High-Interest Reward Checking Account at Belvoir Federal Credit Union in Virginia

Update 10/13/2011: The balance cap has been reduced to $15,000. Refer to the bottom of the post for the rate history.

Belvoir FCU is offering a reward checking account called CU Xcel Checking which pays 3.25% APY on balances up to $15,000 (0.50% for above) and refunds ATM fees nationwide without limit if the following monthly requirements are met:

• 15 check card transactions (including ATM)
• one direct deposit or electronic withdrawal or payment
• receive e-Statements
• access online banking

If these are not met, the rate falls to 0.10%. There's no minimum opening balance or minimum balance required to receive the rewards. Also, there are no monthly service fees. Members are not allowed to open multiple CU Xcel Checking accounts, so you can't extend the high yield to larger balances.

Update 2/2/09: A reader reported being told that a member has to live in specific Virginia counties to be eligible for the account. Thus, I'm no longer considering this account available nationwide.

You can be eligible to join Belvoir by being a member of Friends of Manassas Battlefield. This is one of the eligible groups in the credit union's field of membership. There's a minimum $15 fee for joining Friends of MNBP. Readers have mentioned that the credit union does require verification from the group in order to process the credit union membership application. This was based on reports from 2006, so please verify with the credit union.

Belvoir FCU's Field of Membership also includes all active duty or retired members of the US Armed Forces and those living or working in Southeastern Fairfax County or North Woodbridge, Virginia.

The credit union has branches in Woodbridge and Alexandria, Virginia and several in Fort Belvoir. It's federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 5356).

Other Reward Checking Accounts

To find reward checking accounts in other areas of the nation or to learn more about these accounts, please refer to my High Yield Checking website.

Rate History:
02/01/11: 3.25% APY up to $15K, 0.50% over, 0.05% base
07/01/10: 3.00% APY up to $25K
01/01/10: 3.50% APY up to $25K
09/12/09: 4.01% APY up to $25K
02/01/09: 4.01% APY up to $50K
12/03/08: 5.01% APY up to $50K, 1.01% over, 0.10% base

Tags: Belvoir Federal Credit Union, Virginia, checking account, reward checking account