Just a reminder that these new rules are now in effect.
Consumers Credit Union has sent out a letter to rewards checking account holders informing them of some negative changes to the account that will go into effect on October 1st. The maximum balance across all tiers is being reduced to $10,000 (previously second and third tiers were $15,000 and $20,000 respectively).There is also now a minimum spend requirement of $100 total for the 12 debit card transactions and $500 for the direct deposit/ACH credit. Bill pays have been removed as an option They are also increasing the APY on the two higher tiers. Full changes are below:
- 3.09% APY on balances up to $10,000Â and ATM refunds.
- Complete 12 debit/check card point-of-sale purchases with or without out a PIN totaling at least $100 or more (previously there was no spend requirement, just 12 transactions. But they required pinless transactions)
- Complete one of the following every calendar month:
- One direct deposit OR
- One ACH credit OR (previously debit work)
Pay one bill using CCU online bill pay(removed as an option)
Access online banking at least once(no longer required)- Receive eDocuments (enroll and accept the disclosure)
- 4.09% APY on balances up to $10,000Â and ATM refunds (APY increased to 4.09% from 3.59%, maximum balance decreased to $10,000 from $15,000)
- Complete all of the 3.09% requirements and
- Spend a minimum of $500 on CCU Visa credit card purchases
- 5.09% APY on balances up to $10,000Â and ATM refunds (APY increased to 5.09% from 4.59%, maximum balance decreased to $10,000 from $20,000)
- Complete all of the 3.09% requirements and
- Spend a minimum of $1,000 on CCU Visa credit card purchases
One of the main reasons this account was previously attractive was the fact that the maximum balance was so high. Now that it has been reduced to $10,000 I think some people will find it hard to justify the effort involved. They made negative changes decreasing the APY back in 2016 as well. As always a full list of all the best high yield savings accounts can be found here.
Hat tip to reader NP and @toonhound
FYI-On the statement for this month, there is a warning that as of May 15, 2019, there is an inactivity fee of $5 each month for each account that has not had a transaction within the last two years.
way way way too many hoops to jump through, I’ve been trying to keep up with the $1k minimum spending in order to churn the benefits, once in a while you forgot about it and the entire month goes to waste. I think I’m out
And for those who no longer find this credit union worth it, you can link another checking account to the CCU account and transfer out a maximum of $5000 per day.
I transferred all 10K out in one day initiating from a Discover acct.
William Charles: I just wanted to point out that now they count debit card purchases WITH or WITHOUT a PIN toward the 12 required. Previously, the debit card purchases has to be run without a PIN. This is a very positive change since it was difficult to find local merchants who would run a PIN-less debit card transaction. Here’s the new language:
“Complete at least 12 debit card purchases totaling $100 or more each month. Debit card transactions can be made with or without using your personal identification number (PIN).”
Thanks, let me make this clearer
Does Venmo and Square Cash transactions count toward the 12 debit purchases? Square is registering as a “point of sale withdrawal” but it has not been counted toward my 12 transactions in the rewards column.
am I the only one who didn’t realize the visa credit card spend meant you had to apply for their credit card?? smh.
Just a data point. I did an ACH from Chase to Consumers and it did NOT count as the DD.
Anyone have luck with something else coding as direct deposit?
I take that back. Apparently even though, the transfer showed that it was cleared, it still takes a couple of days for the “rewards update” column to show the check mark.
It looks like Chase personal account transfer DOES count as DD.
how many dats did it take, mines been a week and still shows as $0, Their website clearly show ach or direct deposit. Hope its just a bug. My visa charges that i did after this which usually takes a few days to update their tracker already updated
II did a transfer from alliant that I had always done. It hasnt shown up as a DD either, but will wait a few days to see if it shows up as yours did so far day 2 no
Wait does venmo work to meet the $100 debit spend req? If so I might actually keep my account. I have the 3-2-1 card, and I intended to start using it for organic grocery spend. I spend nearly $500/mo at grocery stores…
Actually I just calculated that 4.09 vs 3.09 on $10k/yr is only six bucks a month after taxes. Doesn’t seem worth the hassle when I already have a Blue Cash Everyday.
I wish the 3% banks would increase their rates. If a 2.75% no-reqs/no-cap account comes out I’m ditching them all.
Your math is off. It’s $8.33 per month difference between 3.09 and 4.09 and $16.67 per month between 3.09 and 5.09.
Can’t say I wasn’t a little bummed about the changes, I’d been doing the 1k spend to get 4.59% for the last couple years, they had also not been enforcing the $6k limit on 3% CB grocery spend for a while but they finally fixed that glitch a couple months back. It’s gone from a real winning combo to…meh I need to figure out if it’s worth the effort to put spend on the card for the much smaller marginal increase in interest, seems to be about a wash for me.
Even though the max is going down and there is a lot of hoops to jump through now. I probably still gonna keep my account open:
– $100 debit spending, no big deal, buy a banana and get $10 cashback at grocery stores
– DD $500, fine
– $1000 credit card spending, don’t forget you get 3% cashback for the first $6000
It is definitely getting worse, but still better than plain 2%, IMHO.
Will cashback qualify for the $100? I’ve only run my card as debit. If so, the return on $20K is actually higher (4.63%), with the remaining $10K @ 2% at another bank. CCU CC averages 2% which is a push vs. 2% CC. The only additional cost: 12 grocery GCs, $24 extra vs. Simon GCs. Any data points on the debit cashback is appreciated.
Sorry – I only ran my card as credit, never debit.
Debit transactions will probably not qualify so you need $100 total (on 12 transactions). Leaving out CC cashback and GC costs, with remaining $10K @ 2% = 3.55%
Correction: new requirement is ACH **credit** or DD of $500. ACH debit is not enough.
Thanks, let me update.