3.75% Reward Checking Account at Liberty Savings Bank - Nationally Available

Update 11/22/09: The top rate has fallen to 3.75% APY. Refer to the bottom of the post for the rate history.

Liberty Savings Bank is offering a reward checking account that's called High Interest Checking. It has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met:

• 3.75% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.75% APY on balances over $25,000
• 0.10% base rate if qualifications are not met
• Refund of ATM fees of up to $25 per cycle

The monthly requirements include:

• 15 signature-based (credit) debit card purchases
• One direct deposit or 3 online bill pays
• Receive e-statements

Additional features of the account regardless of the monthly requirements include:

• $100 minimum initial deposit
• No minimum balance requirement
• No monthly service charge
• free online bill pay

There's an online application that's provided by Andera, and people from any state can apply online. I called the bank and confirmed this today. According to the CSR, you can fund the account with an ACH transfer, and nothing needs to be mailed. The first order of checks is free, and according to the CSR, there's no hard credit inquiry (only a soft pull for identification purposes).

Branches are located in Ohio, Colorado, Florida and South Carolina.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are mixed: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial and 1 star (lowest) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 12/31/08 financial data. The bank has been FDIC insured since 1984 (FDIC Certificate # 32242).

Thanks to the reader who emailed me info on this account.

Other Reward Checking Accounts

It's nice to see another nationwide reward checking account. My nationwide reward checking list only has 39 banks and credit unions which allow you to open a reward checking account from any state. This list has been shrinking a little over the last month as some banks have decided to restrict their accounts to their market area. I've speculated that nationwide reward checking accounts may have a harder time keeping up rates since they're more prone to rate chasers. It's best if banks can enroll many "Average Joes" who'll spend a lot on their debit cards, keep balances well under the $25K cap and forget to meet the monthly requirements every now and then.

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.

Edit 11/08/09: Added '3 online bill pays' as alternative to direct deposit requirement.

Rate History:
11/10/09: 3.75% APY up to $25K; 0.75% over
04/27/09: 4.01% APY up to $25K; 1.01% over; 0.10% base

Tags: South Carolina, Colorado, Liberty Savings Bank, Ohio, checking account, reward checking account, Florida