Originally Posted by
tmiw
For those with UNFCU checking accounts,
they're going to refund up to $10/mo for ATM fees starting in January. They count the 1% FTF for ATM withdrawals (not sure if there is one for POS) as a fee too, so it'll effectively be 0% for at least the first few withdrawals in a month.
Another bonus: all of UNFCU's credit/debit cards are "true" chip and PIN, which means that you'll need to use the PIN for nearly every transaction. This saves on needing to carry a pen around with you like with nearly every other US card. ^
Joining also just requires a membership in UNA-USA, assuming you don't already have a connection to the UN.
To update this, UNFCU tweaked things a bit. They have a "Member Loyalty Rewards" program now where you get the $10/mo if you have $2,500 in your checking account (before, you just had to do a minimum number of transactions with the debit card per month). There are also $25 and $50/mo reimbusement tiers if you additionally have high overall balances in things like share certificates ($50,000 and $250,000, respectively).
On one hand, you don't necessarily have to make them your primary bank to get the benefits. On the other, you do have to have a fair bit of cash tied up with them, so one has to wonder if something like Charles Schwab will be less hassle.