Frequently Asked Questions

​You can spend your HSA money tax-free, on out-of-pocket qualified medical expenses. These include co-payments for medical care, prescription drugs, medical bills not covered by insurance and more. The IRS determines what is considered a “qualified medical expense”. You can review the most updated list at IRS Publication 502.

​Visit the IRS website for the most current information on annual HSA contribution limits. Once you reach age 55, you can make an additional “catch-up” contribution each year until you enroll in Medicare. However, once enrolled, you are no longer eligible to make contributions to your HSA.

​To open an HSA you must have a high deductible health plan (HDHP). Check with your insurance carrier or employer to see if you qualify for an HDHP. In addition;

• No other health coverage except what is permitted by IRS Publication 969
• You cannot be enrolled in Medicare
• You cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return

​When your certificate matures and your term is up, you’ll have a chance to withdraw your money. If you don’t withdraw, we’ll roll over your money into a new certificate with a term that matches your old one.

​For our Smart Growth Certificate, we have terms up to 84 months. For our traditional Certificate, terms go up to 72 months.

Yes! We offer a safe place for you to save your money, with deposits insured up to at least $250,000 per individual depositor by the NCUA, backed by the full faith of the United States Government.

​You must have a high deductible health plan (HDHP) to open an HSA. Check with your insurance carrier or employer to see if you qualify for an HDHP. In addition;

• No other health coverage except what is permitted by IRS Publication 969
• Cannot be enrolled in Medicare
• Cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return

If you meet all the above criteria, you can apply for one of our HSAs right here online.

Yes! We offer a safe place for you to save your money, with deposits insured up to at least $250,000 per individual depositor by the NCUA, backed by the full faith of the United States Government.

We’ll send the money you’ve saved back to your Money Market or Checking Account each year on November 1st.

No

Yes! We offer a safe place for you to save your money, with deposits insured up to at least $250,000 per individual depositor by the NCUA, backed by the full faith of the United States Government.

​There is no minimum balance required for our IRA savings accounts. For our IRA certificates, the minimum balance is $500 for a share certificate, and $100 for a Smart Growth certificate.

​A certificate is an option you can use with either a Roth or Traditional IRA, in order to save more money. It is an investment account, similar to a CD from a bank, that allows you to save more by leaving your money untouched.

With a Traditional IRA, your contributions are tax-deductible (on state and federal tax returns) for the year you make the contribution. When you make withdrawals in retirement, you’ll be taxed. Roth IRAs do not offer a tax break for contributions, but your earnings and withdrawals during retirement are typically tax-free.

​As of 2018, the maximum contribution is $5,500 for those under 50, and $6,500 for those 60 or older.

NW Preferred does not charge fees to send or receive money with Zelle^®, but there is a $25 stop payment fee to cancel a Zelle^® transaction that is still pending because the recipient hasn’t yet enrolled. If the recipient doesn’t enroll with Zelle^® within 14 days, the payment will naturally expire, the funds will be returned to your account and no fees will be assessed.

Your mobile carrier’s messaging and data rates may apply.

You can only cancel a payment if the person you sent money to hasn’t yet enrolled with Zelle^®. To check whether the payment is still pending because the recipient hasn’t yet enrolled, you can go to your activity page, choose the payment you want to cancel, and then select “Cancel This Payment.” If you do not see this option available, please contact our customer support team at 866.236.6968 for assistance with canceling the pending payment.

If the person you sent money to has already enrolled with Zelle^®, the money is sent directly to their bank account and cannot be canceled. This is why it’s important to only send money to people you trust, and always ensure you’ve used the correct email address or U.S. mobile number when sending money.

If you sent money to the wrong person, please immediately call our customer support team at 866.236.6968 so we can help you.

In order to use Zelle^®, the sender and recipient’s bank or credit union accounts must be based in the U.S.

Zelle^® is a great way to send money to family, friends, and people you are familiar with such as your personal trainer, babysitter or neighbor¹.

Since money is sent directly from your NW Preferred account to another person’s bank account within minutes¹, Zelle^® should only be used to send money to friends, family and others you trust.

If you don’t know the person or aren’t sure you will get what you paid for (for example, items bought from an online bidding or sales site), you should not use Zelle^®. These transactions are potentially high risk (just like sending cash to a person you don’t know is high risk).

Neither NW Preferred nor Zelle^® offers a protection program for any authorized payments made with Zelle^® – for example, if you do not receive the item you paid for or the item is not as described or as you expected.

Keeping your money and information safe is a top priority for NW Preferred. When you use Zelle^® within our mobile app, your information is protected with the same technology we use to keep your NW Preferred account safe.

Your email address or U.S. mobile number may already be enrolled with Zelle^® at another bank or credit union. If you would like to move your email address or U.S. mobile number from the financial institution where you initially enrolled with Zelle^®, simply click “Transfer” when prompted during the Zelle^® enrollment process and confirm your desired changes.

Once you transfer your email address or U.S. mobile number, it will be connected to your account at the financial institution you selected and you can start sending and receiving money with Zelle^® right away.

You can send, request, or receive money with Zelle^®. To get started, log into NW Preferred’s mobile app and select Send Money with Zelle^®. Enter your email address or U.S. mobile number, receive a one-time verification code, enter it, review and accept the terms and conditions, and you’re ready to start sending and receiving with Zelle^®.

To send money using Zelle^®, simply select someone from your mobile device’s contacts (or add a trusted recipient’s email address or U.S. mobile number), add the amount you’d like to send and an optional note, review, then hit “Send.” The recipient will receive an email or text message notification via the method they used to enroll with Zelle^®. Money is available to your recipient in minutes if they are already enrolled with Zelle^®.

To request money using Zelle^®, choose “Request,” select the individual from whom you’d like to request money, enter the amount you’d like, include an optional note, review and hit “Request”. If the person you are requesting money from is not yet enrolled with Zelle^®, you must use their email address to request money. If the person has enrolled their U.S. mobile number, then you can send the request using their mobile number.

To receive money, just share your enrolled email address or U.S. mobile number with a friend and ask them to send you money with Zelle^®. If you have already enrolled with Zelle^®, you do not need to take any further action. The money will be sent directly into your NW Preferred account, typically within minutes.

If someone sent you money with Zelle^® and you have not yet enrolled with Zelle^®, follow these steps:

1. Click on the link provided in the payment notification you received via email or text message.
2. Select NW Preferred
3. Follow the instructions provided on the page to enroll and receive your payment. Pay attention to the email address or U.S. mobile number where you received the payment notification – you should enroll with Zelle^® using that email address or U.S. mobile number to ensure you receive your money.