BobbyRobert said:sinik said:Rates just dropped. 12-17 mo jumbo is now 4.4% APY.
Rate Board

but curiously they did not change their savings rate (now essentially the same as the CD rate).

Yes..it is still 4.35% APY on the Share Savings (at least so far).....A good point to keep in mind is that Alliant has a reputation for having pretty high savings and cd rates (comparatively speaking of course, based on the current interest rate climate..which unfortunately is on it's way down now)....which still makes them a good long term bet for savings and cds, so always a good CU to be with.....

and the share savings rate is still 4.35%! I believe they have already made their rate adjustments for the month, as the CD's had gone down a bit....so it seems like the rate on the savings is holding, so far.....

But as i previously mentioned, from what i've heard about Alliant, they do have a reputation of having very high share savings and cd rates, so they are a great place to be with for the long term, and their online banking and customer service is outstanding...along with the superb surcharge free atm coverage through Allpoint, Coop, Alliance One and CU24......

So, even if the rate does go down eventually...i am a "happy camper" with Alliant, and highly reccommend them

kchnew said:2 newbie question: do they reimburse the ATM fee charged by other non-Alliant ATM vendors? Also if you send application through mail, can the hard-pull of credit be avoided? Thanks.

they don't re-imburse any atm fees at all from other banks....instead, they are connected to the COOP Network, Alliance One and the new CU24 Premium Service (CU Premium brings in the CU24 network ALONG WITH the huge ALLPOINT NETWORK)...

So, all told, there are about 75,000 atms you can use, nationwide, where you will not get charged an atm fee on that machine....The biggest two of the networks is ALLPOINT and COOP....on Alliant's site, you can check any area, and see which atms are available to you...

These are not in banks..they are in stores (groceries, drug stores, gas stations, 7-11s, etc etc)....

On Alliant's end you may make up to 8 withdrawals per month with no Alliant side fee.....that is per account...so if you have both Checking and Savings, you have a reserve of up to 16 withdrawals per month (8 plus 8)....not that most of us need that many (lol) i myself, average maybe 6 to 8 per month tops, which i usually do from the savings side....but nice to know i have a "reserve" on the checking side (in case of an emergency).....

You can also do up to 8 free Balance Inquiries per account per month (with no fee) counted seperate from withdrawals..

So, it's pretty flexible, as long as you work within those limits.....

As to the hard pull question..i think either way, you will get the hard pull...but if your history isn't great, or you have a huge number of recent chex system inquiries, you might be better off doing the mail in application, to avoid an automatic rejection by the computer (online application)...and a better chance of getting approved...

Otherwise, the Online Application should be fine....

kchnew said:craig10x, thanks a lot for spending time on the reply. It helps a lot. I have followed your posts in Fidelity thread and still use their SmartCash today.

You're very welcome Glad to be of help....I find it works very well with all the surcharge free atm coverage, so i don't miss the rebates that much with this account.....

Oh, and an extra note: you will also find alot of coop atms in credit union locations, and allpoint is in alot of regular supermarket chains, and even department and convenience stores.....on their website, just punch in any zipcode on the atm locator, and you will see what's around any particular area.....

Probably very few...even huge banks like Chase and BOA i believe have like 3 star ratings....3 stars is considered good for a bank or credit union.....You don't have to worry about Alliant...first of all, they have the standard NCUA insurance, which is just like FDIC at the banks...Alliant has been around since 1935 (originally as the United Airlines employees CU), has over 200,000 members, and is the 8th largest CU in the United States.....

They are very financially sound...the reason they offer such high share and cd rates is because it's their philosophy to do so...a CU is non-profit and this one likes to give back the profits to it's members in this manner....They must be making nice profits to be able to give those high rates

aptvictoria said:Regarding Alliant's 2-day ACH transfer times, does that represent a 2-day loss of interest on funds transferred?

I initiated a transfer this past Thursday. Alliant listed it as pending (does not show in my alliant balance yet) on Friday. There is no corresponding hold on my outgoing account yet. Past experieice says that the balance will be credited to my alliant acct on Monday and will show as a pending outgoing transfer from my BofA acct. So my, admittedly unusual, weekend experience suggests no lost interest.

All that said, since alliant limits ACH to 10k we are talking about less than two dollars worst case....

aptvictoria said: Did you do an Alliant pull or a BofA push?

sorry about my careless reading. My description referred to an Alliant pull.

When you push out from Alliant, it does withdraw the money out, after 10 pm on the initiation day, and arrives at your other bank, two days after that....

it probably would work, but you wouldn't want to do that because although the overdraft would be covered, there is a $10 fee each time you use that overdraft protection (from savings to checking) it's not a "freebie".....

And yes, the overdraft is limited to part of the 6 per month of online transfers....It's really more for protecting to avoid a bounced check...$10 is much cheaper then a standard overdraft fee.....

Why not just keep a working balance in checking and all the rest in savings...move money into checking as you need it...and the transfers from savings to checking at an atm doesn't count toward the 6 rule, so you could do some that way, if you run close or over the 6.....

maximizing interest is cool, but let's not go overboard (lol)
for example, even if you kept an average checking balance of, say $1200 per month, the most you'd lose after taxes is maybe around $30 to $35 for the ENTIRE YEAR...so why drive yourelf "batty" to squeeze out every last $ of interest?

Meanwhile, you got it linked directly to a very high yielding savings account, from which you can make instant transfers, with no delays!

Just be happy you get the high rate of return on the savings side...more then makes up for any small interest losses on the Checking side....

While it's true, that 4.35% is not a guaranteed rate forever, one thing you can count on, is that Alliant will always have a very high rate (comparatively speaking) in whatever the current interest rate market is....and as a CU, and non-profit, it is somewhat easier for them to maintain a higher rate then a bank can....

This is why i feel they are a great long term bet (not a rate chaser bet...lol)....

i agree cardjuggler, OP should rename this the Alliant CU thread as the Share Savings rates at Alliant is always top notch and is currently still holding at 4.35% APY......

Well, i was referring to ach pulling into Alliant, using the External Bank ach transfer system...NO holds when it arrives (which is the same day it gets pulled from the other bank....

Also, new accounts (like most banks and cus) are subject to a long hold period for the first 30 days after opening....It's 10 days for any check deposits, regardless of the amount (small or big)...

After the 30 days, check deposits availability are as follows:
First $2500 available immediately
$2500-$5,000 available second day after deposit
Remaining amount over $5,000 not more then 7 business days maximum

You can read it about it in the brochure that came with your welcome package.....