Published on November 16th, 2016 | by Don L

Hub Accounts – ACH Transfers: Capabilities, Fees, and Limits Across Financial Institutions

Contents

1 Quick Summary
2 Brief Intro
3 Definitions Table
4 Financial Institutions
5 A Few ACH Strategies
6 Warnings
7 Final Notes

Quick Summary

This reference page lists ACH capabilities: outbound [push], inbound [pull], limits, and fees at financial institutions.

The goal is to assemble numbers along the dimensions of a good hub account (perhaps we will find a collection of good institutions). This data will also be merged into the DoC Bank Account Quick Reference Table.

As always please share your data points and ideas to help make this a better resource.

Brief Intro

While not rare, free outbound ACH transfers can be a valuable tool in triggering bank bonuses, maintaining high interest accounts, and assisting in other ~~manufactured~~ activities.

Definitions Table

Column	Value	Definition
Acc Limit	#	Maximum number of linked external accounts allowed
ACH Type	Pull	Initiate an inbound funds transfer from an external account
ACH Type	Push	Initiate an outbound funds transfer to an external account
Avail	Yes/No	Online/Web interface exists to initiate ACH Transfers
Day $ Limit	$	Daily ACH dollar limit across all ACH transfers scheduled for that day. (Initial or Standard)
Day Tran Limit	#	Daily ACH Transaction Limit
Fee	$	Fee to initiate an ACH transfer
Month $ Limit	$	Monthly ACH dollar limit across all ACH transfers scheduled for the month. (30 Day Rolling Limit)
Month Tran Limit	#	Monthly ACH Transaction Limit Savings and Money Market Accounts are limited to 6 withdrawals per month.
NFB	$	No Fee Balance – Minimum Balance required to keep account maintenance (monthly) fee free. Ignoring other ways (DD, Debit Trans, …) to keep account free
Speed	# Days	An attempt at assigning a value for relative transfer speed in business days Bank hold policies can increase transfer time Both Banks (sender & receiver) can impact speed Tiered service speeds may be offered
Tran $ Limit	$	Dollar limit per ACH Transaction

Financial Institutions

All America Bank (Redneck Bank)

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$5,000*
Pull	Yes	$0		$5,000

*Per Andrew’s DP

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0	1	> 20*	?	?

Alliant Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$25,000 ^2,5		Initial Limit $2,500*
Pull	Yes	$0		$100,000		Min Tran – No Lower Limit⁷

*Per this DP, early DP seemed to indicate higher limit; First 30 days lower limits DP, and reported 9 day holds DP

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0 ⁴	1 ¹	None ²		No Limit⁶	Interest Checking ³

Ally Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0	$150,000*	$150,000	$600,000	Min Tran $1⁴
Pull	Yes	$0	$250,000	$250,000	$1,000,000	Interest

*Limits per CSR

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0	1-3 ^1,2,4,7	20³			Per CSR more than 20 per req.

Amalgamated Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0	$2,000	$2,000
Pull	Yes	$0

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹

American Express Bank (Personal Savings)

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0				No $ Limit
Pull	Yes	$0

NFB

Speed

Acc Limit

Day Tran Limit

Month Tran Limit

Notes

$0 ¹

[Pull] 5 ²

[Push] 1-3 ²

3 ¹

Savings Account Withdrawal Limits

American Express Serve

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0			$2,500*	Card Balance Limits also
Pull	Yes	$0			$5,000¹

*More Detail See Data Point³

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
N/A²		1**

** 1 Account at a time

Aspiration

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$5,000*		Min Tran $1
Pull	Yes	$0		$5,000*

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	1-3²	No Limit	No Limit

* First 30 Days subject to $500 transfer limit (both incoming and outgoing). First Week $100 Limit

Bank of America

ACH Type

Avail

Fee

Tran $ Limit

Day $ Limit

Month $ Limit

Notes

Push

Yes

$10,000*

SafePass Enrollment Req.

$10 Next Day, $30 Same Day

Pull

Yes

$10,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$1,500¹	3

*SafePass Enrollment Req. for higher limits, else daily $1,000, weekly $2,500

** 25,000 Weekly Limit

*** DP of $2M Limits

Bank of Internet USA (BofI USA)

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$15,000*	$45,000*	Next Day $7
Pull	Yes	$0		$15,000*	$45,000*	$10 Min Tran

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0²		5	No Limit

*Initial $2,000 per day, $5,000 per month first 90 days^1,2

Bank of the West

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3¹		25,000	50,000
Pull	Yes	$0		25,000	50,000

*CSR reports no Daily or Monthly dollar or transaction limit¹, DP of lower limits²

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$25,000		NL	No Limit	No Limit

Bank5 Connect

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$6,000	$15,000	A Lot of Negative Reviews
Pull	Yes	$0		$6,000	$15,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	3³	5²	1²		Interest at $100 Balance

BankMobile

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$3,000*		Min Tran $10
Pull	Yes	$0		$3,000*		Initial Inbound $500²

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	3²	No Limit	No Limit

*$500 Limit for the first 90 days. The daily limit only refreshs when transfers complete.

BBVA

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3	$1,000	$3,000	$7,500
Pull	Yes	$0	$5,000	$5,000	$7,500

Blue Federal Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$2,000*	$5,000*
Pull	Yes	$0		$2,000*	$5,000*

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
	1*

*DP

BMO Harris

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes*	$0	$5,000	$5,000
Pull	Yes	$0	$5,000	$5,000

* New accounts cannot ACH push for 90 days^1,2; max $5,000 mobile deposit/5 days³

** Data on Limits DP

Capital One 360

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0³		*		Seen multiple limits
Pull	Yes	$0

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	2²	3^5,6,7			DP unable to link online

*Uncertain on limit – CSR says No Limit, DP of greater than 6K⁶

Charles Schwab Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0*	$100,000			Min Tran $1
Pull	Yes	$0	$100,000

High Yield Investor Checking

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	1**	No Limit*

** Same Day Push Credit, 4 Day Pull Hold (Comment), Earlier Comment

Chase Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0	$10,000*	$25,000*
Pull	Yes	$0	$10,000*	$25,000*

*Higher Limits for Premium Accounts

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$1,500^₁	1-2²	25³

Circle (Mobile App)

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0
Pull	Yes	$0

*DP per PS

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0	1*

CIT Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		No Limit*
Pull	Yes	$0				One Week Hold Inbound?²

CIT Bank Online Banking – Might be only a savings account

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$100³	1¹	6		6	Savings Account

*Per CSR, Previous Reported Limit $5,000²

Citibank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$2,000¹	$10,000	Next Day Lower Limits
Pull	Yes	$0		$100,000	$100,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$1,500²	1-3⁴	12³

Citizens Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3²		$5,000²	$10,000
Pull	Yes	$0		$5,000	$10,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$25,000*

*Doesn’t appear that basic account can be waived by balance alone, this is for platinum¹

Community Choice Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	No
Pull	No

Consumers Credit Union (CCU)

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0¹		$1,000	$5,000⁴	Min Tran $1 (No Lower Limit)
Pull	Yes	$0		$1,000	$5,000

NFB

Speed

Acc Limit

Day Tran Limit

Month Tran Limit

Notes

$0³

Push 2-3 days

Pull Longer²

DFCU

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$2,500	$5,000	Min Tran $1
Pull	Yes	$0			$10,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹			5	20

Discover Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0			250,000	$300K Combined
Pull	Yes	$0			250,000	Min Tran $25⁶

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0²	Slow	30⁷			Longer Hold Times^{1, *}

* More comments on speed: 3, 4, 5, …

Possible security flags raised on ACH In only transactions, or just a lot of linked accounts⁸

Emigrant Direct

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes
Pull	Yes

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	2-4²			6	Savings Account

ETrade Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$100,000		Fraud Alerts?²
Pull	Yes	$0		$100,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹		3*		No Limit

*One account for the first 60 days, per CSR. Strict lifetime(?) limits see^3,4

EverBank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$50,000*	$200,000
Pull	Yes	$0		$250,000³

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$25¹	1²	No Limit	10	50

*CSR and ^4,5

Fidelity Investments

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0¹	$100,000
Pull	Yes	$0

Cash Management Account

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0⁴	1-2 Push³	Unknown*

*Online Linking works some of the time²

Fifth Third Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3		2,000	5,000
Pull	Yes	$0

*DP per JT

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$1,500¹		5*

First Federal Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	No
Pull	No

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹

First Internet Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$5		Varies²
Pull	Yes	$0

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	3³

First Merit Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3		5,000	10,000	$7 Next Day
Pull	Yes	$0		10,000	20,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹

First National Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0.50¹
Pull	Yes	$0

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes

First Tennessee Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0	1,000	1,000	8,000	$2000/week
Pull	Yes	$0

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$5,000*

*No Balance option to waive fees on lower tier accounts¹

Flagstar Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0				Min Tran: $10
Pull	Yes	$0

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0

FNBO Direct

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$100,000	$500,000
Pull	Yes	$0		$250,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	3+⁴	3*	No Limit	No Limit²	Slow – Old³

*Maybe 6 and notes of FNBO Bill Pay Feature

Fremont Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes		$5,000*	$5,000	$10,000
Pull	Yes		$5,000	$5,000	$10,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes

*DP

Hanscom Federal Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		Varies³		More on Limits*
Pull	Yes	$0

*Limits based on linked system (per CSR)

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0²	1¹

HSBC

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0	350,000¹	350,000	2,000,000
Pull	Yes	$0	350,000	350,000	2,000,000

*Per CSR

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$1,500²	3³	No Limit*		No Limit*

Huntington

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0*	2,500	2,500	10,000	Slower Transfer
Pull	Yes	$0	25,000	25,000	50,000

*6 Free Push and 6 Free Pull Transactions per month before fees per JT

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	3²

Incredible Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$10,000
Pull	Yes	$0		$50,000

NFB

Speed

Acc Limit

Day Tran Limit

Month Tran Limit

Notes

$300

3 – In¹

3 – Out

Interest

*60 Day Delay on Bank to Bank Transfers¹
$1,000 Minimum to Open Account – maintain?
$10 Early Close Fee (less than 90 days)

KeyBank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0	$2,000*	$2,000	$20,000	(Very) Slow Setup^1,5
Pull	Yes	$0	$2,000	$2,000	$20,000

*Combined Push/Pull⁴

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0²	4³

Lake Michigan Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	No²	$0		$25,000*		Looks like need to use Bill Pay
Pull	No	$0		$25,000*

* Bill Pay

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	1-2³	No Limit			May be fee without DD

Level One Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	No
Pull	No

M&T Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3²		$10,000	$100,000
Pull	Yes	$0		$20,000	$100,000

Most values per CSR

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$500*	3	No Limit		No Limit

*Classic Checking, EZ Choice can be waived with one transaction per month¹

Memory Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes		$2,000*	$2,000*	$10,000*
Pull	Yes		$2,000*	$2,000*	$10,000*

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
		5¹

*DP

Morrill & James Bank and Trust

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes			$2,000¹	$2,000
Pull	Yes			$2,000	$2,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes

Moven

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push
Pull

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0		1¹

Nationwide Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$5,000	$10,000³	Min Tran $10³
Pull	Yes	$0		$5,000	$10,000

*Per CSR, (online limit, over the phone limit may be higher)

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
10,000¹	2-3²	4³

Navy Federal Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$5,000*
Pull	Yes	$0

*Per Stacy’s DP, thanks

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
		No Limit

Northpointe Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	No
Pull	No

Oregon Community Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0¹				Interest
Pull	Yes	$0

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0*

*Remarkable Checking²

Paypal

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0
Pull	Yes	$0

*DP per PS

NFB

Speed

Acc Limit

Day Tran Limit

Month Tran Limit

Notes

5 Day Pull

1-2 Day Push*

Parkside Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	No
Pull	No

PNC Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0	15,000	15,000	25,000
Pull	Yes	$0	2,000	2,000	5,000

Suspicious Activity cancelled transaction warning³

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$500¹	3²

Netspend Metabank cards blocked

Provident Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes²	$0		$3,000³	$6,000³
Pull	Yes	$0		$3,000	$6,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	2-3³	No Limit		No Limit

PurePoint Financial

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
		10¹

Radius Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$5,000		Min Tran $1
Pull	Yes	$0		$5,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹		No Limit*

*Per CSR

Robinhood

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0
Pull	Yes	$0

Brokerage

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0³	4-5 ¹	3*			AML – Same Account In/Out

*Significant additional requirements for another account²

Salem Five Direct

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3²	$5,000	$5,000	$20,000
Pull	Yes		$15,000	$25,000	$25,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹

Santander Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0²		$5,000⁵	$20,000	Acc add without test trans⁶
Pull	No⁴

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
75,000*	1³

*Simply Right – One transaction can waive monthly fee¹

Seacoast Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3		2,000	5,000
Pull	Yes	$0

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$1,000¹

Simple (.com)

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$10,000*	$30,000
Pull	Yes	$0		$10,000	$30,000

*Limited to $5,000 total deposits for the first 30 days

NFB

Speed

Acc Limit

Day Tran Limit

Month Tran Limit

Notes

$0¹

1-2 From;

3-4 To²

No Limit

May vary by underlying bank (Compass Bank or The Bancorp Bank)

Square Cash (Mobile App)

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0
Pull	Yes	$0

*DP per PS

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0	1*

Star One Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		5,000
Pull	Yes	$0		5,000

*All Info Per CSR¹

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
	3-5	No Limit*

State Farm Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes²	$0		No Limit*		Min Tran $1
Pull	Yes	$0

*Per CSR

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$500¹		No Limit*

SunTrust Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3¹				Next Day $6
Pull	Yes	$0			$20,000*

NFB

Speed

Acc Limit

Day Tran Limit

Month Tran Limit

Notes

Up to 3²

Pull 1 (Sometimes)*

*Comments note inbound limit³

Synchrony Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0	$250,000
Pull	Yes	$0	$250,000

Not Checking, Money Market Savings (most info per CSR)

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹		10		6

Talmer Bank & Trust

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	No
Pull	No

TCF Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	No
Pull	No

TD Ameritrade

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes		250,000
Pull	Yes

Cash Managment Account

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0		5*

*CSR and this DP¹

Tech CU

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		10,000		Min Tran $1
Pull	Yes	$0		10,000

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	1²

TIAA Direct Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$5,000³
Pull	Yes	$0		No Limit

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0¹	3²	6⁴			Acc Limit per CSR

*Possible Exceptions up to $30,000 (transfer limit)

US Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$3*	1,250	1,250	1,250
Pull	Yes	$0	2,500	2,500	2,500

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$1,500¹	2-3²

*Platinum Account may not charge $3 fee, per Jennifer M

USAA Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0		$5,000*
Pull	Yes	$0		$5,000

Limited Membership

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$0^₁	1-2³

*Same Day ACH Transfers reflected instantly⁴

Wells Fargo Bank

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	Yes	$0*		5,000	6,000
Pull	Yes	$0

*Previous $3³

NFB	Speed	Acc Limit	Day Tran Limit	Month Tran Limit	Notes
$1,500¹	2-3^2,4	10⁵^,6

Zeal Credit Union

ACH Type	Avail	Fee	Tran $ Limit	Day $ Limit	Month $ Limit	Notes
Push	No
Pull	No

A Few ACH Strategies

In using ACH transfers to trigger account requirements, a few strategies have popped up:

Some Go Big

Using a few large, popular options – Alliant CU and Ally Bank are often noted.

(+)s: These institutions offer great hub accounts (free, quick, sizable, … transfers)
(-)s: But have these options become a little crowded?:
- Ally has a number of failure data points: 1, 2, 3, 4, … for triggering direct deposit requirements (perhaps as a result of a tech upgrade, or perhaps from being blacklisted?)
- Alliant has no current negative data points, but this did pop-up

Some Go Small

Using local credit unions or banks.

(+)s:
- Being so small it would seem unlikely that any would be specifically blocked, and
- perhaps smaller/(older?)/different tech may have more success triggering requirements.
(-)s: But being so small, it would be very unlikely that your local institution will ever show up as a data point

Some Go Explosive

And launch a barrage of ACH transactions from multiple institutions, hoping something might trigger the transaction.

(+)s: It could work – something might trigger the requirement
(-)s: But it seems fairly:
- Time Expensive,
- Capital Intensive (if $ minimums required on the transfers),
- and in the end you don’t know what triggered the bonus

Some Go Beyond Banks

And use a number of different account types:

Amazon
Brokerage Accounts
Business Accounts
Prepaid Cards

I even saw

Uber

pop-up on the list.

(+)s: These are valuable alternatives
(-)s: But many involve more obstacles and effort than a good hub bank account

Goldilocks Institutions?

Perhaps as a DoC community we can identify a collection/[portfolio] of not too big, not too small good hub accounts.

Ideally, Goldilocks on another dimension too, the size of the signup bonus. Assuming a model where you can only open a limited number of accounts each year, then we wouldn’t want an institution with no bonus (poor value for the inquiry), but also not an institution with a regular large bonus (that might sit on your churning list).

Previously available nationwide, now restricted to California, Tech CU might be a decent example.

At the least hopefully this reference page offers you some value.

Warnings

(In addition to all the standard disclaimers,) this resource is incomplete and filled with errors.

It is an attempt to summarize and categorize rules inferred from community data points.

Definitely tell us where we have made a mistake.

Additionally:

Personal limits at financial institutions may vary
Limits for personal accounts (not business but happy to add those data points too)

Final Notes

Please share your data points and ideas on this topic to help make this page a better resource.

Good luck to all the bank bonus miners out there (is that what they call us?).

All the best!

212
Leave a Reply

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Moose Cow

November 16, 2016 4:38 pm

I use Schwab as my hub, and as my primary account. They work really well(next day transfers, no fees, unlimited linked accounts) but I’m worried they’ll shut me down for so many random ACHs.

Don L

November 16, 2016 7:15 pm

Thanks, I’ll update the post

David B

November 16, 2016 4:44 pm

Great post! So far I have used Capital One 360, which is my everyday checking account, to trigger the Tech CU & US Bank bonuses. Fingers crossed it will work for Bank of the West as well. But I’ve been thinking about this exact topic recently, as Capital One limits external accounts to 3 at a time. I’m considering opening Ally or Discover checking, but as they don’t offer any bonuses I’m more inclined to try my luck with Tech CU and/or Fidelity first, with whom I already have accounts.

Don L

November 16, 2016 7:21 pm

Thanks! Adding your DP

Patti

August 13, 2017 7:21 pm

Capital One 360 is great for pushing to trigger dd at other banks and even though they limit to 3 at a time, you can delete some old accounts and add new. After a while though, all this changing of linked accounts sends up red flags with them, as if it’s some hacker try to steal their customer’s money. Then they freeze your accounts completely and you have to call and explain a bit before they unfreeze. This has happened to me, hubby and our 20 yr old son. It gets old and can be a real problem since I use multiple Cap One savings accounts to help me budget. Now, EVERY time we try to link a new account, we get frozen.

Don L

August 13, 2017 9:19 pm

Patti, sounds frustrating, thanks for sharing

arch

November 16, 2016 4:51 pm

TL/DR–Write checks instead of ACH

Instead of my usual pull ACH from my Discover hub or push from satellite banks, I wrote 2 checks from the banks and mailed them using the provided postage free envelope. I expected it to take even longer than the usual ACH with the several day hold that is the norm. Mailed them Saturday, both cleared yesterday (Tuesday) and funds are available and even posted to the other banks. I intend to mix it up more in the future.

arch

November 16, 2016 4:53 pm

To clarify, I meant they were shown as already paid by satellite banks

Don L

November 16, 2016 7:26 pm

Good Point

The convenience and properties of ACH transfers are nice, but other transfer methods often have a lot of value

Jeff H

November 16, 2016 4:55 pm

Santander Bank Push to other banks only. ZERO $$ Fee.

Proof: ACH from Santander Bank to my BankAmerica savings account tied to my MLB CC card for the extra 10% CC reward.

November 16, 2016 5:22 pm

And is super fast — push initiated at 11pm could arrive at 3am (same night).

Both Consumers CCU and Fidelity CMA also push/pull with no fees.

Don L

November 16, 2016 7:35 pm

Thanks, I’ll update. Have you ever had problems adding accounts online with the Fidelity CMA, could of swore others encountered problems in the past. Maybe it was just temporary.

Jeff H

November 16, 2016 9:07 pm

I have added six outside banks to Fidelity Investments Money Management without trial balances. All have push and pull ability without a fee either way.

Jeff H

November 16, 2016 10:27 pm

Maybe I should expand my answer. My Fidelity Investment money management activity is an extension of my full fledged Fidelity Investment cash trading Account. AFIK, I do NOT have an account referred to as Cash Management Account from Fidelity – Fidelity Investments.

My perception is Cash Management Account from Fidelity – Fidelity Investments is a different creature.

Don L

November 17, 2016 6:15 pm

Thanks, I’ll work to break these apart

Jeff H

November 25, 2016 7:56 am

Made PUSH orders out of Fidelity Investments Cash Trading account Nov 22.
Nov 23 – Wells Fargo credited my regular checking account as Cash Available $5000.00
—
Nov 22 – Created new entry in Cash Management to push/pull new Citibank account ($400.00 bonus account)
Created Push order transfer $500.00 to new Citibank account $500.00 credited @ Citibank Nov 25th (Nov 24 was bank holiday Thanksgiving)

Don L

November 25, 2016 2:09 pm

Thanks, Jeff. So, I’m reading that as those push transactions took essentially 1 and 2 business days respectively. Will update, appreciate it.

adam d

November 20, 2016 9:12 am

Ive added about 12 bannks with fidelity. 50% of the time it links automatically. If its a small regional bank, then a medallion stamp is needed, one way to avoid this is to go to a fidelity branch. Other problems that arise is newly opened checking accounts often generate the ews warning, usually takes a few weeks to be able to auto link after. the rwgional banks just come back with a definite cannot add bank message. i ve done all 3 linkage routes.

Don L

November 21, 2016 2:12 pm

Thanks, Adam great summary. I will link to this comment.

Don L

November 16, 2016 7:27 pm

Thanks, I’ll update the post

Chuck

November 17, 2016 12:09 am

As Jeff H said, Santander only allows push, not pull.

Don L

November 17, 2016 6:17 pm

Updating – must have missed that – thanks

Arthur

November 16, 2016 5:19 pm

If you are in Oregon, Oregon community credit union is a good choice. They have a reward checking account with 1.05% APY, and no fee for push and pull.

Don L

November 16, 2016 7:44 pm

Thanks, will add the DP

Sal

November 16, 2016 5:37 pm

Wellsfargo only charges for next day push transfers on personal checking from my recent experience. I think they used to charge for this tho.

Sal

November 16, 2016 5:38 pm

Meant to say they used to charge for standard push transfers but haven’t been recently.

Don L

November 16, 2016 7:51 pm

Thanks Sal. I’ll update. Can anyone else confirm?

Yet Another Redditor

November 17, 2016 12:34 am

Can confirm that Wells Fargo has $0 Push ACH charges for 2 business days delivery.
Transfer Limits for “2 business days” delivery are
Daily Maximum $5,000
30-Day Maximum $6,000

Don L

November 17, 2016 6:13 pm

Thanks

Jeff H

November 16, 2016 9:18 pm

Wells Fargo. Used to be $3.00
Fantastic News.!! I just did two transfers. Two Day time frame = Zero fee. One day = $10.00. I did not check for any price scale based on amount of the transfer.

Jeff H

November 16, 2016 9:20 pm

I should have indicated my remarks outbound ACH./ DD push for the above remarks. I have never been charged for a normal ACH Pull.

daxihe

November 16, 2016 5:53 pm

Chase max # of external accounts = 25

Don L

November 16, 2016 7:54 pm

Thanks, updating

Nick

November 16, 2016 6:12 pm

USAA has a $5,000 daily transaction limit (including transactions already scheduled) for ACH initiated through its website. Then again, ACH transfers are reflected in your account instantly if scheduled for the same day (even when it involves pulling money from another bank).

Don L

November 16, 2016 7:56 pm

Thanks, Nick – Updating

jennifer miller

June 14, 2018 2:46 pm

Thanks for this comment Nick. I have had this account ever since I opened my limitless card, but never used the account. I just did a transaction for a push and a pull, both reflected a next day posting date, and the “pull” into the usaa account reflected instant credit. I think this account is going to replace my previous hubs, which was fnbo, usbank, and memory bank. All were free push/pulls and fee-free accounts, but they all took 3 biz days to post. I’m also stoked that it’s no account limits, as my main hubs, memory bank and fnbo have 5/6 account limits. Never added any accounts to usbank, so not sure if they have an account limit, but I’m gonna try and add all 12 of my accounts to usaa, as this appears to be an awesome option!! Thanks for this!! I usually don’t go thru all the trouble of adding accounts, since they all seem to take 3 days, but because of your comment, I’ve got a better option!!

November 16, 2016 6:37 pm

Any great hub accounts, that currently offer a bonus, or would that be asking for too much? 🙂

Don L

November 16, 2016 8:08 pm

Thanks Iz. Trying to compare this page with the current best bonus page and nothing is easily jumping off the page.

But this is a great use case for getting all the data as structured as possible. Hopefully soon you’ll easily be able to filter for this exact thing.

Dirah

November 16, 2016 6:57 pm

Regarding Etrade, you might want to add that they impose lifetime limits on external accounts.
The first time I hit the limit, I called in and they reset it.
The second time I hit the limit, I called in, and instead of resetting it, they froze the account, and then closed it.

Don L

November 16, 2016 8:13 pm

Ouch, but that makes a great data point.

Can you confirm then the limit was 2 external accounts?

Thanks

Julia

November 22, 2016 11:25 pm

Don, I have an Etrade account. The limit is 3 external accounts. They are very strict about it. If you delete one of the accounts, the system will memorize that you still have 3 (even though you now have 2) and will not allow you to add anymore accounts during the lifetime of the account.

Don L

November 23, 2016 2:30 pm

Thanks – great info

Miz

November 16, 2016 7:16 pm

It will be great if you add “Minimum amount of ACH push”. Many banks do not allow small amounts for ACH push. For example Discover minimum is $25, but Ally allows $1.

Don L

November 16, 2016 8:20 pm

Thanks, should have thought of that. Valuable information.

I’ll add any minimum data points as notes right now, but separate within the spreadsheet.

Russ

November 16, 2016 9:11 pm

Consumers CCU is fine on pushes, the receiving bank usually credits in 2-3 biz days, but when I pull using Consumers it always takes a whole week for them to credit the funds even though the withdrawal showed up in 2-3 days at the other bank.

Alliant FTW in my book.

Don L

November 17, 2016 6:26 pm

Thanks, adding

Mod

November 16, 2016 9:12 pm

Key Bank info: I use their Hassle Free account as a hub and here are the ACH maximums.

$2k/transaction.
$2k/day.
$10k/week
$20k/month.

Mod

November 16, 2016 9:14 pm

That’s in combination for pushes or pulls.

And as already noted it takes several days (5-14 in my experience) to get the accounts linked and approved, especially if adding it with push/pull capability (instead of only push capability).

Don L

November 17, 2016 6:21 pm

Appreciate it, updating now

November 16, 2016 9:43 pm

Thanks for a terrific post!
I know none of the banks are perfect, but any idea which one/ones are most likely to be considered DD (for other-bank bonuses)?

Don L

November 17, 2016 10:18 pm

Thanks, tough to give you an exact answer because I don’t think we have counts on all the triggering institutions on the List of Methods Banks Count As Direct Deposits page.

You could kind of eyeball it; believe I pulled almost every institution with a reported positive to this page.

Valuetraveleroz

November 16, 2016 10:26 pm

Great content Don! Thanks for doing this.

Don L

November 17, 2016 10:23 pm

Thanks

Yeah, I couldn’t quite find it when searching the Internet.

So figured I should put something together, quickly realized why all the smarter people than me had passed on this project 🙂

Julia

November 22, 2016 11:30 pm

Don, what you gave here is such valuable information. I will use your list going forward! FYI, Discover allows up to max of 30 external accounts added.

Don L

November 23, 2016 2:28 pm

Thanks, Julia I appreciate it. Will update.