Need a place to park your emergency fund?  Might we suggest taking a drive down the street to your local credit union.  Why, you ask?  The answer is simple: for a balance under $25,000, you probably won’t find a better interest rate anywhere.  For instance, we get…

6.01 percent annually.

Seems impossible, right?  No way, friends.  We have just a few monthly requirements:

• receive electronic statements, rather than paper ones
• have one direct deposit/automatic transaction take place
• make 10 transactions with our debit card

Since this checking account is the main one out of which we make purchases, meeting these requirements is not a challenge.  Our bank, United Federal Credit Union, does use $25,000 as the maximum balance on which you can receive this high interest.  Let’s just say this is not yet an issue for us

And finding a local credit union that offers this kind of amazing interest is not difficult.  Taking a quick survey of credit unions in our area, I found these local banks offering similar high interest accounts:

• Lake Michigan Credit Union: 4% interest on balances up to $15,000 (similar monthly requirements to United Federal)
• NuUnion Credit Union: 3.09% interest on balances up to $25,000 (15 debit transactions monthly)

Want to find a similar type of account?  Try doing a search on CheckingFinder.com to see what similar types of accounts are available in your area.  It’s important to note that although the interest available on these accounts is really terrific, they’re not a great long-term investment solution because of their relatively low maximum balances.  The monthly requirements might also not work particularly well for you, but if they do, you’re probably not going to find a better deal than going with a credit union.  We also get ATM charge reimbursement (so we don’t have to worry about which ATM we’re using) and other discounts on services through the credit union.

Have a similar experience?  Let us know by leaving a comment below!