Apparently Alliant is now testing contactless EMV with their debit cards. I received an invitation to try it out tonight.
Presumably anyone can sign up here: Alliant Credit Union Products
is there some benefit to this?
Yes, especially if you’re a germaphobe.
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Contactless prevents physical skimming and shimming of cards. In theory, you could skim a contactless card, but it has to be within a few inches of the reader to receive transmitting power which usually isn’t possible while the card is in your wallet. It’s easier for the thief to pickpocket you than to do this.
I typically use Apple Pay whenever I can, and that seems to be the most secure way to use bank cards. ATMs and gas stations are still laggards though.
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The contactless cards are now using the EMV chip. So no, if the security is implemented correctly, the card cannot be skimmed (well, I suppose you can read some information, but you can’t use any of it). Only a magnetic strip or an incorrectly implemented EMV chip (with or without contact) can be skimmed.
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Alliant appearing much more competitive now, by comparison, in wake of PurePoint savings rate cut down to 2.15%!!!
How the mighty have fallen. 
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Is anyone else getting errors with Mint.com trying to update from Alliant lately? It has been problematic for me for the past 1-2 weeks.
Me too. I complained to Mint via chat, they said they know about it and are working on it.
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This post is as much about PurePoint as it is about Alliant. I do not think we have a PurePoint thread, so I’m posting here:
Today the PurePoint savings rate is scarcely higher than our Alliant rate. This lowers any loss penalty when moving funds PurePoint to Alliant. PurePoint, of course, has the advantage of their “instant interest” feature. I acknowledge that. But PurePoint does impose a four day hold. I also need to mention I am on eastern time.
This is about efficient movement of funds, via ACH, from PurePoint to Alliant. Initiation of the ACH at PurePoint results in immediate withdrawal and consequent loss of interest. So I will be initiating the ACH at Alliant. I can tell you such ACH withdrawal orders, initiated at Alliant, hit PurePoint the next business day at roughly 10:30 AM my time. Question is, at what time of day does the PurePoint hold release? Example:
Funds at PurePoint become available tomorrow. I initiate the ACH at Alliant today. Those funds will be withdrawn from PurePoint tomorrow at roughly 10:30 AM ET, provided of course they be available by then for withdrawal.
So the question becomes, at what time of day on day of availability for withdrawal at PurePoint do funds actually become available? To answer this I telephoned PurePoint. They claim availability is at 12:01 AM ET on that day, many hours prior to any ACH withdrawal attempt at roughly 10:30 AM ET that same day.
So I’m gonna try it, initiating the ACH at Alliant and hoping for the best. This will be interesting. 
Back in the day the Japanese used to call this “JIT” (just in time). I like JIT stuff, but not when it goes awry.
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We can depend on shinobi to exercise moves right down to the minute. I love it!!
I live in the West & I must makes sure my ACH transfers are completed by 10 am my time. Let us know if your ACH with Alliant works out. (it probably will)
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Thanks, pattyb53.
It remains to be seen how much longer this “closeness” of interest rates between the two financial institutions will endure. We will know so much more one week from today. I hope Alliant somehow holds their savings rate constant. But if the Fed cuts next Wednesday, as anticipated, it’s gonna be touch and go for us Alliant fans on Thursday.
If it’s merely a hold on already deposited funds, I would expect it to be lifted for the banking day (or, at the close of the last banking day where the hold is in effect).
The only exception would maybe be if an error prevented the previous day from closing, where the hold would remain on Friday, but only because the system still considers it to be Thursday.
Agreed. That, in essence, is what PurePoint advised me. I put the transaction through at Alliant and I’m hoping for the best. We shall see. It should be OK . . . but there can always be surprises with something of this sort.
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Writing this in middle of night. I logged in at PurePoint to see if they released the funds when they said they would. They did. But here is the thing:
At Alliant, at the same time I issued the ACH withdrawal order for PurePoint I also issued the order to move funds to NFCU from my Alliant checking. So while I was at it here online I checked my NFCU account. To my great surprise the funds I had ACHed in from Alliant were already showing, and available for withdrawal, in my NFCU account! It’s the middle of the night. This is the earliest I ever have discovered funds, ACHed out from Alliant, having arrived. Prior, I would not have anticipated arrival of such funds, dispatched yesterday from Alliant via ACH, for another three hours . . . AT LEAST!
Now maybe NFCU is simply incredibly efficient. I dunno. But if my ACH withdrawal order, issued at the same time from Alliant, arrived and was processed at PurePoint prior to midnight, it would have been rejected owing to insufficient funds.
Alliant processes its ACH orders for the day, on any business day, just after the noon Central cutoff. This is quite early in the day anywhere, and especially on the west coast. I’m wondering if any recipients of those ACH transfer orders, initiated at Alliant, are processing them on the same day Alliant issues them. I surely hope not, because same day processing by the recipient, in such instances, has never in the past been something I anticipated. Now I’m not so sure I was right.
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In contrast, PENFED CD matured yesterday and my maturity instructions were to transfer to NFCU. I can’t check whether the funds are available at PENFED because both the app and website for down for maintenance. I did confirm the funds aren’t yet at NFCU because the NFCU app works just fine. (No I didn’t wake up to do this; Having trouble sleeping and Shinobi’s post made me wonder about the status of mine. So I checked since I can’t get back to sleep yet.)
Update on PurePoint to Alliant:
It’s all good. Everything worked out well.
But I don’t have the nerve to try this over the weekend. Better to be safe than sorry.
I’m not really following exactly what you’re doing or what benefit you’re getting, but I’d recommend treading lightly if a bank may see what you’re doing as similar to kiting.
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The transition to August now having occurred, both the Alliant savings and checking account interest rates have held steady.
In addition, Alliant’s savings rate remains a scant 0.05% behind the current PurePoint savings rate. That is a difference hardly worthy of consideration or concern.
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(re) Posting above the statement closing dates for the Alliant Visa Signature CC for the remainder of 2019.
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I received an email this morning from Alliant with a targeted survey offer. Being a longer survey, they said they would provide a $20 bonus upon completion to be deposited to my savings account. The survey took less than 5 minutes so a very easy $20 assuming they honor the offer.
Check your email for the survey as there are a limited number of bonuses they will be providing up to Aug 18th.
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