Competitive Reward Checking at Alabama Teachers Credit Union - Local Only
Alabama Teachers Credit Union has a reward checking account called nHanced Checking. It has the following rates and features as of 3/26/2013:
- 3.00% APY on balances up to $15,000
- 0.50% on balances over $15,000
- 0.10% on all balances if requirements are not met
- If qualifications are met, ATM fees incurred during the qualification cycle are reimbursed and credited to account on the last day of monthly statement cycle
Monthly requirements:
- 12 debit card purchases
- at least 1 direct deposit, ACH auto debit, or bill payment
- eStatements
- access online banking
There is a qualification cycle calendar here and a qualification checklist here to assist in tracking that all monthly requirements have been met.
Membership in the credit union is offered to those who live, work, or attend school in Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah, or Marshall County. Family members (defined as one "related by blood or marriage" of an existing ATCU member) are also eligible for membership. In addition, organizations with a main office, regional office, or branch office in Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah, or Marshall County are also eligible to join.
There is an online application link, but a branch visit is required to complete the process. The credit union has branches in Albertville, Anniston, Centre, Fort Payne, Gadsden, and Oxford.
There is a limit of only one nHanced Checking account per social security number.
At the bottom of the nHanced Checking information page, it states that one must have five approved ATCU services to qualify for nHanced Checking. According to the CSR, examples of these approved ATCU services include: online banking, direct deposit, debit card, Estatements, BillPay, Club accounts, IRAs, etc. Most of these services are required for the nHanced Checking account, so this qualifier should not present a problem for anyone interested in the account.
The credit union considers any deposit which is made electronically on a periodic basis (weekly, biweekly, monthly) as a direct deposit.
As a side note, membership in the credit union also makes one eligible for discounts on Sprint monthly service plans and tickets to Six Flags.
The credit union has an overall health score at DepositAccounts.com of 5 stars (out of 5) with a Texas ratio of 7.02% (excellent) based on December 2012 data. Please refer to our financial overview of Alabama Teachers Credit Union for more details. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 67252).
Other Reward Checking Accounts
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.