How to Avoid the Gotchas of High-Yield Reward Checking Accounts

Bank of the Sierra (BotS) is one of the few banks offering a nationwide reward checking account with a yield over 4.00% (4.09% APY for up to $25K as of 3/09/2010). However, the yield doesn't mean much if you don't qualify. Readers have reported a few issues that have caused them to miss a month of interest. I thought a review of these issues would be useful not only for those thinking about a Bank of the Sierra account, but also for those new to any reward checking account.

The first issue relates to the e-statements. Like all reward checking accounts, BotS requires you to enroll and receive e-statements. You might assume the enrollment is automatic. It is not. You have to activate after you apply. Here's a comment from a reader about this:

Be careful of their E-statement signup. In addition to check it during application, you need to sign up on the bank's website. The link is at the bottom of front page. Many people have been hit by this shady tactic.

Another issue concerns bill pay. One of BotS's monthly reward checking requirements is the use of its bill pay. This is not typical. Other banks often have bill pay usage as an option if you don't want to do a direct deposit or an ACH transaction. But it's a requirement at BotS that can't be substituted with direct deposit. Here's how they describe the requirement on the website:

Make at least one payment using Sierra BillPay per statement cycle (must be posted, not pending)

Note, it states that it must be posted and not pending. A reader reported an issue with this that caused him to lose a month of interest. If the payee can't take payment electronically and requires an actual check, it may take a long time before the check clears. This is what happened to the reader, and Bank of the Sierra didn't offer any leeway and was unwilling to pay the reward interest rate for that month. Update 3/10/10: The reader informed me that the disclosure that BotS gave him had no mention of posting or pending for the bill pay.

This BotS issue with bill pay may also be an issue at other banks if they require bill payment checks to clear. So if you're using bill pay to qualify for the rewards, it's better to have a payee that takes payment electronically. And make sure you give yourself plenty of time before the end of the cycle.

And this brings up another potential issue with meeting BotS's reward checking requirements. The cycles can vary each month. Here's how the bank explains it:

Statement period ends the first Thursday of every month with the qualifying period ending the business day prior, meaning that the qualifying number of days will vary from month to month

I've seen other banks have a similar policy with the end of the statement cycle. So it's something to keep in mind for anyone with a reward checking account.

I described other reward checking gotchas in December. Have you been denied the top rate on your reward checking account? Please leave a comment about your experience.

High-Yield Reward Checking Account Resources

• reward checking overview
• math behind reward checking accounts
• reward checking accounts with a history of high rates
• Table of nationwide and local reward checking accounts