The offers we could actually verify.

Welcome bonuses and account opening offers change faster than anything else in consumer banking. An issuer can raise, cut or withdraw one without notice, and the offer you find quoted on most comparison sites is frequently one that expired months earlier — because it was copied from another comparison site rather than read from the issuer. Publishing a stale bonus is worse than publishing none: it sends someone to open an account on terms that no longer exist.

So every offer here is read from the institution's own page and stamped with the date it was checked, and an offer that can no longer be verified stops being published rather than being left up with a caveat. That's why this list is shorter than the ones you'll find elsewhere. The date on each entry is the most important thing on it — more important than the amount — and it's worth confirming the offer on the issuer's own page before you act on it, however recent that date is.

The other thing worth reading before chasing a bonus is what it costs to earn. Most require a qualifying direct deposit or a minimum balance held for a set period, and some sit on accounts carrying a monthly fee that will still be charged after the bonus is paid. A $300 bonus on an account that costs $15 a month is worth $120 over the first year if you can't clear the waiver — which is a different offer than the headline.