Offer at a glance
- Interest Rate:Â 2.01%-3.01% APY
- Minimum Balance:Â None
- Maximum Balance:Â $15,000
- Availability:Â Nationwide
- Direct deposit required:Â Yes, $250+
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull:Â Unknown
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding:Â Unknown
- Monthly fees:Â None
- Insured:Â NCUA
The Offer
- MarketUSA has a VIP checking account that offers a rate of up to 3.01% APY. There are two tiers (Platinum is 3.01% and Gold is 2.01% APY). The requirements are as follows:
- Enroll in eStatements
- Have a monthly direct deposit of at least $250
- Make at least 12 Visa debit card purchases per month ($5 minimum)
- Platinum tier only: Make 3 bill payments per month
The Fine Print
- Direct deposit from a single source can not be used to meet the requirement for multiple accounts
- Debit card purchases must be posted to the account by close of business on the last business day of the month; purchase returns will reduce your number of transactions; multiple transactions of the same amount, on the same day, may cause your transactions to post manually, which will not count towards the qualification limits
- bill payments must be posted to the account by close of business on the last business day of the month, must be at least $20 each, and may NOT be made payable to Market USA FCU or to any non-business payee. Splitting a single bill into three payments does not qualify. Bill payments must be sent electronically to count towards the qualification requirement
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
This account doesn’t have any monthly fees to worry about.
Our Verdict
The 2% APY tier isn’t worth considering because there is an account offering 2% APY with no requirements. I don’t think the 3% APY tier is really worth considering either due to all the requirements and considering you can get up to 5% APY with other financial institutions. Maybe if it has high credit card funding it would be worth opening but I doubt it.
Hat tip to reader Elena
APY is up to 4.50% on the top tier, and 2.01% on the bottom tier.
Current terms:
1. $500 direct deposit
2. 15 debit transactions of $5.00 for top tier, 12 for bottom tier.
Any DP on if ally works as a DD requirement?
Why no love for this one? Is it for the real DD requirement?
There are a lot of rewards checking accounts with easier requirements giving 3% on $15k or similar (though most are geo restricted), and a few are even better.
ETFCU is nationwide and clearly better https://www.doctorofcredit.com/evansville-teachers-federal-credit-union-vertical-dividend-3-apy-account-balances-15000/
That’s why I said “a lot”.
ETA There are about a hundred of them, though mostly local, but any given area should have several.
I could not find a lot. I can see only 4-5 “now” that are available “nationwide”. Could you please provide a list? (abbreviations are ok)
deposit accounts dot com
Most are local/regional so check your area. You might even find some 4% or 5% ones.
My response was about you pointing out that Evansville is “clearly better”.
I do not see many 3% account now. Only few (bank & CU) are available “nationwide” with “easier” requirements have 3% rate currently. I do not want to deal much with Fintech companies (backed by a bank….not always sure if the money is FDIC insured).
There are not many that are available nationwide. That is why I was interested in this account also.
No one ever answered me if an employee DD is needed in practice. Let me know if you decide to sign up.
Did you end up signing up for this account?
I think that is the reason. They made it clear to me by email that it needs to be a real DD when I asked them some questions months ago. Are you going to sign up?
was thinking of applying…. but do not want to play much with real DD
They also don’t have an indicator on the website that shows if you qualified or not. That would be quite helpful. LMCU and Evansville do, which is really nice.
Are any of you currently using this account?
I was told by them several months ago that an employer DD is required to earn the high rate. Is that correct in practice?
They also told me that there’s no hard pull but
YL wrote that there is. Who is correct?
this pulls experian….
bummer
Thanks for the note. The “Offer at a glance” section should be updated accordingly.
Ccu 4.59% is still my favorite still 3% in months I can’t spend$1000
Just buy giftcards then go buy money order then deposit it. Thats what i do. I also have their CC and i get 3% so in one month i make $90 net proft from 20k balance.