With savings accounts paying an average of under 1% interest, and the volatility of the stock market, there aren’t many good places left to put your money. Good news, there’s a new banking program out there which may be a good option.

When I first read about high interest checking accounts, I thought it was a total scam, frankly. However, it seems my very own credit union offers just such a program, paying 4.5%. In addition to the higher interest rate, there are a number of other perks:

• No monthly fee
• No minimum balance
• Refunded ATM fees
• Some free NSF services

So what’s the catch? Requirements vary from bank to bank, but in general, in order to reap the benefits of a high-interest checking accounts, one must:

• Have 10 or more debit transactions a month
• Online bill pay
• Have an ACH transfer and/or direct deposit; and
• Receive your account statements by email.

So what’s in it for the banks offering such a program? Growing deposits. Over the last 12 months, the average balance in a reward checking account increased by $2,000, BancVue Chief Executive Officer Gabriel Krajicek said, according to this article.

Think it’s easy to make 10 debit charges a month? Then this may be the account for you. For myself, I know it would be a challenge to do 10 debits in 30 days. I typically use credit cards to pay for everything and collect the points. However, if the rewards programs totally went away, I would definitely consider a high interest rate card to pay for everything.

Do you have experience with a high interest rate checking account? Tell us about it by leaving a comment!

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