Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) – 6.17% APY On Balances Up To $1,000 Primary Savings Account

Update 11/30/21: There is now a $100 checking referral bonus as well, more on that here.

Offer at a glance

• Interest Rate: 6.17%
• Minimum Balance: $5
• Maximum Balance: $1,000 (0.25% on balances over $1,000)
• Availability: Nationwide (with $10 membership in Reach Out for Schools [part of application process, one time])
• Direct deposit required: No
  • Helpful comment on setting up ACH transfers at DCU
• Additional requirements: None
• Hard/soft pull: Soft in my experience opening only a Primary Savings (Reports of Hard)
  • Additional DPs Hard: #1 (Later noted soft per PYT)
  • Additional DPs Soft: #1, #2, #3
• ChexSystems: Yes (sensitive? DP-Yes, DP-No, DP-No)
• Credit card funding: Yes $250 (additional DPs, DP) [Higher DP]
• Monthly fees: None
• Household Limit: None
• Insured: NCUA

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• The DCU Primary Savings Account offers 6.17% APY on balances up to $1,000

The Fine Print

• Requires a $5.00 minimum balance to open the account and remain on deposit to maintain membership status.
• Rates are variable and may change after the account is opened and are subject to change weekly. Fees may reduce earning on the account.
• One Primary Savings account per person, additional memberships receive one savings account.
• Interest income is taxable

Avoiding Fees

• The account has no monthly fee

Our Verdict

Chuck has long had the DCU Primary Savings Account on his list of Best High Yield Savings Accounts, but I figured it should have its own dedicated post [despite its limited first year value of $61.70 in interest (given the small $1,000 maximum investment)].

Though missing a signup bonus, in my mind the primary savings account still offers good value.  Assuming the above market rate holds into the future, it’s sort of a passive bonus – after the initial setup investment the account will continue to earn without additional churning effort.

The cost is managing another account, but with my spreadsheets and process already in place that marginal cost is pretty low for me.  I never closed my Netspend accounts when the maximum investment fell to $1,000; I’m happy to leave them running on auto pilot with scheduled ACHs.

Also each person is eligible for their own primary savings account so this might be beneficial if you have for instance multiple family members in the same household:

• Those 18+ can apply online
• Those under 18 (kids) can still apply with a paper application
• All immediate family members after the first can qualify for membership based on the family member relationship (no additional participating organization membership/fee required)

I received no hard credit pull on a recent application (checked credit karma) to only open a primary savings account and was also able to place a $250 deposit on my citi double cash card (posted as a purchase).

All the Best!