How to meet minimum number of debit transactions

[audreyh1]

Oh cool, thank you! I have had an account with them previously so will have to see if I can get in on this deal.

Should be very straightforward then. Only one CD per customer BTW.

The biggest hurdle I had to jump through with them last year was getting the account setup after submitting up my application. After that transferring funds to it from Fidelity and buying CDs was easy and quick.

 

[calmloki]

Should be very straightforward then. Only one CD per customer BTW.

The biggest hurdle I had to jump through with them last year was getting the account setup after submitting up my application. After that transferring funds to it from Fidelity and buying CDs was easy and quick.

I've applied to Andrews as a member and hope to get the call and address any other ID/security issues they may have early this week. You mentioned pushing an ACH transfer at Andrews to avoid their $10,000 limit. Did you push to an Andrews savings account first? Was hoping to push directly into a CD purchase, but run into the $10,005 limit issue online. Hoping to buy a greater than $10,000 CD.

 

[audreyh1]

I've applied to Andrews as a member and hope to get the call and address any other ID/security issues they may have early this week. You mentioned pushing an ACH transfer at Andrews to avoid their $10,000 limit. Did you push to an Andrews savings account first? Was hoping to push directly into a CD purchase, but run into the $10,005 limit issue online. Hoping to buy a greater than $10,000 CD.

Right, I had to fund the CD from the Andrews Base Savings account. You have to open one anyway, and $5 min has to stay in there.

I initially opened the base savings account with just a $5 transfer (pull) from my bank checking account.

Then once that was opened and I had the account number, I linked to my base savings account from Fidelity and transferred a large amount. Then I was able to buy much >$10K CDs at Andrews as soon as it showed the funds were available in my base savings account.

 

[HtownRose]

Seems like Andrews had an agreement with a CU that had a location near me such that I was able to make a deposit in person & then call once it had cleared to open the cd...it's been a while.

 

[travelover]

"Hello, Internet Police? I'd like to report a hijacking."

 

[Surewhitey]

Been doing this for years. 2 different accounts. Super easy for us. Anything under $10 is our criteria. I go to lunch daily, so no biggie for me. Also free ATM withdrawals from any bank, even in Mexico. They reimburse the fees monthly if used.

 

[homestead]

If we are not quite making our limit on debit transactions the wife and I go to our local grocery store and get a couple items and check out separately in the self checkout section.
Our CU accepts credit or debit transactions but the credit transactions take a little longer to go through and if it is near the end of the month they may not make it in time.
We get about $14/month dividend if we have 10k in checking.

 

[Rambler]

Only 12? We probably have nearly that many for groceries. Do payments to your credit card count? There’s another 2-3 for us (when I have a large transaction I pay it off before the bill shows up, to keep my credit score high, and normally use only 2 credit cards).

 

[pc95]

My credit union is offering 2.25% interest on my checking account. I normally keep about $10K there so it worth playing their game.


Requirements: How to earn 2.25% APY:

• Conduct 12 debit card transactions per month
• Direct Deposit of at least $100 or more per month
• Sign up for and receive eStatements
• Log into Online Banking at least once per month

My question is how to painlessly generate the 12 debit card transactions a month. Someone said you can buy Amazon gift cards in $1 increments, which I have yet to investigate.



Any clever ideas?

This is an easy one. Goto a gas station at off-peak hours with a low tank, and do 12 transactions in succession of whatever reasonable amount you want . Did this before for a bonus with Wells Fargo, and worked great.

 

[jazz4cash]

This is an easy one. Goto a gas station at off-peak hours with a low tank, and do 12 transactions in succession of whatever reasonable amount you want . Did this before for a bonus with Wells Fargo, and worked great.

That sounds exactly like what happened when I had a new card stolen in the mail. The thief bought gas far all their friends. I would’ve thought that pattern should’ve triggered a block on the card but it didn’t. I think that may have been in the days before you had to activate a new card online or by phone.

 

[mountainsoft]

Requirements: How to earn 2.25% APY:

• Conduct 12 debit card transactions per month
• Direct Deposit of at least $100 or more per month
• Sign up for and receive eStatements
• Log into Online Banking at least once per month

That doesn't seem difficult to me.

Grocery shopping once a week - 4 transactions.
Gas up my car once a week - 4 transactions.
Gas up my wife's car once a week - 4 transactions.

Done.

If you don't need groceries or gas every week, I'm sure there are other transactions you do that would qualify. Buy a coffee, get a car wash, burger at the fast food joint, go see a movie, parking fees, drinks or snacks at the quick mart, buy a transit pass, go to the zoo, buy something at Walmart, etc. There are many other in-person transactions we do regularly that I could use a debit card for instead of my credit card.

Out of curiosity I looked at last months checking statement and we had 20 in person debit transactions.

Logging onto the bank site is easy too. I probably do that every 2 or 3 days anyway to check balances, pay off credit cards, etc.

 

[audreyh1]

This is an easy one. Goto a gas station at off-peak hours with a low tank, and do 12 transactions in succession of whatever reasonable amount you want . Did this before for a bonus with Wells Fargo, and worked great.

Until you then discovered that the gas pump had been compromised and someone stole your card credentials?

Personally, I don’t use a debit card in the US at any point of sale. I consider it a risk I’d rather not take, especially if I have a sizable balance in that checking account.

 

[homestead]

This is an easy one. Goto a gas station at off-peak hours with a low tank, and do 12 transactions in succession of whatever reasonable amount you want . Did this before for a bonus with Wells Fargo, and worked great.

That is a good trick, but won't work in Oregon as we can't pump our own gas.

 

[LOL!]

This is an easy one. Goto a gas station at off-peak hours with a low tank, and do 12 transactions in succession of whatever reasonable amount you want . Did this before for a bonus with Wells Fargo, and worked great.

I have done this. I had a credit card that I never used and they said they would pay me $10 if I used it 3 times. I pumped 2 cents of gas 3 times in a row the next time I went to the gas station, then used my 5% cashback card to fill up the rest of the tank. Got my $10 on 6 cents of purchases.

 

[GTFan]

Until you then discovered that the gas pump had been compromised and someone stole your card credentials?

Personally, I don’t use a debit card in the US at any point of sale. I consider it a risk I’d rather not take, especially if I have a sizable balance in that checking account.

Same here, in-person DC trans are just asking for trouble. Not to mention you forfeit all the much better CC rewards in the process.

We've already posted the easy way to handle DC trans mins. every month, no need to use it in person and you're putting yourself at risk of a lot more hassle by doing so.

 

[travelover]

OP here. I just realized that my pension check (required auto deposit) randomly seems to get deposited on the 30th or the 1st of the month. This means some months have two auto deposits and some have none. When there is no auto deposit, there is no interest paid. I guess someone already mentioned this, but it flew over my head.

So, my potential to earn interest is about cut in half. I guess I could have Vanguard auto deposit a dollar a month into my account, but like others this is starting to seem like a waste of time.

 

[RobbieB]

Winner!

 

[pc95]

That sounds exactly like what happened when I had a new card stolen in the mail. The thief bought gas far all their friends. I would’ve thought that pattern should’ve triggered a block on the card but it didn’t. I think that may have been in the days before you had to activate a new card online or by phone.

Well that's a bummer....stolen out of your mail, that's extra petty, but then again thefts are to begin with.

I had my credit card skimmed at a gas station too. I don't use debit cards, only credit cards. Debit cards don't generally give as handsome of benefits as credit cards, and you're better protected in case of fraud with a credit card.

I still was requested to make a police report (claim #) which I did. I never used that gas station again either, as it makes you wonder if their employees could be tainted.

 

[pc95]

Until you then discovered that the gas pump had been compromised and someone stole your card credentials?

Personally, I don’t use a debit card in the US at any point of sale. I consider it a risk I’d rather not take, especially if I have a sizable balance in that checking account.

I dont either, and have actually had my credit card skimmed (at a 1-off station), however if you used the same station over and over (say Costco or a large brand), you can be more careful, and improve your chances against it happening. I don't normally mess with min transactions as its a bother. I did do it once for a $200 bonus from Wells Fargo with a debit card. I judged it to be worth the hassle - well actually twice - my wife got a card too. Sometimes the carrot is just too easy to reach.

 

[audreyh1]

That sounds exactly like what happened when I had a new card stolen in the mail. The thief bought gas far all their friends. I would’ve thought that pattern should’ve triggered a block on the card but it didn’t. I think that may have been in the days before you had to activate a new card online or by phone.

How could a thief use a debit card stolen in the mail? Did they have access to keep going through your mail and get the letter with the PIN as well? Surely in those "old days" before card activation they didn't send the PIN along with the card.

Maybe they did......

Maybe your story was about a credit card stolen in the mail?

 

[jazz4cash]

Yes. Credit card.