High-Yield Reward Checking Account w/o Balance Cap at City Bank - Texas Only

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City Bank in Texas continues to offer an interesting version of a reward checking account. The rate is lower than many reward checking accounts (2.75% APY as of 9/15/2010) and it has more requirements than typical (20 debit card purchases a month), but it has one nice feature: no balance cap. The entire balance can qualify for the top rate.

For those who don't like to keep a large amount in a checking account, they have the Reward Plus package which provides a reserve account with the reward checking account. When you meet the monthly requirements, the top rate applies too both accounts. You can also open multiple reserve accounts. I'm surprised we don't see more banks offer this type of package.

Here's a summary of the monthly requirements:

  • 20 debit card purchases
  • 4 ACH debits or credits
  • 1 online bill payment
  • Access your online account
  • Receive electronic statements

In addition to the top rate, City Bank also refunds ATM fees nationwide if you meet these requirements. If you don't meet these requirements, the rate falls to 0.16%. If these requirements are too much for you, they have another reward checking account that has fewer requirements, but the top yield is only 1.00% APY as of 9/15/2010. At that rate, there's no advantage of this account over the internet checking and savings accounts.

I first reported on these accounts in this June 2008 post.

Online Application, but Texas Only

The bank has an online application, however, the first page of the application states that "At this time we are unable to open accounts for non-Texas residents."

Branches are located in several Texas cities including Lubbock, Dallas, El Paso and Plano.

The bank's overall health score is 3 out of 5 with a Texas Ratio of 39.59% (above average) based on 6/30/2010 data. Please refer to our financial overview of City Bank for more details. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1984 (FDIC Certificate # 25103).

Different Than City National Bank

This bank should not be confused with City National Bank in Taylor, Texas. City National Bank also has a no-cap reward checking account. However, City National Bank's rates have plummeted over the last year, and it's yield is now only 1.05% APY. With City Bank limiting accounts to Texas and with their additional requirements, they may have a better chance at keeping their rates high.

Other High-Yield Reward Checking Accounts

I should have included City Bank in my list of the best reward checking accounts in Texas. The rate may not be the best, but it's rare to find a reward checking account without a balance cap.

To find reward checking accounts in your state or to find those available nationwide, please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com.

Related Pages: checking account, reward checking account, City Bank (TX), Houston, Dallas, Waco, Odessa, Lubbock, El Paso, Albuquerque

Comments
Fred
  |     |   Comment #1
What is next after

  • 20 debit card purchases
  • 4 ACH debits or credits
  • I Think 40 debit card purchases
  • 8 direct deposit and
  • the kitchen sink.
51hh
  |     |   Comment #2
The near-term trend: Lower interest rate (3% typical),  lower limit (going down to $15K).

The requirements: set minimum debit transactions ($5 per transactions typical), add billpay requirements (three is typical), increase number of debit transactions (15 typical), increase ACH/debit (3-5), add payroll direct deposit, add primary account usage (or else!), etc., etc.

Added daily requirements: push-ups (50), monthly physical, weekly bank face-to-face interview, kiss-xxx to show loyalty, monthly praise letter to demonstrate "primary" and "priority" usage, etc., etc. 
Interested
  |     |   Comment #3
Can someone share xperienc with this bank?  TIA.
jshannon
  |     |   Comment #4
I wonder how one can easily satisfy that 4 payments/month requirement.
51hh
  |     |   Comment #5
That is easy: (1) set up Ally/Alliant ACH (remember to pull, not push; due to the six withdrawals limit fro savings), (2) pay utility bills with routing/account no. (multiple times), (3) some banks count billpay as ACH debit (YMMV, one needs to experiment it), (4) etc. 
Anonymous
  |     |   Comment #6
Drop to 1.5% on 8/22/2011
Anonymous
  |     |   Comment #7
The ACH requirements are not all bill pays- direct deposits count as well. For instance, I get pd twice a month (2), I pay my LP&L (1) and I pay my sudden link (1). That's 4 easy... then I pay my AT&T, my atmos and my credit card. 7 total. :) I also really like the bill pay bc it allows me to make a regular payment without having my statement on hand (I have a bad habit of misplacing them) without giving other companies my account numbers to keep on file. I will say I've missed the rewards at times due to debit card transactions, but the ACH/electronic payment part is cake. :)
High-Yield Reward Checking Account on All Balances and Open to All of Texas (City Bank)

Update 9/14/10: The top yield has fallen to 2.75% APY. Please see bottom of the post for the rate history.

City Bank is offering a reward checking account that pays 2.75% APY on all balances and refunds ATM fees if the following monthly requirements are met:

  • 20 debit card purchases
  • 4 ACH debits or credits
  • one online bill payment
  • access your online account
  • receive electronic statements

If this is too much work, the bank has a secondary level with a yield of 1.00% APY if only the following monthly requirements are met:

  • 8 debit card purchases
  • one ACH debit...


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$100 Checking Account Bonus at City Bank in Grand Prairie Texas

City Bank Texas is offering a $100 bonus for opening a free checking account at its Grand Prairie branch. The offer ends 10/31/08. The minimum opening deposit is $50, and the account must remain open for 3 months. The special isn't listed at the bank's website. A reader emailed me info on this promotion, and I called the branch yesterday for more details. According to the CSR, there's no direct deposit requirement or other similar requirements. It does require you to visit the Grand Prairie branch.

I was told that both...

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