5.12% Reward Checking Account at Bank of the Southwest in NM - Local Only

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Bank of the Southwest is offering a high-yield reward checking account called True Checking. It has the following rates if certain monthly requirements are met:
  • 5.12% APY on balances up to $25,000
  • 0.25% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
  • 0.25% base rate if requirements are not met
The monthly requirements include:
  • 15 debit card purchases (credit based)
  • 1 direct deposit or online bill pay or electronic payment
  • Write 5 or fewer checks per month (They don't want heavy use of paper checks)
  • Receive electronic statements
Additional features of the account regardless of the monthly requirements include:
  • $100 minimum initial deposit
  • No minimum balance requirement
  • No monthly maintenance fee
  • Free Bill Pay
  • Automatic refunds of up to 3 ATM surcharges per month
It appears that a branch visit is required to open an account. Branches are located in the New Mexico cities of Roswell, Las Cruces, Hatch, Farmington, Kirtland, Bloomfield, Truth or Consequences (that's a strange city name!) and Elephant Butte.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial (based on 9/30/09 data) and 5 stars (superior) at Bankrate.com (based on 6/30/09 data). It's rare to find a bank with 5 stars at both BauerFinancial and Bankrate. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (">FDIC Certificate # 2247).

Other Reward Checking Accounts

As several readers have noted, many banks have been cutting rates and leaving the 5% reward checking club. A recent example is Bank2 in Oklahoma which had started its reward checking last March as a nationwide deal with 5% guaranteed through 2009 (see post).

To find reward checking accounts in other areas of the nation, please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com. To learn more about reward checking, please refer to this reward checking overview.
Related Pages: Bank of the Southwest, El Paso, Albuquerque, checking account, reward checking account

Previous Comments
Anonymous
  |     |   Comment #1
A 5* banks!!...No online forms, thus branch visit is a definite.
bill c
  |     |   Comment #2
Anyone know why most of the offers are "local Only"?
Anonymous
  |     |   Comment #3
Two reasons (at least): The banks want to attract long-term local customers; not the rate chasers from out-of-state; who tend to know thr ropes and do minimum debit transactions. Second (less important), the banks have limited resource to handle a food of locusts who are hunger for high rate.
Anonymous
  |     |   Comment #4
correction: the rope, flood of locusts...
GBJS
  |     |   Comment #5
WHO HUNGER FOR HIGHER RATES OR ARE HUNGRY FOR HIGHER RATES WHICH IS IT
Anonymous
  |     |   Comment #6
Isn't it everybody?
Anonymous
  |     |   Comment #7
The point is that there are a lot of people who are holding cash on the sideline, waiting for nationally available RCAs. Being hungry or are hunger for high rates is a grammar question; but thanks for the correction:-)
RateNerd
  |     |   Comment #8
Last year, we published a list of banks paying as much as $220 for new customers to sign up. And periodically we have found banks offering checking accounts paying as much as 5.01% APY interest on checking account balances up to $25,000.

The link below is to a list divided into two parts: 1) banks offering attractive deals for new customers, and 2) checking accounts if you are looking for high interest rates. http://ratenerd.com/best-checking-accounts-to-start-2010-2379

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