High-Yield Reward Checking Account at a Pennsylvania Bank (Malvern Federal Savings)

Anonymous - #1, Tuesday, March 17, 2009 - 4:20 PM

I believe that this is now available nationwide - see CheckingFinder.

Anonymous - #2, Friday, March 20, 2009 - 10:48 AM

Apparently, there's no ACH transfer at this bank (according to customer rep). Which is strange, because one of the requirements is "one ACH debit".

Customer rep said the requirement could be satisfied by "having your utility company debit the account every month," but that there was no way of transferring money out except for wire transfer... And no way of transferring in except for sending a check.

Bummer.

Anonymous - #3, Monday, April 6, 2009 - 12:00 PM

this is not available nationwide. when you go to apply it says:

To be eligible for this account, you must live in one of the following states:

* Delaware
* Maryland
* New Jersey
* New York
* Pennsylvania
* West Virginia
* Ohio

Banking Guy (anonymous) - #4, Monday, April 6, 2009 - 1:08 PM

Thanks. I've updated the post.

Banks have been changing their policies on availability over the last several months. Many have reduced the availability after experiencing high demand. I have more on this issue in this post. We'll have to monitor Malvern and see if they reduce the availability to fewer states in the future.

Anonymous - #5, Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 12:21 PM

Has anyone in New York opened this account? How DO you satisfy the ACH transfer requirement?

barry (anonymous) - #6, Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 4:12 PM

i opened this malvern acct 7 weeks ago and live in upstate NY. Because i work for the NY State government I wasn't sure my DD would get there within the 30 day statement period, so i did all debit(10)purchases, small amounts(less then $6.00) and paid my electric bill thru their online pay system. I then called to verify and was told by a very friendly rep that it is an ACH withdrawal. (btw, my DD just started after 4 weeks! barrytuneup@yahoo.com

Anonymous - #7, Thursday, April 30, 2009 - 4:15 PM

Barry,

Typically, Billpay using their sytem will not count toward the ACH requirement; one needs to initiate it from outside sources. Be careful if it was just stated by a CSR.

Anonymous - #8, Friday, May 1, 2009 - 2:36 AM

you can initiate ACH from other institution after setup the link from other bank. That is how I met the requirement. However, I am not it appears that there is no electronic statement and I am not sure the paper statement will keep coming. I am a NJ resident.

Anonymous - #9, Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - 6:57 PM

I have had this account for about 2 months. They do not have electronic statements. I received a paper statement both months...and I live out of state.

Matthew (anonymous) - #10, Friday, May 8, 2009 - 1:44 AM

They do have electronic statements. However, they're not automatic, not required for the high rate, and difficult to find. After logging into your account, click on Products and Services in the bar on the top. There is a section on the next page titled Online Statements. Make sure your account is selected and press Enter. It will say you are being redirected to an external site. Say OK. Then, go to User Settings, choose Accept, click Next, enter your e-mail address again (twice), press Next again, then press Accept. This will sign you up for electronic statements

Matthew (anonymous) - #11, Friday, May 8, 2009 - 1:47 AM

Did anyone get the $10 for old checks/debit card? Is there a form you send in, did you take them to the bank in person, etc.? There are no details on their website and I did not receive any with the account materials in the mail either.

M (anonymous) - #12, Saturday, May 9, 2009 - 8:18 AM

I received the $10 for my old debit card. I had to send it to the attention of Scott Sterling at the main branch. The $10 was credited to my account in about 8 days after I mailed from California.

Anonymous - #13, Monday, May 11, 2009 - 3:46 PM

Matthew, thanks for the info about online statements.

Anonymous - #14, Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - 4:00 PM

Do they give you the first month's reward rate without doing the 10 debits?

Anonymous - #15, Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - 8:29 PM

Yes, the first month qualifies for rewards automatically.

Anonymous - #16, Sunday, May 17, 2009 - 4:09 PM

After registering for online statements and getting a message that no statements were available, I was told via email by CSR that electronic statements would be available in a few months. Until then they will be mailed.

Anonymous - #17, Friday, May 29, 2009 - 12:06 PM

Hard pull?

Anonymous - #18, Monday, June 1, 2009 - 10:17 AM

live in PA and was turned down. does that mean i'll be turned down by others? (old credit problem)

Anonymous - #19, Monday, June 1, 2009 - 1:22 PM

For the "debit card POS transactions" do these need to be PIN-based, signature-based or either?

Matthew (anonymous) - #20, Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - 4:00 PM

Rate has fallen to 3.5%

Anonymous - #21, Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - 4:44 PM

the rate is now 3.5% but they give it to you up to 35K. The checking finder web site has a great widget.enter your average balance and it will give you the interet figure. The only bank that beats malvern is First Arkansas, but sincei have 3 reward checking accts at malvern ill stay put. I figure theywill not drop rates again too soon.

DP (anonymous) - #22, Friday, August 14, 2009 - 11:53 PM

Do u know how I can make a ACH debit to meet the requirement? I tried to set up automatic bill pay but it takes 2 months. Is there a faster way? My other bank has an option to transfer funds to external accounts. Will it be considered as direct deposit?

Anonymous - #23, Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - 2:17 PM

dp, just set up a payment thru the malvern bill pay page. Put in all your credit card or bill to paid info on their page and the date you want it paid(usually can be done in 24 hours) and thats it!! I have 3 rewards accts with them and it works all the time!. Click on payment manager from your acct page and then click on view and pay bills and it will take you to the payment center where you fill in all info. The system is a little slow in loading pages but its still good. if you want an easier to use reward checking payment page try FNCB in Pa. Theiir payment page is much easier then malvern, buy t you only get interest up to 25K. barrytuneup@yahoo.com

Tomas (anonymous) - #24, Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 11:19 AM

Down to 3% as of Aug 26, 2009

M (anonymous) - #25, Saturday, September 19, 2009 - 10:37 AM

Malvern charges a wire fee:
$10 Domestic Incoming
$15 Foreign Incoming
$15 Domestic Outgoing
$50 Foreign Outgoing
There is no fee for ACH transfer from Malvern Federal. However, they can do just one-time-only initiation of ACH on their end.

Anonymous - #26, Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 12:47 PM

Malvern is down to 2.00% APY up to $35K; 0.51% over; 0.10% base

Anonymous - #27, Friday, November 13, 2009 - 7:41 AM

Another big drop; copycat of Charter.

Anonymous - #28, Monday, March 15, 2010 - 11:00 AM

Rate dropped to 1.5%.