A Health Savings Account, or HSA, is designed for members with high-deductible insurance plans, making it easier to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses throughout the year. Qualified members can set aside pre-tax dollars to pay for healthcare expenses throughout the year, and are able to roll over any unused funds from one year to the next. Call or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to see if you are eligible for an HSA today!

You may open a Classic Money Market account with as little as $1; however, you will only begin to earn interest in balances higher than $2,000.

An easy way to increase your savings quickly is to utilize payroll deduction services, automatically stashing aside extra cash from your paycheck each time you are paid, or alternatively using automatic transfers from your checking on a regular basis.

You are allowed 6 total withdrawals per month. Additionally, if the withdrawals leave your balance below the minimum necessary to earn interest, you will not earn interest for that statement period.

Laddering CD’s refers to utilizing a variety of different term CD’s so that your CD’s come due at different times so your cash isn’t all tied up the same length of time. For instance, you may purchase a 6-month CD and a 1-year CD and an 18-month CD with $6,000 each, instead of tying up $18,000 in one investment. This is a smart way to take advantage of rate changes in the marketplace as well.

Instant issue literally means what it implies – you can get your CheckCard (also known as a Debit card) in your hand and ready to use the day you open a checking account with CitizensFirst. We are one of the only financial institutions who do this. Many times, you open a checking account and apply for your check/debit card and have to wait for your Personal Identification Number (PIN) to arrive in the mail 7-10 days later. At CitizensFirst, however, you can select your own, and perhaps more memorable PIN, at one of our branch locations, and walk out with your CheckCard the very same day!

There is no cost to get a CheckCard for access to your checking funds.

There is not a fee for transactions or withdrawals done at our ATM’s or Kwik-Trip ATM’s, or for point-of-sale purchases with retailers – either in-person, or online. We literally provide our members with 1,000’s of ATMs nationwide that are fee-free. See if there’s one by you! However, if you go to an ATM that is out of our network, you may be charged a fee to withdraw funds from there.

CheckCards can save you time entering debits, or expenses, into your check register, and they’re still easy to track using our free, home banking. From your PC at home (or laptop or smartphone), you can access your account and get a report anytime of transactions in your checking account – whether it’s cash withdrawals from an ATM, purchases at a local or online retailer, or automatic withdrawals or transfers you may have set up. Track expenses daily, weekly or monthly. CheckCard checking takes a lot of the paperwork out of your daily life! Alternatively, you can still save receipts from your CheckCard transactions and enter them into a checkbook register just as you would when writing a check.

Overdraft protection is a means of protecting your checking account from being overdrawn when you write a check that exceeds your available balance. To apply for overdraft protection, you must designate other accounts (savings, money markets, Kwik-Cash loans*, etc.) where CitizensFirst can transfer money from in the event this happens and the transfers will kick in automatically to help cover the overage. Please see our full Account Summary for fees for this service.

Overdraft Protection Plus is a means of protecting your checking account from being overdrawn when you use your CheckCard and exceed your available balance (either through an ATM withdrawal or point-of-sale transaction If you have exhausted your sources of overdraft protection, you may “opt in “ to receive Overdraft Protection Plus which may allow you to overdraw your account. Restrictions may apply and the normal overdraft fees would apply.

A Kwik-Cash loan is a revolving line of credit that will “kick in” if you select to have overdraft protection structured this way. In the event of an overdraft situation, we will make a payment from your Kwik-Cash loan to your checking account and you will simply be responsible for paying off the balance on the Kwik-Cash loan plus interest. Many times, members will choose to have a savings account as a first place to look for funds, and then secondarily at the Kwik-cash line of credit. However, if you ultimately transfer funds from your savings account first, but there is not enough money to cover the overdraft there, and an additional transfer is made, there will be an additional fee* charged.

Members can use eLerts to receive emails when their balances fall below a certain level, or Home Banking or Memberline Telephone banking to monitor their balances on their own. Overdraft Protection and Overdraft Protection Plus simply provide a little extra insurance that you will still be able to make a purchase if you inadvertently exceed your funds available.

Probably except for the pizza delivery guy, you can pay most of your bills this way! You’ll still need a check or CheckCard for that! But otherwise, you simply sign up for and log into eBillPay online or at a branch next time you visit, and set up the vendors you want to pay each month. Many of your regular bills will already be established as “payees” in our vendor system (those that everybody uses frequently), like WPS, Wisconsin Electric, Time Warner Cable, etc. Other vendors, if not already set up in the system, can be set up manually by you with their names, addresses and billing info.

Vendors will either be paid electronically or via check by CitizensFirst. The eBillPay system will let you know which way a vendor is set up (electronic or check payments) so you can allow for sufficient lead time before the bill is due. Vendors requiring check payments require payment about 5-7 days in advance to ensure your payment arrives by its due date. Even bills you only pay once or infrequently can be set up to be paid by eBillpay (even your babysitter!). You can set up payments to be made once (one-time), or on a recurring basis (weekly, monthly, etc.). Payments are made over a secure internet connection and can be tracked easily through the eBillPay system and via your home banking account access.

With home banking, you can view your account balances, transfer funds between accounts, pay loans, view cashed checks and more.

Wire transfers are a great way to get money from here to there quickly, but unfortunately have come under great scrutiny lately. To ensure your wire transfer goes smoothly, please be sure that your member records are up-to-date*, and that you have the following pieces of information available:

• Name of the financial institution you are sending the wire transfer to
• Name, address and routing number of your primary financial institution
• Account number, account holder name, address and type of account you will be depositing the funds into (checking, savings, etc.)

We can wire transfers up to $5,000 by telephone; other restrictions may apply.

A secured party number is the number that is used with the Department of Motor Vehicles for reporting liens on auto titles. CitizensFirst’s number is 0066177.

Simply provide your employer or the government agency you would like to request direct deposit from with the following information:

• Your name
• Your CitizensFirst account number and type of account (whether checking, savings, etc.)
• Name and Physical address for CitizensFirst (CitizensFirst Credit Union, 2900 Universal St., Oshkosh, WI 54904)
• CitizensFirst Routing number: 275981187

That’s it! You will have to sign something authorizing them to deposit your check into this account, and then you can stop standing in lines or waiting for a check in the mail!

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Members can maintain up to 10 different savings accounts! Using only ONE account number and sub-account suffixes, members can save up for various things simultaneously. To keep you focused on your savings goals, consider giving each sub-savings account a name so your dreams become real and it becomes that much harder to take money away from your savings accounts for other expenses.

Holiday Savings accounts are a great way to save for holiday expenses – gifts, decorations, food and more – without having to use your credit card to pay for these things. Additionally, CitizensFirst rewards members for smart planning for the Holidays by paying top interest rates for Holiday Savings accounts!

Yes, holiday savings accounts may be opened at any time during the year as one of your 10 available savings accounts. Interest is earned monthly* and your savings is paid out on October 1st so you can begin your Holiday shopping early!

Withdrawing prior to October 1st is allowed; however, a small early withdrawal fee will be charged each time a withdrawal is made prior to that.