Earn 6.0% APY with the best Rewards Checking Account!

Here is the highest-yielding, interest checking account currently available. Thanks to BankVibe reader Rob for submitting this product over the weekend!

This “interest plus checking account” (as they put it) comes from United Federal Credit Union out of Michigan. Unfortunately for most of us, this product is not available nationwide and you must be a member of this credit union to take advantage of it. As you may already know, these interest checking accounts can be quite demanding of you (the customer) each month. You will want to make sure you know the monthly requirements before committing to any offer.

Interest Checking Account Features from United Federal Credit Union:

• Earn High Bonus Rate of 6.01% APY on balances up to $25,000
• Earn High Bonus Rate of 0.25% APY on balances over $25,000
• Earn Standard rate of 0.10% APY IF you don’t meet qualifications
• ATM fee refunds from other financial institutions nation-wide, up to $25.00 per month (does not include international ATMs)

Additional Benefits from UFCU:

• FREE electronic services: Online Banking (PowerLink) with Bill Pay, instant eStatements and e-mail alerts, and online account aggregation.
• Your savings are insured to at least $500,000; a combination of $250,000 provided by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a U.S. Federal Government agency, and $250,000 by Excess Share Insurance (ESI), a private deposit insurance company.
• Overdraft protection from your savings account(s), along with Courtesy Pay protection up to $1,000 is available to save you embarrassment and expense of Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) items
• Free private and personal Financial Planning and Financial Seminars
• Free Medallion (Signature Guarantee) and notary services

Requirements to earn advertised interest rate (6.01% APY):

• Enroll in eStatements – receive your statements electronically
• Have One Direct Deposit OR One ACH (Electronic Payment)
• Conduct a minimum of ten (10) Debit Card Swipe and Sign purchases (Credit transactions/Non-PIN based).

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.

Best Savings Account Rates in Michigan

Top 5 highest savings account rates in Michigan. These come in various forms of financial products such as interest checking accounts, CD rates, and money market accounts.

Keep in mind the best savings rates listed below may require actions for you to take on a monthly basis in order to receive the advertised interest rate. To learn more about the financial product being offered, click on the associated links below.

Top 5 rates (Michigan state)

(The institution links will take you to their rates page)

United Federal Credit Union 6.01% APY – Checking with Interest – This account has monthly requirements. The interest rate is a variable one, however it is promised by the credit union to remain unchanged until 2010.

Lapeer County Bank & Trust 4.51% APY – “Green Rewards Checking” – This account comes with the same monthly requirements as the above account does. Rates just became effective today (6/24/2009)

Lake Michigan Credit Union 4.00% APY – “Max Checking Account” – You must fulfill the requirements (same as above). This account is available nationwide for a limited time. You may invest up to $25k and earn the advertised rate.

Bank of Northern Michigan 3.80% APY – 60 month Certificate of Deposit – Minimum deposit is $1,000 and you must keep that amount in the account until maturity (sixty months). Traverse City, Michigan.

Settlers Federal Credit Union 2.12% APY – Money Market Account – Minimum balance required to avoid fees is $2,000. You may want to check with the bank to see if their are any additional fees for making withdrawals or wire transfers (if that is what you intend to do on a regular basis).

Michigan state (and much of the mid-west) often offers checking accounts with abnormally high interest rates, as seen above. The accounts are almost always FDIC insured, but come with requirements that must be met on an ongoing basis.

The state of Michigan’s CD rates are generally on par with the rest of the country. If they dip below some of the other average savings rates for various states then consider a large, national bank. Their rates can be found on our CD rate comparison table.