High-Yield Reward Checking Account at Westbury Bank in Wisconsin
Update 8/21/10: The top rate has fallen to 2.75% APY. Refer to the bottom of the post for the rate history.
Westbury Bank has a reward checking account that it calls the IDEAL Checking. It offers 2.75% APY on balances up to $25,000 (0.75% over) and ATM fee refunds (up to $25/month) with the typical 3 reward checking requirements: 1) 10 debit card purchases (credit/signature mode), 2) direct deposit or automatic withdrawal, and 3) receive electronic statements. If the requirements are not met, the rate drops to 0.10%. The account is free of monthly charges whether or not the requirements are met. The minimum opening deposit is $50.
According to the account page, it's only available to Wisconsin residents. Branches are located in several Wisconsin cities north and northwest of Milwaukee. The bank is FDIC insured (FDIC Certificate # 28400).
For other reward checking accounts in other parts of the country, please see my best checking account post.
Rate History:
- 08/16/10: 2.75% APY up to $25K; 0.75% over
- ??/??/10: 3.01% APY up to $25K; 1.25% over
- 06/10/09: 3.75% APY up to $25K; 1.50% over; 0.10% base rate
- 06/01/09: 3.75% APY up to $25K (according to reader)
- 05/14/09: 3.75% APY up to $50K (per rate sheet)
- 03/12/09: 4.01% APY up to $50K; 0.30% over $50K; 0.10% base rate
- 02/21/09: West Bend Savings Bank and Continental Savings Bank are now Westbury Bank
- 01/08/09: 4.44% APY
- 12/10/08: 5.26% APY
- 06/20/07: 6.01% APY up to $50K; 0.30% over $50K; 0.20% base rate
Edit 6/14/09: Added credit/signature mode to debit card usage requirement.
Edit 2/2/09: Updated URLs due to bank website changes.