Addison Avenue FCU is launching a reward checking account starting on July 15th. It’ll pay 5.25% APY on balances up to $25,000 (1.01% for above) and provide unlimited nationwide ATM refunds if the following monthly requirements are met:

12 debit card purchases
one direct deposit or recurring monthly debit
receive electronic statements
If these are not met, the rate falls to 0.10%. The initial minimum deposit is $25. There are no minimum balance requirements or monthly service charges.

Credit union membership is open to members of the Financial Fitness Association (FFA). Anyone is eligible to join FFA. The membership cost is $5, and the application can be done online and paid with PayPal.

Credit union membership is also open to many select employee groups including employees of Hewlett Packard. For more details please refer to the credit union’s Membership Eligibility Page. Membership requires a minimum balance of $5 in the Share Savings Account. An online membership application is available.

Since the credit union started as the credit union for HP employees, it has branches located in several parts of the country including Puerto Rico, Georgia, Massachusetts, Idaho, Colorado, Oregon, California, Texas, Washington State and Delaware.

With $2.1 billion in assets and 142,958 members, Addison Avenue FCU might be the largest credit union to offer a reward checking account. The next largest that I’m aware of is Provident Credit Union which has about $1.5 billion in assets (see post). Addison Avenue FCU is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 19976).

I don’t see any remarks in Sam’s October piece on rewards checking accounts…?

FWIW I am a happy customer, and have a piece on their use at http://www.rethinkingmoney.com/rewards-checking-accounts-good .