I looked into HM bradley a bit, and their account isn’t what most people consider a “checking account”, that is, a “Demand Deposit” (DDA) account - you can have your deposits paid on your demand within 6 days or less. HM Bradley offers a “NOW” (Negotiable Order of Withdrawal) account, where HM Bradley has the right to require at least seven days written notice of a withdrawal at their discretion, though this is rarely done. It’s a minor difference, but still it is a real one and bears mentioning, since a DDA is what I believe most people assume all “checking” accounts are, which is not as true as people think, and hardly anyone reads the fine print on anything even though they agree to it.
It has happened again. And bear in mind as you read this I know not whereof I write. Except it did happen again. And that’s for certain because I just checked.
It was a small amount of money, less that a hundred bucks. The funds were dispatched from Alliant yesterday, via ACH, and were credited at Keesler yesterday. Go figure.
I’ve had other recent ACHs out of Alliant, to Keesler, that took overnight. So when I get it right I don’t know what I’m doing to get it right.
Maybe it has to do with time of day. Maybe ACH transfers initiated at Alliant VERY early in the day arrive same day, whereas transfers initiated closer to their 12:00 noon CT cutoff arrive next day. I dunno. That is pure speculation. It could, instead, be purely random.
It’s definitely not the time the transfer is submitted. I initiated a $3k transfer on Thursday afternoon from Alliant to Fidelity. Alliant processed this on Friday at noon CT, as I would expect. I generally do not like Friday transfers as it has inherent risk of losing a few days of interest, but in this low rate environment I wanted the data point regardless.
As I mentioned in my Fidelity thread, once they actually receive an ACH push transaction, it gets posted to the account immediately. Same day transfers work with pushes from ONE Finance irrespective of amount (or, at least up to the $5k I have tested). Unfortunately, this push from Alliant posted on Monday at Fidelity.
So my guess is this is on Alliant rather than Keesler, and that it has nothing to do with the time the transfer is initiated. Perhaps it is the amount.
Just a brief reminder for Alliant Visa Signature cardholders who wish to retain Tier 1 status for their Q4 purchases:
Time is short. Starting Sunday you must maintain an average Alliant checking balance of $1000. One way to do that is simply to put $1000 into checking Sunday and leave it there permanently. There are other ways, obviously, as well. But if your average checking balance for August falls below that magical $1000 level you will screw the pooch for yourself for the entirety of Q4, falling into Tier 2 and losing that great 2.5% Alliant Visa Signature reward.
Over the past decade, banks earned more money from fees paid by their customers than they paid them in interest.1 But we’re not a bank, and you’re way more than just a customer, so…
We’re eliminating overdraft fees on all checking and savings accounts – it’s just that simple.
As of August 2, you’ll be automatically refunded within 1-2 business days for Courtesy Pay or non-sufficient funds (NSF) item fees you incur until we can program our systems to completely eliminate them!2 No sweat, we’ll still have you covered in an emergency if you’ve opted into Courtesy Pay.3 We won’t miss overdraft fees either, so no need to worry that we’re going to add other fees or ditch our great interest rates.
Pretty much my same reaction - I’d rather they keep the overdraft fees than cut something else like interest rates.
Of all of their fees though, I’ve probably paid $200 or so in outgoing wire fees over the years to fund real estate transactions and refinances. I’d rather they give you a free wire each quarter than waive the overdraft fee.
Unfortunately I think this shows the direction they’re going in and the type of customers they are trying to attract. I am no longer bullish on Alliant. Haven’t been since the old president/ceo left.
There’s no fee right now for new cardholders or even existing cardholders but those who have already been charged the fee are probably not getting the refund until July.
Get new card now? Yes, no fee.
Already paid fee? Probably at least several weeks before you see a prorated refund and this only for fees paid in May and June.
I have still not received a prorated refund of my fee that I paid in early May.
Has anyone else received a refund?
Sigh. I guess I will have to find time to call them.
Would my problem fit in this category. I made an ACH transfer last month and unfortunately the funds were not available in my account to cover it. I realized my mistake only minutes after the cutoff time. To late to delete the order.
I called to let Alliant know of the mistake, but again they couldn’t help me out. I told the rep to write a note on the record.
Lo and behold, sometime later, nothing said but my account showed. -$15.
This was my checking account, so I added a +$15 from my savings. Canceled out…
Do you think I should call to see if they would refund my $15. ?
Try not to get on Alliant CU “bad list of no return”
Will it has happened to me!! I now am known by my husband as “Probation 2/2022”.
Funny, but not really. A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I was moving a large CD that matured. This required several different ACH transfers. Should have done a wire but nevertheless the deal was done.
I made a mistake with transfers at Alliant. But I realized soon and called Alliant to try and remedy the errors. To late!!
So I asked the rep to make a note on my account so that it would be known for the record.
Today I come along to make 4 $100 ACH transfers. No problem with the first 2, but on the third I get a red line error. Limit of $50 left on transfers.
I called to see what they were up to. Imagine my anger…. Be nice, I told myself. A member of close to 20 years. My transfer limit now is $250 per day. No limit on Bill Pay. Until February 2022.
The deliciously ironic thing is that they no longer charge overdraft fees! So now they just make your life miserable as a customer rather than charging you a fee.
They don’t want to be your ACH hub. They don’t explicitly say this, and their policies don’t outright prohibit it (aside from the lower limits instituted a few years ago), but their most recent round of banishments seemed to be targeted at this group.
My advice towards keeping Alliant membership - dump your liquid (non-CD) savings into their account, use your checking for “everyday” transactions like bill pay, check writing, etc, and try not to go crazy with ACH transactions. That first point probably doesn’t work for folks with cash in something like Keesler HIMMA, but it arguably improves your chances of holding onto membership more than any of the other things you could do.
Thank you for your valuable post. It certainly caught my attention.
At my age I am not above making mistakes. It happens regardless I try my best to do everything perfectly. And certainly I could have made the same mistake you did. My brain is not what it was fifty years ago.
So now we know how unforgiving Alliant has become. You can be perfect for many years, make a single error, and their trust in you evaporates like lightning whereupon they impose harsh restrictions.
Alliant is today but a shell of what the organization was when Mr. Mooney ran things. Pity.
And that’s definitely for sure. Look how many people Alliant closed membership with for no real reason a couple months ago.
Also I can go along with this idea. Of course the Keesler HIMMA Plus accounts will stay intact. But I have a Money Mkt account at TIAA. .50% and easily move those funds to Alliant Savings. With that change I pick up .55% difference in % percentage.
Thanks for the update on ideas. Working until 2/22.
Did Alliant get rid of the cap on withdrawals from the savings account? If so, is there any reason to keep funds in the checking account? Why not just pay bills from the savings account?
As of August 2, you’ll be automatically refunded within 1-2 business days for Courtesy Pay or non-sufficient funds (NSF) item fees you incur until we can program our systems to completely eliminate them!2
