Ok, so we are a long ways away from the 6.01% Turbochecking days, nothing we can do about that. But we still want to earn the most we can on money we have!

Most online savings accounts are earning about 1.4% APR today. Getting that extra 0.6% isn’t much, but every little bit helps. So to we’re going to briefly discuss this current offer from Amegy Bank of Texas:

What you get:

• 2.0% APY on balances up to $25,000
• Free ATMs nationwide – really, who needs this?
• Free Bank-at-home with bill pay – neat.
• No fees – neat.
• Unlimited transactions – they probably just ran out of things to list…

What you need to do:

• Have direct deposit of payroll, social security check, or retirement benefits or two (2) ACH debit
• Login to online banking at least once a month
• Receive e-Statements
• Make at least 10 signature-based transactions with your Amegy  Check Card every month
• Maintain a Valid email address

This sounds do-able. You can automate the ACH transfers with an FNBO Direct account (which we recommend everyone have). I would hope you login once a month and check you balance- or even just to make sure everything looks up to snuff. e-Statements, isn’t everyone doing this by now? Less snail mail, always available, green…If you don’t have e-Statements for all the accounts you can, please reconsider.

The 10 transactions per month is pretty simple too if you make consistent small purchases (coffee, tea, lunch at work etc).

As for a valid email address, there is no need to discuss that.

Received my monthly “You’ve met your requirements” letter that states I will be getting 6% APY:

“For the cycle beginning 08/29/08 and ending 09/29/08, your account qualified. To receive the highest rate of interest and ATM fee refunds”

However, this was also attached to the email:

“Beginning in October you will need to make 13 debit card transactions.  We are also going to cycle your account after month-end.  Transactions must post to your account by the last business day of the month.”

So, if you have a turbochecking.com account, please keep this in mind.  Won’t really effect me, as all it means is buying chips or a starbucks tea 3 more times a month… I can handle that.  I hope this isn’t a start to a slippery slope however.

Recently I’ve signed up for Turbochecking.com.  This is a 6% APY checking account run by Charter Co. Bank.  WOW what a find!?  Sort of.  There are some stipulations:

As of February of 2009 Charter Co (Turbochecking.com) has lowered their rate to 5.01% APY

• You must use online banking, and check in once a month online (Easy)
• You must receive e-statements as opposed to paper statements (Easy and earth friendly)
• You must have one Direct Deposit or ACH Debit once per month (Easy, you can automate this)
• You must use your TurboChecking Debit card - 10  (updated 9/30/08) 13 times a month! (This is the catch)

Now, it would be foolish to say this a no brainer as you do have to remember to use the debit card.  Let’s be honest though, this is also pretty simple.  How often do you buy Coffee at your local Starbucks?

Just make sure you use your Debit card, instead of cash or your credit card and you are all set.  Failure to meet the four criteria above gives you a measily interest rate which is not even worth mentioning.Since signing up I have used the email help feature, and within 2 hours max, a representative got back to me.  Impressive compared to other banks I’ve deal with.