DALLAS–For the ninth consecutive year, in 2017 Neighborhood CU will again be surprising its members with prizes for good savings habits, but this year plans to double the grand prize amount to $49,999.99.
Dallas-based Neighborhood Credit Union drew the name of a Prize Savings Account holder on Jan. 1 for the grand prize and personally delivered news of the prize to the lucky winner Jan. 4. The prize winner will receive an oversized symbolic check, while the actual funds are deposited directly into the winner’s Prize Savings Account.
In 2007, Neighborhood Credit Union developed the Prize Savings Account as a strategy for reversing the lowest savings rate in U.S. history. The credit union said it was seeking to create an innovative account as a fun way to encourage people to save money by offering prizes and rewards so people could see in tangible ways how good savings habits can pay off while they earn market-rate interest on their savings.
It works this way: Neighborhood Credit Union members receive one drawing entry for every $25 monthly average balance in their Prize Savings Accounts. The greater the savings, the greater the chance a member has of winning. Members are eligible for monthly $1,000 drawings and quarterly $10,000 drawings. At the start of each year, a winner is drawn for the newly increased $49,999.99 grand prize based on the average monthly balance in the savings account at close of business Dec. 31. The Prize Savings Account also pays market rate interest on any amount in savings throughout the year.