The suggestion to wait until after 3/18 is good though ...
I opened the Heartland account now, because I want to be past the typical first month/new account limitation window when I start receiving funds from maturing CDs.

BTW, I got a nice thank you card and business card from a supervisor at Heartland today.

I moved my CD money into FABaT. Another reward checking besides Toledo that didn't look that good when it first drop its rate but now looks good again compare w/ most CDs and savings accounts out there. I'm seriously thinking about Heartland. It looks like there are still new reward checking accounts popping up every other day w/ 6% apy and 25K cap cap so I'm hopeful that AAFCU and Heartland would keep their rates. Too optimistic? Anyone else considering opening another reward checking at this time or any other time in the near future ie. when do you think that rate changes from banks would occur now that the .75 rate cut has been announced?

Point of interest for nathanielp, naas, busterbaxter and anyone else who may be having trouble getting their debits credited correctly (that sounded good, didn't it!):

The CSR at Provident Credit Union warned me not to pay my cellphone company as a "debit" -- apparently phone companies are notorious for coding your debit payments as an "ATM withdrawal" so they can avoid paying VISA fees.

thanks ThursdaysChild. All my debit card activities (paying phone bill, gas pump, buying small snack in local grocer, etc.) show up as POS Withdrawal. The CU has fixed the error for me last month. I will check each monthly statement carefully from now on. There is no way to choose how to pay a phone bill online, and as for the gas pump and grocer I use the "credit" option.

PerkGetter said:busterbaxter said:thanks ThursdaysChild. All my debit card activities (paying phone bill, gas pump, buying small snack in local grocer, etc.) show up as POS Withdrawal. The CU has fixed the error for me last month. I will check each monthly statement carefully from now on. There is no way to choose how to pay a phone bill online, and as for the gas pump and grocer I use the "credit" option.All of my Heartland debit card purchases show as Point Of Sale Withdrawal. They're "credit" purchases on my debit card. This shouldn't be an issue, right?My message was really aimed at nathanielp because he listed Cingular so many times in his post. Only Heartland CSRs or other FWers with accounts there can confirm that "POS Withdrawals" count toward your total, but I would guess that as long as it's not coded "ATM Withdrawal" you should be OK.

ThursdaysChild said:PerkGetter said:busterbaxter said:thanks ThursdaysChild. All my debit card activities (paying phone bill, gas pump, buying small snack in local grocer, etc.) show up as POS Withdrawal. The CU has fixed the error for me last month. I will check each monthly statement carefully from now on. There is no way to choose how to pay a phone bill online, and as for the gas pump and grocer I use the "credit" option.All of my Heartland debit card purchases show as Point Of Sale Withdrawal. They're "credit" purchases on my debit card. This shouldn't be an issue, right?My message was really aimed at nathanielp because he listed Cingular so many times in his post. Only Heartland CSRs or other FWers with accounts there can confirm that "POS Withdrawals" count toward your total, but I would guess that as long as it's not coded "ATM Withdrawal" you should be OK.

FWIW, here's how I approach the credit/debit issue:

In person purchases:

I always choose credit over debit; if you have to enter your PIN, this will be a debit card type of purchase, rather than a signature-based (i.e. credit card) type of purchase. Note that unless the check card transaction requirement for the Reward Checking account specifically says only signature-based purchases or other wording that indicates that you have to make a credit card type of purchase, entering a PIN should be fine. The reason I don't want to enter a PIN is because of liability protection: you are generally more protected against fradulent transactions if you make a signature-based rather than a PIN-based transaction.

On-line purchases:

I always choose credit. If the payment method says crebit/debit card, and gives you an option to pay using a network such as Interlink, Pulse, PLUS, STAR, or NYCE, *don't use that option*! These are ATM networks, and will likely cause the transaction to show as an ATM withdrawal, as ThursdaysChild mentions above. That kind of transaction won't meet the check card transaction requirement.

I am thinking of opening another AAFCU a/c. Any gustimates on where their rates are headed?

Thanks for the "insite"

This would a/c for wife..

mm04 said:DreamR2I said:I am thinking of opening another AAFCU a/c. Any gustimates on where their rates are headed?

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess "not up"

For those not familiar, each Member Number can have only one Max Checking Account assigned. If you want a 2nd Max Checking account, you must apply as if you are a new member all over again. Once established, you will end up with a 2nd Member Number. There is an option online to transfer funds from one member number to another.

Banking Guy now has statistics on his Reward Checking Account website:

Statistics for All Reward Checking Accounts Posted on Bank Deals

Here are the latest statistics:

Total number of accounts: 150
-- Average yield: 5.26% APY, Average balance cap: $36,067

Number accounts first reported in 2006: 4
-- Average yield: 4.67% APY, Average balance cap: $25,000
Number accounts first reported in 2007: 86
-- Average yield: 5.13% APY, Average balance cap: $39,826
Number accounts first reported in 2008: 60
-- Average yield: 5.49% APY, Average balance cap: $31,417

Number of credit unions: 50, Number of banks: 100
-- Average yield for banks: 5.23% APY, Average balance cap: $38,050
-- Average yield for credit unions: 5.33% APY, Average balance cap: $32,100

As you can tell, the longer the Reward Checking Account appears to have been in existence (or at least posted at Bank Deals), the lower the APY. One could speculate that over the long-term these accounts are simply not that profitable, and that the financial institutions are responding to that. Of course profitability is probably severely affected by the lousy savings rate environment we now have.

Statistics for Nationally Available Reward Checking Accounts Posted on Bank Deals

Here are the latest statistics:

Total number of accounts: 12
-- Average yield: 5.22% APY, Average balance cap: $33,333

Number accounts first reported in 2007: 6
-- Average yield: 4.59% APY, Average balance cap: $36,667
Number accounts first reported in 2008: 6
-- Average yield: 5.84% APY, Average balance cap: $30,000

Number of credit unions: 6, Number of banks: 6
-- Average yield for banks: 5.41% APY, Average balance cap: $37,500
-- Average yield for credit unions: 5.02% APY, Average balance cap: $29,167

These have a similar trend to all Reward Checking accounts, but the sample size is probably too small to make any real comparison between the nationally available accounts and all accounts.

AAlison said:ThursdaysChild said:
The CSR at Provident Credit Union warned me not to pay my cellphone company as a "debit" -- apparently phone companies are notorious for coding your debit payments as an "ATM withdrawal" so they can avoid paying VISA fees.
I found this to be true with SBC/AT&T Local phone service's website even when I *know* I unchecked the debit box (which was "helpfully" checked as the default). When it hit AAFCU, it was coded as a debit anyway, so that was a wasted transaction.
For AAFCU, any transaction with the word "debit" in it counts towards the number of transactions requirement. It means you made a signature-based transaction (i.e. a transaction using a credit card network) with your debit card. It thus wasn't a wasted transaction. If you had seen "ATM withdrawal" or something similar, which you would have if you'd left the debit card network box checked, then it would have been a wasted transaction.