NCUA Clears Dividend Rewards Program

WATERTOWN, N.Y. – In a market that is forever rewarding shoppers for their behavior, why not a rewards program for checking accounts? That’s what Northern FCU has been offering its members for the past six weeks, a premium 6.01% rate on their share draft accounts and a rebate of all ATM fees as a reward for certain behavior, including direct deposit into the account; using online banking at least once a month; use of electronic statements, instead of paper; and use of a debit card at least 10 times a month. “It really is a rewards program,” Brian Caird, vice president marketing for the $200 million credit union, told The Credit Union Journal yesterday. “You meet the criteria of the account and you become eligible for the rewards.” Account holders who do not meet all of the criteria are not eligible for the premium rate, and are relegated instead to the basis checking account that pays zero interest. In a legal opinion made public yesterday, NCUA approved the innovative program, noting the concept could be tied to other products and services to promote their usage. Caird said the credit union learned of the idea by one of its vendors who had been offering it for some of its community banking customers and sought NCUA’s advice to see if it is legal for credit unions.