Update 3/17/24: They are now offering their Novus checking with 6.00% APY for 6 months on up to $50,000. Requires direct deposit of $1200 within 60 days of opening. A monthly $1,200+ direct deposit is required to keep the 6% boost; otherwise you’ll get the base rate of 4%.(ht to reader PaulinTexas)
Update 6/9/23: Seems Primis went and froze everyone’s some peoples accounts, no one really knows what’s going on. Readers suggest filing CFPB, FDIC and BBB complaints against them to spur some action.
Update 2/17/23: They are now sending out an official email confirming that the 5.03% rate will remain (at this time) for those who got the account while that rate was being advertised.
Update 2/16/23: Rate has been cut to 4.35% for both accounts. Find higher APY accounts here. For now the reps are saying that this change only applies to new accounts, and existing customers will continue to get the 5.03% rate.
Contents
The Offer
Primis Checking | Primis Savings
- Primis is offering a 5.03% APY on their fee-free checking account with no minimums and no requirements.
- Primis is also offering a 5.03% APY on their fee-free savings account with no minimums and no requirements.
Primis Bank is FDIC insured.
Our Verdict
The 5.03% savings rate tops all rates on regular savings accounts and even tops all CD rates, at the time of this writing. What I find even more remarkable is the 5.03% rate on a checking account – those rarely offer any interest at all. (See this outdated post from a few years ago.)
I don’t know much about Primis Bank but thought it worth creating a dedicated thread for discussion and reader reviews. Both of these accounts are fairly new to us (though it’s possible they’ve been around for a while and under the radar). Feel free to share your experiences. The biggest question mark is whether they’ll maintain a high rate in the long run, relative to the market.
Hat tip to reader CO
I was able to split my SS DD at Climate First 5.32% APY, by ACHing half of it to Primis 6% APY.
It is complicated because:
First, Climate does not have repeat transfers.
Second, Primis uses MX [that I avoid] for transfers.
Third, I have to use a another bank to pull from Climate and push to Primis.
Primus accepted ACH for DDs. They answer emails too. Very good CS.
Now if someone would clue me in on the best CD and MM rates. Not Credit Unions.
By the way, Primus 6% Novus checking has increased the max to $100K
Does it only work for new customers or existing customer can add fund up to $100K ? Thanks.
existing can fund up to $100k for the remainder of their 6 month boosted period
Had a $1,200 push from Schwab during the June statement cycle and I only got 4.25% APY.
Can anyone else verify if Schwab still works or not?
New customer’s application declined! “Your application did not pass our digital banking customer due diligence and has been rejected” citing E-Funds report. But I pulled a new ChexSystems report and NO inquiry from any FI lately.
Anyone can advise?
Received the same rejection today, applied yesterday
I got the same rejection last month. I figured it was chex, but when I tried to reapply today I had to call (already had an application login but was locked from denial). They emailed me later the same lingo and that I cannot reapply.
What is an eligible DD & how is it verified?
I sent this to CS: “Could you please explain and provide examples of what is/what is not “an eligible direct deposit”? Also, do you manually confirm direct deposits on a certain date or does the system determine if a monthly deposit is eligible just prior to the close of the statement cycle (15th)?”
Answer: “An eligible direct deposit would include payroll, interest, pension, dividends, SSI, etc. ACH transfers set up from another financial institution would not be considered as an eligible direct deposit. Our team manually tracks the direct deposits coming into the Novus accounts to ensure they are true direct deposits and that they have come in before the next statement cycle begins to make sure the account has qualified to continue earning the 6.00% APY”
Not sure how interest & dividends are considered an eligible DD unless it comes from a brokerage account like Schwab – which qualifies as a DD.
I think Wise and Fidelity should work. Can anyone confirm yes/no? Any other DPs on alternative DD’s that work?
Schwab
Treasury Direct
How can we confirm if I think this is new rule with DD and we will see the change (who will qualify for 6%) 16th of June?
Chase personal checking – ACH 2 day transfer
March 16th I believe
So, you are confirming that Chase Personal checking – ACH 2-day transfer works as a DD for this promotion, right?
Yep, seems like personal chase 2 day ach transfers are still working. Showing 6% as of June 16th.
For anyone looking to add funds or initially fund a Primis account.
You can “double dip” interest over a weekend/holiday if you pull funds into Primis on a Friday around 5/6 PM EST. Just link or, use an existing linked external account in Primis (limit of 3) and schedule the transfer.
Primis credits your account (current balance) when the deposit is scheduled/made but, the funds won’t be pulled from your funding account until Monday/Tuesday (if Mon is a holiday). This gives you an extra 3/4 days of interest at Primis & your funding account.
This Friday would be perfect for folks wanting to add additional funds.
Winner winner chicken dinner
Yeah, this didn’t work like I thought it would. I forgot Primis has a $6K transfer limit in/out & an $18K daily transfer limit. So, I ended up using three $6K transfers on 5/31 & will transfer the remaining $32K on Monday.
EARN 6.00% APY* ON UP TO $100,000.
Your Novus account with Primis is first-in-class and we’re committed to keeping it that way. We’re glad you’re here and we’re consistently evolving our offering to give you more.
That’s why we’ve increased the maximum balance on Primis Novus’ preferred rate. You’ve recently seen updated account terms within your app. We clarified our direct deposit requirements to make them easier to understand, and we increased the amount that we’ll pay the boosted rate on.
Before, we paid a boosted 6.00 APY* (annual percentage yield) for six months on balances up to $50,000 when the direct deposit requirement was met. Now, we’re paying on up to $100,000 for the remainder of your intro 6-month period. Questions? Email us and we’ll make sure you’re squared away.
Just got this in an email
Chuck Here’s the updated Info for new customers: Primis Novus Checking – Primis Bank
Would be cool if they extand that 6 months period
Sorry when is the “statement cycle”? If direct deposit hits on the 15th, will cycle begin on the 1st the following month?
their statements cycle on the 16th, so you want your dd to hit each month between the 16th and 15th (so for example, if you open on June 1, you have until July 30 to receive at least one direct deposit of $1200+ – if it’s received on 7/30, your 6% rate would start on 8/16 when the statement cycles and you would want your account balance to be $50k by 8/15 to make sure you’re earning the full amount for the whole six months- and you will need to receive a direct deposit of $1200+ each month for the following six months to keep the rate- if it stops at any point, you lose the rate boost and can’t reinstate it)
Optimized Plan for Maximizing Earnings:
-Account Opening:
June 1: Open the Primis Novus Checking account with an initial deposit of $1.
Your account is now active.
-Direct Deposit:
June 15: Set up direct deposit $1,200 to qualify for the boosted APY. Ensure that your direct deposit is active within 60 days.
-Initial Deposit:
June 28: Deposit $48,799 into your account. Your total balance will be $50,000.
This ensures you’re close to the boosted APY period without exceeding the cap.
-Boosted APY Period:
July 1: Your interest rate will be boosted on the next statement cycle after your direct deposit of $1,200 or more hits your account.
For the next 6 months, you’ll earn 6.00% APY on up to $50,000 of your balance as long as monthly direct deposit is maintained.
Withdrawals:
July 11: Withdraw $1,400 from your account to stay under the cap.
August 12, September 12, October 12, November 12, December 12: Repeat the withdrawal of $1,400 each month.
Adjust withdrawals as needed to maintain the balance below $50,000.
After the Boost:
December 31: After the initial 6-month boost, your entire balance shifts to a variable interest rate of 3.93% with an APY of 4.00%.
Your account remains fee-free, and there’s no minimum balance requirement.
Revised Summary:
June 1: Open with $1.
June 15: Set up direct deposit.
June 28: Deposit $48,799.
July 1 (and next 6 months): Enjoy 6.00% APY on up to $50,000.
July 12 and subsequent months: Withdraw $1,400 to stay under the cap.
After 6 months: Move money or continue earning at lower 4.00% APY.
By “June 15: Set up direct deposit.”, do you mean have the first direct deposit hit on that day?
Also, why would you withdraw the $1,400 to stay under the cap? Wouldn’t you just withdraw the excess over $100,000 each time your monthly interest is deposited?
I presume that
Q withdraws $1400 each month to account for the DD ($1200) + the interest received each month ($250). I’m not sure how they got $1400 instead of $1450 though.
Also, they wrote a $50K cap but you wrote $100K. Maybe you have different terms than they do.
That makes more sense even though there is still a $50 difference not accounted for. And good point as the promo has been increased to 100k.
Is there anything besides schwab that works for dd here?
Pretty sure a TD deposit will work but can’t confirm yet. Will use TD for my next deposit in June and I’ll report back with results. Can anyone else confirm TD works?
If I was you, I wouldn’t make a change to your DD. See the below comment for a warning.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/#comment-1832976
Hey, but thanks for the heads up.
Trust me, I noticed the irony.
No, I need to try a different dir dep because after I switched to sofi, I lost my 6% rate. Then I went back to using Treasury direct, but my rate wasn’t reinsated. So, either treas dir stopped working, or, if you use a dir dep that doesn’t work, you can’t re-establish it. Either way, I closed the account. I should have tried wise, but was irritated so I wasn’t thinking clearly, and just closed it.
Out of curiosity, I wondered if I could just open a new novus account, since they don’t pull chex for subsequent accounts, there was no harm in trying. It worked, and I opened a second novus account, no problem.
Well last month, I used treasury direct. Unfortunately, my rate is still 4%, where it should have updated on the 16th. I kept checking without trying another method to see if maybe they were late in updating like another person commented, but unfortunately it’s still 4%.
So, again, maybe treasury direct no longer works, but maybe it does but could be that even though they allowed me to open another account, they won’t allow me to get the 6% on a subsequent account.
That is the dp I am trying to be, but I’m not going to know unless I know what works. Before I once again close the account and give up, I wanted to try a known current working dir dep. Unfortunately I don’t have schwab, which seems to be what everyone is using.
Not sure if this helps but I only did TD two times, the last time it hit on 3/19. I then switched to using Merrill Edge and I’m still getting 6%.
You’re probably correct that Primis noticed you had a previous account & will not let you double-dip, sort of speak, although that would be a fantastic DP if you could!
I will use TD this cycle for my DD. If it still works (99% confidence) then you can’t double-dip. If it doesn’t work…then you still won’t know for sure. Your time to meet the 60-day DD requirement is running out so you should try and cultivate another DD source ASAP just to cover your tracks & maybe provide another DP.
Yeah, i was hoping someone would say fidelity worked or wise worked, because I have both of those.
I’ve had a lot of trouble with primis, multiple catastrophes that I have never experienced with any other bank, so it wouldn’t surprise me if you COULD just open a second account and get the 6% a second time, which is what I was attempting, but doesn’t seem like they are that stupid after all because I think Treasury direct should have worked since it worked my first month.
However since nobody has provided a working dp that I already have, I actually decided last night to just shift my money to a 6% account with debit card requirements instead.
I was only looking for an account that I could use as my main checking account, and I preferred primis since I hate doing the debit card requirements, but primis novus is only for 6 months anyway (unless I was able to just keep opening new accounts which is what I was hoping for (again, I have a very low opinion of primis so the expectation wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities).
i got the impression from their terms and talking to a csr that if you drop direct deposit at any point after it’s activated, you lose the 6% rate: “As long as the direct deposit of $1,200 is maintained, you’ll enjoy the boost for 6 months.” and “$1,200 direct deposit needs to be maintained at least once per statement cycle during the promotional period in order to continue receiving the boosted rate.”
Now
Jennifer ✝️🦁🕊️🙏🐘 knows for sure why opening a second account didn’t work to get back the lost 6% on the original account. The DD was valid, but Primis wouldn’t let her start a second promotion.
It was worth a try! If it had worked, then all of us could close/reopen a Novus account and start a new 6-month promotion.
@PaulinTexas –
Thanks for confirming. I didn’t really have anything to lose since there isn’t additional chex pulls, so I figured it was worth a shot. Didn’t work the way I hoped though unfortunately.
Primis is only available for US citizens or permanent resident.