In the past month I’ve opened/closed/linked together bank accounts and credit
cards to maximize my returns.
I’m currently getting:

• 3.51% interest on my primary checking account
• 2.51% interest on my primary savings account (that I probably won’t use)
• 1.40% interest on another checking account (that I probably won’t use)
• 1–25% cash back on spending at restaurants/groceries/etc. through Upromise
• 10% annual bonus on the Upromise cash back
• 1.1–5.1% total cash back on my credit card spending

This is at least three times what I was getting back with just the credit card. I’m pretty anal retentive about my personal finance, and the only other thing I could start doing without taking a second (or third…) job would be credit arbitrage.

To do get these rates, I’ve linked together the following accounts:

Upromise

Upromise is a college savings service owned by Sallie Mae. By linking my credit and debit cards to this account, I get cash back which can be redeemed as points, by check, or transferred into a Sallie Mae HYSA.
Furthermore, they check the activity of my little grocery cards on my keychain, like for Stop & Shop and Shaws. If I buy a particular product, sometimes I get additional bonuses on that. ($3 from UPromise for buying some Elmer’s glue last time!)
I plan on going to grad school one day, so why not? It’s free to join, I’m guessing they just want my spending habits.

Sallie Mae HYSA

The Sallie Mae High Yield Savings Account earns 1.4% interest with no fees or minimums. This is already 0.4% higher than what I was getting at HSBC. If I transfer my Upromise earnings to it, they will match 10% of the earnings annually. You have to leave the Upromise money in there for a year if you choose to do this.

Chase Freedom

The Chase Freedom card is pretty well known if you follow any personal finance blogs. This is my credit card. It earns 1% on everything, or 5% on things in their quarterly rotating categories (purchases at CVS is amongst those this quarter, and I go there all the time). I’ve linked in to my Upromise account.

Chase Checking

This is a checking account I don’t really use. Why do I have it then? Because as a Chase Checking customer, my Chase Freedom points are augmented by 10%. So that turns Chase Checking’s 1% – 5% to 1.1% – 5.1%. I keep a small direct deposit going into it to avoid the monthly fee and pay off part of the Chase Freedom card.

Kasasa Cash and Saver Account

See update at bottom!
Kasasa partners with local credit unions and allows them to provide high interest rates on checking and savings accounts. I’m getting 3.51% and 2.51% APY, respectively. The catch here is that you need to follow certain rules with the accounts (use debit card 12 times a month, direct deposit, and receive my statement electronically). Interest automatically goes into the savings account, so I have to transfer it to the checking account to get the better interest rate.
Qualifying for the Kasasa rates take some discipline, but there’s no penalty otherwise. Kasasa isn’t available everywhere, and the interest rates depend on the credit union you open with.
My debit card from the credit union is also linked to my Upromise account.

How long will this last?

Hopefully these rates can keep up since the economy is getting better. If the big banks can start pulling their interest rates up again, I might consider switching back, but I’ve always wanted to start using a credit union. I’ve even ditched my SmartyPig account because the Kasasa Cash account gives so much more interest.

Update! 2010-06-13

My Money Blog recently posted an article that introduced me to a Free Rewards Checking account at Danvers Bank. The terms are the same as the Kasasa Cash accounts, the interest is better, and there are rewards! I would go with this one if I had to do it all over again, but I’m sticking with the credit union for now.