Comments on: The Rewards Checking Honor Roll

By: Deborah (from Philadelphia)

Deborah (from Philadelphia) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:47:33 +0000

Thank you DealMaven. Appreciate these updates.

Thanks again and have a good day.

By: DealMaven

DealMaven — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:04:28 +0000

Thanks for commenting Deborah,

While we don’t do recommendations, per se, we can tell you that we have never had complaints about any of the three banks you mentioned. And believe me, if a bank is not providing good service we hear about it.

Right now, Royal Banks of Missouri is offering 4.30%, which puts it at the top of the list of best-paying rewards checking accounts that are nationally available. This past weekend, Bank of the Sierra lowered its rate to 4.09% from 4.51%, and a couple of months ago, Patriot Bank dropped its rate to 3.01% from 4.01%.

The choice is yours.

By: Deborah (from Philadelphia)

Deborah (from Philadelphia) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:56:29 +0000

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the helpful comments. New to high yield checking world and thinking about Bank of the Sierra, Patriot or Royal Banks of Missouri.

Any recommendations or warnings please?

Thanks very much and have a good day.

By: Henry

Henry — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:23:46 +0000

FAB&T drops its rate from 4.44% to 3.5% in November, limit from $50K to $35K in December; and one account only.

By: Henry

Henry — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:53:48 +0000

The reason why FAB&T (and many others) are so selective is to do a screening for “profitable” customers. Banks really do not need those customers that are spreading thin and doing rate chasing. In addtion, FAB&T favors those who spend $5 or above per debit transactions rather than small $1 transactions, thus they can keep rpofitability at the current high rate of 4.44% APY.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:21:52 +0000

Hi Ed. FAB&T stands First Arkansas Bank and Trust at http://www.firstarkansasbank.com
Sign up for the Free Kasasa checking account. I was prevented from signing up (see earlier comment) because they said ChexSystems (Efunds) reported I had too many “Inquiries”, which turn out to be attempts to open accounts at banks. In my case, two of the “Inquiries” were duplicates of others because of system errors. Still, FAB&T refused to open the account until I persuade ChexSystems to delete the two extra Inquiries. A bit frustrating. You have to wonder why FAB&T or any other bank cares how many other accounts you have.

By: ED

ED — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:43:23 +0000

Could anybody tell me what and where is FAB&T How do i sign up?

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:19:52 +0000

I just had an interesting experience with FAB&T, which denied my application for a high interest checking account (CASH KASASA account). The account was denied because they checked a data base that showed I had “Excessive Number of Recent Inquiries”. The data base is run by EFunds, Inc. Anyone know anything more about this? I can be emailed at phillips at kcnet.com. Has anyone else run into this?

By: tom

tom — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:16:12 +0000

Southpoint Bank in alabama still offers 4% on balances up to $100,000.

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:52:59 +0000

Union State Bank of Atchison (Kansas) now requires you be a resident of Kansas or Missouri to open a new Rewards Checking.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:17:06 +0000

Hi John, I called up FAB&T and they seem to have the same deal as Patriot, but with higher interest. They only allow one account per person, unlike FAB&T. Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to try it.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:00:18 +0000

I use Patriot Bank, which I believe should get particular kudos because of what it does and does not do:

1. You can have as many accounts as you want under exactly the same name, so there really is no limit on how much you can deposit;

2. Each account requires only 10 debit transactions per month to meet requirements, as opposed to some which require 15 or more transactions

3. Each account requires only 1 ACH transaction per month, as opposed to some which require automatic bill payment(s), direct deposit(s), etc.

4. The requirements are waived for the first two (not just one) billing cycles to give plenty of time to get debit cards and PINs.

5. Setting up the account was easy. I liked and was amused by the great big stickers on the paperwork they send you that point out unequivocally where you need to sign and where to initial. Kudos to whomever thought that up.

6. I found the people very friendly and pleasant to work with

By the way, doing x debits per month is trivial. Just go anywhere there is a self-serve checkout (gas station, grocery market, etc), and buy each of x items separately. It is pretty painless and quick, although you might get stares from a nearby cashier, perhaps wondering whether you are a slow learner. Pick a time when the store is not busy, obviously. You don’t want a line of cars waiting behind you as you buy 1 gallon at a time (groceries are easier and quicker than gas).

By: John

John — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:50:28 +0000

anyone have any reviews about FAB&T? thinking of switching to them. they have 4.44% up to 50K. pretty good.

By: John

John — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:34:05 +0000

Not happy that Malvern Federal Savings Bank went from 5% to 3.5%