Zero Interest rate for 2 years

[HendrixFan]

You could earn around 3 to 4% from Reward Checking accounts. I know you have to jump several hoops (debit card usage, direct deposit, etc.) to get those rates but it is better than savings and CD accounts.

Of the (few) remaining 3 to 4% reward checking accounts, most have low upper limits to how much cash you can have deposited. They are also notorious these days for changing up the rates so you have to stay on top of it and have your next target eyed.

It is more work than you suggest, less reliable, and has a limit to how much cash you can use for it.

 

[senseamp]

And who is going to pay for it?

The Fed at 0.25% interest.

 

[bradley]

Reward checking account interest rates are going down too.

Reward Checking accounts are a relatively new phenomenon. Though, regulations and fee restrictions -- such as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Acts -- are slowly catching up to them, increasingly closing all the loopholes.

Perhaps in the near future RCAs will no longer retain profitability for large and small banks. At that point, even those lucky enough to have grandfathered accounts might see a precipitous decline in interest rates.

 

[Svnla]

Reward checking account interest rates are going down too.

I know what you mean.

BanCorpSouth just lowered the rate from 3.01 to 1.98 but still good for 30K.

Other banks kept their rates the same but lowered the amount from 30K to 15K and 30K to 10K. :'(

Of the (few) remaining 3 to 4% reward checking accounts, most have low upper limits to how much cash you can have deposited. They are also notorious these days for changing up the rates so you have to stay on top of it and have your next target eyed.

It is more work than you suggest, less reliable, and has a limit to how much cash you can use for it.

Well, as long as you have (per month): 1 automate deposit/debit, 12 times debit card usage, accept e-statement, then you have 3 to 4 percent APY. Not that much work to get 3 to 4 times return compare to savings and CD accounts. I do agree that they are cutting back the rates and lower the amount in the accounts a lot lately (within the last 3 months or so).

Worse come to worse, I still have 1.25 APY saving with 100K limit and don't have to do anything to earn it (until the bank changes the term again).

 

[piasabird]

I see this only benefitting rich people. Without good jobs, only people with money can take advantage of low interest rates. What it does is it enable rich people or banks to buy up all the real estate at a bargain. This is similar to banks bulldozing their lower value houses and donating them so they dont have to pay the taxes and upkeep.

 

[piasabird]

On the other hand there are some stocks that have a %4.00 dividend or higher, like ED (Con ED), or Intel.