KeyBank's $300 and $500 checking bonuses, read closely

Two accounts, two codes, one definition. The $300 lane has no fee to manage; the $500 lane has a fee that the bonus deposits themselves can waive.

"But are not limited to"

KeyBank's definition is written as a list of examples rather than a closed rule, and the only deposits it excludes by name are the ones you make yourself at a teller, an ATM, or in the app. That is a materially wider door than the definitions at U.S. Bank or SoFi, and reported results run accordingly. It is still the bank's classification, made by software, and the calendar's method row for KeyBank is specific about the sender. How deposit classification works is its own page.

Smart or Select

The $300 lane needs $2,000 and has no fee at any balance, which makes it the simpler account to hold through payout. The $500 lane needs $5,000 and carries a $25 fee after month three, which the $3,000-per-cycle deposit waiver covers only if deposits keep arriving. Since the bonus can take 60 days to post after the window, a Select account can reach month five before exit. The calendar handles that by either parking $15,000 for the waiver on a large track or scheduling exit inside the three free months plus the payout window, and it says which on your track.

The lockout is about primary ownership

KeyBank asks whether you were the primary owner of its personal checking in the last 12 months. A joint account on which you were the secondary owner does not disqualify you by the letter of the terms. The offer is one gift per individual, so it is a lane that runs once a year at most.

The timeline, Select lane

• Day 0Open online with the code. Fund the $50 minimum.
• Day 3–45Clear the $5,000 requirement on the calendar's schedule, checking each slice as it posts.
• Day 90Deposit window closes. Three free fee months end around here.
• ≤ Day 150Bonus posts; KeyBank has 60 days after the requirement is met.
• AfterHold until paid, then exit. The published terms carry no clawback for closing after payout.

Net

$500 on $5,000 cycled for about six weeks, or $300 on $2,000 with nothing to manage. Both lanes are open until December 11, which makes KeyBank a natural fourth-quarter slot.