Back in June, I blogged about my household’s upcoming changeover from using ING Direct’s Electric Orange checking account (my EO review) to a rewards checking account offered by one of our in-state credit unions.
The single reason for this change?
Interest, baby. Interest.
As of this post, ING’s Electric Orange pays a rate of 0.25% APY, and its Orange Savings pays 1.10% APY. Contrast this with the 4.38% APY offered by the credit union’s rewards checking (on balances up to $25k), and the difference is … well, huge.
Now Our Interest Pays The Water Bill
After consolidating various accounts, we’ve gone from earning $8 to $15 per month in interest to earning $60 to $70 per month. Nice jump, huh? Those earnings are enough, after taxes, to pay for our monthly water and trash bill … and then some.
So yes, I’m pleased with the change. So far. I still don’t like using a debit card, but since we only have to use it 12 times per month to get the maximum advertised rate, I suppose I can live with that. (We use it only for small-amount, in-person purchases. Any other purchases go on one of our cash-back credit cards, which we pay in full each month.)
I probably should’ve looked into rewards checking long ago, but my aversion to debit-card use is pretty darn strong!
Jay wrote:
Which credit union?
Michael wrote:
It’s in my previous post…
Christine wrote:
I use Danversbank. It’s nation-wide! Sounds identical to the account described.
https://www.danversbank.com/Personal/Checking/Free-Rewards-Checking.aspx
Lilly wrote:
Would be nice to have a CU in my area with rates like that. But no such luck for me!