.75%? That's very low compared to the accounts available in my zip code. Keep in mind accounts like this have an upper limit on the balance that gets the good interest rate. Sometimes the higher interest rate isn't as good a deal as the lower rate applied to a higher balance.
Ah, okay, I was searching for the wrong type of account, now I see the ones you're talking about. Unfortunately I can't find any with higher than 4.25%. I did find one with 4% and with a higher balance limit and only 15 required transactions but I'm not eligible :( (you have to live in a certain area or work for a particular company in that state).
The 4.25 one is limited to $5000 but I probably don't particularly want to hold more than that in cash so it's fine.
If the account you're looking at is similar to mine I'm sure you'll be able to make 24 $1 transactions. The merchant will likely lose money on whatever you buy.
Yeah, I know it's possible to do it, it's just that, most months I literally make like only 5 plastic transactions a month. I want to make sure that, psychologically, I'm not influenced to spend more money than I would otherwise :)
Also, I just realized you can get an American Express card with 3% back on groceries which is my only real budget category (besides rent, hookers, and blow, none of which are eligible for cash back) so I'm trying not to rely on groceries for any of the transactions.