glxpass said:2stepsbehind said:mhesidence said:Jumped in quick before they limit to local put a cap. What the heck do they want for "Source of Initial Deposit"? Just a bank name? Routing and account number?

I just put "check"
I put the bank name and "personal check". I believe the initial funding of this account is done by check only when you send the materials back to them, so I'm not sure of the purpose of the question. Perhaps we all should have said $100 in order not to scare them too much. I dread what's going to happen when they see Scott's 100K. That might shut the whole deal down immediately!

yeah I put $1,000 with exactly that thought in mind...of course it also helps that max I'd put in would probably be 10k at least until SECU is over. Gotta love fatwallet.

DavidScubadiver said:Yay! FABT even reads like SBOT.

Yes but no Michelle to help you. I did find Arkansas CSR info

I think some caution is necessary at this point. I explain why below, and I've added the information to the Quick Summary, along with documenting the daily ATM withdrawal limit of $500, and the daily POS transaction limit of $1500:

The CSR is certain they will cap the account; it's just a matter of time.

They apparently confused my e-mail request for additional information as an request to apply for the account. (They won't see my on-line application until January 2nd.) I explained the situation and was told to fax them the below information for me and my spouse, since we're opening a joint account:
SSN and birth date
Copy of driver's license (of course, birth date is there also)
Copy of utility bill
Employer information (I included name, address, and phone).
I also put my home phone number, as it wasn't on my e-mail request.

So far, so good, right?

As I was doing all this, I received another e-mail. Here's most of it:

"I have some additional instructions for you after I get the signature cards typed and mailed to you when you mail them back to me signed I will also need a copy of your drivers license notarized returned with the signed signature card along with a notarized copy of a utility bill. According to our signature card we reserve the right to pull a hard credit check."

So now I've sent them another e-mail, commenting on the inconvenience of getting all these things notarized, and that this is the first time I've ever had to get these kind of documents notarized, even when opening a bank account remotely. I also asked specifically whether their practice is to really do a hard credit pull.

At this point, I'm starting to think they have reservations about the terms of this account. I know I'm having reservations about continuing with the opening process!

I'll keep you posted.

scott1961 said:DavidScubadiver said:Yay! FABT even reads like SBOT.

Yes but no Michelle to help you. I did find Arkansas CSR info

It's more like FNBO

TC: We think alike

Added statement cycle information and qualification period to the Quick Summary, as follows:

* Statement cycle begins with the first working day of a given month. For example, the January 2008 statement cycle is January 2nd through January 31st.
* Qualification period is through the last working day of a given month; debit card transactions must post to the account no later than this date in order to count for the corresponding statement cycle. For example, the qualification period for the December 2007 statement cycle is December 1st through December 31st; thus the qualification period for the January 2008 statement cycle is January 1st through January 31st.

Is there a grace period for the first cycle while you await the debit card?

NICE FINDING

I think the need of the hour is some insider who knows what makes banks these kind of accounts profitable...

PorStaker said:So my question now is, what have we learned from SBoT that we can pass on to this post? Dave must have the best points around because he was there from start to finish, but is there a way to give Arkansas enough benefit without cutting into our own profits such as spending a dollar and getting the max amount of Cash Back at the grocery store to charge that store a higher percentage to the benefit of FABT? Any other idea generations would be great, as long as it is a circular movement of my money in order to provide some extra benefit to the bank. I know others have to be thinking this same thing because they want this deal to last as long as possible.

Huh. I think it's our responsibility to teach these banks the flaws in their scheme to make money. Anyway, 'cash advances' against the debit card requested online worked at SBoT, hopefully they'll work at FABT too. Since I need to move money to pay bills anyway I won't need to worry about using the card outside my home. Really, it's doubtful that they necessarily think they're going to make a profit off the debit card transactions, they just backtested the most profitable accounts and found that they had these things in common. Perhaps they forgot about the law of unintended consequences. It's our job to remind them.

willjeffers said:I have avoided these deals in the past because of the 10 debitcard transactions.

The ONLY place I use a debitcard is Aldi and I only go there 3-6 times a month.

What do you all do ? Split your orders into 3 transactions each time or what ?

You need to be more flexible, Whats the big deal using it a few other places? Starbucks, DD and all fast food take cards. On these cheap purchases you don't even need to sign slip