Rewards Checking Accounts: Higher Interest Worth The Extra Trouble?
You may have seen some billboards or heard a radio ad around town for a local credit union offering a curiously high interest rate. 5% APY? 6%? They usually go by names like TurboChecking, Great Rate Checking, SuperRewards Checking, or similar. What’s up?
Background
It would seem that small local banks and credit unions are being squeezed on one side by megabanks offering “free” checking and a million ATMs, and on the other side by lean online savings accounts paying higher interest. It’s hard to compete. But then a company called BancVue came up with a different solution for all those small banks and credit unions who want to differentiate themselves.
The basic idea: Offer customers a really high yield and ATM fee rebates, but only if they jump through certain hoops. Hopefully, this carrot will attract lots of new customers. If they don’t, then they just get a plain “free” checking account with piddly interest. In the meantime, you try to make more money with credit card transaction fees and cross-selling other products. BancVue actually guarantees that “Reward Checking relationships will be twice as profitable as your Free Checking relationships”.
The “Catches” and Requirements
So what are the hoops? Usually you have to satisfy all of these restrictions to earn the advertised rate and get ATM fee rebates:
- Make 8 to 15 “signed” debit card transactions each month (use it like a credit card).
- Make one qualifying direct deposit, auto-debit, or online bill payment each month.
- Receive electronic statements only (no paper).
- Log into your account at least once a month.
- The rate only applies to the first $25,000 (varies). Balances over that earn significantly less.
As you can see, most of these activities strongly encourage you to shift all your banking activities to this new bank. You have to put money in, spend the money, and even check your balance online every month.
The Potential Profit
The interest rate offered varies from bank to bank, but is usually between 4% and 6% APY. I would say the average no-fee, no-minimum high-yield savings account earns about 3% right now, maybe more. Since these are exactly that - no fees, no minimums, no hassles - I’ll use that as one comparison. If you somehow leave exactly $25,000 in your account at all times:
$25,000 x 6% APY = $1,500 per year
$25,000 x 3% APY = $750 per year
So the 3% interest gap results in a maximum gain is $750 of taxable interest per year, or $62.50 per month. Not bad for those with lots of cash available. But lets say your average balance is $5,000. Then your maximum gain is only $150, or $12.50 per month. The monthly number is probably more appropriate because it is anyone’s guess how long the gap can stay this large. To estimate more accurately the potential gain for your situation, you can use my Ultimate Rate Chaser Calculator.
Concerns and Strategies
Here’s the key thought. If everyone satisfied all of the requirements and earned a FDIC-insured 6% yield, the bank would be losing money like crazy. They are either depending on many people to either forget or screw up somehow. And even if you do, there is the potential that you’ll have to argue with some customer service rep about it. This is in comparison to the relatively stupid-proof no-minimum no-fees savings accounts. For every month you don’t fulfill every requirement, you’ll essentially be losing interest. You might even lose money because ATM fees will not be rebated in that case either.
So first of all, you need a reliable system to satisfy all of the requirements every month, preferably early on in each cycle. Some banks treat electronic transfers from other banks as direct deposit, so scheduling a monthly repeating transfer would work there. For the monthly login requirement, perhaps a monthly Google Calendar or IWantSandy e-mail reminder would be a good idea.
Next, you’d want to make your balance large enough to take advantage of the higher interest rate, but not too high as to you exceed the limit and bring your overall effective interest rate down.
The biggest pain is the ~10 debit card purchases per month (ATM visits don’t count). You don’t want to switch all of your purchases because you’ll be losing out on the potential 1-5% cash back from a cashback or rewards credit card. One strategy is to pay bills like your cell phone or cable bill online, but only in partial amounts like $5. Others make repeated small purchases (i.e. a few stamps) at the Post Office. Here’s my silly but practical solution - each month I take a post-it and cut out only part with a sticky backing. I draw 10 boxes, stick it on the card, and I check off a box each time I use the card for a small purchase.
Finally, these rates can drop at any time, and they often do. Which means if you are really a rate chaser, then you might be finding yourself constantly switching banks, waiting for ATM cards to arrive, and trying to satisfy multiple accounts while moving money around. Since these are small banks, most of them have no online interbank funds transfer system. Result: Lots of hassle.
So, Is It Worth It?
As always, I leave this ultimately up to each person. If you are a real rate chaser, have at least $20,000 in cash, and are very discipline and organized, then this is one way to get some extra yield from your money. If you have low balances or tend to get busy at times, then your chances of actually coming out behind a no-brainer savings account are very real.
For me, the hassle hasn’t been worth it until now, mainly because many of these rates seem to drop right after I consider applying. However, the current the gap between the interest rates offered by online savings accounts is still around 2%, my Vanguard municipal money market yields are pathetic again, and also a local credit union I was going to join anyways is now offering one of these accounts, so I decided to try it out with a bit of cash. So far, it’s okay but I really don’t like having to pray each month that I get the proper interest credited.
Local Banks May Be Best
All things considered, I would recommend first looking for a local bank that offers this program at a good rate. This goes back to the fact that banks are counting on lazy/apathetic people to counter the hardcore rate chasers. If they start losing money, they will lower the advertised rate. A credit union with restricted membership may offer a less diligent customer mix. In addition, I continue to find better customer service if you can simply walk in and talk to a real human. You can find a list of participating banks by state here.
Nationwide Banks Also Available
Otherwise, you can also go for a bank that allows account holders from any state and simply hope that the rate stays good. Here are some of the current top offers:
- Coulee Bank Rewards Checking: 6.01% APY for balances up to $25,000 if requirements are met, 0.30% APY otherwise. In addition to other requirements, must make 10 debit card point-of-sale transactions per “qualification cycle”.
- Charter Bank TurboChecking: 6.01% APY on balances to $25,000 if requirements are met, 0.25% APY otherwise. Must make 10 debit card transactions monthly.
- Lee County Bank & Trust “The Big Account”: 6.01% APY on balances to $25,000 if requirements are met, 0.15% APY otherwise. Must make 10 debit card transactions monthly.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I’m a big fan of these Reward Checking accounts since I can make the most interest plus have fairly easy access to the money. I started using a local bank for it, but have since opened one of the Nationally available ones too since local didn’t offer the 6.01%. The pain is the 10 Debit transactions, but I use penny transactions online so I don’t lose out on using my other rewards CCs for normal purchases. Plus I have 3 of the accounts, so I do 30 pennies a month now, but its not too bad of a time drain. Hopefully the plain online savings will jack up again so I can just rely on them with less hassle.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:11 am
For those who just want a checking account at a local bank or credit union, these accounts become a no-brainer.
You get the benefit of a free checking account with no monthly fees regardless of meeting the monthly requirements.
However, unlike most all local checking accounts, you get the potential of some very high yields if you do meet the monthly requirements.
The only other option that comes close is if you have a nearby WaMu where you get a nice free checking along with a high yield online savings account.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:40 am
I have this type account at our credit union. For me it works, my income is direct deposit, and I use debit for most transactions. I like the higher interest and have no problems with the conditions.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Are these accounts FDIC insured?
June 12th, 2008 at 9:17 am
I just opened one of these up at our local CU (came with a free $70 bc it’s their 70th bday… hurrah).
We’ll see how it works out, but I think it’ll probably be ok because I’ll either make the full 5.5 by fulfilling the pretty easy-for-me requirements, or I’ll make 1.9 or so if I don’t. Either way, that’s more than I’d get with my previous checking account!
I was considering just buying my groceries in steps at the self-check-out lanes to get up to the 12 required, but I like the idea of buying stamps one at a time with the card…
June 12th, 2008 at 10:18 am
For me, the ATM fee refunds were what pushed me over the edge (none of my other checking accounts offered this).
I also have an easy way to make $1 and $2 payments through my university, so meeting the debit card requirements is no problem.
That said, I did “miss” one month — I had enough transactions, but the last couple posted one day late. No sympathy from the CSR whatsoever, and I lost about $45 in interest + ATM refunds.
June 12th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Im pretty sure that most ATM purchases CAN be debit transactions. Ive done 13 this month and it says Ive qualified.
Its really not THAT hard for the excess interest on $25k.
Im at 5.01%.
Mine is also giving me $25 for making 10 billpayments which I knocked out along with the first full months requirements in no time.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
“Are these accounts FDIC insured?”
-Yes, at least all of the ones I’ve seen
June 12th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Most credit unions are insured by NCUA, which is similar to FDIC an also limited to $100,000.
Daniel - It’s nice to see someone admit that they “missed”, because I’m sure it happens.
I didn’t qualify my 1st partial month either because I had no ATM card. I hear some banks give you the high rate by default the 1st month, but mine didn’t.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
the first month at charter bank, you automatically qualify for the 6 %. however, the second month, because of the e-statement requirement that i had not met, i did not qualify. i called them, and told them about difficulty and how the instructions were hard to follow…and they very graciously gave me the 6 % interest for that month. now everything is set up.
as far as the 10 pos purchases, i go to the gas station, and fill up the car. i just make 10 seperate transactions to do it. $3…re-swipe the card…$3….reswipe the card. i treat the account like a savings account and am sure to put in more than the $30 i get out every month.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
FYI Most of the reward banks have caught on to dollar purchases and have started to not count those. As more people sign on, I can almost bet you all banks will start to have minimum purchase requirements
June 12th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Matt.
I havent heard about any bank “not counting dollar purchases”.
Of my 13 so far this month, 5 or 6 of them were under $2.50.
And its telling me Ive qualified.
I havent seen or read any fine print saying the transactions must be a certain $ amount.
Do you have any links ?
Thanks
June 12th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I too hesitated to open a rewards checking account because I wasn’t sure that it would be worth losing the cashback rewards from using my credit card, but if you look at the numbers, you’ll see that it’s not much of an issue.
Say you have $25,000 and a choice between putting it into a HYS account at 3.5% or into a rewards checking account at 6%. The first will pay roughly $875 in a year, the second $1500. The difference is $625. $625 works out to about $52 per month. In order to make $52 per month with a rewards credit card, even at 5% you’d have to spend $1040 per month. So even if you are silly enough to use your debit card for all your purchases, you’d still come out ahead if you spend less than $1040 per month.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
With my swiss army of credit cards I have a label on mine and my wife’s debit cards. It says “use for all transactions less than $5″. We always have around 15-20 of these ranging from cents to $5. It’s our local bank actually and was a no brainer choice.
I didn’t feel like going with a national 6% bank as that’s just too much work. So, we’re stuck with 4%.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:02 am
I concur with Matt that the banks are indeed catching on. Just because you haven’t heard about nor seen this doesn’t mean it won’t happen to you/your bank.
I don’t make these kinds of transactions. I do buy my groceries in “steps” because it’s all I can afford a week until I deposit my weekly paycheck. But even those transactions certainly come to more than $2.50 each.
What I do is simply set up the account in spreadsheet format with categories such as fuel, groceries, postage/shipping, personal, pet food and the like and allocate amounts accordingly. Trust me when i say I have no trouble meeting the required debit amounts each month. Then, once the month is up, whatever’s left over in those categories are moved over into another category titled “6.01%.” That’s the impetus right there to watch my earnings grow. It might be slow initially depending on how much is spent and deposited/compounded, but in the end it’s worth it.
You can bet I will be an unhappy camper if mine pull out because of the practices that others have been using. But by the same token, it’s doom on the banks themselves for realizing that this was bound to occur. Their need for pulling in new money and keeping their regular customers overshadowed the potential that people will find easy ways to make a quick and easy buck, especially if it’s legal.
So, you can take this in any way you want; it matters not to me. I will certainly be curious to see how long their rates do last. But I am willing to bet that they’re going to lose a shite-load of customers if they do pull their rates.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I recommend you all look into Schwab High Yield checking or Fidelity smartCash accounts. They pay interest, 2% and 1.5% respectively, and provide free checks, ATM fee reimbursements, and free Bill Pay. They even send you prepaid envelopes so you can send in deposits. I set up direct deposit and you can perform ACH transactions for free (although you have to do it via phone for Schwab). The rates are lower but you don’t have to jump through hoops to earn them. Sure beats the 0% I was earning in my prior “free” checking account. Money is FDIC insured.
June 14th, 2008 at 7:40 am
My longtime interest checking only pays 2%, the best money market accounts are around 3.5-4% so even 5% is a premium rate.
The way I compute it is… It earns me 1% extra which is $250 a year. Net of say 28% tax is $180 per year. Or $15 extra PER MONTH. I figure I lose about 50 cents a month on creditcard rewards so my net gain is $14.50 per month.
But, I have to make 12 debit card transactions and log on as well as pay one billpay per month. The billpay is already set up and automatic $5 a month to Chase. I make probably 4-6 debitcard transactions per month at Aldi anyway so its really $174 a year for remembering to make the extra 6-8 debitcard purchases per month and logging on once.
For those that wont maintain near the max, it may not be worth it depending on your current checking deal.
Im considering opening 4 or 5 more. Anymore than that would be nightmarish.
June 15th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I use my once local CU for this deal. I only get around 4% now even though they started at around 6. Luckily they have only cut the rates when the fed did and nicest if all there is no max. The CU has been around for a decently long time (30 years or so) so I am not worried about it tanking and its NCUA insured anyway. I use it as a repository for my emergency fund and pay for groceries out of it. We haven’t been able to find straight savings accounts that are this easy to use and give such a good rate. I love it even if it is only 4%.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I’m looking into signing up with a CU to get this feature, but had a question:
“simply sign up for free eStatements, complete 10 VISA debit card transactions and just one direct deposit or auto debit ACH transaction each cycle.”
Does anyone know if the auto debit ACH transaction can come from my WaMu account? I’d rather not direct deposit my company salary into the CU account.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:47 am
The easist way to meet the obligation is to do an automatic billpay once per month.
I pay $5 to the creditcard I use the most every month automatically.
But, you could also make deposits from other accounts I suppose.
The billpay is a lot easier than setting up a direct deposit.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I’m considering trying one of the online high interest checking accounts for a 15k balance, but I’m wondering if it’s worth the hard credit check? Would the credit check be the same as credit card pulls?
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:37 am
[…] tip for keeping track of your transactions: My Money Blog suggests attaching a sticky note to your debit card with check boxes to insure you reach the […]
August 2nd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Tip for keeping track of your transactions—If you have several accounts which I wil have to have –the Avery Color coding labels which come 3/4″ diameter will work. 308 to a package and get the pastel ones–These will stick a little bit better to the card and you will have to work to get them off.
I put numbers 1-9 around the circle and then number 10 in the middle and will X them off as I charge on them. At a glance then I will know how many more charges I need per card. If you need more debits just add more numbers. That way I can split up some of my grocery shopping and put it on different cards. I also paid my Verizon bill today. I paid $1.00 on it and used 2 cards ($1.00 each) and that worked.
This interest sure beats the savings account the has nice benefits of the checking account too.
I stopped paying for checking accounts years ago.
If you are paying for checking accounts you are throwing money out the door.
I have accounts now at Legacy Bank which just lowered their rates to 4%
and another account at State National Bank of Texas which is at 5.01 with 15 debits and goes up to 100K. You have to apply in person at both banks tho.
I will be moving money to higher paying banks and just leave these accounts open so I can move money back into them again if I need to.
I was very satisfied with the banking at both banks.
Reason for leaving is lower interest rate!!
I use Ing as a method of moving money.
August 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 pm
credit check shouldn’t be a hard one.
I opened two of them and I have identity theft protection and I never got a credit check report.
They mainly check to see if you left a bank and owed them money etc.
You can probably apply on line and they will check you out before mailing you an application in the mail or just call them and ask them about the credit check.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
i am applying for numerous rewards cards. I notice midwest offers 7%. I read an email here about someone who is able to make debits for a penny online to meet the debit requirement. Where do you go online to make under a dollar purchases. I will probably have 5 or 6 of these cards and need help with this!
August 5th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I feel that there will be trouble if we try and make these really small charges for pennies. I will do a few of them for less money and then a few of them for the good old ONE DOLLAR. I will also have to do 60 debits next month. I’m currently doing 27 but moving money to make more $$$. I usually charge around $20 a month on these debits. They will balance each other out as I will ring up bread by itself etc.
Yesterday I went to Kroger’s grocery store and they had some items on special if you bought 10 of them. I got to the check out counter and asked them to put $1 on this debit card and $1 on this debit card etc and then I had them put $1.50 on one of the same cards. Then the balance of the order went on my airline rewards card. I also did this at Walgreen’s. They might tell you that they can’t do it but they did it once for me so now I KNOW that they can do it and they did it again the other day for 2 cards for me.
I paid my verizon wireless phone bill on the internet using the debit card. I made 2 payments for $1.00 each and then I will go back in and pay the balance on my airline reward card. I am going to try this on my water bill.
Separate your groceries and use self check. Don’t be afraid to make a few different price charges tho. They will close these accounts down if they see all the same amounts coming through. Buy stuff that you need anyways and enjoy the $$$$ in interest.
Another person posted that he get’s gas and just fills up a few dollars at a time and pays for it and then starts pump again. I did this and it does take more time and it’s harder to regulate the gas at this price. You turn around and you are at 5 bucks. If you are used to using debit cards this is an ideal way of getting the same amount of gas for alot of different debit charges. There are alot of people that are using debit cards only. NOT me I’ve been a credit card person that earns the points for travel :).
I am opening 2 accounts at 3 differnt banks.(6 total) The reason I’m chosing different banks, is to spread the risk of the ineterest rate being lowered. If it does go down hopefully it will only affect 2 accounts at a time. I have 2 now and one of them is 5.01 up to 100K and 15 transactions but I”m moving that money to a 6.01. I will move my other money to the 7.01 I will leave these accounts open in case they change their interest rate. The bank that is up to 100K is in Wichita FAlls, Tx and U must apply in person, so we made the long trip there. Great bank just lower interest.
My preference is the banks that have the statement start on the first and end at the end of the month and then get those charges done the first 2 weeks.
If your at the store you would then have 6 different debit cards to have them ring up $1.00 or so and u could do it a few times if you needed to. Trust me we will all figure a way to spend those few $$$ at the end if we need more transactions.
Have an awesome day and I sure appreciate this website and the people behind it. That is how I found out about the 7.01 and I mailed my finished notorized application in today :).
August 8th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
My experience with Coulee has been very bad. I tried diligently to meet all the requirements and even specifically asked near the end of the month if I had. Mary Horstman, a CSR, told me that I had. Turns out she lied. When the statement closed, I was notified that I hadn’t qualified for “bonus interest” after all. I had assumed two trial deposits from an external account would satisfy the direct deposit requirement, but after it was too late, Horstman told me that there was a $1 minimum. I’ve never seen this fact before, not on their website or on anything I received in the mail. I don’t know if Coulee is deceitful or just incompetent, but regardless, I pulled my money out. I’m sure next month I’ll fail to meet another mystery requirement. Scumbags.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:10 am
I have been with 2 different banks on the rewards checking since March or April and have met all the requirements. Most of the FAQ’s do mention that you must have at least $1.00 in ACH’s to qualify. They should have been able to see that when you asked if you were qualified.
If you are using a Credit card for other charges go to their website (Chase, etc) and do a small payment to them and set it up so you know it will always be in the early part of the statement. If your statement closes on a Tues or Weds of a month then you can probably set it up for the lst of the month and it will always fall in the statement time. You might need to set up 2 of them the first time to make sure that you are qualified. 1 for immediate to hit the statement and then one for the following month.
When I called Coulee and spoke to a representative while searching for banks they left me with a feeling of imposing on them and I decided to take my business somewhere else. They were not very friendly but then anyone can have a bad moment so I will not hold it against them and they also sounded like they didn’t like those $1.00 charges.
Rudy, don’t be sure you will fail to meet another mystery requirement or that will turn true. Your subconscious will find a way to make that statement come true.
Another suggestion is to print out the requirements and check them off at least your first qualifying month. I did that because of having 2 different banks and their requirements were different. One of them had a bill pay requirement so I just said let’s make this easy–I paid a credit card $30 at the first of the month and this did 2 things for me. If I were ever late it was close to the minimum payment so I had protection of a late fee and it also set me up with an auto bill pay.
I pay my credit card through their own website (chase) and this gives me a few more days of interest in rewards checking and it would also put the fault on Chase if the payment didn’t get there on time. It also counts as an ACH.
If you don’t have another credit card that you are using, nor another payment that has to ACH out a checking account then open up an account at Ingdirect.com and you can set up a monthly ACH there.
Yikes, I have 6 accounts to make sure that I meet the requirements for Sept. I will get them set up so they are all auto and all I have to worry about is the 60 debits. GEEZ, that’s enough to worry about but the higher interest will make it worth while.
Like I said in an earlier post, I will go to Krogers, Walgreens & other stores and have them put $1.00 on each card and then the rest of it on my CC that I get airline rewards. Each Store will give me 6 of them do it 10 times and I’m done LOL
I will also pay my Verizon cell phone bill on line doing the same thing and possibly my water bill and gas bill. I will try them when the new bills come out and see if it works. If that works then between the 3 bills I’m on a good start.
Make sure that you get your POS done in the first 2 or 3 weeks of your qualification time. I am done with mine for the month of August and have until the end of month to do it. If one of them doesn’t show up or I miss counted then I still have time to get one in. HMM that’s where the cell phone or other bill on line will come in handy.
The banks are making there money when people don’t make the qualifications and I’m sure their banking on that :).
August 9th, 2008 at 10:17 am
I have applied at 3 new banks now and awaiting for the final paperwork.
They were prompt on sending the papers out to be signed. I signed them and sent them back on Monday. I called the bank (Southern Community) on Friday and they still haven’t received the paperwork back.
I also mailed the application to Midwest America FCU on Tuesday and as of Friday they haven’t received it either.
Here is what I think is happening. They send you a postage paid envelope. I returned my paperwork in it and I think the Post office is either holding it for scanning to charge the banks, or sending it by Pony Express. The one gal at Southern Community said it seems to be taking 7 to 10 days for them to receive the paperwork back.
My suggestion would be, if you want to get this process going as soon as possible–Mail it in your own stamped envelope.
There shouldn’t be any place in the US that mail can’t be sent out on Monday and received on Friday. Southern Community get’s their mail a few times a day and I checked with her after the last delivery.
August 10th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I just checked my rewards for the month and realized that I only had 10 POS instead of the 12 that I needed. However, I still have plenty of time as my cycle ends the end of the month.
Lesson—Get them in early and double check them.
Another suggestion is to try and get banks that require the same amount of POS. The new accounts that I’m opening up now all require 10 and all end at the end of the month. The 2 banks I had early had different requirements. One had 15 and the other had 12 so I always had to double check them and really be careful that I did get the 15 for the one that needed it. They also had different cycle times which wasn’t too bad when working with only 2 accounts. I would work on one and get that one done and then work on the other one. I usually had 2 weeks of NO POS’s needed. I was doing 27 a month.
This mistake was because of my mind going with the 10 that I will need for all the new accounts I am setting up.
If your going to do this type of banking then take the time to double check your requirements before it’s too late. It doesn’t take long to go to the store and get some candy, gum, bread etc to get the requirements in if you check it early enough.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:13 am
just curious, does anyone have any personal experience with lee county bank or midwest credit union , which pays a whopping 7% interest?
August 14th, 2008 at 8:15 am
URGENT information
I have been trying to get an account set up with Southern Community Bank. They seem to be a really great bank and very helpful.
As I suspected before on the mail taking forever to get the PrePaid envelopes delivered–This is a reality!
The bank confirmed with the post office that these do come 3rd class and they can be delivered whenever they choose to. They are holding these envelopes and when they get time then they will add up the postage due by the receiver of them and then they will have to be paid for and picked up.
The bank is working with the post office now to try and get them to deliver them on a more timely method but it doesn’t help mine that was mailed 10 days ago and they still don’t have it in their possession.
If you want your accounts opened up without this hassle—USE your own envelope and address it the same as the one you receive from these banks.
I have applied at 3 different banks and all of them have sent the Prepaid envelope and 2 of the accounts are opened and functioning now and awaiting the 3rd one.
All of these accounts would have been opened and functioning at least 5 days earlier if I would have used my own STAMP and envelope.
Don’t use their envelope and put a stamp on it either as they are bar coded and also have the First class permit.
I just called the bank and the envelope says first class but the post office is not treating it as first class.
PUT YOUR OWN STAMP ON AND USE YOUR OWN ENVELOPE IF YOU WANT THIS PROCESS TO GO QUICKER
August 14th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Not sure where my other post went but here is another quick one
USE YOUR OWN ENVELOPE AND STAMP AND YOUR APPLICATION WILL GET PROCESSED SOONER.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Went to Albertson’s Deli and had some Turkey Breast put in small bags ranging from $.42 to .72. It’s pretty easy to do as you can see how much the first one costs and then tell them how many pieces of the Meat to put on there to get the $ amount you want. I did 6 charges this way. My other charges on this 15 required debit card were alot higher so I didn’t feel too bad doing this. There are times that it’s just easier to put those $3 and $4 charges on debit and getting through them. I will also pay Verizon bill and other small bills $1 at a time this month. It’s money I would have spent anyways it’s just taking away from my airline rewards card.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Southern Community Bank in North Carolina is changing their interest rate to 5% as of Sept. 1st. I have an account there and have received NO notification. I called about transferring money into the account and had them check and they said they just received an email indicating that the interest rate will be 5% as of Sept 1st.
Nice of them to give us notification :(!
August 29th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Talked with Charter Bank in NM and they are changing their POS requirements to 13 instead of 10. The person I talked with thought it was effective 9/1/2008 but she double checked it and found out it will be effective 10/1/2008. Looks like the interest will remain at 6.01% for now.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I jsut finished talking with a representative at Southern Community on their chat and their response on the interest change is their customers will find out from the website rather then taking a few minutes to send an email or a letter via mail. This rate change is effective 9/1/2008 with NO notice.
It will be changing Sept 1st to 4.88 % APR with 5.00 % APY
Please post this at other sites so people won’t spend time opening up an account there hoping to get the 6%
September 30th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I am really curious how to do penny transactions online. Anyone can give me some tips?
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Just checked my rewards checking account statement issued today. Noticed 4 cents interest but had big balances and plenty of debits listed and 2 required bill pays.
Customer rep stated you have to look at the account history for September 1-31st to check the 12 debits, two bill pays etc. and I was one short. The reason for this is that the bank posts the pending debits as MEMO at the top of any statement leading one to think they are relevant to that statement not today’s so obviously I counted a Memo (pending debit) in my count at that time. The shocker was that my October debits and earned interest will not post until Dec. 2nd’s statement.
Is this the way everyone’s rewards checking works because you are missing one month of interest if it posts to the next month’s statement.
I re read the fine print on my bank policy statement and this is not clear. It’s somehow confused by the terms “qualifying period” and “statement period” and those dates are different.
Is this a ripoff?
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:20 pm
My interest posts on the last day of the month. Or its posted on the first and backdated for the last day.
Either way, Ive never had to wait a whole month for the extra interest.
But, I always make sure I have my 12 debitcard transactions knocked out and showing well before months end.
On my account, I click on “statement” before the months end to see that I have met the qualifications.
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I have had these accounts at 4 banks and 1 credit union and the debits that have cleared will show up immediately and the interest shows up the day after closing or if closing is on a friday or weekend it will show up either Monday or Tuesday. Might need to wait until Monday night posting.
I have one bank that will post things as memo but I get all my charges in the first week of statement cycle so all memos are always posted.
What bank are you with?
I just finished paying some of my bills for electric, water, and gas bill with my debit/credit card. I make small charges on them and they do work towards the debit/credit charges required. You do need to watch how they post tho as the credit union did post a verizon wireless payment as a bill pay instead of pos charge.
If your shopping and use your card, might be wise to make smaller $$ amount of purchases and get those debit/charges in asap.
I double check 3 or 4 times during the cycle to make sure that I am qualified.
It’s too costly to miss the interest.
I would call your bank again and see what is going on and if they will count that memo debit/credit charge.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:01 am
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