Would you jump through hoops?

[Nutria]

Plus you're losing the rewards from your credit card by using their debit card instead. That's at least 1% and often more. We routinely take advantage of the 5% deals on our Discover and Chase cards.

But only on purchases.

[disneysteve]

But only on purchases.

True so it only partially offsets things. As I said, it ultimately comes down to simplicity for me. Having to keep track of another account, another card, and how many times I've used that card each month just to make a very small amount over what I already earn isn't worth it personally.

[Nutria]

To get that 4%, I'd have to change banks, use a debit card (which I don't like doing), and break my 2.55% CDs, thereby losing all accrued interest.

(Can you imagine the disaster if hackers cloned my card and drained $10K from my account?? Even if it did all eventually get put back? No thanks!)

[Petunia 100]

No, because I do not use a debit card.

[Petunia 100]

This is funny here in Australia we use debit card for everything...checks just arent a thing here and they take 3 days to clear in a bank..so not popular...paychecks just go into the bank and most people here don't use CC to buy everything as we dont get the discounts like you guys with CC...

I don't write checks, either. I use bill pay to pay bills. I use cash or credit card to buy things.

You should be able to use a rewards credit card anyplace which accepts credit cards. Chase Freedom, Citi DoubleCash MasterCard, etc. Are these cards not issued to Australian customers?

[Petunia 100]

To get that 4%, I'd have to change banks, use a debit card (which I don't like doing), and break my 2.55% CDs, thereby losing all accrued interest.

(Can you imagine the disaster if hackers cloned my card and drained $10K from my account?? Even if it did all eventually get put back? No thanks!)

Right? I want to know that my emergency fund is there if I need it, not be pending due to some hacker problem.

[MonkeyMama]

Same. Don't use debit cards (& won't use debit cards)

My original reply was more of a visceral reaction to using debit cards in general. But this is even moreseo with a savings account. I personally wouldn't tie a debit card to a savings account with large amounts of money. I think this is the biggest deal breaker for me, with these type deals. Just wasn't thinking about that part specifically when I first posted.

[mumof2]

I don't write checks, either. I use bill pay to pay bills. I use cash or credit card to buy things.

You should be able to use a rewards credit card anyplace which accepts credit cards. Chase Freedom, Citi DoubleCash MasterCard, etc. Are these cards not issued to Australian customers?

They do have some of those but most dont have the rewards like you guys do over there so not really worth it...and we use cash and bill pay to pay bills I don't like people touching my accounts LOL

[bjl584]

Two local Credit Unions are offering 4% interest up to $15,000 balance on their checking account if you do four things each month. Would you jump through these four hoops to get 4% interest on a checking account? No interest on balances above $15,000 at either Credit Union.

First Credit Union


1. Deposit $500 into account (regular deposit or direct deposit)

2. Login into online/mobile banking one times

3. Make 15 debt card transactions

4. Sign up for eStatements


Second Credit Union


1. Direct deposit $100 into account

2. Login into online/mobile banking four times

3. Make 10 debt card transactions

4. Sign up for eStatements

i would not.
I'm turned off by anything that has stipulations like this.
Unless of course you are going to use one of these banks as your primary bank anyway and you end up with the rewards by default.

If someone approached me and said you can double your money in one year if you do A, B, and C, then sure. Sign me up.
But chasing a few hundred bucks isn't going to change my life and is a waste of my time.

[scfr]

Skives - I'm curious? Have you made a decision? What did you decide to do?

[FrugalTexan75]

Well ... I currently do something similar to this deal.

We have an account at a bank where we get 4% for up to $40k. I use it as our main account - weekly gas fill ups for me (esp. since I need to fill up more often now to account for a faulty fuel gauge) and multiple small grocery store trips for my DH ... make up the 12 transactions pretty quickly. I keep track, and once the number is met, I only use our rewards cards. It's worth it to me ... and hasn't been that much hassle (once I realized that Walmart did NOT work as a transaction.)

I'm not really too worried about a debit card being associated with the account either. The money is protected, and if someone were to take the money out, we would get it back eventually. I have enough in a different account to pay our bills for a while until the money was back. (Though I'm really not too worried about it. Just like to be prepared.)

[skives]

Skives - I'm curious? Have you made a decision? What did you decide to do?

Currently I can not do it because I have $15,000 tied up into a $500 bonus for a checking account. I do believe though I will not do it because I will just use the money for checking account bonuses. Simple Checking is offering a $500 bonus for keeping $20,000 in an account for 3 months.

[scfr]

Currently I can not do it because I have $15,000 tied up into a $500 bonus for a checking account. I do believe though I will not do it because I will just use the money for checking account bonuses. Simple Checking is offering a $500 bonus for keeping $20,000 in an account for 3 months.

Makes sense - Those are some nice checking account bonuses!