Quick Summary

This is a reference page to store the extra, fringe benefits of bank (and brokerage) accounts.

Brief Intro

We happen to open a number of accounts.  Sometimes those accounts – banking (and brokerage) relationships – offer additional value beyond their primary purpose (and signup bonus).

In this post, the goal is to assemble an index of (non-standard) outside of the normal benefits of bank (and brokerage) accounts – anything that provides extra value [generates or saves money] – outsized additional benefit.

We would love to hear any discoveries or sources of these benefits that you’ve found.  We’ll suck it all in (organize, categorize, …) and of course add it to the DoC Bank Account Quick Reference Table [with the belief that the more columns we add, the more valuable the table becomes].

HT: to reddit user highlander311 for seeding the idea, and the reddit r/churning community for a large starting base of info. [“In the end, there can be only one”, godspeed 311 🙂 ]

Subtitle: Banks with Benefits (HT: Raj)

Types of Benefits

Benefits to Report on this Page

• Credit Card Improvements
  • Access to Apply (e.g. a Charles Schwab brokerage account unlocks CS Amex Platinum Card) [Credit Card Access]
  • Increased Reward Earning (e.g. BoA Preferred Rewards Program) [Credit Card Reward Rate]
  • Fee Waivers [Credit Card Fee Discounts]
• Fee Elimination
  • for specific products or services (even if restricted to specific groups: Military, Retirees, Students, …) [Other Fee Discounts]
  • for International ATMs (e.g. Charles Schwab High Yield Checking Account) [International ATMs – No Fee Withdrawals]
• Member/Patronage/Bonus/Extraordinary Dividends (e.g. DFCU’s Cash Back Program) [Membership Dividend] (**not guaranteed**)
• Other Valuable Stuff You Know About/Discover (we’ll add to this list as more comments/ideas come in)
• Promotions – Account Linked Retailer Specific (e.g. BoA’s BankAmeriDeals) [Account Linked Offers]
• Random Benefits
  • Museum Access (e.g. BoA’s Museums on Us) [Other Benefits]
• Specialty Accounts [with special dividends, high interest, …] worth setting up
  • for Kids (UTMAs), Military, Students, Retirees, … (e.g. Flagstar Bank’s Kids 3% account [$500 cap]) [Child Savings Accounts]

Benefits Not Considered on this Page

• Single/consolidated login for multiple financial products with a bank
• No fee domestic ATM networks (fairly common)
• ACH/DD Generators or Hub Accounts
• Money Orders (page in development)
• High Interest Accounts
• Signup and Referral Bonuses
• Benefits of Credit Card Accounts

Credit Card Access

Bellco Credit Union [Credit Card Access]

$150 Signup Bonus, 3% Categories Platinum Rewards Credit Card

Charles Schwab [Credit Card Access]

Charles Schwab Brokerage Account unlocks the ability to apply for the Charles Schwab American Express Platinum ($0.0125/MR point cash redemption)

Citadel Credit Union [Credit Card Access]

3% Balance Transfer Bonus Card

Elements Financial Credit Union [Credit Card Access]

A collection of $300 cards

InFirst Federal Credit Union [Credit Card Access]

Visa Rewards Credit Card

Mountain America Credit Union [Credit Card Access]

Visa Platinum Credit Card with a 3% cash bonus on balance transfers

NASA Federal Credit Union [Credit Card Access]

Star Trek Card and a discussion on point value

Navy Federal Credit Union [Credit Card Access]

Possible Qualification Route

Nusenda Federal Credit Union [Credit Card Access]

Platinum Cash 5% Rotates each quarter [may not require CU membership]

PenFed (Pentagon Federal Credit Union) [Credit Card Access]

Premium Travel Rewards Card and Platinum Rewards (sirtheta built a nice table)

(Platinum Rewards requires qualifying product¹)

USAA [Credit Card Access]

Limitless 2.5% card access

Big List of USAA Credit Cards

Wells Fargo [Credit Card Access]

An existing banking relationship is helpful for credit card approval per #1

Credit Card Reward Rate

Bank of America [Credit Card Reward Rate]

DoC’s Preferred Rewards Program writeup [a deep dive into possible qualification scenarios by FFB] (Both BoA and Merrill Edge balances count)

Extra $5/Quarter Bonus for the Better Balance Reward Cards

Fidelity [Credit Card Reward Rate]

Fidelity cash management account (and others) allow 2% cash redemption for the Fidelity Visa.

TD Ameritrade [Credit Card Reward Rate]

“10% increase to the credit card, so 1.5% cashback becomes 1.65%. Not too exciting.”¹

Wells Fargo [Credit Card Reward Rate]

Increased Reward on the Propel cards (thanks Tom).  Siretha provides an additional link to Wells Fargo’s PMA program

Credit Card Fee Discounts

Citi [Credit Card Fee Discounts]

with High Balance Accounts

Citi Priority – $100 AF discount on Citi Prestige ($50,000 Assets)

Citigold – $100 AF discount on Citi Prestige ($200,000 Assets)

HSBC [Credit Card Fee Discounts]

Annual Fee Waiver on Advance and Premier Cards based on tier¹

Santander Bank [Credit Card Fee Discounts]

Santander Select or Santander Premier Plus Checking Account waives fees on Bravo MC^2,1

Member Dividends

American Airlines Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Bonus Dividends^1,2

[2016 numbers per CSR – bonus of 7.4% of interest paid or received; $50 multi-product bonus – 3 account types (ex. Share, Checking, Loan/Credit Card)]

Citizens Equity First Credit Union (CEFCU) [Membership Dividend]

Looks like a rebate of around 0.4% of balances^1,2

IL based

CommunityAmerica Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Looks like 0.2% of deposit and loan balances.¹

MO based

DFCU [MI] [Membership Dividend]

Membership Dividend is 0.5% on total assets and loans.

MI based.  National Availability.

Dow Chemical Employees’ Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Large 75% Rebate on Loan Interest^1,2 [Dow stock membership qualification]

MI based.  National Availability.

Eastman Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Not sure the earning rate¹

[2016 numbers per CSR – dividend payout rate was 6.85%]

TN based.

Empower Federal Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Uncertain on rate^1,2 

[2016 numbers per CSR – final consumer loan refund was 3.25% of interest paid, the mortgage loan refund was 2.62% of interest paid and the bonus dividend was 16.22% of dividends received]

NY based

First Service Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Patronage Dividend – uncertain on rate, looks like a potentially complicated formula¹

TX based

Founders Federal Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Loyalty Divided – ^1,2  – Looks like an addition 19.02% of Interest Earned (119% of interest rate) or 10% of financial charges paid

Carolinas based

Goldenwest Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

2016 Numbers: Bonus Divided – 4.15% APY on deposit balances^1,2

UT based

Hanscom Federal Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Loyalty Dividend – 2016 Numbers: 2% of interest earned/paid¹

National Availability

Logix Federal Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Possibly per this comment¹

2014 Numbers: $25 for combined deposit, loan balances of $10,000, other tiers²

NavyArmy Community Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Per these data points^1,2

TX based.

Omni Community Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

Small 0.125% of total savings and loan balances [$1.25 per $1,000 balance]^1,2

MI based

Western Division Federal Credit Union [Membership Dividend]

2016 Patronage Dividend Numbers: 30% of interest paid, 125% of dividends received^1,2

NY Based

Wright-Patt Credit Union (WPCU) [Membership Dividend]

Uncertain on rate^1,2,3 

Account Linked Offers

Bank of America [Account Linked Offers]

BankAmeriDeals

Other Benefits

Ally Bank [Other Benefits]

Anti-Virus Protection¹

Bank of America [Other Benefits]

Free Museum Access

McAfee AntiVirus¹

Chase [Other Benefits]

with high balance status Chase Private Client: Museums – Art & Culture Card^4,3

Citi [Other Benefits]

Citi Accounts can earn TYP based on products and activities¹

TD Bank [Other Benefits]

Anti-Virus Protection¹

Child Savings Accounts

Associated Credit Union [Child Savings Accounts]

4% on $500^1,2

BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union) [Child Savings Accounts]

6.17% on first $500¹

Chevron Federal Credit Union [Child Savings Accounts]

7.0% on $1000^1,2,3

Community Choice Credit Union [Child Savings Accounts]

3% on $500¹

DFCU [Child Savings Accounts]

Membership Dividend has a sweet spot for kids ($50 interest on $100 balance)¹

FirstTech [Child Savings Accounts]

5% on the the first $1000 [post link]

Flagstar Bank [Child Savings Accounts]

Kids Accounts – 3% interest capped on $500 of deposits.¹

KidFund [Child Savings Accounts]

An App 3% on first $500¹

LGE Community Credit Union [Child Savings Accounts]

5% on first $500¹,²

Mainstreet Bank [Child Savings Accounts]

4% on $1000^1,2,3

Navy Federal Credit Union [Child Savings Bonus]

Temporary Signup Bonus [April 10-16, 2017], as reported by nwill002 (comments note in branch offers may be better)

International ATMs – No Fee Withdrawals

Charles Schwab [International ATMs – No Fee Withdrawals]

with Charles Schwab High Yield Checking Account or the Charles Schwab Brokerage Account¹

Fidelity [International ATMs – No Fee Withdrawals]

No Fee International ATMs Withdrawals ¹

Other Fee Discounts

Chase [Other Fee Discounts]

Students¹, Military²

Warnings

(In addition to all the standard disclaimers,) this resource is incomplete and filled with errors.

It is an attempt to summarize and categorize rules inferred from community data points.

Definitely tell us where we have made a mistake.

Final Notes

Please share your data points, sources (websites, forums, …), and/or ideas on this topic to help make this page a better community resource.

All the best!