This is a paid review for MicroMaximus.
As an investor, I want the maximum returns with minimal risk. I work hard for my money, I’d like my money to work hard for me as well! Finding a good balance could be tricky! Let’s look at the options.
Stock Market
You can make good money in the stock market, but you could also lose more than your threshold. The S&P 500′s annualized returns from 2000 to 2010 was a paltry 0.31%! Had you invested $100 in 2000, it would’ve grown to $104 in 2010. And that is not even adjusted for inflation!
Savings Account
Savings accounts are highly popular due to their low risk factor. If your balance is less than $250,000, FDIC guarantees your deposit. The average savings account rate is about 0.34%. Not too exciting.
Though the funds are fully liquid, you have restrictions of up to 6 withdrawals each month and there may be per day maximum withdrawal limits as well.
Checking Account
Checking accounts offer maximum flexibility but with low rewards. You have no withdrawal limits AND your funds are guaranteed by FDIC just like a savings account. The downside is that typically the rates for checking accounts are lower than that of savings accounts.
Certificates of Deposits (CD)
CDs are a good option if you can compromise on liquidity. CDs lock your funds for a set number of years and in return, you get a rate that’s better than a savings or checking account. The average rate for a 2 year CD today is about 1.22%.
As you can see from the above options, for a conservative investor seeking decent returns with low risk, the choices aren’t very enticing.
What if I told you that you could potentially earn more than the above rates with zero risk? Read on!
Rewards Checking Accounts
Some banks offer what’s called a Rewards Checking Account. This combines the best of both the checking and savings rates and your funds are fully liquid, provided you meet certain requirements. Let’s take a look at one such bank that offers 4.01% APY rewards checking. Much better than the average savings, checking AND CD rates!
Let’s look at what the requirements are to earn this rate of return.
- The rate applies to the first $25,000 of your deposit
- Every month make one direct deposit OR one ACH debit or at least one bill pay using the bank’s online bill pay system
- Opt in for electronic statements
- Use your debit card at least 12 times each month
If you look at the requirements, the first three are easy. The tricky part is the last requirement. You must use your debit card to make purchases at least 12 times each month. Not to mention the risks of using your PIN at unknown stores. Even if you were disciplined enough to make 12 purchases every month, you run the risk of over spending which negates any benefit you get from this higher rate of interest.
The Solution? Automate Your Micro-Payments!
Wouldn’t it be nice if you can solve the last requirement by automating it? Say a $1 payment each day for 12 days each month? You don’t have to worry about overspending nor do you have to worry about missing the 12 purchase requirement. I would like to recommend a service that does just that. With MicroMaximus you can schedule these payments in advance and pocket the benefits of higher interest!
MicroMaximus is not a Bill Payment system. It simply enables you to meet the debit card purchase requirements by automating the payments. The site is extremely simple to use and their basic plan which restricts you to only one rewards account is free of any monthly charges. There are no restrictions on the number of transactions and you can schedule 30 days in advance. There are no contracts or penalties or monthly fees for the basic plan.
Taking MicroMaximus For a Spin
STEP 1: Sign up
The sign up process is fairly easy. You sign up with an email id and once the login is verified, you are in!
STEP 2: Account Setup
The basic plan allows you to setup one debit card. You enter the relevant details and this information is used to make the transactions.
STEP 3: Schedule Micro Payments
On this screen you can schedule your transactions upto 30 days in advance. This is the final step!
Find a bank offering a high yield rewards checking account in your area by following this link.
You can read more about MicroMaximus or sign up for their service. There are no fees for their basic plan.
Conclusion
In my opinion, MicroMaximus provides a rewarding service at a fair price. For the savvy investor, this could be a risk-free avenue to earn high, short term interest.
Disclosure:
This is a paid, independent review for MicroMaximus. A staging version was used to test the service. The actual version may be different from the screenshots shown in this review.
Incoming search terms:
- schedule of payments
- automate $1 payments for bank rewards
- what type of account will earn more money than a cd or savings accoubt but has no restrictions
- what is the guarantee if your deposit balance is more that 250000
- what has more return than a cd
- what can i earn more guarantee interest on than cds
- micromaximus
- i want mony at any risk
- how can i make more money than cd
- where to keep liquid money other than savings account
Very interesting. Seems like a good idea on paper but I would like to see more reviews on the service. I’ll be looking into this.
-Ravi Gupta
There are no fees for this service; you can give it a try.
Looks like a workable way to get higher rates. Good info.
My reward checking account only requires me to use the card 10 times which I don’t find very hard to do. If the requirements change I’ll keep this service in mind.
Nice job! I especially like the screenshots!
Very interesting service! I’ve got 90% of my cash locked up in CDs, and this might be an interesting alternative.
Cheers
Oh – I saw that you also used the 1st Commonwealth Bank of VA example. Do you know if they have online accounts? That 4.01% interest is sweet!
You can use Consumers Credit Union which accepts online applications and the rate is even higher at 4.09%. But the limit is $10,000.
https://www.myconsumers.org/en/personal-banking/checking.aspx
I was actually just looking at their website! Looks promising. I still don’t know if I would be able to leave Bank of America though. Something about having branches everywhere appeals to me, even though they have some of the most non-customer friendly accounts..
If you have reason to visit the branches very often, then it makes sense to know you have access to a branch when you need it.
But online banks do have the advantage of higher rates due to their lower overheads. Balance between convenience and higher savings rate!
I would LOVE to get that high an interest rate on cash. At the moment, everything is so tied to our current bank account that making a full switch would be a full time job. However, I am going to look into putting spare money into an account like this.
Thanks for the info!
Great rate and review. I understand the 12 auto payments, but do people really have 12 expenses that need to be auto paid? Sorry, I must be missing something.