[Iowa] Premier Bank 1% APY Checking on Balances up to $5,000 & $100 Bonus

Update 12/13/20: Now only 1% APY

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: 5% APY on $5,000 & $100
  • Availability: Must open in-branch in Iowa
  • Additional requirements: 20 debit card purchases
  • Hard/soft pull: Unknown
  • ChexSystems: Unknown
  • Credit card funding: None (must open in branch)
  • Monthly fees: None with paperless
  • Insured: FDIC

The Offer

Direct Link to offer

  • Premier Bank offers a 5% APY on balances up to $5,000 with their Life Checking account. The even guarantee the rate through at least December 2018.
  • They are also offering a $100 bonus, the only requirement seems to be that the account must be kept open for six months.

To be eligible for the 5% rate you need to make 20 debit card purchases each statement cycle. Signature and PIN-based transactions both qualify. Data point of it being closed down for just making 20 small transactions.

Avoiding Fees

The account doesn’t have any monthly fees. The only thing to look out for is the $2 paper statement fee. Be sure to signup for online banking and electronic statements.

They reimburse up to $20 of ATM fees each month.

You also need to keep the account open for six months to keep the $100 bonus.

The Fine Print

  • All consumer checking accounts have a minimum opening deposit of $25.  
  • ATM refunds up to $20 per month. Does not include foreign currency charge.
  • On daily balances up to $5,000.00 or less earn an interest rate of 4.90% with an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 5.00%. The initial rate on your account for this tier will not drop below the floor rate of 5:00% APY through 12/31/18.
  • On balances $5,000.01 or greater earn a rate of .25% APY.
  • Must make 20 debit card purchases per statement cycle; signature or PIN based transactions qualify.
  • Debits are determined on the date it is posted to your account and not the date of the transaction/purchase. Debit purchases at or near the end of the month may post in the next month’s statement cycle.
  • If requirements aren’t met earn a base rate of .01% APY on all balances.
  •  Limit one Life Checking account and $100 bonus per household.
  • Bonus only available to new consumer checking account customers as long as promotion is offered.
  • If account is closed within 6 months the $100 bonus will be debited from your account as well as a $25 early closure fee.
  • No minimum balance required.
  • ATM transactions do not count as debit transactions to qualify for the preferred rate.

Our Verdict

Nice to find another 5% account on $5k. Unfortunately, they require opening the account in-branch which limits this to people in the area of their three branch locations in Iowa (Locations). This sounds like a solid option for those in the area; hopefully, they don’t do a hard pull for opening the account. We’ll add this to our list of Best High Interest Savings Accounts. Even better now that they are offering a $100 bonus with no requirements as well.

Hat tip to reader Calvin

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14 Comments
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LogmeinGn
LogmeinGn (@guest_1108034)
December 13, 2020 00:09

 William Charles , This is now dead. They are only offering 1% for the first $5000.
Please update.

Kevin
Kevin (@guest_952184)
April 5, 2020 11:42

Is now dead, only 1% interest showing.

Jason
Jason (@guest_459536)
August 16, 2017 00:39

is it hard pull or soft pull?

Matt K
Matt K (@guest_459512)
August 15, 2017 23:57

$100 bonus now on the account to open. Didn’t see any requirements other than ” If account is closed within 6 months the $100 bonus will be debited from your account as well as a $25 early closure fee.” Maybe makes it at least a shot at opening and attempting the 20 debits each month…and of course need to get to the area.

William Charles
Admin
August 16, 2017 00:13

Thanks, updated post.

Wizewun
Wizewun (@guest_419700)
June 13, 2017 00:48

I opened an account in branch here last year and immediately deposited $5000. I made the required 20 debit card purchases for the first 2 months then had my account closed because I wasn’t using the account in the manor they were looking for. I was making 20 small transactions a month and they didn’t like that I was using it as an investment tool to generate the 5% interest and not as my main checking account.

William Charles
Admin
August 16, 2017 00:13

Was it a hard pull?

joE
joE (@guest_419401)
June 12, 2017 16:32

I think the better question is, where is Iowa?

Also lets hope these guys don’t start asking Northpointe for advice, it’d be like a kid asking his dan on advice on how to wrong people in life.

Wong
Wong (@guest_419856)
June 13, 2017 07:55

Better yet, let’s hope they don’t hire Bill Clancy. From a look at his Linkedin profile, he apparently worked at LMCU and created several initiatives for attracting customers. My guess is that he created the 3% APY at LMCU as well, but I’m guessing his superior there was sane enough not to let him do a bait and switch 😉

William Charles
Admin
June 13, 2017 08:19

Let’s not resort to personal attacks, totally uncalled for.

Wong
Wong (@guest_419398)
June 12, 2017 16:19

Time to get a mailing address in Iowa. Anyone have a good site? I’m looking for an NJ one to qualify for M&T bonuses too.

William Charles
Admin
June 12, 2017 23:58

M&T doesn’t enforced their location requirements 😉

Wong
Wong (@guest_419855)
June 13, 2017 07:53

Ah, I tried registering with them several times, but I always get an error message after submitting my SSN. Different browsers/incog doesn’t seem to work. Another person from CA had the same issue.