Heritage Bank's Nationally Available eCentive Account Rate Soars
Heritage Bank has more than doubled the rate on its eCentive Account to 3.33% APY on qualifying balances up to $25k. Qualifying balances over $25k earn 0.15% APY, with non-qualifying balances earning 0.05% APY.
DA has been tracking the eCentive Account since November 2009, when its APY was 2.14%. The APY began a slow decline in August 2010, settling at 1.26% in April 2013 and remaining there for almost five years. 207 bps were added in two rate increases since the beginning of 2018.
eCentive Account Qualification Requirements
- At least 10 debit card payments and/or purchases.
- At least one Direct Deposit or ACH per month.
- Receive monthly eStatement.
The eCentive Account has no minimum balance requirement or monthly service charge, but there is a $100 minimum opening deposit requirement. There is a $4 monthly if you don’t sign up for eStatements and paper statements are sent. (I realize I’m stating the obvious, but not receiving eStatements automatically makes any balance non-qualifying.) If an eCentive Account is closed within six months of opening, a $30 fee will be assessed. Nationwide ATM fees will be reimbursed up to $25 per monthly qualification cycle.
HeritageDirect Savings
Heritage Bank’s online savings account, HeritageDirect Savings, also had a rate increase this week, but the 0.60% APY is so uncompetitive, it doesn’t merit more than this one sentence.
Availability
Headquartered in Spicer, Minnesota, Heritage Bank offers its eCentive Account to all U.S. citizens,18 years or older, with a valid Social Security number through its online application.
Opening an eCentive Account can be done online, or at any of the four Minnesota branches located in Pennock, Raymond, Spicer, and Willmar, or the eight Iowa branches located in Alta, Anthon, Aurelia, Cushing, Holstein, Lytton, and Sioux City (2).
Bank Overview
Heritage Bank has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 11.80% (above average) based on December 31, 2017 data. In the past year, Heritage Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $23.18 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 7.76%. Please refer to our financial overview of United Bank (FDIC Certificate # 19254) for more details.
Founded in 1964 as the National Bank of Willmar, the Bank was a privately owned, community bank established and run by the Geiger family. The Bank was renamed Heritage Bank in 1984, and in 1989 acquired two Minnesota banks (The Citizens National Bank of Madelia and State Bank of Pennock). Further acquisitions occurred in 2004 (Farmers’ State Bank of Raymond) and 2011 (Heritage Bank, N.A. in Iowa). The biggest news in Heritage Bank’s story happened in November 2014:
The 150 employees of Heritage Bank will all be employee-owners. On Monday, Nov. 3, 2014, bank management announced that Heritage Bancshares Group, Inc., the parent company of Heritage Bank N.A., will become an employee-owned company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
“It is a win-win proposition for Heritage Bank, its employees and our local economy,” said Heritage Bank CEO Tom Geiger “By funding the ESOP, Heritage is investing in the employees who have helped make the company successful, and keeping that investment right here, helps support the local communities we serve.”
How the eCentive Account Compares
When compared to the High Yield Reward Checking Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com, which are available nationwide and have maximum qualifying balances of at least $25k, Heritage Bank’s eCentive Account APY currently ranks first.
The above rates are accurate as of 4/19/2018.
To look for the best Reward Checking Account rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our High Yield Reward Checking Account Rates Table page.
LMCU is still at 3% as is another local credit union that I joined recently.
My AA experiment is about over. At least they did not do a hard pull.
If so, I will probably wait until the 1st to open mine.
Opening the account now would allow very little time do do the needed transaction if the card even came by the end of the month. Never heard of one that did not waive the first month.
We received your Customer Service Request regarding our interest bearing checking account. The eCentive account requires that certain qualifications be met in order to receive the higher rate of interest on the first $25,000 balance. Therefore, there is no introductory month offer with this account. The interest is compounded monthly, at the end of the month, when qualifications are met for that statement. If you have more questions regarding opening your account, please fee free to contact us.
In summary, if you were among the initial wave of applicants, you were told "no waiver". New applications now have a first-month waiver of requirements.
I figure the excess interest is $27.71 per month over a 2% liquid account. You are too lazy to do debit card transactions that pay you $2.77 each?
I'm lazy too, not that lazy.
Lets say 45 seconds to start. 7.5 minutes a month for $27.71.
Comes out to $138.55 an hour. That is WAY more than I ever made when I worked.
You can make multiple $1 billpays to meet the requirements and that is probably even faster.
I and many, many others have been doing small transactions on these kind of accounts for many years and not a single time has it ever ruined it for everyone else.
Calling me a cheapskate is fine, I take that as a compliment. Calling me a loser just shows your lack of maturity. People like YOU are why I think every poster here should be registered.
I guess the thought is getting people to use the debit card for all purchases will make up for the extra interest?
Does not work with me because I do very small gas transactions and/or $1 charges for places I can pay bills without an extra fee.
"Please return the Signature Card(s), Beneficiary Designation Form (if applicable),
Health Savings Account Application (if applicable), Debit Card Application (if
applicable), and Request for Check Order form (if applicable) along with your (and
any joint owner's) legible copy of unexpired picture ID to us via mail within 10
days."
Which is it? I trust DA, but wonder where they got that info?
Soft Or Hard Pull?
Lobby Hours
M – F : 9:00am – 4:00pm
Drive Up Hours
M – W : 7:30am – 5:30pm
Th – F : 7:30am – 6:00pm
Sa : 8:00am – 12:00pm
ATM Hours
ATM has live customer support M – F : 7:00am – 7:00pm, Saturday : 8:00am – noon
My concern is if I open this with $25k and I don't get my card in time, I won't get the 3.33% for the rest of the month.
The other question, what can did I have registered 30 years ago, I can't recall so I guessed. Maybe wrong but it did not say. My application was apparently lost in space or I am just rejected forever for missing an answer.
If they cant open the account without me sending something I don't have, I guess I won't be opening an account with them.
Thank you ID Authentication
Based on the information you entered, we are unable to complete the identity verification process. Therefore, we will not be able to proceed with this account application online. If you feel you received this message in error, please contact Heritage Bank's Deposit Services Department at 800.344.7048 ext. 3920 or 320.214.3920.
but
Bank-to-Bank Transfer Standard 3-day transfer NO CHARGE
Will my initial deposit cost me a $2.50 fee unless I choose 3 day transfer?
NO ONE has ever asked me that for the last 200 years. And how the hell would anyone even remember such a thing.
I went to the trouble of finding a site that can figure it out from the number and still failed the security question. Of course they never tell you why you failed.
Time wasters .
95% of the time, I pass these questions. Once, with a credit bureau, when I missed, the ONLY way to resolve it was to send a fax. I don't have one and did not do it but the incorrect information was finally removed, I guess about 6-9 months later.
I guess I will go ahead & open it with a small amount and then move the rest in after the first.
Hard to believe I missed 2 of 3 the first time. 1 maybe. Not 2. No hurry though because I am only sending $100 to open the account with more coming after the first.
I will tackle it again later on my desktop.
In the meantime, can anyone tell me how the initial deposit is funded? Do they pull it from another bank? Can I later add money from a different credit union on a pull ach?
Various reasons over & over but I finally finished. Now, I just have to fill out the request for a debit card and the POD form and send in a check.
They only allowed $4000 by ACH so I just decided to wait and send a larger check to conserve my limit of 6 transactions from the other bank.
I am also unaware of Heritages system when I do get the account open.
Can I later do ACH pulls in ?
I may send a check for $13k today with another $12k to follow.
Did they communicate with you immediately after receiving the documentation? How soon after them receiving the documentation was the account open?
I have not gotten an email and the check has not been cashed. But, given the number of times I had to redo my application, It would not surprise me if they figure out some more reasons to have me apply again.
(HINT, I have maxed out. NEVER again will I apply as many times as I did with this one ever again as long as I live)
I was going to send a 2nd check yesterday but decided to hold off because Im just not confident that 7-8 applications is enough for these guys. My last email from 4/27 at 6:38 am has not been responded to. It was asking about ongoing ACH capabilities from their end. Maybe Cassie is on vacation?
This message was sent securely using ZixCorp.
Your eCentive Deposit Account is now open and we have processed the opening deposit. Since this is a new account opened with a large dollar check, there is a hold on your funds until May 14th. Your account number is xxxxxx.
You may access your eCentive Account in Online Banking. Not an Online Banking customer yet? Visit www.heritagebankna.com and click the ‘Sign up now’ link. Enter the requested information including the four-digit pin (the last four digits of your Social Security number). You will be prompted to select a new Access ID and password.
If you have questions about your new eCentive Account, or about any other Heritage Bank products and services, please contact Deposit Services by using our secure message link within Online Banking, or by calling toll free 1-800-344-7048 ext. 3920.
To see any action this week then seems unlikely (I mailed 4/26). Moving to Heritage from 2% RCA's means even a May 10th opening will leave me ahead for the month from where I would be. The thing is if my cards don't arrive till the 20th I'll have to scramble to do the transactions (many X more than just 10 since I'm opening multiple accounts) and I hate to be one of the $1 or $2 manipulators. Really they should waive requirements first statement cycle like everyone else, but then given a great rate and high ceiling I'm not complaining to much. Needing my accounts approved and "on the books" first of all, before other concerns even become relevant.
Just noticed this in the Consumer Fee Schedule: ACH Transfer to or from another FI
....................................................$2.50 per transfer
Is this right??
Thanks,
Although Popular Direct has taught me things recently. Like no mailed in deposits and only one linked bank or credit union and you can't change it for 60 days. That's bothersome, but 2% is a nice rate otherwise.
ACH Transfer to or from another FI
...............................................$2.50 per transfer
Bank-to-Bank Transfers
Standard 3-day transfer ................NO CHARGE
Next-day transfer............................$7.50/transfer
I've already set up links to two outside banks. When you do the same, you'll see a small blue circle with an "i" in it. Click on that to find out what your transfer limits are. Mine are $4K/4K/10K for per transaction/per day/per month (standard delivery time).
Can we pull money from elsewhere without a fee or a limit or does that cost $2.50?
My plan was to pull the interest every month after I get done with the debit card transactions. Assuming I get the debit card.
The first check has already cleared. I have ZERO availability. If I do get my debit card, I hope I don't have to wait 2 weeks to use it.
Initially, I did not think I was earning interest but I may be, The balance still shows zero.
Account information
Current balance
$0.00
Interest rate
3.28%
Accrued interest
$2.34
-------------
May 03, 2018
PENDING TRANSACTIONS -13,000.00 0.00
May 01, 2018
DEPOSIT 13,000.00 13,000.00
The hold was removed today. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Due to the high volume of applications we processed that day, the hold date did not get properly edited.
As for correcting the balance of your account, prior to removing this hold, our system showed the ledger balance of the account as $13k and the current available balance as $0. Since Mint is a program provided by a separate company, we do not have control over what balance they get. But, it appears they are getting the available balance, which is why it was showing at $0.
The ACH fee is only charged if customers want us to manually set an ACH up on our internal systems. If you want to pull your monthly interest using an online transfer service, with Heritage Bank or another bank, this fee would not apply. But, if you use the bank to bank transfer service from Heritage Bank and request an expedited transfer, there is a fee, which is disclosed as part of the process to initiate that transfer.
Again, I apologize for the confusion with the hold on your initial deposit. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns. And, thank you for choosing Heritage Bank!
------------------
As for the Mint thing, NO OTHER bank or credit union ever gets confused via my actual balance at Mint. So I think its THEM, not mint. But, I knew the amount and I could tell I was getting interest so its not a huge thing.
Well, the first time I called, the system hung up on me after entering the card number and CVV. The second call yielded a "sorry we can't activate your card. Please call your bank."
OK, so I went to a local convenience store with a free ATM, slid the card in, and it asked for the PIN - I couldn't get past that.
Has anyone else received and activated their card? Might there be a separate mailing coming with an initial PIN (that wasn't mentioned)?
You must call the card activation line from the phone number associated with your checking account. (I had been using a different phone to activate.) The activation system seems to be a bit tone deaf, so use long presses for each digit. My card is now activated with a PIN I selected. (There will be no PIN mailer.)
This might seem an odd question to ask, but banks do have the ability to block or limit ACHs initiated by other banks, and there are a few that actually do this.
"The ACH fee is only charged if customers want us to manually set an ACH up on our internal systems. If you want to pull your monthly interest using an online transfer service, with Heritage Bank or another bank, this fee would not apply. But, if you use the bank to bank transfer service from Heritage Bank and request an expedited transfer, there is a fee, which is disclosed as part of the process to initiate that transfer."
"Come back and Transfer Funds"
Good News! It is now easy to move money between your Heritage Bank NA accounts and your external accounts. Here's how:
Instructions
--------------------
1 Log on to Funds Transfer http://www.heritagebankna.com/.
2 Navigate to external transfers screen and follow the online instructions.
dotted line
Once the account is successfully added, input the amount you want to transfer, confirm and your money is scheduled to transfer. It is that simple!
Thank you for using Heritage Bank NA Transfer Funds. We look forward to serving you.
Sincerely,
Customer Care
Email ID: TN127
-------------
Interesting timing of the email as my account was maxed out yesterday. Although i am still waiting for the debit card.
Then, I found out that the first month they are waived. I thought so but got bad information about that before.
As for the $4000 per day and $10,000 per month and the $2.50 fee. I am still unclear on that because I got conflicting information depending on who I talked to.
She did say that either an ACH debit or credit would count toward the qualifications.
And, sadly, she could not resolve the debit card issue once and for all so I may have this problem around June 1st.
She DID say that if you want to pull out a large sum at once, they will send a large check after verifying your identity.
As for your question about doing a transfer out of your Heritage Bank account, the 4/4/10 limits only apply if you originate transfers within our bank to bank transfer program, which you access from our online banking program. Online transfers originated elsewhere would be subject to that system’s limits and the available balance in your account. It would not take months or weeks for you to get access to your money. As outlined in disclosures you would have received as part of the account opening process, we generally make deposits available the same day we receive them. But, we do reserve the right to put holds on deposits for up to seven business days.
I did get a call back from their security department regarding why my transactions were getting rejected. Hopefully it's resolved now for future months and I think it will be. My 2nd deposit too way too long to finally show as available and during the entire time, my MINT balances were off because HB does not report it correctly. (Unlike every other bank, credit union & brokerage I have ever used)
But that situation is over & done with. Should not recur.
But you do get different answers to different questions depending on who you talk to. 2 reps told me the first month was not free, the 3rd read it to me from their handout. So she was right, the other 2 were not.
You do not have to qualify the first month despite which is consistent with 99%+ of RCAs. But, I already did mine by the time I found that out.
Has any one completed a monthly cycle yet? Any experiences / surprises - good, bad, ugly?
I've pushed $20,000 from Discover, no fee showing up. The transactions limits are on transactions initiated from Heritage, not to Heritage (confirmed by CSR)
Also, it appears that virtually any debit card activity counts. When I got my debit card, I did all the different types of transactions that I could. When I called in, the CSR said they all counted, and it didn't matter how small they were.
Among the things I used my debit for: Walmart, McDonalds, paying off Humana health bill in $6-$9 increments, Cash App payments, Venmo payments, paying off garbage bill in small increments, etc.
I'm am sending Venmo and Cash App payments to my father, and I'm convinced that if you were so inclined, you could just do those types of payments to yourself and never actually have to use the debit card to make real purchases.
Also (I didn't read all the comments, so it may have already been said), you are allowed to open as many accounts as you wish, provided you meet the requirements for each. I have two accounts, which is why I wanted to verify my debit activity, since I must do 20 per month.
Your savings account lowered its APY!
0.05%
eCENTIVE
The above alert was from Mint. I don't think they actually lowered the rate. At least I hope not.
Second, when in doubt I prefer to verify information on an institution's website. As of today, 6/3, the Heritage Bank website is reflecting Qualifying balances over $25,000 earn 0.15% APY and non-qualifying accounts earn 0.05%APY. Details are available at https://www.heritagebankna.com/current-interest-rates/ This information is identical to what Ken reported in this blog post on 4/19.
I am still considering opening a 2nd checking with HB. Do i just go thru the process again?
On my Account page, its showing .05 % interest. On all my other Kasasa accounts, they usually show the FULL rate, not the rate if you DONT qualify.
It's probably just a glitch in the way this bank handles it, but I'll be looking for confirmation of that. Doubt they would change the rate.
https://www.heritagebankna.com/current-interest-rates/
Most of the accounts don't show ANY rate on the account page. So I'd think this is a non event.
The third item under "Account Qualifications" clarifies what they want for monthly transactions:
"Have one direct deposit or one automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle (ACH must be initiated externally. Billpay and external transfers initiated within the Heritage Bank NA online banking program are NOT qualifying transactions.)"
Before this clarification I thought I could automatically push X bucks a month to an external bank account, but now that won't qualify. So I've set up one of my credit cards to pull a sawbuck out of Heritage every month. Hope that flies....
I do that with all 3 of my RCAs.
HB is the only one of the 3 that does not seem to have a scorekeeping device on their site. (The others, when I click on the right link, it will tell me if I have met the requirements or not which is nice)
Thanks
I should get another one or two I guess. How do you do your 40 needed transactions?
I have a total of 3 which are 12+10+10=32 total. Been doing small gas transactions but I may have to get away from that.
At one station, the owner came out & ran me off. "You no do 3 cents only". So I respected him and do not go to his station.
Once I had a station call the cops on me but I explained to the cop what I was doing, showed him my cards, he looked me up for any wants or warrants and then went on his way after telling the clerk that I was not doing anything illegal.
My issue recently is I seem to have some kind of health issue that I feel a dizziness when standing still. So doing 20-30 small transactions at once does not feel right.
I can do 8-10 at a time though and I am out almost every day so splitting them up over 4 times should not be too difficult. (I guess I would need 42 if i open another here.)
I did have an issue with opening my account. Missed my security questions once or twice and timed out once or twice. So hopefully it will go smoothly this time.
i opened the Northern account with no issue.
Speaking of "gaming" things, I drive past 3-4 abandoned houses every day. And there are at least a half dozen more that will be foreclosed on soon. Parasites are so adept at gaming the system that they are trashing neighborhoods. Where I live, what was a middle class neighborhood is quickly becoming a minority paradise. These people throw trash everywhere. A stop sign recently had something about Snitches get Stitches written on it. (Before I covered it)
And taxpayers are footing the bill. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-05-24/small-time-bankers-make-millions-peddling-mortgages-to-the-poor
I think people move in with nothing down and then pay very little for years before foreclosure and then after foreclosure, all too often, the houses sit for 1-2+ years rather than quickly be sold. So you have years of abandonment with nobody cutting the grass.
I am realizing that I just can't stay here more than 5-6 more years even though the house itself is plenty for me. A better neighborhood is going to cost me 2.5-3 times as much though.
I knew it would get worse, I just expected it to be slower and I had no idea that so many irresponsible people would be able to finance houses even after the crisis.
I will probably open my 2nd heritage acct within a week. I maxed out Northern and while I opened a 2nd account, I would not be insured on any overage so I am not keeping much in there.
Id have to say yes. 10 minutes is worth $22.29. I never made that much when I worked.
But it does make me wonder about my lower value RCAs.
I assume the waiver is for the first calendar month the account is opened, so I would want to wait until 8/1 or maybe a couple of days before to open the account, so as not to waste the waiver on the last few days of July. Correct?
How many days from when the online application is submitted to when the account is officially open, with respect to the first-month waiver?
If they do waive the first month requirements, my approach would be to keep $15K in my existing LMCU RCA to earn the 3% there, and put $25K into Heritage from another account. Then after the first month, I'd empty the LMCU account, as I don't want to hassle with 20 small purchases per month.
Between my existing LMCU RCA at 3% for $15K, and a savings account at 2.50% for the additional $10K (to equal the $25K cap at Heritage), my blended rate is 2.80%, with basically same monthly requirements. So I would earn $132.50/year or $11.04/month more at Heritage. No additional monthly requirements, so the downside is just the hassle of opening another account. Since we don't know how long the rate and balance cap will last, I'm on the fence.
Can't recall how many days it took to get going but it was not an extended period of time.
I am still pondering opening a 2nd account and then stop using LMCU too. (Unless they raise their rate)
I currently use 3 RCAs, A local CU, Heritage and LMCU and LMCU is the worst deal. But, I have been with them the longest.
Anyway, RCAs lose their attractiveness in a rising rate environment.
Where do you get 2.5% in a savings? Best I have is 2.26%.
In my area, one bank has a 3.55% 5 year and that is something I am considering just because its .25% over a brokered 5 year.
I am getting tired of these short term CDs because every year it's more work to put the money back to work. (In the latest case, 9 months)
Its safe to say that RCAs are not going to increase with the fed.
This is from July 10.... And it makes me think at least one hike before year end is a very high certainty.
Fed funds futures' probabilities of future rate hikes by:
Sep 2018 - up by at least 25 bps: 86.8% up from 77.4% last week
Dec 2018 - up by at least 50 bps: 58.1% up from 48.5% last week
Trying to figure out if I should fund it already or wait until the debit card arrives...
Heritage reps don't know their bank's own policies.
Kevin
Heritage will be viable for at least 6 months probably.
$15k versus $25k and 3.33% versus 3.00-3.05.
$25,000.00eCENTIVE
an hour ago Heritage Bank, NA (MN)
Never received a reply. Not sure how I feel about their product, but the customer service did NOT leave a good impression at all. Perhaps they just don't want my business, but what the hell kind of discriminatory practices are those? Smh.
But I know I did not need a utility bill and I don't recall an issue.
I suspect the only discriminatory practices are between your ears.
I had stopped using the account for the ally deal but may start back now that the ally 1% bonus deal is over and I have another few CDs coming due.
I might even add a 2nd account when the weather warms up?