High-Yield Reward Checking Account at a Florida CU (Dade County)
Update 10/25/2010: The top yield has fallen to 2.00%. Refer to the bottom of the post for the rate history.
Dade County Federal Credit Union has a reward checking account called MoneyMaker Checking which pays 2.00% APY on balances up to $5,000 and refunds ATM fees (up to $25) if the following monthly requirements are met: 1) 12 check card signature-based purchases, 2) one direct deposit or ACH auto debit, and 3) enroll and receive electronic statements. If these are not met, the rate falls to 0.15%.
Membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Miami-Dade County. Please refer to their Who-Can-Join page for the full details.
Branches are located in Miami and North Miami Beach, FL. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 24508). It has $401.1 million in assets and 79,577 members.
Other High Yield Reward Checking Accounts
For other reward checking accounts and for more information on these accounts, please refer to the following posts:
- reward checking overview
- reward checking accounts available nationwide
- reward checking accounts around the nation
Rate History:
- 06/06/12: 2.00% APY for up to $5K (not sure when the cap went down)
- 04/30/10: 2.00% APY for up to $20K (not sure when cap went down)
- 02/01/10: 2.50% APY
- 01/01/10: 3.25% APY
- 06/02/09: 4.10% APY
- 03/04/09: 4.50% APY
- 12/01/08: 5.15% APY
- 02/28/08: 6.15% APY for up to $25K (initial post)
Banks Mentioned in this Post:
- Weekly Rate Summary
- Bank Reviews
- Bank Health Ratings
- Savings Account Rates (filterable)
- CD Rates (filterable)
- IRA Rates (filterable)
- Checking Accounts (filterable)
- 40 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Bank
- The Big List of Credit Unions Open to Anyone
- What Do You Need to Open a Bank Account?
- Difference Between Banks and Credit Unions
- Interest Rate vs. APY
- Difference Between Wire Transfer and ACH
- How ACH Transfers Work
- Do I Have to Pay Taxes on Bank Account Interest
- How to Build a CD Ladder
- Blog Archive
- Popular Blog Categories
3-year Term IRA CD
1.21% APY
Capital One 360
360 Checking Account
0.85% APY
Anonymous - #1, Friday, February 29, 2008 - 12:51 AM
I'm glad BancVue is being so successful getting credit unions to offer reward checking accounts.
Although I can't join this CU, it competes with two other local CU's with whom I have 6% APY accounts.
Competition ought to help ensure that my credit unions maintain their rate.
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #2, Friday, February 29, 2008 - 9:37 AM
Yes, looks like BancVue has a lot of success in SE Florida.
Both Eastern Financial Florida CU (see post) and Power Financial CU (see post) still have a 6.01% APY reward checking account. These credit unions might have influenced Dade County FCU to have a yield of 6.15%, and hopefully, this new one will keep the others from cutting.
Trance (anonymous) - #3, Friday, February 29, 2008 - 9:55 AM
Yes, the rate should stay competitive, especially when the CU has a relatively low balance cap.
Anonymous - #4, Friday, February 29, 2008 - 1:35 PM
According to CSR, the rate may change anytime after the goal of new accounts and funds is reached.
She did not know when that may be.
Anonymous - #5, Saturday, March 1, 2008 - 11:36 AM
I have an account with First Federal. They were paying 6.01% APY up until mid February. They dropped the APY to 5.51%. I sent my funds elsewhere when the rate dropped. However, since I had a large deposit with them for half the month, I still wanted to fulfill the requirements to earn the high yield. As you can see below, I made at least 12 checkcard transactions for the month, 2 online bill pays and my account is set up for electronic statements. Yet they only paid out $1.21 in interest. This is my second month with the bank. The first month, they credited my account automatically with the high yield interest. It is the weekend and I cant speak with anyone in customer service as they are not open until Monday. Does anyone know why I was only credited $1.21 for the month of February? Thanks!
02-04-2008 BILL PAY TO SALLIE MAE STUDE 5.00 24,550.89
02-04-2008 BILL PAY TO FLORIDA POWER & 11.49 24,539.40
02-11-2008 Check Card 02/09/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 0.10 24,539.30
02-11-2008 Check Card 02/07/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 1.00 24,538.30
02-19-2008 Check Card 02/14/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 0.10 24,538.20
02-19-2008 Check Card 02/18/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 0.25 24,537.95
02-19-2008 101 CHECK NUMBER 24,400.00 137.95
02-21-2008 Check Card 02/19/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 0.10 137.85
02-22-2008 Check Card 02/20/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 0.05 137.80
02-25-2008 Check Card 02/23/08 PAYPAL *NCSCHO 402-935-7733 CA 0.01 137.79
02-25-2008 Check Card 02/23/08 PAYPAL *NCSCHO 402-935-7733 CA 0.01 137.78
02-25-2008 Check Card 02/23/08 PAYPAL *NCSCHO 402-935-7733 CA 0.02 137.76
02-25-2008 Check Card 02/21/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 0.05 137.71
02-25-2008 Check Card 02/22/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 0.05 137.66
02-25-2008 Check Card 02/23/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 0.06 137.60
02-26-2008 Check Card 02/24/08 CINGULAR*04522 800-331-0500 TN 0.04 137.56
02-29-2008 Interest Paid 1.21 138.77
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #6, Saturday, March 1, 2008 - 12:20 PM
I've read that PayPal purchases using a debit card may be processed on the ATM network rather than the credit card network. In those cases, the purchases may not count. I'm not sure about this but it's something to look at on Monday with the CSR. Refer to the problem another reader had on another reward checking account at this comment.
Kathie (anonymous) - #7, Friday, March 7, 2008 - 1:38 PM
Just opened the DCFCU account yesterday. Very nice experience, very personal service (I was at the downtown branch) not found at mega banks anymore. And the best part, I had asked if it was a hard credit inquiry on the phone and they told me it was. But when I opened the account in person, the rep did not run a credit report, she said "many people would prefer us not to." So that was a good thing. This account requires signature based check card transactions, in other words, do not choose DEBIT and enter your PIN, choose credit. Apparently, this even excludes using the check card for online purchases, but I am suspect of that because they get the same fee, don't they? Anyway, I recommend, which is a hard thing for a Miami bank.
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #8, Friday, March 7, 2008 - 5:17 PM
Thanks Kathie for the info. For online purchases you may still be able to qualify if you choose credit rather than debit. As stated in this comment, choosing debit online can cause the purchase to go through the ATM network rather than the credit card network.
Kathleen (anonymous) - #9, Sunday, March 9, 2008 - 9:46 AM
Yes, I am going to try it with an online AT&T wireless payment, which has worked for my other reward checking account (only thing is they didn't specify "signature based")
Kathleen (anonymous) - #10, Sunday, March 9, 2008 - 9:55 AM
Oh another P.S.: The first statement period is grace period, you get interest no matter what. Also, the check card comes within a week. That is very fast compared to my experience and that of others with State Bank of Toledo.
Anonymous - #11, Monday, December 1, 2008 - 5:14 PM
DCFCU has now dropped their rate down to 5.15%.
Banking Guy (anonymous) - #12, Monday, December 1, 2008 - 7:05 PM
Thanks for the update. Sorry to see the rate cut. I've updated the post, and this will be reflected in the table in the next few days.
Anonymous - #13, Wednesday, March 4, 2009 - 3:48 PM
Top rate has fallen to 4.50% APY. Requirements include Average Daily Balance of $100 or more.
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