Offer at a glance
- Interest Rate: 5.13%
- Minimum Balance: $0 ($5 membership balance)
- Maximum Balance:
- $500 (at a 5.13% rate)
- $2,500 (at a 2.96% rate) [$500 to $2,500 tier]
- Availability:
- Live or work in one of 28 counties in Oregon,
- or by joining the University of Oregon (UO) Alumni Society at a cost of $55
- (The UO Alumni society is open to friends of the University who have not attended the school)
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Hard (Experian)
- A Hard Pull was generated to become a member and open an Ignite Savings Account
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: $5,000
- Credit Card must be in the name of the account owner
- DPs of Citi DC and Capital One Spark posting as a purchase
- Monthly fees: None
- Household Limit: None
- One account per primary membership
- Insured: NCUA
The Offer
Oregon Community Credit Union’s Ignite Savings Account offers:
- an interest rate of 5.13% (5.25% APY) on balances up to $500
- and an interest rate of 2.96% on the balance tier between $500 and $2,500
The Fine Print
- Only one account per primary membership
- Rates are variable and may change after the account is opened
Avoiding Fees
- The account has no monthly fee and no minimum balance requirement
Signup Process Notes
When I signed up out of the service area and with no family member already a member of the credit union, I needed to provide the following documents:
- Proof of UO Alumni Association Membership
- submitted an online confirmation email
- Social Security Card
- Driver’s License front & back
- Proof of Address
- submitted a utility bill
Our Verdict
The hard pull, the low balance limit, and the extra hoops/cost to join OCCU (if you live outside of their service area) might make this deal a pass. {I moved forward with membership only after joining the UO Alumni society for the OCCU Ducks Credit Card deal (now expired) [though it actually may not have been needed for card approval]}.
But the account does have its merits: an above market interest rate (for as long as the rate is offered), a decent cap (stretchable for a family of OCCU members, where each member can have an ignite savings account [over 18 can apply online, under 18 can still apply remotely through a manual process]), and generous credit card funding. Overall, I’ve found high interest savings accounts without monthly requirements (despite low balance limits) to be well worth the setup effort.
For a well maintained list of other savings options see the Best High Yield Savings Accounts page.
All the Best!
(HT: DesertRat)
As addl datapoint to below, just opened new account for P2 and funded with CIBP. Ignite account was opened/approved one day after applying. Funding on CIBP counted as purchase. This continues to be a great account for funding and keeping open for interest (though hard pull sucks).
NOT chex-sensitive (please update the post). But they need the copy of Social Security Card to open the account (it is a requirement). If you are not comfortable uploading a copy of the SS card, do not apply. They also need the proof of UOAA Membership (and DL as usual).
I noticed today that my application for ignite savings actually opened a primary savings account with much lower interest rate, so if you are wanting the 5% on 500, you might want to double-check your account. I opened a new account which asked me to fund from an existing account (no CC this time) and transferred the money into an Ignite Savings account.
Anyone know if it’s a hardpull if you’re already a member. I joined in december for the other deal
Citi Double Cash Card went through with no problem. However US Bank BusLeverage Card rejected
Funded account with 5k with Chase IHG. Posted as a purchase after 2 days.
I joined them for their awesome credit card deal from early in the year. So I called them up about this promo and here’s what I found. If anyone has contrary info, I’d be very keen to learn it:
1) It’s a separate savings account from your membership savings account. This is a plus if you want to fund it with a credit card because you can fund both.
2) If you already have an account, though, they *say* will not let you fund it over the phone or via the web. You must go into an office. (Weird, in these Covid-19 times)
3) That said, I checked their website and it appears to take a card for funding, so maybe it would get rejected later down the line or maybe the rep was incorrect
Does anyone know the answer to this?: I seem to recall that some credit cards have explicit language in their sign-up bonuses that disallow “cash-like” purchases. (Gift Cards are the obvious target.) But maybe funding a credit union is also disallowed?? Does anyone know?
It works from my experience. I used Paypal Mastercard for 2%, and it coded as a purchase and went through without a problem.
Good to know since that’s the card I would use.
So with a $55 entrance fee, it’ll take 759 days to start profiting if you only invest $500 and 236 days if you only invest $2500. Compared to an Elements account with 2.1% interest, it’ll take 625 days for this account to profit more if you invest $2500. That’s a long time for these rates to stay the same. I’ll pass
I hear you, as presented it’s probably a marginal deal.
The credit card funding can make you positive from a dollar perspective at the start, but still a lot of up from costs in terms of time (plus the hard pull).
I sort of collect these marginal deals, small limit high interest savings accounts. Been fortunate that most have run for a while, but that could quickly change.
Don– how long did it take for them to approve your application for the savings account? I applied on Saturday but still no approval and cc hasn’t been charged with the funding amount.
I can’t recall exactly, tried to piece it together from emails, think a few days, received an email asking to upload documents to their online web portal. They might just be getting hit hard like the other banks currently.
Thanks great to hear!
up to $500? they should set it to be up to $5
Haha truth