Update 03/06/25: Rate dropped to 5.5%
Update 11/30/21: There is now a $100 checking referral bonus as well, more on that here.
Offer at a glance
- Interest Rate: 5.5%
6.17% - Minimum Balance:Â $5
- Maximum Balance:Â $1,000 (0.25% on balances over $1,000)
- Availability: Nationwide (with $10 membership in Reach Out for Schools [part of application process, one time])
- Direct deposit required: No
- Helpful comment on setting up ACH transfers at DCU
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull:Â Soft in my experience opening only a Primary Savings (Reports of Hard)
- ChexSystems: Yes (sensitive? DP-Yes, DP-No, DP-No)
- Credit card funding: Yes $250 (additional DPs, DP) [
Higher DP] - Monthly fees:Â None
- Household Limit: None
- Insured:Â NCUA
The Offer
- The DCU Primary Savings Account offers 6.17% APY on balances up to $1,000
The Fine Print
- Requires a $5.00 minimum balance to open the account and remain on deposit to maintain membership status.
- Rates are variable and may change after the account is opened and are subject to change weekly. Fees may reduce earning on the account.
- One Primary Savings account per person, additional memberships receive one savings account.
- Interest income is taxable
Avoiding Fees
- The account has no monthly fee
Our Verdict
Chuck has long had the DCU Primary Savings Account on his list of Best High Yield Savings Accounts, but I figured it should have its own dedicated post [despite its limited first year value of $61.70 in interest (given the small $1,000 maximum investment)].
Though missing a signup bonus, in my mind the primary savings account still offers good value. Assuming the above market rate holds into the future, it’s sort of a passive bonus – after the initial setup investment the account will continue to earn without additional churning effort.
The cost is managing another account, but with my spreadsheets and process already in place that marginal cost is pretty low for me. I never closed my Netspend accounts when the maximum investment fell to $1,000; I’m happy to leave them running on auto pilot with scheduled ACHs.
Also each person is eligible for their own primary savings account so this might be beneficial if you have for instance multiple family members in the same household:
- Those 18+ can apply online
- Those under 18 (kids) can still apply with a paper application
- All immediate family members after the first can qualify for membership based on the family member relationship (no additional participating organization membership/fee required)
I received no hard credit pull on a recent application (checked credit karma) to only open a primary savings account and was also able to place a $250 deposit on my citi double cash card (posted as a purchase).
All the Best!
DCU now having referral bonus of $50. ($25 for referee)
Must open checking account & complete either $500 DD or 5 qualifying transactions.
https://www.dcu.org/membership/member-referral-program.html
Interest rate now down from 6.17% to 5.5%. Their interest rate stayed
the same for years even when federal funds rate was near zero. Sign of
what is coming with this merger.
if it dips below fed rate, might be time to leave. their jumbo 5% cd rate last year was good, now it’s no better than treasuries
Just got this email: Dear Valued DCU Member, 45 years ago, the employees of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) founded a credit union for employees, retirees and their families to reach their financial goals collectively. Thanks to the culture of innovation that we adopted from the DEC employees who founded us in 1979, Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) has grown to serve more than 1.1 million members nationwide. This growth stems from the trust you place in DCU when you refer your family members and co-workers from a variety of workplaces across the nation, inviting them to bank with us. Today we are announcing another exciting milestone in our proud history – our intent to combine with a peer credit union on the West Coast, First Tech Federal Credit Union. Together, we will form a powerhouse in the industry – a coast-to-coast credit union with assets of approximately $28 billion, serving nearly two million members nationwide, with over 50 branches in eight states. Why DCU and First Tech? Our combination with First Tech means that after the merger, we can collectively provide you with an enhanced financial experience beginning with unrivaled modern technology-enabled experiences, a more robust set of investment and insurance options, a coast-to-coast branch network, and expanded hours of information center support. We have a lot in common with First Tech – another reason this combination makes sense. We have aligned values, similar membership, a shared DNA rooted in innovation and a heritage of serving technology employees and families. Together we will continue our history of innovation and growth which has been DCU’s hallmark since our founding. What does this mean for all of you – our members? For now, nothing will change as we – DCU and First Tech – will continue to operate independently as we work toward regulatory approval from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and from First Tech members who will be moving to DCU’s charter. We expect those approvals will not occur until the second half of 2025. Very little will be different until then. Your accounts and memberships will be the same. We will continue to work together to proudly serve all of you – our members – as we have always done—in the DCU Way. We will always remain true to our values as a member-owned co-op that continues to put member, employee and community needs above profits. You can also read more about the benefits of this combination by visiting our new landing page. What’s next? Until we start the integration process with First Tech in late 2025, please continue to use your DCU accounts and services in the same ways you always have. We are committed to sharing regular updates with all of you about the valuable new benefits the combined credit union will bring. You’ll see regular updates in our monthly member newsletter and on DCU.org. We will also launch a dedicated portal for you to share your comments or questions with our leadership in coming weeks. The security of… Read more »
Please email me for a referral, i respond quickly
Let me know your:
1. First Name
2. Last Name
3. E-mail to be used to sign up for DCU
You can email me at [email protected]
Thank you 🙂
Terrible!
I have been a customer for many years. When I first joined, you simply entered a transfer from an external account, no need to have it ‘linked’ or to give some 3rd party like Plaid access to your external account.
They changed their website and now you cannot access any previously entered transfers anymore, you can’t edit or modify them, and only cancel the next 2 scheduled transactions. I contacted them to tell them that my external account will be closed by the end of the month, and if they don’t cancel the transfer on file, I wont be responsible for any NSF charges they might encounter. The different employees I talked to just did not get it, they keep telling me I have to ‘unlink’ my external account, but they can’t explain why they can’t see it or do it for me. Because I never linked one!
So you are stuck with either giving some 3rd party organization access to your account information, or not be able to perform any bank-to-bank transfer without any charges nor fee. In my case. I will close my account and go any of the many other options, without this kind of headache (
The bad part is not that there is still a low quality of work and products, but that the people involved get dumber and dumber.
DP for the Savings account from a new user:
Not sure if others had the same issue, but they are allowing to only transfer $500 max per month for the first 90 days from an external account. I can still do DD from employer over that amount.
Just wanted to toss that out there. Was trying to cap the $1k amount for the 6%, but was getting errors.
Add DCU savings as an external account to another bank of yours and push money from there to your DCU savings.
Thirdman
Doh! Of course. Brain has already shut down for the holidays. Appreciate the tip!
https://www.dcu.org/membership/member-referral-program.html?cid=dcu_memr_em_memr_q4mr_ad_bh_pr_aw_ac&mid=em&deliveryName=DM72292
“Once your friend or family member open their membership and complete one of the qualifying activities, you’ll get $50 – and they’ll get $100. “
Referral is a link this time and doesn’t need emailing anymore.
There is a referral post started today. I just found it by searching the site.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com//share-your-digital-federal-credit-union-dcu-2/
Applied as new member for Primary Savings and was able fund by credit card (Visa, MC, or Discover) max $250 including membership application for Reach Out for Schools. Putting in higher funding removes the option to fund with credit card.
Not seeing option to fund with CC any longer for checking or savings
I only received 4.60 USD for Feb
Sounds right, since Feb only has 28 days.