I would ask about your "small western bank",
How are they in terms of convenience for you, and demonstrated willingness to be of service?
I have had bankers willing to open the branch for me before business hours, and basically nothing would be too much for me to ask on a given day.
In my opinion, banking locally with that level of service is preferable to the global giants who may pay a bit higher interest rate on savings, or offer a credit card with musical bells and whistles.
The comparative rate of return for putting $15,000 in the bank for 3 months and receiving $600 is 16%. Obviously you'd only realize that rate if you could find an offer like that every three months, but even assuming the money goes back in a ho hum money market, you're still looking at over 5.5% actual return for the year.
Don't get me wrong, bonus chasing is a pain in the neck and I'd never use Chase for my main bank - I have no need for the services of a commercial bank and I have no need to pay the kind of fees they charge. But two bonuses a year on $15,000 is equivalent to what they say you'd average from the stock market, with no risk beyond painstaking babysitting and no tax grief, just two nice simple one-box 1099's. It's not the worst way to make some extra cash.
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