physixfan      2016-05-31     2018-06-21 4 Comments

Net Spend/ACE/Western Union/Brinks/H-E-B Savings Accounts Review

2017.3 Update: Some people (HT: DoC) report that the limit for 5% APY has been raised to $2000 starting from Mar 1! That’s double what it was before. However, most of us, including myself, still see a $1000 limit. We don’t know whether the change will apply to everyone soon.

2016.5.31 Update: Starting from Jul 1st, 2016, the limit for 5% APY will lower to $1000 from $5000! This change almost makes NetSpend useless… This will affect all NetSpend series products, and all users. Source: official website (login required). HT: reddit.

Application Link

1. Referral links: Net Spend, Western Union, Brinks. You can get a $20 sign-up bonus after satisfying some requirements by applying through these referral links. Note that, you can only get one sign-up bonus among all accounts in Net Spend series, if you want to open many of these accounts, please make sure you get the sign-up bonus before applying for other accounts!
2. Public links: Net Spend, Western Union, Brinks, ACE, H-E-B. You can’t get any sign-up bonus by applying through these links.

What are Net Spend series savings accounts?

Net Spend series savings accounts have 5% interest rate (APY)! Much much better than the major banks which have only less than 1% APY! Note that for each savings account, only the if the Average Daily Balance is more than $1,000, only the $1,000 part has the 5% APY, the part that exceeds $1,000 only has 0.5% APY.

Net Spend is actually a banking system, a number of bank accounts are using their system. These bank accounts are pretty much the same, the similarity is 99%. The most important common point is: first you need to apply for a prepaid card, then do some operations to get a savings account, then you can enjoy the 5% APY for the first $1,000 in each savings account. There are limits for the number of Net Spend series accounts: each SSN can only keep for a maximum of 5 accounts. If you apply for all of these and put $1,000 in each, an annual interest income will be $250! Here are the 5 mostly recommended ones:

1. Net Spend Visa Prepaid Card (MetaBank).
2. ACE Elite Visa Prepaid Debit Card (MetaBank).
3. Western Union NetSpend Prepaid MasterCard (MetaBank).
4. Brinks Prepaid MasterCard (BofI).
5. H-E-B Visa Prepaid Card (BofI).

Net Spend is FDIC-insured, so you don’t need to worry about your money even if the bank is bankrupted.

Detailed application procedures

1. Apply through either referral link or public link to get a Prepaid Card in Net Spend series. Because it is Prepaid Card, not a credit card, so no Hard Pull will be done, and you won’t get rejected. Note that the card itself is useless, you even need to pay fees if you use them to make transactions. Please continue to read.
2. Activated the prepaid card according to the instructions after receiving, then you will get a Prepaid Card Account and routing number and account number.
3. In another bank, enter the routing number and account number provided by Net Spend to transfer money to it (ACH Push).
4. If the amount of money transferred is greater than $40, you can get the $20 sign-up bonus mentioned above.
5. Click on the Move Money->Savings to move money to the Savings Account. You can now transfer money between the prepaid card account and savings account instantly at any time, so put all your money into savings account now!

Disadvantages

1. You can’t start a transfer from the Net Spend series online banking. In order to transfer money, you need to start the transfer from another bank (ACH Push), using the routing number and account number provided by Net Spend series account. These banks are verified to be able to transfer to a Net Spend series account: Chase, Fidelity, Discover, Ally, Capital One 360. I recommend Discover and Ally checking account, because they won’t trouble you. If you use Chase, they may need you to go to the branch to verify identity or something; Charles Schwab may even close all your accounts because of transferring to Net Spend accounts. Note that some banks like BoA, Citibank, can not transfer money to Net Spend series account. It’s the same way to transfer your money out, just use your other bank to operate (ACH Pull).
2. Note you need to choose Pay As You Go (the default choice) as your My Fee Plan, otherwise there will be a monthly fee.
3. If the Prepaid Card Account has no activity within 90 days, then you will be charged a monthly management fee of $5.95. If you want to avoid this fee, you can setup a recurring transfer of several bucks to your Net Spend account from another bank.
4. If you use the prepaid debit card to make purchases, withdraw money from ATMs, or ask for a replacement card, there will be fees! So do not use it. There are other costs that may arise, shown here.
5. Note that, you can only get one sign-up bonus among all accounts in Net Spend series, if you want to open many of these accounts, please make sure you get the sign-up bonus before activating other accounts!
6. Interest is paid quarterly.
7. You can’t apply for more than one prepaid card within 24 hours, otherwise you will see something like your card has already been mailed.
8. H-E-B has a $2.95 one-time card activation fee, others do not have this fee.
9. If you use the referral link to apply, I will be able to see your name and email address, so use it only if you trust me and my site.
10. After receiving the Prepaid card, if you want to have a Savings Account, you need to input your SSN, and you need to certify “I am a U.S. citizen or other U.S. person.”, if you don’t certify then you can’t continue. About whether you are a U.S. Person, please refer to How to Distinguish Different Tax Status, if you choose the wrong status, maybe the bank won’t investigate, but you need to do it at your own risk.

Application Link

1. Referral links: Net Spend, Western Union, Brinks. You can get a $20 sign-up bonus after satisfying some requirements by applying through these referral links. Note that, you can only get one sign-up bonus among all accounts in Net Spend series, if you want to open many of these accounts, please make sure you get the sign-up bonus before applying for other accounts!
2. Public links: Net Spend, Western Union, Brinks, ACE, H-E-B. You can’t get any sign-up bonus by applying through these links.

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