Updated Review of Connexus Credit Union's Xtraordinary & MyRewards Checking

On Monday I wrote an updated review of Provident Credit Union which has a long history with its reward checking account. Connexus Credit Union is another institution with a long history of offering a reward checking account. Connexus has made several changes since I first reported on it in 2007 when the top yield was 6.01% for balances up to $25K. Of course the rate has fallen. However, the $25K balance cap has remained the same. One big change is that it split into two reward checking accounts. The two accounts have different rates with different monthly requirements. The one with the highest rate and the most requirements is the Xtraordinary Checking. It has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met (as of 5/3/2012):

• 2.00% APY on up to $25,000
• 0.50% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
• 0.25% APY if requirements are not met
• Up to $25 per month of ATM surcharge rebates within the US

Monthly requirements include:

• 15 debit card (non-PIN) purchases
• 1 direct deposit
• 1 third party online bill payment
• Receive eStatements

If you don't like these requirements, you might want to consider Connexus other reward checking account which it calls MyRewards Checking. The rate is a little lower, but it has fewer monthly requirements. The rates and requirements are shown below (as of 5/3/2012):

• 1.75% APY on up to $25,000
• 0.50% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
• 0.25% APY if requirements are not met
• Up to $25 per month of ATM surcharge rebates within the US

Monthly requirements include:

• 10 debit card (non-PIN) purchases
• 1 direct deposit or ACH automatic withdrawal
• Receive eStatements

Both accounts are free checking accounts with no minimum balance requirements or monthly fees.

I don't know how strict Connexus is regarding direct deposit. Most institutions will count any ACH deposit as a direct deposit even deposits that are transfers initiated from another bank.

Other Competitive Deposit Accounts

In addition to these reward checking accounts, Connexus also has competitive CD rates and money market rates. The rates used to be more competitive last year, but they have been growing more competitive this year as rates of other institutions fall. There is one catch. To qualify for the competitive rates, you need to maintain an active checking account. That should not be an issue if you have one of these reward checking accounts.

Application and Eligibility

Membership is open to members of the Connexus Association. According to this Connexus page:

Anyone in the United States may join the Connexus Association, and the only requirement to join is that you make a one-time $5 donation to the Association that will directly benefit one of many supported organizations. Then, once you're a member of the Association, you will be eligible to join Connexus Credit Union and experience all the benefits of Connexus membership.

Please refer to the Connexus membership page for more details. The "join us" link in this page takes you to the online application. In this application you can select "I would like to join through the Connexus Association". You can then select the MyRewards or Xtraordinary Checking.

Credit Union Overview

The credit union is headquartered in Wausau, Wisconsin. Connexus branches are located in Wisconsin, Ohio and New Hampshire. It appears Connexus started out as an employee-based credit union for Liberty Mutual Insurance. Most of their branches are in Liberty Mutual offices.

Connexus Credit Union has an overall health score at DepositAccounts.com of 4 stars (out of 5) with a Texas Ratio of 12.74% (above average) based on December 2011. Please refer to our financial overview of Connexus Credit Union for more details. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 66538).

Overview of Reward Checking

If you're new to reward checking, my blog post, 10 Common Traits of High-Yield Reward Checking, should be useful.

To find the highest reward checking rates in your area, please refer to our reward checking rate table. This can also be used to find accounts available nationwide. If you're new to these tables, my rate table guide should be useful.