I'm a little annoyed that it took me so long to figure out what the trick was behind
@FirstTechFed 's rewards checking - and it was only after I signed up for it.
They're getting a cut of the MasterCard service fees on their debit card, and passing a portion back to users.
Which is great, unless you're doing normal direct banking ACH transactions for everything. Or you're a merchant (like, say, Xfinity) who wants to avoid the additional fees, which can add up to 1.05% + $0.15 of the total. Or, presumably, more - because why would Xfinity offer you $10 off your $139 bill for NOT using a Mastercard/VISA card to pay it?
Either way,
@FirstTechFed has been skeezier since the merge with Addison, and it's just slowly going downhill.
So now, as a 20 year member, I'm starting to look for a new credit union. Because I'm unlikely to use my checking account for all transactions via debit cards any time soon, so they nuked my account interest rates with this move.
I don't do business with skeezy. Find ways to sell your product in appealing ways, or not at all.