ReliaBank Dakota’s “Ultimate Checking Account” – 4.07% APY

ReliaBank Dakota has moved to the number 3 spot on BankVibe’s high interest checking account chart this month with an “Ultimate Checking Account” which provides yields of up to 4.07% APY on balances up to $25,000. Unlike most interest checking or rewards checking accounts this one comes with no minimum balance requirements, although you must make an initial deposit of at least $50. You must meet the monthly requirements which are generally associated with these accounts (details below) or else you will only earn 0.25% APY. Also, if your account balance exceeds the $25,000 threshold you will only receive 1.01% APY on the exceeding amount.

Monthly Requirements to Earn 4.07% APY:

• Make twelve CheckCard transactions per statement cycle
• Enroll and receive e-statements
• Have at least one direct deposit, one automatic debit, or one bill pay clear the account per statement cycle

Earn 4.0% APY with this high yield checking account

Here is another fairly nice high yield checking account, this time offered through Lake Michigan Federal Credit Union. Their “Max Checking Account” provides an interest rate of 4.0% APY on all deposits up to $15,000. And although they are located in Michigan, they open their doors to potential customers nationwide.

Here are the details:

• It’s free – there are no fees, and no minimum balance requirements.
• 4% APY* on balances up to $15,000.
• Up to $15 per month in surcharge ATM withdrawal fee refunds.
• Four monthly usage requirements:
  • Direct deposit into your LMCU account
  • Minimum of 10 debit card purchases
  • Minimum of 4 logins to home banking
  • Sign up to receive eStatements/eNotices
• FREE MasterCard Debit Card
• Unlimited check writing
• No per check fees
• FREE Online Banking
• FREE Phone Banking
• $2.00 a pack up to $10.00 for unused checks from your former financial institution
• Direct Deposit with FREE automatic transfers
• FREE Online Bill Pay with Direct Deposit (a savings of $5.95/month)
• FREE 24-hour access to your funds with:
  • ATMs
  • Debit Card
  • Bill Pay

To learn a little more about these high yield checking accounts (sometimes called rewards checking accounts), visit our interest checking page to see what is typically required every month to earn the advertised interest rates.

High interest “Rewards Checking” account: 4.01% APY

These rewards checking accounts keep showing up in the BankVibe inbox. This one comes from Danvers Bank and is available to people throughout the country. Currently it yields a whopping 4.01% APY on all balances up to $25k with a much lower rate of 0.25% APY paid on all balances above that mark. Like most interest checking accounts you must meet the monthly requirements to receive the advertised rate.

Here are the terms, conditions and benefits of this account:

- 4.01% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) paid on daily balances up to $25,000, and 0.25% APY paid on all amounts above $25,000 each statement cycle the minimum requirements are met.

- To qualify for the Rewards Rate, account holders must complete the following each statement cycle: perform at least 12 debit card transactions, receive a monthly statement electronically, access online banking at least once, and receive a recurring ACH or direct deposit.

- Available on personal accounts only. If you do not meet the requirements per statement cycle, you will earn an APY of 0.25%, your account will still function as a Free Checking account, however, it will not receive ATM refunds for that time period. ATM refunds apply to non-DBK ATM Fees and other non-proprietary ATM surcharges. There is a fee for the Occasional Overdraft Privilege Service (OOPS) associated with this account.

ViewPoint Bank’s high interest checking account: 4% APY

Here is another great high interest checking account available to people nationwide: ViewPoint Bank is currently offering an “absolute checking” account which is yielding an APY of 4.0% for balances up to $50,000. Many of the interest bearing checking accounts in which we have covered in the past have maximum balances of much less than $50k, so if you have a larger chunk of cash in which you are looking to plop into a high yield FDIC insured investment this may be your best bet (just make sure you can achieve the monthly requirements).

Benefits of Absolute Checking through ViewPoint Bank:

• No monthly service charge
• No minimum balance to earn interest
• Free online bill-pay
• Unlimited ATM transactions
• Free checks
• Free online banking with online statements and e-mail account alerts
• 4.01% interest rate!

Requirements to earn the advertised interest rate:

• Sign up for direct deposit OR actively use free online bill-pay
• Receive your monthly bank statement and notices on your account electronically
• Use your Absolute Checking Visa Check Card at least 15 times per month for purchases<

Heartland Community Bank’s Interest Plus Checking Accounts

Another great interest checking account came through our inbox today. Heartland Community Bank of Arkansas has an “interest plus checking” account (or rewards checking account) which is yielding 4.01% APY and is available to prospective customers across the country.

You can only earn the advertisied interest rates on balances up to $30,000. If your balance exceeds this amount, the excess funds will generate a still respectable 1.31% APY. This is a variable interest rate, meaning it is subject to change without notification.

Also, if you are familiar with rewards checking accounts, you probably know you must meet the typical requriements each month. For this particular account these include:

• at least 10 check card transactions
• Receive a monthly Electronic Statement
• One direct deposit or ACH Auto Debit
• Access Online Banking

In exchange for fulfilling the above requirements, you will receive (along with 4.02% interest on your balance):

• Free ATM’s Nationwide
• Write as many checks each month without a per-check charge.
• Earn high-interest yields on your account
• No minimum balance
• No service charge
• overdraft privilege available
• Free ATM or Visa check card
• Telephone Banking
• Free Internet Banking

Heartland bank is federally insured by the FDIC. You’re balances will be insured up to $250,000.

Rewards Checking through Peoples Bank of Kankakee County

The Peoples Bank of Kankakee County has a pretty solid interest checking account offer for prospective customers. Although the name of this bank sounds like a small community bank, this account is actually available to customers nationwide. Currently they have a “Electric Blue Rewards Checking Account” which is yielding an APY of 4.01% on all balances up to $50,000 (1.00% APY on balances above $50k). The additional features of this account as well as it’s requirements are pretty typical when compared to other interest checking accounts. These features, terms and conditions are listed below.

Rewards Checking Account Features:

(as seen on promo page)

• 4.01% APY* on balances up to $50,000
• 1.00% APY* on balances over $50,000
• No minimum balance or monthly charge
• Base rate of 0.50% APY* if qualifications are not met
• ATM Fee Refunds Nationwide (up to $25)
  
• Unlimited check writing
• Free ATM/debit card
• Free Online Banking with Bill Pay
• Free e-Statements
• Free TeleBanker access
• Direct Deposit available
• FDIC insured
• $100 to open

Account Requirements:

• 12 debit card purchases
• 1 direct deposit or automatic payment
• Access Internet Banking

US Bank’s 59 month certificate of deposit: 4.0% APY

This is one of the first decent savings rates I have seen come out of US Bank in a while. If you happen to be in the market for a certificate of deposit with a long maturity …say 59 months to be exact, then this may be your best bet.

Currently US Bank has a 59 month CD with an interest rate of 3.92% or 4.00% APY, the national average sits at around 3.0% APY. I’ve seen a few national banks raise the rates for their long maturity CD products lately and slim down the rates for their short term CD’s. Both Ally bank and Discover bank have made somewhat similar moves lately.

US Bank doesn’t offer any great shakes on it’s 6 month CD, 12 month CD, or 24 month CD. In fact they have a 13 month CD that is only yielding 1.00% APY which is about 40% below the national average of 1.75%.

As always, here is a magnifying glass over the fine print:

• must open a CD in person at a local US bank branch
• CD will automatically renew upon maturity without prior written notice
• Penalty for early withdrawal
• Rates subject to change without notice
• Fixed rate CD (once you’re money is locked in, the rate will remain the same until maturity)

Heartland Community Bank’s Interest Checking Account: 4.02%

Here is another great interest checking account available to customers nationwide! Currently Heartland Community Bank out of Arkansas has an “interest plus checking” account which is yielding 4.02% APY on all balances up to $30,000 (1.31% APY paid on all balances above $30k). They also offer free ATM use nationwide in the form of ATM reimbursements. Typically these high interest checking accounts will reimburse a portion of your foreign ATM fees, however, Heartland Community Bank will reimburse all of them.

Benefits of Checking with Interest through Heartland Community Bank:

(as seen on their website)

• Free ATM’s Nationwide
• Write as many checks each month without a per-check charge.
• Earn high-interest yields on your account
• No minimum balance
• No service charge
• Overdraft privilege available
• Free ATM or Visa check card
• Telephone Banking
• Free Internet Banking

Requirements to earn interest rate and free foreign ATM use:

• Make at least 10 check card transactions
• Receive a monthly Electronic Statement
• One direct deposit or ACH Auto Debit
• Access Online Banking

First East Side Savings Bank Rewards Checking Account: 4.02%

Got an idle $25k lying around that could use a healthy interest rate? Try First East Side Savings Bank out of Florida and their Reward’s Checking Account which is currently yielding a whopping 4.02% APY for balances up to $25,000.

What comes with this Rewards Checking Account?

Although you wont find many First East Side Savings Bank ATM machines around town, you will still receive free ATM usage nationwide. First East Side Savings Bank refunds your ATM usage from your Rewards Checking Account up to $25 per month. In most cases foreign ATM usage costs about 2 bucks per use, so don’t make more than a dozen withdraws per month (or 1 every 3 days) and you should be good to go.

As mentioned the 4.02% APY is paid on balances between 1 – $25,000 with 1.01% APY paid on all balances above $25k. This is a variable interest rate, however, and is subject to change at anytime without notice so be sure to keep up with your current rate by receiving paperless E-Statements from First East Side Savings Bank on a monthly basis.

What’s required of you to receive the lucrative savings rate?

3 things…

• 10 Debit Card Transactions – use your Debit Card a minimum of 10 times per cycle for purchases.
• 1 Direct Deposit or ACH Auto Debit – initiate one Direct Deposit or Electronic Automatic Debit each month. (Transfers between FESSB accounts do not satisfy this requirement)
• Receive Electronic Statements – enroll to receive your statements electronically.

No monthly services or fees are associated with this account. Learn More.

Discover Bank’s IRA CD Rate: 4% 10 year term

Discover Bank has been a consistent interest rate leader for certificates of deposit lately as many other nationally available rates seem to dwindle.

One of the more noteworthy rates offered by Discover Bank is their 10 year IRA CD which yields an APY of 4.0%. If you are looking for a conservative (FDIC insured) investment to plop into your IRA account this is most likely one of your best bets.

A few weeks back we deemed Discover Bank as the “Consistently High APY” bank and their rates are still holding strong.

View Discover Bank’s current rates.

Discover Bank CD Rates VS National Average

Unlike a lot of high savings rate offers, these are all available throughout the country (no geographical restrictions). If you have any experience with Discover Bank that you would like to share, please leave a comment.