeks.
Quick Thoughts
Merrill Edge is part of Bank of America, so the funds you transfer over will qualify you for Preferred Rewards status provided you transfer over enough to earn you a bonus. Here’s a table showing the investment thresholds and the benefits you’ll receive:
With this Merrill Edge promo, if you invest the lowest amount needed to earn a bonus ($20,000), you’d get a $100 bonus and earn Gold status which gets you a 5% interest rate booster and 25% rewards bonus on eligible credit card spend. Note that the 5% interest rate boost isn’t an extra 5% interest – it’s 5% extra on whatever your interest rate is. If the interest rate on your savings account with Bank of America is 1%, the booster will make that 1.05% rather than 6%.
If you invest $50,000 you’ll get a $250 bonus from the Merrill Edge offer and Platinum status which gives a 10% interest rate booster and 50% rewards bonus on your BoA credit cards.
Finally, if you invest $100,000 or $200,000, you’ll receive a bonus of $500 or $1,000 respectively. An investment of $100,000 or more will get you Platinum Honors too, so with that you’ll get a 20% interest rate booster and, potentially more lucratively, a 75% bonus on the rewards earned when using BoA credit cards.
That can be lucrative because some Bank of America cards offer 1.5% cashback. With that 75% bonus, the rate is increased to 2.625% which is an excellent return on everyday spend. Check out this post for more details about Preferred Rewards and the eligible Bank of America credit cards.
An important thing to note is that this particular Merrill Edge offer requires that you leave the transferred money with them for at least 180 days. The standard bonus requirement is 90 days, but the increased bonuses can make it worth leaving that money with Merrill Edge for longer than normal.
Something else worth noting is that if your current brokerage charges a fee to transfer your money elsewhere, it’s worth asking Merrill Edge if they’ll cover it. Nick did that recently and was able to get the $125 account termination fee covered by Merrill. This apparently isn’t an official policy, but something they’ll often do if you ask.
Continue Reading: Source Link