Option1 is now called Adventure Credit Union. View our post on Adventure Credit Union here. Comments on this post are now closed.
Offer at a glance
- Interest Rate: 4% APY on balances up to $10k
- Additional Benefits: ATM fee refunds
- Minimum Balance: None
- Availability:Â Available for the following counties in Michigan: Allegan, Barry, Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, Kent, Livingston, Newaygo, Ottawa, Shiawassee
- Direct deposit required: No, see below
- Additional requirements: Yes, see below
- Hard/soft pull: Hard
- Credit card funding:Â At least $750
- Monthly fees: None
- Insured:Â NCUA
The Offer
- Option 1 Credit Union offers the Profit Sharing Checking account which earns 4% APY on balances up to $10,000 when doing qualifying actions (below)
- An additional benefit of the checking account is that domestic ATM fees incurred will be reimbursed, up to 10, when doing the qualifying actions
This credit union is only available for those who live, work, or go to school in select Michigan counties, listed above. Other eligibility opportunities can be found here.
Qualifying Actions
To be eligible for the 4% rate, you need to do four things each qualification cycle:
- Have at least 20 debit card purchases post and settle, either signature purchases or PIN purchases
- Have at least one $100 ACH/direct deposit post and clear, OR $100 mobile check deposit
- Must login once a month to online or mobile banking
- Must receive eStatements
You can signup for eStatements, and you can automate $100 ACH-push into the account from your regular checking account. After setting that up, you’ll just have to log in once per month and make 20 debit card purchases per month.
Each monthly cycle goes by the calendar month.
The Fine Print
- If qualifications are not met, all balances earn 0% APY
- Limit one account per SSN
- APYs accurate as of 3/1/15; rates may change after account is opened
Our Verdict
4% on $10k is quite good, but there’s a very limited geographic availability here. We also don’t know if there’s a hard pull done to open this account – l.et us know if you verify this.
Check out our post on which high-interest savings account to get as there are a few options that offer 5% APY with easy requirements and some other 3% options; check it out to see what’s best for you. Also, see this post for some ideas on how to meet the debit card requirements.
HT: reader Abel
I got a hard pull. I’m out of state. Donated to a local church to meet requirements. Credit card funded $750 to CSP went through as purchase.
Thanks, I’ll add those points
Could you give more details on how you pulled this off, especially being from out of state, ie: did that make you a “member” of that church? Did you know somebody in the church?
I attempted to join from out of state and was denied even after requesting a review from a supervisor. Waste of a hard pull…
Bummer. Thanks for the info.