Are bank account sign-up bonuses worth chasing?

Bank sign-up bonuses can be worth a few hundred dollars for meeting requirements like a direct deposit or a minimum balance held for a set period, and that's real, low-risk money if you'd qualify anyway. The cautions: read the fine print for the deposit amount and the holding window, watch for monthly maintenance fees that eat the bonus, and note that bonuses are taxable interest reported on a 1099. Don't move your emergency fund somewhere worse just to grab a bonus, and don't open so many accounts that they're hard to track. Treat it as a small perk on top of choosing an account that's genuinely good — competitive APY, no fees, FDIC-insured — rather than the reason you pick a bank. If the requirements fit your normal cash flow, it's basically free money.