Reward Checking & Savings Accounts at Washington Savings Bank in MA & NH

Banks are still coming out with new reward checking accounts. However, the rates and balance caps may disappoint especially those who remember reward checking in the good old days in 2007. However, it's important to compare these rates to what internet banks offer. If you can get rates at least one percentage point higher than an online savings account, you should consider that a good deal. That's currently the case at Washington Savings Bank which is offering a Free Interest Rewards Checking Account and a linked Saver Rewards account. The two accounts have the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met (as of 12/28/2011):

Interest Rewards Checking

• 3.01% APY on balances up to $10,000
• 0.65% APY on portion of balances over $10,000
• 0.05% APY on all balances if requirements are not met
• Nationwide ATM transactions rebated up to $25 per monthly qualification cycle

Saver Rewards

• 1.51% APY on balances up to $15,000
• 0.65% APY on portion of balances over $15,000
• 0.05% APY on all balances if requirements are not met

Monthly Requirements

To qualify for the above rates and ATM rebates, the following monthly requirements must be met:

• 12 debit card purchases
• 1 Automatic Payment or Direct Deposit
• Receive e-statements

Both accounts are free accounts with no monthly service charge. The checking account offers free bill pay and free checks for life (basic check order per year).

For those who don't plan to maintain a checking balance close to $10K, the bank's other two rewards checking accounts may be more appealing. One is called Cash Rewards in which you can earn up to 20 cents every time you make a debit card purchase. The other one is called Tune Rewards, and it rewards customers with $5 of iTunes downloads every month if requirements similar to above are met.

All of the bank's rewards checking accounts can be compared in the bank's free rewards checking page.

Availability & Application

A link to an online application is available in the Interest Rewards Checking summary page. The bank only accepts applications from residents of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Funding can be done via credit or debit card. It can also be funded by mailing a check.

Washington Savings Bank Overview

Washington Savings branches are located in the Massachusetts cities of Dracut, Lowell and Tyngsborough.

The bank has an overall health score at DepositAccounts.com of 4 stars (out of 5) with a Texas Ratio of 11.15% (above average) based on September 2011 data. Please refer to our financial overview of Washington Savings Bank for more details. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1985 (FDIC Certificate # 90229).

How These Reward Checking Rates Compare

The 3.01% APY is above average, but the $10K balance cap is low. As I mentioned at the start of the post, this is now common for new reward checking accounts. One thing that helps make this a better deal is the linked savings account. If the customer keeps $10K in the checking and $15K in the savings and if the customer meets the monthly requirements, the average APY for $25K in deposits is about 2.11%. There are only two nationally available reward checking accounts that offer rates over 2.11% for balances of at least $25K.

Finding the Best Reward Checking Account

If you're new to reward checking, my post on the common reward checking traits should be useful. To compare reward checking accounts based on interest rates and balance caps, you can use our reward checking rate table. Refer to this post for details on how to use the rate tables.