Danversbank Transition To People's United Bank 10/14

Just got off the phone with a supervisor at the call center, what I was able to learn this time that they didn't know previously, is that Ultra will pay the higher rate on balances up to 99,999.99, with no other difference in requirements to get the better rate.   Also, a Free Rewards balance on Oct 14 that exceeds 25K will be transitioned to Ultra.   And if you don't like which one you get, you can call to change the account type, but that change will restart the clock for an early closure fee.

So now I guess we have to wait for the published rates to see whether Ultra will be a better deal than Free Rewards for those who can keep a higher balance.

51hh writes: No one at People's United Bank I talked with would confirm the above statement about Ultra Reward Checking.  Basically, there is no information about the reward checking, in either the structure or the rate; only the two account names.  The Ultra-version accounts is transitioned directed from the Danvers' grandfathered $100K limit accounts, so I doubt that it will be open with everybody whose balance exceeds $25K.  But again, let's hold our thoughts and discussions till 10/17 (not 10/14 which is the transition date).  All I heard is that they are having meetings to discuss these issues and we will not know anything till 10/17.

I seriously doubt that the rate will be higher than 3%; so it is 3% or, most likely, lower.  Since the requirement cycle ends on the 25th, we may have to suffer a lower rate for several days till we migrate out of People's United (should the rate drop) on 11/1/11.  I, for one, have already figured out my "escape" route:D

I just got off the phone with a supervisor and got completely different information from what I was told the last time I posted.

Turns out Ultra Rewards was only given to those who had opened a Free Rewards account prior to Jan 2008.  It is not possible to switch to Ultra Rewards nor open new accounts of either type.

51hh Comments:  I would think so.  It is a "direct" grandfathering; that is, account-to-account mapping.  They certainly would not offer such features (up to $100K limit) to everybody. 

I recall that Jan. 2008 was the time that Danversbank changed their limit from $100K to $25K but grandfathered account holders before that date for the $100K limit.

Does anyone know if there are any monthly requirements in order to get the 3% (direct deposit, 12 transactions, etc) or is it just a given?  Also, is it 3% for all balances, or just up to $25k?  I'm so confused...  what a mess...

I too was concerned about the lower interest that posted to my account on the 14th.  After several phone calls I got someone who was helpful  800-867-5295

The rate is currently 3.01% (2.97% APY) and is subject to change at any time.  This checking account has the same requirements as Danvers with the 1st month requirements waived.  The account and corresponding interest rate won't ever appear on the peoples website as it is just for Danvers account holders.

Yea i called the manager this morning and got same answer, anything you had setup prior to transition will be fine, only need to use new routing for things you add now. Also was wondering if anybody had any transactions vanish  after transition? I had 2 debts totaling $24 showing online last week that are no longer there and account does have $24 more in it than it should. 

 

51hh comment: Probably a reward for all your trouble in the DBK/PU transition.  You always receive "special treatment" at DBK, right?  :D

Should we continue to use the old route number or the new one?

Thanks so much, Dunker and everyone. It's nice to know I am not alone in this lol.

I had a question please. Does anyone know how to see what the current interest rate is, at any point in time? i know it's not on their public website, but can anyone see it from within their account?

None of us can see it, You will need to call. Figure they will let us know before lowering

Can we still use the Danver's cheque books that were issued to used to us at the time of account opening ?

I have not received any new ones from Peoples United Bank. Appreciate your inputs

Correct interest posted for me last night

Yes, late last night.  Everything is cool.

I just got the 10/25 Statement from PU. It appears to pay 2.99% of your average daily balance for the days between 10/14 and 10/25. I made the POS transactions for both the 10/14 and 10/25 Statements, it appears I didn't need to do that for the 10/14 Statement.

Now, I believe I'll have to make 12 MORE POS transactions for the Statement that will close 11/25,(actually, I will have to make sure I have the 12 done BEFORE 11/22, 3 days before the 11/25 closing date)

Could someone who has more experience with RCAs confirm this? I'm dissappointed with how PU has handled this.

51hh comment: Ok, it is my version of inpterpretation (Dunker/A Rog may respectfully disagree:-)):

The new People's United System goes by the statement date and the qualification date is always 3 business days ahead.  The statement date will end on the 25th every month if the 25th is a working day (Monday through Friday).  For this case, the qualification date will end 3-days prior which is the 22nd.

For the case that the 25th falls into weekends or holidays, the statment day will move backward to the business day before it. 

For example, October: statment ends on 25th (Tuesday), the qualifcation ends on 20th (3 business day prior).

November: statement date is 25th and qualification ends on 21st (24th - holiday).  So, the qualification cycle is 10/21 - 11/21.

December: statement date is 23rd (since 24th is a Saturday and 25th is a holiday).  Thus the qualification cycle is 11/22 - 12/20. 

I made all my debit transactions on 10/24, one day before the statement date but hopefully within the Oct. - Nov. qualification cycle. 

January 2012: statement date is 25th, qualification end date is 1/20/12; thus ithe qualification cycle is 12/21/11 to 1/20/12.

....

Hopefully I got everyone confused by now:D

We had better get this right, or else, I got two Ultras whose interest is at risk.  Please confirm!!

It really sounds like fuzzy math to me.  With all my hundreds of RCAs, I have never run into such confusing and ambiguous qualification cycle.

People's United should publish the one-year qualification cycle for fairness and clarity.  I hate to fight over these issues after the fact!!

I did talk with a supervisor and confirmed my interpretation and she will submit a request to her management for a 12-month qualification cycle schedule.

51hh comment: Ok, it is my version of inpterpretation (Dunker/A Rog may respectfully disagree:-)):

The new People's United System goes by the statement date and the qualification date is always 3 business days ahead.  The statement date will end on the 25th every month if the 25th is a working day (Monday through Friday).  For this case, the qualification date will end 3-days prior which is the 22nd.

Dunkers reply: I came up with the same calculations in #41: that the qualification cycle ends on 11/22.  However, as 51hh points out 11/24 is a holiday, so that would push push the final qualification date of this cycle back to 11/21. But in #52, after speaking to a conversion rep, I changed my opinion after he told me that the qualification cycle runs fom 10/21 to 11/20.  On Friday in #45 and again this morning in #62, 51hh said that he was told by a CSR that the qualification cycles run from the 21st to the 20th of each month.  And in #55 a rog reports that a CSR said, "The current cycle is Oct 21-Nov 20, 2011. Next cycle begins on Nov 21, 2011."

My opinion now is that none of the CSRs or conversion reps at PU know anything with any certainty except that the new qualification cycle began 10/21.

I doubt that we'll ever get a one year qualification cyce chart from PU, because I don't think they want to put anything in writing that indicates that they plan to keep rewards checking going for that long. As I said earlier, the first real sign that they plan to keep rewards checking longer than a few months past the conversion will be a drop in the APY.

With all that being said, until we actually get something in writing from someone in authority at PU, to be on the safe side, I suggest all PU RCA customers make sure that they have all their qualifications posted by 11/20 (which really isn't that hard), rather than the 11/21 date which 51hh and I both calculated as the actual final qualification date based on the rules PU stated in their written communication of 10/21 to us poor, confused RCA customers.

Included in my statment dated 10/25 are two debits that I made on 10/24.  If the qualification cycle began on 10/21 why would these be included in this statement?

Ok, ok, you had your fun; Dunker.:-)

Given my suspicious mind, I already did another six debit transactions for each of my two Ultra Reward accounts.

The interesting thing about the list of qualfying periods is the line at the top of the page:

People’s United Bank Discontinued Product Disclosure

Discontinued product?  I wonder what that portends?

 

Dunker,

I think that you are reading too much into that:-)... It just means that this product is only for existing account owners; i.e., not new applications.

But that means you will need 8 of those $25k accounts for your 2 Peoples accounts? You seem to like the game but for me I prefer one  3% on $100k instead of 4 $25k's at 4%

Hi Scott,

I did not fully load my two $100K accounts (only up to $130K); I plan to move $75K to some 4% RCA accounts in the near future.

No, like you, I hate the RCA "game."  I long for the days that I can have a single savings account without any debit card/ACH requirements.

R,

51


 

As of 11/29/11 per CSR the APY is 2.50% for the Free Rewards $25k account.

 
People's United is by far the worst I have encountered, since they don't even post the rate in online banking. They require a phone call or logging in to send bank mail just to find out the rate.

Just noticed the APY drop to 2.25% since Feb 12 statement. Of course nobody ever gave me any notice.

Well, as expected, the RCA rate is now 2%.