Reward Checking Accounts (High Yield and Available to All)

downhillskier said: I don't see any mention of Arizona Bank & Trust's reward checking account. Bankingguy has details here. In short, it is 6.01% up to $20,000 with similar restrictions to the others here (debit transactions, direct deposit) It sounds similar to the others mentioned here, except it is apparently guaranteed to keep the rate until April 2009.

I am concerned about the last comment made about it "Is anybody concerned about this bank's low ratings at bankrate.com? CAEL is 5 and bankrate.com's stars is only 1 star (both the lowest possible). I understand it is FDIC insured, but should this worry me?" that nobody has responded to. What do all of you think?I think if you keep your deposit below the FDIC insurance limit you don't need to worry.

Be sure to leave some slack for accumulated interest.

I'm looking to sign up for West Texas National Bank. Does anyone have any experience with them? I live in CA, so I'll be signing up online. I've read a lot about AAFCU, but since I'm not a member of any of their organizations and unrelated to a serviceman, I don't qualify.

Would buying gas at $5 a time count as a debit transaction? I read something about signatures being used, but that's more like a credit transaction than a debit transaction right?

An update on West Texas National Bank - Ultimate Checking account.

Looks like you can now apply if your SS# starts with a "0", but you can not have a beneficiary with a SS# that starts with a "0".

glxpass said: dougneb said: AAFCU Comments and Questions:

<snip>

Questions:
1. Do monthly ACH pushes from another financial institution count as DDs to AAFCU?
2. Is everybody getting the first month free as far as the requirements go?

1. Yes, ACH pushes from another financial institution's account meet the DD/ACH debit requirement.
2. Everyone gets the requirements waived for the statement cycle in which their account was opened. I'd recommend against applying towards the end of the month in order to allow for receiving the debit card, etc, and having the maximum time possible to meet the requirements for the next cycle.

Keep in mind this information from the MAX Checking FAQ:

During what time period must I meet the requirements?

Between the last business day of the month and the next to last business day of
the following month. For example, to earn 6.01%/1.01% APY and ATM
surcharge fee refunds during the month of November 2007, you must meet the
requirements between October 31 and November 29.
Example start date: October 31
Example end date: November 29

It's important to note that this is based on when the qualifying transactions post to the MAX checking account, rather than the transaction date.

Glxpass I had a question regarding the "business" day part, does that mean AAFCU working days only - Mon thru Sat and excluding holidays?

For example what would be the cycle for Sept 2008 cycle?

Start Date: August 31st (its a Sunday)
End Date: Sept 29th

Is this right? If anyone knows please share, if not I will call AAFCU and find out what they mean by "business" day? I will post back. Thanks!

Glxpass thanks for your post above. I just called and confirmed pretty much the same info from AAFCU:

- Business day is weekday Monday thru Friday
- Excludes holidays

I asked where I could find their list of holidays, she wasn't sure, I asked if they would have it at their website, she said no. She said their next holiday is Memorial Day, 5/26. She did say they do observe all federal holidays.

Couple of other things I wanted to share here:

1.) For the monthly DD/ACH requirement, the ACH can be either TO or FROM your AAFCU account.
2.) As glxpass already mentioned it is a good idea to open the account at the beginning of the month.

Also, if it has been over two weeks since you opened the account and you don't have your ATM/Check card yet, call them. I opened my account I believe almost three weeks ago, while opening I clearly had the ATM card and Visa check card options checked (I have a print out of my account opening confirmation too). And yet when I called couple of days ago they said I was not signed up for ATM/Visa check card. Anyway, they are going to get it to me in 7-10 business days so hopefully I'll have time to fulfill the May cycle requirements (Got April month freebie due to new account opening).

So those waiting on your card don't hesitate to call and confirm.

beethovengirl said: I'm running Firefox/2.0.0.14 for Mac OS 10.5.2, and when I tried running the iMacro I recorded for making a PayPal payment, I got an error when I got to PayPal's page asking me to confirm that I want to change my payment from an ACH debit to a credit card. I have to click on "Yes," but iMacro gave an error. Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone know how to fix this?

thank you
I contacted iMacros tech support, and they helped me fix this problem, in case anyone is curious. Here is the fix:
Edit the iMacro by replacing the line in question with the following TAG (i.e. the PayPal session id is replaced by a wildcard):

TAG POS=1 TYPE=INPUT:SUBMIT FORM=ACTION:https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?SESSION=* ATTR=NAME:_funding-select-submit

Great to see another extension of the 6.01% cashmonkey!

I guess I need to read up on strategy. I just started paying my phone bill via $5 increments, increasing the penny so they were different amounts and wouldn't be confused as duplicate transactions, and by the time I got to the 8th transaction, AAFCU called me to confirm the activity. I was going to say, well, yeah, isn't today the first of the month? I want to make sure I get all of my debit purchases in right away! On another note, I noticed that Comcast shows up as a payment/transfer debit. I need to search the thread to determine whether that counts as a purchase, since the verizon charge shows as a debit purchase.

Edit: And it looks like glxpass' posts from March 1, 2008 confirm that these count, so I guess I can increase the amount and reduce the number of transactions. Thanks!

jfharper said: cashmonkey said: Looks like AAFCU's good for another month at 6%. From their website:
*APY=Annual Percentage Yield. 6.01% APY paid on balances between one penny and $50,000, and 1.01% APY paid on all amounts above $50,000 each cycle the minimum requirements are met. A cycle is defined as the period between the last business day of the month and the next to last business day of the following month. Must meet all of the following minimum requirements: Make 12 or more signature/credit-based AAFCU Visa® Check Card transactions. PIN-based transactions do not count toward the 12 minimum required transactions. Receive electronic statements (E-Statements). Make at least one ACH or direct deposit to/from MAAXIMUM Checking (S12) account. If requirements are not met per cycle, the account will earn 0.25% APY. Rates as of May 1, 2008. We may change the dividend rate and APY at any time after the account is opened. No minimum balance required. No monthly service charge. Dividends begin to accrue upon account opening. Available to personal accounts only. Fees or other conditions may reduce earnings. Limit one MAAXIMUM Checking account per member. ***ATM refunds up to $25 per cycle (limited to $4.99 per item) if requirements are met for MAAXIMUM Checking account.

I wonder if they would announce ahead of time of a rate change, for example, state at about the 15th of the month that on the next 1st of the month the rate would be changing? Or do they just drop the bomb on the 1st and that is what the interest starts to be, or do they set the rate on the 1st but give existing customers 30 days before their rate changes...does anyone know or is it unknown?
The wording that cashmonkey quoted was on their web site yesterday. I just got off the phone with AAFCU and confirmed that the rate sheets they received today indeed show 6.01% APY, and that it's good through May. Not only that, but it's their policy to send out in writing and/or post to their web site 30 days advance notice of any rate change. To interpret that literally, I'd say if we hear nothing by May 2nd or 3rd, then that means the 6.01% APY is good through June. Of course, there's no iron-clad guarantee of this policy, but I'm cautiously optimistic that this could be the case.

Also, AAFCU has told me every time I ask that there 6% rate is likely here to stay, and if it does go down, it won't be by much and it will only last as long as possible. Perhaps one good thing about them limiting the eligiblity is they might be able to keep the rate up.

MikeR397 said: Also, AAFCU has told me every time I ask that there 6% rate is likely here to stay, and if it does go down, it won't be by much and it will only last as long as possible. Perhaps one good thing about them limiting the eligiblity is they might be able to keep the rate up.
Let's hope you're correct. Whenever I talk with a CSR however, they're as surprised as I that the 6.01% APY has lasted so long, and personally they tend to expect to see it drop. I think this is an indication that the CSRs really have no way of knowing in advance what AAFCU will do about the rate. They know for sure when they receive the rate sheet on the first business day of the month.

You mentioned that you could only do three MAX Checking accounts. I assume you've explored the alternative of a family member's joining AAFCU by virtue of that family member's relationship to you, and you -- I mean the family member -- making the MAX checking account joint, with the family member the primary owner, and you as a joint account owner. If the other memberships you have are under your SSN, then this wouldn't violate their 1 MAX checking account per SSN rule.

Since AAFCU is no longer open to all, I've finally started Air Academy Federal Credit Union (AAFCU) Thread - MAX (Reward) Checking Account and Other Products. Please put all posts discussing AAFCU in that thread instead of this "Available to All" thread.

Added two Reward Checking accounts to the Quick Summary. Arizona Bank & Trust was previously posted about in downhillskier's post on this thread.

Arizona Bank & Trust - Cash Rewards Checking
* 6.01% APY* on balances of $.01 to $20,000
* 1.51% APY* on balances over $20,000
* 0.25% APY* on balances even when you don't meet the 3 easy steps!
* Minimum $25 to open; no minimum balance requirement after that
* ATM surcharge fee refunds of up to $20 per statement cycle if requirements are met
* Account opening process: phone call to provide basic information, then forms mailed to applicant, completed and mailed back by applicant.
* 6.01% APY guaranteed until April 2009. Note that the CU could withdraw this offer for new applicants at any time.
Requirements for each statement cycle:
A. Use your FREE Debit Card
Make purchases without writing checks using our FREE VISA® Debit Card. Simply have 12 or more signature-based purchases posted within the monthly qualification cycle.
B. Make an automatic payment or direct deposit
Have one or more automatic payment (like a utility bill) or direct deposits each month.
C. Go electronic and eliminate paper statements with FREE eStatements
Each month we’ll send you an email to tell you your statement is ready to view online. You must have a valid email address to receive notification.
Cash Rewards Checking FAQ
Bank Deals Post, including documenting rate guarantee and account opening process.

Coulee Bank - Rewards Checking
* 6.01% APY on balances up to $25,000.
* 1.01% APY on balances over $25,000.
* 0.30% APY if requirements are not met.
* Domestic ATM fees refunded up to $20 every month if requirements are met.
* Minimum $50 to open; no minimum balance requirement after that.
Requirements for each statement cycle:
* Make 10 debit card point-of-sale transactions per “qualification cycle”.
* Receive your monthly statement electronically.
* Set up one direct deposit or one auto debit monthly.
* “Qualification cycle” means a period beginning one day prior to the current statement through one day prior to the close of the current statement.
Bank Deals post

RagingBull said: anyone here opened an account at Arizona Bank & Trust - Cash Rewards Checking? If so how is it

I'd also be interested to hear from anybody who has actually completed opening one!

So far, I called and gave my basic information and am getting the forms mailed to me to fill out and return. I'll update in this thread when I've got it all set-up.

One note is that when I called on April 30th, I was told that if I couldn't get it opened and funded that day (I couldn't - no fax machine and it was late afternoon already), the 6.01% interest wouldn't start until June 1st. Apparently, any accounts you open mid-month don't start earning 6.01% until the beginning of the following month. So, I'm planning to open with the minimum whenever the paperwork gets here and push the remaining funds to it on June 1st. Lesson: if you're interested, start working on it to have everything in place by the end of the month.

Any banks in SO CA offering rewards checking? I need a branch near me which makes things easier like fast withdrawals and deposits..thx

Changed Quick Summary:

* West Texas National Bank down from 6.01% APY to 5.01% APY as of 4/30.

* Cleaned up the Bank of Fayetteville and the Heartland Community Bank entries.

happyusmle said: Bad News: got email from AAFCU yesterday: Effective June 1, 2008 the new rate for MAAXIMUM Checking* on balances between one penny and $50,000.00 will be 4.50% APY

Does any1 know when Heartland communityBank will drop their rate?

Any recommended "Rewarding Check Banks " will keep 6.01%APR for a long long time?

This bank "guarantees" their 6.01% APY until 4/2009. Unfortunately, the max balance to earn the 6% APY is only $20k.

Edited...

glxpass said:
You're kidding, right?

Don't ask him any more questions, he might just ask us to pick up his stuff from the dry cleaners and wash his car too!

Realmad(rid),

Sure, no problem. While I'm doing that, would you finish my reports this afternoon, and also, could you call the plumber, arrange to have my car washed, call the contractor regarding granite selection,... nevermind. I'll just PM you the list. Thanks.

<sarcasm off>

happyusmle said: Cann't find it in their website?
Can man open multiple accounts there?
Thanks

Hmm..don't see it on the website now. The CSR I spoke to when I opened my two Arizona Bank & Trust reward checking accounts said the rate guarantee info would be in my account opening packet. I'll post if it is. The CSR also stated that you may open as many accounts as you would like. I opened my accounts by calling the 888#. Check Banking Guys thread.

edit: for bank name so "you know what the hell" I'm talking about...