High-Yield Reward Checking Account at Waterbury Connecticut Teachers FCU - Local Only

Update 11/19/10: The top rate has fallen to 3.25% APY.

Waterbury Connecticut Teachers FCU is offering a high-yield reward checking account called A+ Checking Rewards. It has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met:

• 3.25% APY on balances up to $30,000
• 0.50% APY on the portion of the balance over $30,000
• 0.05% base rate if qualifications are not met
• ATM fee refunds nationwide of up to $25 per cycle

The monthly requirements include:

• 10 Visa check card purchases
• 1 direct deposit or automatic payment or CU@Home online bill payment
• Receive e-Statements

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

• $5 minimum initial deposit
• No minimum balance requirement
• No monthly service charge

Membership is open to public and parochial school personnel and their families who live certain towns in Connecticut. Please refer to the credit union's Who Can Join Page for the full details.

Branches are located in Middlebury and Danbury, Connecticut.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are above average: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial (based on 6/30/09 data) and 3 stars (adequate) at Bankrate.com (based on 3/31/09 data). The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 22).

Other Reward Checking Accounts

Unfortunately, not many people will be eligible to join this credit union. However, as of 9/13/09 I still have dozens of 5%+ reward checking accounts across the nation in my High Yield Checking website. Like CD rates and savings account rates, reward checking rates have also fallen, but most remain much higher than online savings account rates.

If you're new to reward checking accounts and wonder how they can offer such high interest rates, please refer to my reward checking introduction and my post on the math behind reward checking.

Rate History:

11/19/10: 3.25% APY up to $30K; 0.50% over

05/16/10: 3.51% APY up to $30K
02/27/10: 4.00% APY up to $30K
05/17/09: 5.01% APY up to $30K; 1.01% over; 0.05% base