Rewarding Checking Account through Malvern Federal Savings Bank
Malvern Federal Savings Bank of Pennsylvania is offering a “Rewards Plus Checking Account” yielding an extremely impressive 5.01% APY on all balances up to $35,000 (1.01% interest rate on balances above $35K).
This is just one of the dozen high interest checking accounts BankVibe has covered over the last month and the number of these offers seems to be growing. Essentially, an interest bearing checking account works the same as any money market account except it typically comes with precise terms and conditions that must be met. However, if you actively manage your monthly finances then these terms and conditions should not present too much difficulty.
As for the checking offer through Malvern Federal Savings Bank, you must abide by the following requirements in order to earn the 5.01% APY…
- Ten debit card transaction at POS per statement cycle.
- One direct deposit or ACH debit per statement cycle.
- Access Free online banking one per statement cycle.
If these requirements are met you will enjoy not only the 5.01% APY, but also free ATM usage nationwide (up to $25 per billing cycle). If they are not met, you won’t encounter any fees but you will only earn an interest rate of 0.20%.
Minimum deposit required to open the account is $200.00.
Contact Info:
42 E. Lancaster Ave.
Paoli, PA 19301
610.644.9400
March 13th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
I signed up, but then noticed something in the terms… it says that unless a $5,000 balance is maintained, there is a $10 monthly fee for the account.
March 16th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Ricky N,
I think you’re mistaken. For another account (Premier Rewards), there is a $5k minimum for no fees. That’s the checking account with a free safety deposit box and other stuff.
This is the Rewards Plus Checking and it says there are no monthly service fees and no minimum balance.
Frank Lapido
March 20th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Apparently, there’s no ACH transfer at this bank (according to customer rep). Which is strange, because one of the requirements is “one ACH debit”.
Customer rep said the requirement could be satisfied by “having your utility company debit the account every month,” but that there was no way of transferring money out except for wire transfer… And no way of transferring in except for sending a check.
Bummer, if true. Can anyone who has one of these accounts confirm that’s it’s possible to ACH push/pull from an external bank?
April 13th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
I use Etrade and transfer my money around with their Max-Rate checking. Free checks, ATM’s and you can transfer in and out of any Bank if you have direct deposit.
I just signed up for Malvern and will let you know if that works.
May 27th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Has anyone opened a rewards checking acct w/ Malvern yet? Can you please share your experience with how it’s going so far? Thanks
June 1st, 2009 at 11:08 am
Is there a hard credit pull for this account or do they use Chexsystems?
July 10th, 2009 at 6:36 am
I opened a checking account at Malvern, Ken.
The 5.01% Interest Rate Advertised On This Page Is No Longer Valid. The Interest Rate Is Now 3.5%.
The account was pretty easy to open online, but getting a response from their PA branch is very difficult. I left a message with an employee there twice, and didn’t receive a return phone call either time.