2.75% Reward Checking Account with a $100K Balance Cap at Pacific Mercantile Bank in CA - Local Only
POSTED ON BY Ken Tumin
Pacific Mercantile Bank is offering a high-yield reward checking account called Premium Interest Checking. It has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met:
If certain transaction requirements are not met, the CSR said the account would be converted to their regular interest checking account which has a 0.10% interest rate. The monthly requirements include:
A branch visit is required to open this account. Branches are located in the California cities of Beverly Hills, Costa Mesa, La Habra, La Jolla, Long Beach, Newport Beach, San Juan Capistrano and Ontario.
The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com (based on 6/30/09 data) and 2 stars (problematic) at BauerFinancial (based on 9/30/09 data). The bank is a FDIC member (Certificate # 34940).
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.
- 2.75% for balances of $1,500 to $100,000
- 0.40% for under $1,500 and balance over $100,000
- Up to 8 ATM fees of up to $25 are waived per month
If certain transaction requirements are not met, the CSR said the account would be converted to their regular interest checking account which has a 0.10% interest rate. The monthly requirements include:
- 5 debits of any type or amount except one has to be done through online bill pay of least $25 to a third party
- 1 deposit of any type
- $100 minimum opening deposit
- $10 monthly fee if balance drops below $1,500 (according to CSR)
A branch visit is required to open this account. Branches are located in the California cities of Beverly Hills, Costa Mesa, La Habra, La Jolla, Long Beach, Newport Beach, San Juan Capistrano and Ontario.
The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com (based on 6/30/09 data) and 2 stars (problematic) at BauerFinancial (based on 9/30/09 data). The bank is a FDIC member (Certificate # 34940).
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.
Nowadays, 5% is pretty top of the line; if one can hack it.
The 100K limit means little for this low rate.
JMHO.