Right now, with interest rates where they are, I no longer recommend anyone jump through the hoops of using Netspend to open multiple 5% interest accounts. Instead, I recommend using Raisin, which is a free high-yield savings option that you can set up in minutes. Check out my post on Raisin here. In the interest of completeness, however, I’m still leaving this post up.
One of the most popular posts I’ve written on this blog is a post I wrote some time ago about how I’m able to put away as much as $50,000 in FDIC-insured savings accounts that earn a guaranteed 5% interest. It’s by far my most commented-on blog post, garnering well over 500 comments over its lifetime. The reception to this post demonstrates that there are a lot of people out there looking for ways to get much more than the standard 0.5% to 1% that your typical high-yield savings accounts pay.
If you’re unfamiliar with how these 5% interest accounts work, it’s basically a little financial hack. One company in particular – Netspend – offers prepaid debit cards that come with FDIC-insured savings accounts that earn 5% interest. They take some work to set up, but once you go through the process, the accounts run themselves.
Over the last several years, I’ve stored almost all of my excess cash in these super high-yield savings accounts, allowing me to yield a good rate of return on my cash savings. Hundreds of other people have done the same – at least based on the comments and emails I get about these accounts.
Getting a good rate of return on your cash is advantageous. While most people are earning 0.5% or less on the money they keep in the bank, I’m able to earn a rate of return that far exceeds that – indeed, at the moment, I have an emergency fund of over $42,000 earning 3-6% interest in FDIC-insured savings accounts. Here are some of the many ways to get 5% interest savings accounts.
- Take Advantage of Netspend’s 5% Interest Savings Accounts
- Set Up A 6.17% Interest Account With Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU)
- Open a 5% Interest Savings Account With Service Credit Union
- Open An H-E-B Debit Card Account For 6% Interest On Up To $2,000
- Open A Current Account For 4% Interest On Up To $2,000
- Open A Workers Credit Union SaveUp Savings Account For 3.56% Interest On Up To $1,000
- Consider Looking At Other Super High-Yield Savings Accounts
- Buy Series I Savings Bonds (I Bonds)
- Use Your Cash For Bank Account Bonuses
- My 5% Interest Savings Account Strategy
- Comments
Take Advantage of Netspend’s 5% Interest Savings Accounts
The natural move for most people is to take advantage of the 5% interest savings accounts that are still available with Netspend. I’ve written about Netspend extensively in this post (Netspend Account: 5% Interest Savings and $20 Signup Bonus), so be sure to check that out if you want an in-depth guide on how to set up your 5% interest savings accounts with Netspend. In that post, I walk you through everything you need to know about Netspend in painstaking detail.
As a plus, Netspend also offers a $20 signup bonus when you open your first Netspend account. It’s not a huge deal by any means, but it is a free $20 while also gaining access to a 5% interest account. That’s a win-win in my book.
The limitation with Netspend is that each Netspend savings account is limited to earning 5% on the first $1,000. You can open up five Netspend accounts per person, however, which means that each person can put away up to $5,000 earning 5% guaranteed interest. If you’re a two-person household, that means you’ll be able to put away $10,000 total. That’s a solid emergency fund that will earn you $500 of guaranteed interest every year and allow your emergency cash to keep up with or beat inflation.
Don’t be scared away by the $1,000 per account limit either. Once you’ve set up your first Netspend account and understand the process, it should only take you about 10 or 15 minutes to set up the remaining accounts. Instead of thinking of each account as an individual account, think of your Netspend accounts as one big pool of money. These accounts are just for your cash to sit anyway, so it’s not like you’re going to have to look at multiple accounts all the time. Plus, once you’ve automated the accounts, you’re not really doing anything with them anyway except collecting the interest. There’s really no other super high-yield savings account that is this easy to manage.
If you’re looking to get 5% interest, Netspend is your best bet, so be sure to check out my step-by-step guide on how to set up your Netspend accounts.
Set Up A 6.17% Interest Account With Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU)
After setting up your Netspend accounts, my next recommendation would be to set up a savings account with Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU). DCU is an online credit union with a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. If you have a two-person household, you can have $2,000 earning over 6% interest. My understanding is that you can also open custodial accounts for children in your household, which adds another $1,000 per child earning high rates of interest (I haven’t done this yet, but I need to try).
As for safety, DCU is a credit union that is federally insured by the NCUA (that’s the FDIC equivalent for credit unions). This means your money is safe and has no risk of loss (the same as money in a bank account). DCU is also a normal bank and doesn’t require any specialized setup. The savings account has no fees, so this is an easy account to park $1,000 per person and let it sit.
When you sign up for this account, make sure to save your Member ID number somewhere, as you’ll need that to set up online access. Otherwise, opening this account is fairly straightforward.
One thing to note is that you need to be a member of a participating organization to open an account with DCU. The cheapest organization you can join is Reach Out For Schools, which requires a one-time $10 donation. In the application, there will be a section where you can make your donation and become a participating member, which then makes you eligible to open a DCU account. Paying $10 to join this organization is well worth it. You’ll get your money back from the interest alone, plus you’re donating to a non-profit that raises money for schools.
DCU also offers a signup bonus of $20 if you open a free checking account. This is probably worth doing if you’re already going to open a savings account too. To earn the bonus, you have to open a free DCU checking account using a referral link, then either have a direct deposit or do five debit card transactions in the same month.
If you’re interested in the signup bonus, contact me and I can send you an email with the referral link for the $20 bonus. I also wrote a step-by-step guide that details exactly how to earn your $20 DCU referral bonus. (Note: DCU has temporarily paused their referral program. It’s unclear when it’ll return).
Open a 5% Interest Savings Account With Service Credit Union
Service Credit Union is another credit union that has a savings account that offers 5% interest. It only earns 5% interest on the first $500 in your account, so keep that in mind. Still, if you and a partner open an account, you’ll have another $1,000 safely earning 5% interest.
Interest in this savings account is paid monthly and there are no fees or account minimums to worry about. Also, because this is a credit union, all of your funds are insured by the National Credit Union Administration, so your funds are safe. My own experience with Service Credit Union has been very positive and this is an account I can recommend even as a primary checking account.
Here’s how to open your account:
- First, you need to join the American Consumer Council (ACC). Go to the ACC membership website to get your membership. Enter the code “consumer” in the membership code section for a free membership (if “consumer” doesn’t work, then try entering the code “service”). You’ll then get an email with your membership certificate.
- After getting your ACC membership, go to the Service Credit Union website, click the “Open Now” box, and then click “New Member Account.”
- Under “Select Your Eligibility,” click the box that says you are a member of the American Consumer Council. Then enter your ACC membership number found on the membership certificate that was emailed to you.
- Under required products, choose Primary Savings. You should also open the Holiday Club Account, which offers 3% interest on up to $3,000.
- On the final application page, you can upload documents before submitting your application. The documents you’ll want to upload are (1) your ACC membership certificate, (2) a picture of the front and back of your driver’s license, and (3) something to verify your address, such as a utility bill or home insurance policy. You don’t have to do all of this at this point in the application, but if you don’t, you will receive an email from someone at Service Credit Union asking you to send them this information before your account can be approved.
- Even if you upload all of the required documents, you may still get an email from the membership department asking you to send them these documents. Just keep an eye out for this email and send any documents as requested.
- Once approved, you’ll get a welcome email with your member number. To set up online access, go back to the main Service Credit Union website and sign up for online banking. To sign up, you’ll need your member number and your “Call 24” pin. Your PIN is the last four digits of your SSN. Once you enter this info, you’ll be able to set up your username and password to access online banking.
If you open the 5% interest savings account plus the 3% interest Holiday Club Account, you’ll have $500 earning 5% interest, plus an additional $3,000 earning 3% interest. Obviously, if you have a spouse or partner, you can open accounts for them as well, adding an additional $500 and $3,000 of high-yield savings. I have both of these accounts maxed out for me and my wife.
Open An H-E-B Debit Card Account For 6% Interest On Up To $2,000
The H-E-B Debit account offers 6% interest on your first $2,000. What’s important is that the H-E-B Debit account is considered a separate product from the H-E-B Prepaid account that you can get through Netspend. That means you can open all five Netspend accounts and the H-E-B Debit account too.
The H-E-B Debit account is a bit weird. The first time I opened it, they closed it immediately. I assumed it was because I already had five Netspend accounts, so I couldn’t open the H-E-B Debit account.
I resigned myself to the fact that I couldn’t get the H-E-B Debit account, but a few months later, I got an email from H-E-B telling me that my account had been closed in error and was now reopened. I have no idea why that happened, but I’m not complaining. Getting access to this account means I get another $2,000 of mega high-yield savings for me and another $2,000 for my wife. That’s $4,000 earning 6% interest!
The H-E-B Debit account works the same way as the Netspend accounts, so definitely check out my Netspend guide to get a better understanding of how to use this account. The short of it is you open the H-E-B Debit account, get your card in the mail and activate it, then transfer $2,000 onto the debit card. You should then be able to open the savings account and move the money into it.
I’ve also written an in-depth post specifically about the H-E-B Debit Account that’s worth checking out: The H-E-B Debit Card 6% Interest Savings Account.
Open A Current Account For 4% Interest On Up To $6,000
Current is a fintech banking app similar to Chime, Lili, Novo, and other fintech banks or neobanks. These banking apps are primarily mobile-first – in some cases, they only have an app. What makes Current interesting is that they recently opened a savings account feature that offers 4% interest on up to $6,000. This was previously limited to only select customers, but now that it’s open to everyone, I recommend opening a Current account to take advantage of the 4% interest.
Current charges no fees and has no minimum balance requirement, so that makes Current an easy bank account to open and fund with $6,000. To be able to put away that $6,000 earning 4% interest, you have to sign up for the premium plan. The good thing is that while it used to charge a monthly fee, the premium plan is now free.
Current calls their savings account a “savings pod.” If you’re on the free plan, you’re limited to one savings pod earning 4% interest on up to $2,000. If you sign up for the premium plan, however, you can open two more savings pods. Since the premium plan is free now, it makes sense to sign up for it, then open three savings pods and put $2,000 in each one.
Current is an easy account to open and unlike many of these other accounts, should only take you a few minutes to get your account open and active.
For a detailed guide to Current and how it works, check out my post: Current Bank App – 4% Interest Savings Account On Up To $6,000.
If you want to learn how to earn a referral bonus from Current, check out this post: Current Bank $50 Referral Bonus – Step by Step Guide.
Open A Workers Credit Union SaveUp Savings Account For 3.56% Interest On Up To $1,000
Workers Credit Union is a federal credit union based in Massachusetts, but that is available nationwide. Their SaveUp Savings Account offers 3.56% interest on up to $1,000.
Opening the account isn’t difficult. I applied for the account online, then received a phone call the next day to verify some information. I then had to send them some verifying documents via email. It’s a bit weird having to do that since it seems like they could have gotten that information during the application process, but I’m fine with it.
Workers Credit Union does have a fee schedule that is a bit weird, but so long as you do it right, the fees should never apply to you. The first fee to worry about is an inactivity fee, which is charged if you have no debits or credits within 365 days. This shouldn’t be a problem for most people since you’re probably going to be withdrawing the interest you earn in this savings account. So long as you withdraw your interest at least once per year, you shouldn’t have any issues.
The second, more annoying fees are related to ACH transfers. If you initiate an ACH transfer from the Workers Credit Union website, you’ll get charged an ACH transaction fee. To avoid this fee, make sure to initiate all of your ACH pushes and withdrawals from an external bank account. For example, I have my Ally bank account linked to Workers Credit Union and I do all my ACH transfers from the Ally website. By doing this, I’m able to deposit and withdraw money from Workers Credit Union without incurring any fees.
Consider Looking At Other Super High-Yield Savings Accounts
Besides Netspend, DCU, and Service Credit Union, there are a few other options for super high-yield savings accounts. I personally haven’t used these accounts, so I can’t speak to how well they work, but here’s a list of some that you could consider in no particular order (but again, I have not personally used these options, so I can’t speak to how good they are):
- Blue Federal Credit Union (5% Interest on up to $1,000). As I understand it, this account is a soft pull, but they are Chex System sensitive, which means that if you open a lot of bank accounts as I do, you might not qualify for an account. Many readers have also reported that this account is too much hassle to maintain, so take that for what you will.
- T-Mobile Money T-Mobile Money still has a 4% interest savings account, but it requires you to have 10 debit card transactions each month. This makes it similar to a high-yield checking account. It can still be worthwhile, but it requires more work now to meet the requirement, which makes it less useful.
- Porte (3% Interest on up to $15,000). Porte is another fintech bank that offers a 3% interest savings account on your first $15,000. Unfortunately, Porte recently changed their terms to require users to receive $3,000 in direct deposits and complete 15 debit card transactions each month. So, while it’s still possible to earn 3% interest, for most, people, Porte is basically worthless now. With that being said, here’s a quick guide I wrote if you’re interested in setting up a Porte account.
- HMBradley (3% Interest on up to $100,000). HMBradley is an account that can let you store a lot of cash earning 3% interest. This used to be a go-to account of mine, but in 2022, they updated their terms to require that you get the HMBradley credit card, spend $100 per month on the credit card, and have a real direct deposit of $1,500 per month. Some people may still find this useful, especially since HMBradley pays 3% interest on such a high amount. For me. I don’t find it worthwhile anymore, so I’ve pulled my money out of HMBradley and am shifting some of that money into I Bonds (which are discussed in the next section).
There are also a decent number of banks out there that will give you 3% or more interest if you meet certain requirements. Typically, the requirements will be things like using your debit card 10 or more times per month or having a certain number of transactions in your account each month. I’m not a huge fan of these types of accounts because they require too much maintenance for my taste, but they are an option if you’re a little more motivated than I am. I have not included those banks here.
For the most part, this section doesn’t apply to me but check your situation to see if any other bank options make sense for you.
Buy Series I Savings Bonds (I Bonds)
I Bonds are an interesting option for folks looking for a safe place for cash that offers higher returns than a traditional bank account. An I Bond is formally called a Series I Savings Bond and is issued directly by the US Treasury Department. When you buy an I Bond, you’re loaning money to the US Government, with the promise that you’ll get your money back plus interest. While I Bonds technically carry some risk, in practical terms, they’re guaranteed because the bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government.
The I Bond rate is tied to inflation and is adjusted every 6 months. When you purchase an I Bond, you’re locked into that rate for 6 months and your rate gets adjusted every 6 months. You can think of I Bonds as similar to a variable rate CD.
There are some important limitations with I Bonds that you should know. You must hold your I Bonds for at least one year, which means if you buy I Bonds, you cannot withdraw that money for one year. If you withdraw the I Bond before 5 years, you forfeit your last three months of interest. In most cases, forfeiting three months of interest is still better than keeping your money in a regular savings account, so this limitation isn’t too big of a deal. Finally, you’re limited to buying $10,000 of I Bonds per year. This is on an individual basis, which means a two-person household can buy a minimum of $20,000 of I Bonds each year.
With HMBradley nerfing their account, I’ve gone ahead and shifted the money I had in HMBradley towards I Bonds. For more information on I Bonds and how I’m incorporating them into my savings strategy, check out this post: Buying I Bonds As Part Of My Emergency Fund Strategy.
Use Your Cash For Bank Account Bonuses
One of the most underrated things you can do to get a better return on your cash is to use your excess cash to qualify for bank account bonuses. As a brief introduction, there are a ton of banks out there that will offer you signup bonuses if you open a bank account with them and meet certain requirements. These requirements typically include some sort of direct deposit requirement, a minimum balance requirement, and/or a debit card transaction requirement. It is work to do all of this stuff – but it’s a great way to use your idle cash in a way that gets you way more than you can get from just keeping your money in a normal savings account.
As an example of the kind of return you can make from bank account bonuses, in 2018, my wife and I made $4,100 from bank account bonuses. In 2019, we made over $7,000 from bank account bonuses. And in 2020, we made over $10,000 from bank account bonuses. As a point of comparison, you’d need to put away $200,000 to $600,000 in normal high-yield savings accounts to earn a similar amount of interest.
It definitely takes some work to get bank account bonuses, but if you’re the type of person that likes figuring things out, this is a good way to earn more money on your idle cash. I wrote a huge 7,000 + word guide on how bank account bonuses work.
Make sure to check it out here if you want to understand how you can incorporate bank account bonuses into your financial system: The Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses. A few of the easier bank bonuses to start with include:
- Chime Bank Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide
- SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide
- Webull Referral Bonus: Step-By-Step Guide
- M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide
- Lili Referral Bonus – Step By Step Guide
- Nearside Business Checking Referral Bonus – Step By Step Guide
For some additional resources, you can check out this link of the best bank bonuses and promotions and check out Doctor of Credit’s list of best bank bonuses as well.
My 5% Interest Savings Account Strategy
I’ve pretty much explained my new strategy to get the maximum return on my cash but thought I’d recap it below for convenience’s sake. Basically, I’ll be doing a multi-prong strategy when it comes to my idle cash where I use these super-high-yield savings accounts and keep money on the side for bank bonuses. Here’s what I’m doing:
- Utilize Netspend for the 5% Interest Accounts. I’ll continue to keep $10,000 in my Netspend accounts ($5,000 in my five Netspend accounts and $5,000 in my wife’s five Netspend accounts). I’ve already been utilizing Netspend for over four years, and with Insight gone, I think Netspend becomes even more important to use since there’s pretty much no other way to earn 5% interest without jumping through a ton of hoops. If you’re willing to put in the upfront time to set up your Netspend accounts, they will pay dividends for you (and seriously, it’s not as hard as it looks to set up). As mentioned above, be sure to read my guide to Netspend if you want to earn 5% interest in an FDIC insured savings account (and collect a free $20 signup bonus too).
- Use DCU for the 6.17% Interest Accounts. These accounts require no work to set up or maintain – they’re just regular bank accounts with no fees. I keep $1,000 in my 6% DCU savings account and another $1,000 in my wife’s 6% DCU savings account.
- Use Service Credit Union for the 5% Interest Accounts. Like DCU, Service Credit Union is an easy way to get more 5% interest savings on up to $500 per person. I keep $500 in my account and $500 in my wife’s account. I also used my referral code to open my account and used my referral code for my wife’s account, which got us some easy bank signup bonuses.
- Use the H-E-B Debit account for 6% Interest. H-E-B Debit is a separate product from the H-E-B Prepaid account from Netspend. This one lets you get 6% interest on up to $2,000. I have a weird history with this account. When I first opened it, they closed it immediately but then reopened my account months later for no apparent reason. I’m not complaining though – I now have $2,000 for me and my wife in these accounts earning 6% interest.
- Use Current for 4% Interest. Current is an easy fintech banking app to open. After opening the account, I activated my savings pod, then put $2,000 into it. I’ll do the same for my wife also, so that’ll give us $4,000 earning 4% interest. Be sure to check Swagbucks to see if they have a good signup bonus with Current.
- Use the Workers Credit Union SaveUp Savings Account For 3.56% Interest. Workers Credit Union seems like a solid savings account, paying 3.56% interest on up to $1,000. I’ve opened an account for myself and plan to do so for my wife too.
- Use the Service Credit Union Holiday Club Account For More 3% Interest Space. The Holiday Club Account from Service Credit Union lets you get 3% interest on up to $3,000. This is a hassle-free savings account, so it’s worth putting $3,000 in here and letting it sit.
- Buy $10,000 of I Bonds Per Year. Given the current I Bond rates, I’m planning to purchase $10,000 of I Bonds each year, with the idea of creating an I Bond ladder. I’ll try to do the same for my wife too, giving us $20,000 per year of I Bonds.
- Take Advantage of Bank Bonuses. I’ll likely try to keep $20,000 or so in normal high-yield savings accounts, which I can then deploy for various bank account bonuses. Over the past three years, I’ve consistently been able to earn at least $1,000 from bank account bonuses. I’ll keep the money in a normal high-yield savings account when it’s not being used for bank account bonuses, and look to use the money whenever I find a good bonus somewhere. If you’re looking for a list of current bank account bonuses, Doctor of Credit keeps the definitive list here. And make sure to read my Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses if you’re new to the world of bank account bonuses.
The super high-yield savings account landscape isn’t as good as it was now that Insight is gone. However, there are still ways to get a good return on a significant amount of cash.
I currently have $10,000 in Netspend accounts between me and my wife. We then have $2,000 in DCU, $4,000 in H-E-B Debit, and $1,000 in Service Credit Union. That gives us $17,000 earning 5% or more interest.
After that, we have $6,000 total in Service Credit Union’s Holiday Club Account earning 3% interest. We also will have $2,000 in the Workers Credit Union SaveUp Savings, which gives us $8,000 earning 3% or more interest. I’m in the process of opening my Current accounts too, giving us an additional $2,000 each earning 4% interest. In total, that gives us a $29,000 emergency fund earning 3-6% interest.
To replace HMBradley, we’re planning to start putting $10,000 to $20,000 per year into I Bonds. These come with some restrictions, but they seem to be a good spot to store cash that I don’t need for at least a year.
The rest of the cash we have gets used for bank account bonuses, which is enough to earn us several thousand dollars per year in bank bonuses. When combined, we’re earning thousands of dollars per year on our emergency cash. That is not bad at all.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks and 1 stock of Tesla or Google) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 3 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (12 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 12 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($150) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Upgrade ($150) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $150 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $150 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- US Bank Business ($800) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($100) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $100 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Netspend ($40 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $40 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $40 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.25% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
I have been testing the savebetter (now raisin) offerings/partnerships and eyeing my netspend accounts as the raisin partner’s interest rates and CD rates creep above 5%, not quite ready to pull the trigger yet on netspend and haven’t tried transferring money back to my base account from raisin but things seems to be working so far and there are a number of very short-term cds with rates over 5% to choose from if emergency funds are a concern. anyone have any thought ons raisin?
Service Credit Union will not longer service Netspend/Metabank accounts and Ally will not let me link them. I’ve had them all set up for about 1 year with no issues except for this week. Right now, I don’t know how to transfer money out of the Netspend account (principal or interest). Is there a list of banks that will let me do transfers to and from Netspend?
Current was able to link to a netspend account. But you can’t do recurring transactions.
Check out Bask Bank. I have money there and there is no limit on the amount of interest paid out. Right now it’s at 4%
The routing number for the Netspend account shows up as an international transfer and Ally will not allow that. Do you know a way to get around that with Ally?
I really appreciate the article and information. Thank you very much for putting it all in such a succinct and easy to ready article.
Since these accounts have offered such high interest rates compared to other banks do you think they will increase their rates and the FED increases rates? My bank account has almost doubled interest rates in the last few months but these accounts appear to have stayed the same for the last year or so. Just wondering what your thoughts were.
So i was able to open 5 netspend accounts without issue (Netspend, Ace Elite, Western Union, HEB prepaid, and Brinks) but I opened a HEB debit after. The application went through fine and I got my card but when I tried logging in to activate the card I got the error message that something was wrong and to contact support. I assume this is the same problem other people ran into with having both HEB accounts. So I am not sure if I should even contact support and let it sit until they unlock maybe later?
My netspend accounts are fine but I moved money out of the HEB prepaid one just in case.
So, when I go to the Netspend website – https://www.netspend.com – on the homepage they reference a “6.00% Annual Percentage Yield on an optional Savings Account”. Is that a reference to this particular savings account? My assumption is yes and that they’ve possibly bumped up the APY from 5.00% to 6 .00% since this article was last updated in April of this year. Interest rates in general have been going up quite a bit, so it would make sense.
Also, in looking at the fine print on the “optional Savings Account” with the “6.00% Annual Percentage Yield”, it states that if you have an Average Daily Balance of $2,000.00 or less, you will receive 6.00% Annual Percentage Yield but if your Average Daily Balance exceeds $2,000.00, then the first $2,000.00 would receive the 6.00% Annual Percentage Yield and the portion above $2,000.00 would receive 0.50% APY.
I haven’t signed up yet but, if I’m reading that correctly, then it sounds like there might be have two important changes since this article was last updated in April of this year:
1. An increase in the APY from 5.00% to 6.00%
2. An increase in the Average Daily Balance that can receive said maximum APY from $1,000.00 per account to $2,000.00.
Is anyone currently using Netspend able to verify if that is correct or if this language is somehow a reference to a different Netspend product?
Interesting. I did not notice that before, but it does seem like it would be 6% on up to 2k now based on what the website says. The other Netspend products all still say 5% on up to 1k, so I’m not sure what that’s about.
One thing I did notice is that Metabank switched its name to Pathward. Not sure if that has anything to do with it.
I’ll do some more research to see if this is correct. If anyone else knows, definitely drop some info in the comments too.
This may be down in the noise, but doesn’t funding the savings accounts at their maximum level defeat the benefits of compounding interest at the higher rate? Since interest posted to the savings account will only earn at the rate for > $1,000 (or $2,000 in the case of HEB-Debit) balances, wouldn’t we fall short of the APY mark. If that is the case, would it be better to fund at a level that leaves a cushion for compounding, and periodically sweeping the interest paid to a separate account?
I’ve managed to snag all the suggested cards/accounts except for the HEB Prepaid card. I had already opened an HEB Debit card, and HEB Prepaid told me that I could only open one HEB card under the same SS#. Fortunately, I opened the HEB Debit with the higher savings limit first. Curious that my credit union won’t link with the underlying Netspend routing number, but Chase will. So far no problems using Chase to fund the various cards.
DCU’s opening process is a bit more complicated than the others, but after some back and forth re: identify verification (including unfreezing my credit report) I was able to open that one as well. There seems to be a dollar limit between $200-300 on transfers in from linked external accounts. Haven’t finished testing ACH deposits of higher amounts from an external account yet. Has anyone else encountered this?
Hi, I’ve only had these accounts less than a year, but for those who have had it longer, do you file a 1099INT form for each account (each netspend account, DCU, SCU, Current etc.) that you’ve gained interest in order to provide it when tax season comes along? I haven’t seen anything on it here, but I think they have to provide one if at least $10 is gained from interest and needs to be filed on your tax return. My guess is yes, but thought I’d ask to see if each account provides a 1099INT form. That’s what I’ve always had to do with my local credit union. Thank you!
Yup. Filling out the info for 10+ nearly identical looking 1099s is half the fun!
Does anyone have an HM Bradley referral code they would be willing to share?
I opened the Netspend accounts, they were all open for about 2 weeks and after applying for the last one they closed all of the accounts.
I’m new to the annuity play. I’ve listened to several videos from Stan the Annuity Guy, but have yet to feel comfortable enough to take the plunge. I have a Jumbo Traditional IRA that I was making a nice 4% maturing at the end of April. The banks and credit unions have been great at playing these $1000 – $2000 5% games. But I’ve found nothing that great for a jumbo CD. I’ve pulled up several annuity sites that had MYGA (Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity) rates which are the insurance version of a CD, with several paying up to 3.25% for a 5 year contract. I’ve called a few of the insurance companies, but everything is Ancient Chinese Secret on getting any real information. They pretty much deal with field agents and can have one contact me. I get it.. I have a couple of credit unions that set me up with annuities without calling them annuities (at least I don’t recall them calling them annuities) and I can’t go to those insurance companies directly either. It would be nice to see an added tab for us annuity dummies. “The Annuity Guys” just same like con guys, even if they probably aren’t. lol .. I asked one of the insurance companies that “The Annuity Guys” have listed on their list that was offering the highest interest rate I found to date if those two guys were one of their agents. Their insurance reps response: we can have someone contact you. When I asked one of Stan the Annuity Guy listed insurance companies the exact same question about Stan. Their response: Yes, Stan is one of our agents. So I’m leaning toward Stan, but would love to see more options by those who know that side of the business. MYGA is all I’m interested in.. Not the income for life annuity plans, or the inflation protected annuity plans, or the will be there for you if you need us plans. I was hoping to find a 5 year MYGA annuity rate of at least 3.5% or higher. I’m not holding my breath for the banks or credit unions to go that high for at least another year.
Hanscom FCU is another credit union that has two means of joining if you don’t live in the local area or a relative of a current member. If you’re a retired service member that’s one way. The other way is by donating to one of their partner organizations. They offer a locked in 5% CU Thrive savings account. In order to take advantage of the CU savings account, you have to have a savings & basic checking account, both are free without fees. Then you have to call Hanscom FCU and have them open up a CU Thrive savings account, since it can’t be done on line. This part is sweet. Hanscom FCU will allow you to use a charge card to plus up your new accounts up to $2000 total during the application to join process. So of course I used my 2% Randolph Brooks FCU MC and was credited $40 for the charge. Once you have money in your checking account, you’re ready to start up the CU Thrive. There are two start dates they allow for the CU Thrive, the 1st or the 15th. You’ll be asked how much do you want to contribute each month to up to $500. I opted for the full $500 per month and will ACH the money into my checking account every month from another credit union. It gets even better for those who like playing the debit card game. Hanscom FCU offers a debit card that requires you to open up a Kasasa Cash Back Chk account. I asked the rep to do that for me. Since you don’t need both checking accounts, I had them close out my basic checking account (small growing pain). You have to make at least one ACH into your Kasasa Cash Back checking account every month and spend a minimum of $200 and 12 debits. If you are successful, you’ll get a $10 a month credit. So if you hit $200 exactly, that’s a 5% return, if you hit $300 it’s a 3.33% return. So the objective is to try your best to keep the 12 debits as close to $200 as possible for the full 5%. Plus you’ll have to enroll in online statements. It gets even better…. For every referral, you’ll get $30 and the person who joins gets $30 if they open up a free savings and checking account. You’ll be rewarded the money between 91st and 135th day if they remain a member. The referral program was a little grey in that the referrals never reference me as their referral. So after I referred both my wife and daughter I sent an account message to Hanscom rep with both my wife and daughter as referenced new referrals. They said, don’t worry be happy. I’ll have to wait to see if Hanscom FU follows through on the $60 referral money. Anyway both my wife and daughter have identical accounts too.
Don’t be discouraged if you decide to join on line and you can’t successfully enroll afterward into your new account. That happened to me, my wife, and my daughter. All of us had to contact Hanscom FCU service rep and have them assist us with the on line account enrollment.
** Since I’m a retired service member, that’s how I joined. But my Plan “B” was to become a member of one of the following organizations. So hopefully, that works for those who need a way to join.
You can join Hanscom FCU when you’re a member of one of our partner organizations:
1) Burlington Players is an all-volunteer theater group open to those ages 18 and over.
2) Nashua River Watershed Association works for a healthy ecosystem with clean water and open spaces for human and wildlife communities in the Nashua River watershed.
3) Air Force Association (AFA) is a national nonprofit civilian organization that promotes public understanding of aerospace power and its role in our nation’s security.
Great stuff.. Unless you live in Colorado or Wyoming, don’t waste your time applying for a membership at Blue Credit Union. I went through the motions of becoming a member. I figured I qualified in two ways. First, I’m a retired military service member and second I could just donate to the credit union’s foundation. After contacting a service rep, it all started off good. But then the credit union membership policy police stepped in and denied my membership. Their main reason was because I lived in Texas. So I sent the CEO a personal email (I’ll admit, I could have been more friendly) and was called the next day by one of the credit union’s VPs. She told me that the system showed me as a potential risk due to all the credit unions that I had recently joined. What the.. Then she goes on to tell me that they were hit up by a lot of fraud so they were only accepting new membership applications from those and live in the Colorado or Wyoming areas, period. Then I asked, were they denying membership to even those who were relatives of current members living outside those two states?. Her answer, correct. But she would be the first one to contact me if the rules change. She was so good at her job, she even for-warned me that it wasn’t a good idea for me to be applying to so many different credit unions chasing higher interest rates. And that one of the recent credit unions that I joined was doing additional status checks on me. My reply: That’s because I just added another offering from that very same credit union for more reward money. What the… I have since gone on and joined the Workers Credit Union, DCU Credit Union, and added the HEB debit card to my interest rate arsenal since that call.
You need to update HMBradley’s earning requirements. They changed the Direct Deposit requirement from 2,500 to 1,500. This might make it more attainable. This is along with the 100/month spent on their credit card, where you can receive 3% back on the top category, which is easy to do.
Will do. Thanks. Been behind on updating things.
Hi Kevin!
I visit your posts often and have done many of your suggestions. Have you heard of Aspiration? They appear to offer 5% on $10,000 and seem to be FDIC insured. I was hoping this was one you recommended or have looked into.
Do you mind sharing your thoughts?
Thank you!
There is also Affinity FCU showing 2% up to $2.5, $5 donation to open account
up to 5,000 now
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for wonderful information.
I have a stupid question: When you said 5% interest on the first $1,000, did it mean that you earned $50 for every year? For example, you just keep the balance of $1,000, so you earn $50 in this year, and then you will earn $50 next year? I know this is really stupid question, but I would appreciate if you reply someday. Thank you!
Hey Sue,
Yeah, it’s 5% interest on the first $1,000. So you’ll get $50 of interest each year. Every quarter, I pull the interest out and put it somewhere else. My wife just leaves it there and we pull the interest out in her accounts once per year. Takes 5 minutes to do.
Lafayette Federal Credit Union is offering 2.02% APY on balances up to $25,000 with a $500 minimum monthly direct deposit to their checking account. They are also offering new members a $100 bonus with certain requirements. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee). saw this on mymoneyblog.com
I think there are some issues with that bank. Namely, they’re chex sensitive, have some odd fees to worry about, and may be state-specific.
I tried setting up an account with DCU , it wouldn’t go through without me listing an employer even though I said I was retired.
Have you heard that Current is going to start offering a 4% APR savings account for balances up to $2000 per account? https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/13/u-s-fintech-current-introduces-high-yield-savings-where-customers-earn-a-4-00-apy/#aoh=16421698134631&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2022%2F01%2F13%2Fu-s-fintech-current-introduces-high-yield-savings-where-customers-earn-a-4-00-apy%2F
Yes, it’s in the post. Whole section on it. I reopened my current account and moved 2k in.
Great recommendations! I have DCU and Service FCU, they work well. I also found Landmark FCU, based in Wisconsin. They pay 7.5% on their checking account on the first $1,000. Their website says there is a Wisconsin residency requirement, but I was never asked about it.
Thanks. Are you in Wisconsin?
Have you found a better alternative to HM Bradley? Any other accounts out there offering at least 1%? I have all the recommended accounts but now need another place to park the rest of my cash.
A reader let me know of another Credit Union that offers 3.5% interest on $1,000. It’s called Workers Credit Union. Based in MA, but available nationwide.
I just opened this account and am in the process of moving $1k into it. Straightforward so far. I plan to add it to this post.
Another option to look at are I Bonds. Check the section in this post on I Bonds.
Is HM Bradley still paying 3% on up to $100,000? You said you no longer recommend it. Why? Thank you and Happy New Year!
HMBradley recently changed their terms to make it so you have to get the HMBradley credit card, spend $100 per month on it, and do a direct deposit of $2500 per month. For most people, that makes HMBradley useless now, but a small number of people might still find it worth doing.
This worked! Thanks so much JD!
I would appreciate a referral to HM Bradley as well. Thanks so much!
Here is a referral to HM Bradley: https://hmb.to/signup?code=j3gabOI0
I, too, would appreciate an HM Bradley referral. Thanks so much!!
Here is a HM Bradley referral: https://hmb.to/signup?code=j3gabOI0
Same as P Brown! Hoping to get a referral into HM Bradley 🙂
If someone could leave me a referral to HM Bradley, I would greatly appreciate it.
Looks like the previous referral’s are used up.
Thanks!
The exact same thing happened to me with the HEB Debit account! It was initially opened, then automatically closed the next day. I too just assumed it was because I already had 5 Netspend accounts, but a month or two later I got an email saying that my account was closed in error and had been reopened. And for the inconvenience they offered me a $50 courtesy credit! Such a bizarre twist!
Also, I generally wouldn’t recommend the Blue FCU account. It works, but it was like a 2 month long process just to get the account opened. You’re assigned a banker and nothing is automated, so there will be lots and lots and lots of phone tag. In the end I had to submit photos of my drivers license, social security card, AND my passport. The whole thing was really feeling sketchy.
Did you have money in the HEB account? Did they end up mailing a check to you? I have an account they just closed for no reason and have money in it.
with Blue Credit Union the website makes you set up an appointment and go into a a WY or CO bank unfortunately
Interesting. Blue FCU has always been a pain to open, especially if you’re someone who has a lot of accounts already.
Anyone have a HMBradley referral to share since you can only get in by referral? Would appreciate it if able to pass along/share!
here you go thankful
https://hmb.to/signup?code=YW2s2lD7
Thanks so much! Really appreciate it !
Would like referral to HM Bradley if anyone has one. Thank you!
https://hmb.to/signup?code=Wisj593f
Here you go Beverly!
Thank you Jeanie!
Hello – yes, wondering the same thing….does anybody have a referral link for HMBradley and the automatic 3% tier?
https://hmb.to/signup?code=Wisj593f
Joy, Here’s a referral to HM Bradley.
Hi can you send me an invitation for hm bradley?
T-mobile money……….4% on the first 3000 and 1% for everything thereafter!!
I tried to setup a recurring transfer from my bank to my netspend account, but the minimum amount is $20.00. I was hoping to setup a recurring $1.00 transfer as you described. Do you know of a bank that will allow $1.00 recurring transfers?
Hi Thomas… I opened and Ally Bank Online Savings account as the hub to move my money to different accounts. Can def do $1 transfers.
Hi,
Tried HMBradley and it says
Your friend is out of invites!
You can still apply for an account, but won’t receive Tier 1 savings.
Do you have another link which works please? Thanks
Hello! Thank you for all of this info. I just set up my Netspend and started opening my other accounts today, and got locked out of them all…I think I went too fast. Hopefully, I can clear it up quickly as I just transferred my first $500 over! I have DCU opened, too, and am going to try Service as well.
I want to open an HMBradley account and it says Caitlin is all out of invites. Do you have another referral link for them I could try instead?
Thanks!
Hey Rachael,
I updated the link to my own link. Give it a try and see if it works.
That worked – thank you!
I’m a tad bit confused. When I look at the NetSpend website it doesn’t even mention an associated savings account, let alone one with 5% interest.
It’s here: https://www.netspend.com/prepaid-debit/features/savings-account/
Oops. I meant to say 3% on $100,000
This post has the info. There’s also this post that might help: Getting More From My Emergency Fund With 3% and 5% Interest Savings Accounts
I read one of your articles last week where you can get 1% on $100,000. I am having trouble finding the article. Can you help me out? or something similar for large amounts. Thank you!
Does transferring $1000 as an ACH between banks into Porte qualify to open the savings part? Or a real direct deposit of $1000?
My understanding is that any ACH activates the savings. You don’t need a real direct deposit. I did an ACH and it activated my savings.
T-mobile is changing their qualification for their Money account to require 10 debit transactions per month instead of a $200 monthly deposit to get 4% APY on the $3,000. Essentially makes it similar to rewards checking accounts, which IMO makes it a lot worse:
“On March 31st, 2021, instead of the current qualifying deposit requirements, we will require that at least 10 qualifying purchases using your T‑Mobile MONEY card have posted to your Checking Account before the last business day of the month. Qualifying purchases posting on or after the last business day of the month count toward the next month’s qualifying purchases. If you meet this purchase requirement in a given month, we will pay you this benefit in the subsequent month as an added value provided all other requirements are met. An email notification will be sent to you 30 days prior to the effective date of this change.”
Yeah, that’s a real bummer. The 10 debit transactions aren’t necessarily hard to do, but just another thing to remember that’s more annoying. Will be up to folks to decide if it’s worth remembering for them.
Do you (or anyone else) know whether Service Credit Union triggered a hard or soft credit inquiry? And/or St. Mary’s?
Hi Kevin,
New to the blog and finding lots of good info, so thank you very much. Waiting on first Netspend account (used your referral) and will open more if that goes well.
Couple more general questions for you (sorry if this is not the best place to ask!):
1) From what I can tell, many of the bank bonuses are only good if you haven’t had an account in the previous X years. How do you keep up the high bonus earnings year after year? Finding more obscure banks or are some less restrictive than others?
2) Tips on how to track all of the places you have this money stashed away in case of an accident where your family or someone else would need to access it? Hate to be morbid, but this is one of the things that worries me. I do use spreadsheets for some of my tracking but even with that, it’s complicated telling my wife we’ve suddenly gone from 1 bank account to 10! 🙂
Thanks again.
Hey Jeff. Here are the answers to your questions:
1) Most banks allow you to get the bonus again after 6-12 months. For example, US Bank, Wells Fargo, BMO Harris, etc, all have 12 month restrictions, so every year, I just open an account and get the bonus again. Chase used to be once per calendar year, but now its 24 months, but still, every 24 months, I open a new Chase account and get the bonus. In addition, there are so many banks out there that every year, it’s not difficult to find brand new bonuses for banks you’ve never heard of.
2) I’m admittedly not great at keeping this info in one place, and it’s something that I need to do as well. Spreadsheets on Google Sheets that you share with your family members is one good way to keep track. I’d put account numbers and where those funds are held in that sheet. Another option is to create a family binder. I know Chelsea Brennan over at Smart Money Mamas created a family emergency binder that she sells. I haven’t personally bought it myself yet, but I’ve heard good things and probably is something I’ll buy soon now that I’m thinking about it. You can find it here. https://smartmoneymamas.com/ice-binder/
Thank you very much for your clear write-ups! They are so well orginzed and straingt forward. Btw, do you have a referral code for DCU? Thanks again.
Hi, I don’t have a referral link for DCU. I never opened the checking account for them (I only have the savings account), so no referral for me, but maybe I should think about opening the checking account just for referrals.
It seems that the Service Credit union is not giving referral codes anymore.
Yeah unfortunately it looks like that’s done. Hope folks got in on it before it went away. I have no idea if they’ll ever bring it back. Still worth having though for the 5% interest account.
This is a great write-up by the way. I have all these accounts, but have not seen a write-up that has everything in one place.
Kudos to you!
Thanks. I’m still learning all of the different ways, but just spitballing all the ideas here. If you can think of anything that I missed, let me know. I avoid the rewards checking accounts that require 15 debit card transactions per month just because those are too much work for me.
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for your post. This is by far the least hassle of any of the high interest options I’ve seen so far. However, I just learned about the HMBradley savings tiers up to 3% if you save a certain portion of direct deposit. Given that a direct deposit can come from a variety of sources how do you feel about the ease of this account? Does the high limit sweeten the pot as a low risk option for the next portion of investment?
So, yes, I’m going to be updating this post and recommending using HMBradley as another low-hassle super high-yield alternative. I recently opened two HM Bradley accounts (1 for me and 1 for my wife). For me, it’s easy to use because my wife’s payroll company (Gusto) lets you split your paychecks to as many accounts as you want. We’re doing $1 each pay period to my wife’s account and $1 to my account.
The real question is, how long will this rate last because it only started a few months ago and now that people are discovering it, my guess is that it won’t be long until they cut it down. Still, if it’s not too much hassle for you to take advantage of it, then I see no downside. It took me literally 1 minute to open my account, then another minute to set up that $1 Direct Deposit, and then another minute to link my Ally account to HMBradley.
Insight had a bunch of us grandfathered into the 5% interest accounts, so I had $30k sitting in my 6 total Insight accounts (3 for me, 3 for my wife). It looks like that is going away, so I’m going to move $30k into HMBradley and collect my 3% interest for the time being.
My wife and I are also saving for a house, so that leaves $170k that we can throw into HMBradley, which is what we’ll do. They let you set up different sub-savings accounts, so you can easily divide up the money that you put into it into separate buckets.
Long story short, yes, I would go for HMBradley, but also be aware that it’s very likely that this 3% rate won’t last long. I’d probably give it a 50/50 chance that it’s gone by end of this year.
Thank you for getting back to me,
I opened an account and I’m waiting to see if Ally will trigger the DD first. I wish I found you sooner, I could have used those insight accounts, sounds like a dream.
I have two more questions for you:
1) DCU has my available balance at $5 less than my current balance. Do you know if they charge a fee or if this is a temporary hold? I don’t remember seeing it anywhere and there is no $5 transaction.
2) Regarding bank bonuses. I followed an ad on your page for citi bank account opening bonus and I think I know what would be right for me, but if you were doing this would you prefer a $200 on 5k, or $400 on 15k bonus? Both are 60 days, payable in 90.
Since DCU is a credit union, they have a $5 membership fee to join the credit union, so essentially, the $5 is put on hold and you can never withdraw it, although it still earns interest. I think in theory, if you close the account, you get the $5 back, but I’m not sure (other credit unions I’ve been a part of have always returned the membership fee once I closed the account). What you want to do is make it so that your available balance is $995, and your total balance is $1,000.
For Citi, I would do the 15k, $400 bonus if you have the 15k to tie up. Realistically, I think it takes about 120 days to 150 days for them to pay (I can’t remember how long, if I recall, the terms say keep 15k for 60 days, and then once requirements are met, they pay in 90 days). And remember, you need to keep 10k in the account to keep it fee-free. What I do is put in 15k, then I set up an automated transfer of 5k for 61 days, then leave the 10k in there to keep the account fee free and wait for the bonus to post. Then I close the account once I get all the money out. Hope that makes sense. Hit me up if any questions on this one. I’ve churn Citi every year, so I’ve been doing this one for a while.
I searched around the Web for reviews of Blue Federal Credit Union, and it doesn’t seem worth it.
Looks like the requirements to get 5% interest are to have at least $25 in the account, and make at least $5/month deposits to the account. Any balance over $1,000 means you get 0.10% interest on the *entire* balance, not just the amount over $1,000. Seems like it would be difficult to stay under $1,000 if you have interest and a $5 transfer posting monthly.
I just tried to apply for them, and I concur with Jennica. Also, they called me on the phone mid-application and very politely told me I had way too many inquiries in ChexSystems. If someone DOES want to use their savings account, consider signing up for this one first.
I have received funds that I will be using to pay off equipment. It is 50K
I was thinking to put it somewhere to collect some interest. As this money will be used once/month for next few years?
Any suggestions
What’s the interest rate on anything after the first 1,000?
0.5%, I believe.
Are there any fees if you want to close out your accounts?
Nope.
looking for the highest paying on savings
A lot of people consider Mango to be “dead” given the “Signature purchases of $1,500” requirement. However, couldn’t you simply buy $1,500 of money orders with the Mango debit and deposit it back into the account each month?
Not sure. I’ve never used Mango precisely because of all those requirements it has.
Kevin,
Are you using CIT Bank for your 2.5%?
Hey Carlos, I’ve never used CIT Bank, but I don’t have anything against them. Seem like a fine bank to me. My regular savings account I use for emergency fund money that doesn’t fit in Netspend is Ally. I keep Airbnb money in a Discover savings account. Short term savings are kept in sub-accounts at Capital One 360.
Ally and Discover are all over 2% now, and honestly, the difference between 2.2% and 2.5% isn’t significant enough to me to warrant switching accounts. It’s not a lot of work though to open a CIT Bank account, so if you’ve got money you want to move in there, then for sure, do it.
Hey Kevin,
Great job picking up 5% on idle savings. I’ve been at 2.5% for the year with my online bank and loving that; doubling it is fantastic in this environment.
Looking forward to reading more about your strategy for picking up the bank signing bonuses.
Take care,
Ryan
Thanks Ryan. I need to get cracking on that bank account bonus post. It’s something I’ve been doing for a few years now, but I keep getting lazy with writing the whole process of how it works.
Thank you, that answered my question!
When should/Where should I see the bonus amount credited to my netspend account for keeping $1000 in the account?
Are you talking about your interest or your $20 signup bonus? That $20 signup bonus only requires you to put $40 onto the card, and that should post pretty much right away.
If you’re talking about the interest, it’s paid quarterly (i.e. 4 times per year, January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1), so the next interest payment would be October 1st, I believe.
I have been reading about the Mango prepaid debit card that gives 6% up to $5000, but requires $800 deposited per month and it can’t be transferred back out or it won’t qualify for the 6%, you can instead buy a $800 money order to yourself using the Mango debit card and then deposit that back into a bank account
It also has a $3 monthly fee plus the fee to buy a money order will lower the total interest to around 5%
I have Mango and do exactly what you describe. A money order costs $0.88 at Walmart so I have $3.88 in expenses per month.
I’m not sure I would set up a Mango account today but I set it up when the requirements were easier to meet. For me, the most onerous task is to go to Walmart to buy the money orders.
One time saving hack I use is to deposit the $800 at the end of the month and then deposit the next month’s $800 at the beginning of the month and then buy 2 x $800 money orders (plus accrued interest) on the day the 2nd $800 is deposited. Walmart has a limit of $1000 per money order. I’ve gotten to the point that I can round-trip that $1600 in less than a week.
Ok guys here is the best spot for liquid cash. Northern Bank direct 2.26% MMA.
FP you may be interested in doing a blog post about this:
Another thing I do is use 0% “NO FEE” balance transfers. While most credit cards that offer 0% balance transfers have a 3-5% balance transfer fee there are a few gems out there that waive this fee. Here are the ones I have currently:
1. Chase Slate: 0% for 15 months no bt fee for the first 60 days.
2. Bank of America BankAmericard: 0% for 15 months no bt fee for the first 60 days.
3. The AMEX everyday card: 0% for 15 months no bt fee for the first 60 days.
I actually have more but they were targeted offers.
This is actually borrowing money from the bank for free and then depositing it into savings accounts/CD’s. Yes this is actually possible to do although a bit tricky for novices. Some credit cards make it easy by issuing you checks that you can deposit directly to your bank while others make it more difficult as they will not give you a check. You still have to make the minimum monthly payment to the credit card and pay off the remaining balance in full before the 0% rate expires but the interest earned is yours to keep. Now the question becomes how do we get the balance transfer money into the bank if they do not give you balance transfer checks. It is simple really. You just do a balance transfer to another credit card that has a $0 balance. Once the balance transfer posts you will see a negative balance on your card. Then you call and request what is called a “credit balance refund check” usually by mail. Once you get the check you just simply deposit it into your bank and viola you can earn interest on the banks money! I currently have $200,000 earning 2.5% of the banks money in a CD. The amount you can borrow will vary based on your available credit/credit score etc. At one point I had $500,000 of the banks money earning 6% in a savings account when interest rates were higher. I have never paid a penny in interest and I have been doing this for decades. This just started to become profitable again with higher interest rates recently.
Can you say “working the system”! WOW
Banks are real good at “working the system” against us. The banks make the rules I’m just taking advantage them. Banks make tons of money on loans, investments and high fees while shafting us savers with ultra low interest rates. This after us taxpayers(savers really) bailed them out from their own bad investments. That was just a rough beginners guide there is a lot more to it than can be quickly posted. It really deserves it’s own thread.
You should totally write this up yourself!! I want to try it haha
Hey Sly One I would love to learn more about your techniques. Do you have a blog or a place where you discuss this? How do you even get credit limits that high? Does the cars have to be new for you to get a free balance transfer?
I used to post some ideas over at fatwallet but that site is gone now. I should really start blogging like FP as I have tons of ideas. You have to build up your credit limits slowly but one way to do this is to do a credit line “reallocation”. Here is how it works: Say you have 2 Chase cards(Slate and Freedom) with credit lines of $20,000/card and you just paid off your 0% no fee balance transfer from Chase Slate. The Slate is now useless since they will never offer you that 0% no fee deal again so you need to close it. Before closing call Chase and tell them you want to transfer your $20,000 credit line from the Slate card to the Freedom card this is called a reallocation of credit. Now you will have a $0 credit line on the Slate and a $40,000 credit line on the Freedom. Now you can close the Slate card with 0% effect on your credit score. Wait a few months and apply for a new Slate card and repeat. Over time your credit lines will become large and this will help your credit score as it lowers the overall “utilization” of credit when you do a balance transfer. Credit utilization makes up 30% of your FICO score. Not all banks will allow this but some do and both cards MUST be issued by the same bank. Most cards need to be new to get a 0% $0 fee balance transfer but I have had many offers for 18 mo. 1% BT fee on existing cards at Citibank, PNC, Bank of America, Discover and others. The great thing about these low or capped fee offers is that they ALWAYS come with checks that can be deposited directly into the bank without having to do the actual balance transfer. I hope this helps. I also post over at Deposit Accounts under the screen name deplorable 1…………Good luck FS!
For this to work do you also need 0% on cash advances?
nm, I get it now
But on the downside you also increase the number of credit inquiries on your report which hurts your score.
Most of the time the “checks” come with a transfer fee so the interest rate is NOT 0%.
This man is a genius.
Great and very timely post FP! I think we are all looking for the best options when we cash out the Insight cards.
The Citibank $400 bonus is one of the best out there currently. another good one is the Huntington $200 checking bonus. Both of them earn way over 5% ROI and require no direct deposit hoops. DoC has a good list of bonuses here:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-bank-account-bonuses/
Another good option is short term CD’s there is a 30 month 3.01% CD at Northern bank direct and a 2 year add-on CD 2.7% at Bank5Connect. Interest rates are rising so stay short on CD’s the FED will be hiking again this month.
For 100% liquid cash I’m using GM right notes which is not FDIC insured but is currently paying 2% on liquid cash for the $50,000 tier. These corporate debt account tent to keep raising their interest rate along with the FED at a faster clip than standard savings accounts. I’m expecting 4 FED hikes for the year with the latest jobs numbers so rates should be improving from here.
As much as I hate to see Insight go I think CD’s may be hitting 5% again before too long and hopefully savings account will follow.
My wife and I both applied for new insight cards 2 weeks ago.
We received the cards in the mail but I have not registered them or set them up on insights website.
Because we had to go through the process of signing up and getting approved for the cards do you feel I need to register them and then close them now that the 5% savings option is gone or should I just shread these like we never applied?
Thank you,
Just cut them up and don’t use them. Just ordering the cards I don’t think creates an account for you – you have to activate and set things up first for it to count as an account.
Thank you
I’m shutting down all my Insights account. It’s a shame they cancelled this offering but like you said all good things come to an end. Personally, I struggle with Netspend’s limit at $1000 and to have 5 accounts seems just too much work. I do like Chase’s $500 bonus which my wife and I got this year. In total we got $800. The only caveat is you need to leave the money locked up for 6mo otherwise you will need to pay back the bonus. I’ve received offers from other banks but don’t want to keep $10K+ locked up for 6mo when in presence of other investments opportunities.
I know a lot of people get hung up on the $1k limit per card and having to juggle 5 accounts, but honestly, it’s not really very much work. Just think of it as one big pool of money. You automate everything, download the mobile apps for each card and put them all into a folder on your phone, then just look at your accounts once a year. I just look at my accounts 4 times per year just to pull out the interest. I can do this while I’m on the bus or walking my dog. My wife only looks at her accounts once a year, just to pull out the interest.
I noticed anything over 1k earns a low interest rate. Are you pulling the interest to use it in accounts with better rates?
Yes. Every quarter I pull the interest out of each account and move it back to my Ally savings account. It’s not a big deal to just do it once per year though if you want to save yourself the hassle.
So once you pull the interest does it go back to earning 5%?
I’m doing the same, FP. The other high yield options involve too much work every month whereas chasing bank bonus is a much better ROI. They key is being judicious in Which ones you sign up for given that so many banks are increasingly Chex or EWS sensitive.
Yeah, there are some banks that just don’t work, but I find there are enough banks out there, plus the ability to just churn the bank again. I’m going into round 2 and 3 on some of these banks now.
I tried DCU, but they do have pretty strict membership requirements which I did not qualify for!
I’m not 100% positive, so don’t quote me on this, but I believe that you are eligible for a DCU membership if you join one of the member organizations they’re affiliated with. It’s like $5 to join one. But again, I haven’t done DCU myself, so I can’t speak on the exact process.
I didn’t initially qualify for DCU, but I paid a small donation to one of their organizations (included in the application process) and got in quite easily
Are you going to keep your insight accounts active after pulling 5k balances out to see if savings ever comes back or just going to close the accounts completely after you finish ACH out of the insight cards after July 1st?
I’m probably going to just ACH all of my money out and then close the accounts. I think you can send them a message and have them close it. Make sure to screenshot the confirmation that your account was closed and save it away somewhere so that you have the evidence in case anything happens.