Saver’s Sweepstakes

Saver’s Sweepstakes is The Wisconsin Credit Union League’s statewide prize-linked savings program. Saver’s Sweepstakes share savings accounts are designed to help individual credit union members save while giving them chances to win statewide cash prize drawings.

Statewide prize drawings are conducted monthly, quarterly and annually. WCCU Credit Union also offers special members-only drawings to be held at the same times as the statewide drawings.

All of the participating credit unions contribute to the statewide prize pool, based on each credit union’s size.

Saver’s Sweepstakes prize drawings are done on or about the 15th of each month, or the next business day, for the previous month, and/or quarter end and/or year end.

By making deposits. Account holders can deposit as much as they like to their Saver’s Sweepstakes accounts, whenever they like, in whatever amounts they like. For every $25 increase in month-over-month account balance, the primary account holder earns one entry in the statewide Saver’s Sweepstakes prize pool and in WCCU’s members-only prize pool.

To keep things fair, the number of entries a primary account holder can earn is capped, regardless how much the account balance increases.

• Statewide Prize Pool: 6 entries per month ($150 in deposits) are allowed. You can continue depositing money into the account, but the entry cap will stop at $150. This means you can accumulate 6 entries each month, 18 entries each quarter, and 72 entries each year.
• WCCU Members-Only Prize Pool: Only 6 entries per month ($150 in deposits) are allowed. You can continue depositing money into the account, but the entry cap will stop at $150. This means you can accumulate 6 entries each month, 18 entries each quarter, and 72 entries each year.

When any withdrawal is made, the primary account holder forfeits Saver’s Sweepstakes prize drawing entries for that prize pool to the extent that the account balance decreases month-over-month. For example, if a member deposits $25 in a month, but then withdraws $5, the balance won’t increase enough to earn a drawing entry.

The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. Each entry has an equal chance of winning.

Once per drawing. For example, even though each statewide monthly drawing has multiple winners, one person cannot win two prizes in a single monthly statewide drawing.

A company called TruLync, which is a subsidiary of the Minnesota Credit Union Network, picks Saver’s Sweepstakes winners randomly, using special software.

WCCU will notify winning members via telephone, email or standard USPS mail.

All Saver’s Sweepstakes prizes will automatically be deposited into the primary account holder’s membership share account, regardless whether that account may have joint account holders. Prizes will not be deposited into your Saver’s Sweepstakes account; however, you are encouraged to consider saving part of any prize winnings by making a subsequent deposit into your Saver’s Sweepstakes account.

Yes. By signing up for a Saver’s Sweepstakes account, each account holder agrees that the credit union and The Wisconsin Credit Union League can use his/her first name, last initial (not full last name), photo (or other likeness, like a video recording), and prize(s) he/she wins, plus any testimonial quotes the person offers, in any media. If the account holder is a minor, a parent or legal guardian must sign a consent agreement, which includes those publicity provisions.

• The primary account holder must be a credit union member with a membership share account.
• A minor may be a joint account holder if the primary account holder is eighteen (18) years old or older; or a minor may be the sole or primary account holder with a parent or legal guardian’s written permission; or a Saver’s Sweepstakes account for a minor may be held as a custodial account.
• The primary account holder must be a Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Illinois resident at the time of account opening, and continue to be a Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Illinois resident. If he/she moves out of Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Illinois, becoming ineligible to participate in Saver’s Sweepstakes, the credit union must close the account.
• Only an individual can hold a Saver’s Sweepstakes account.

No. Businesses, estates, trusts, organizations, any other public or private entities, unincorporated associations and/or others holding the account primarily for non-consumer purposes, are not eligible to participate in Saver’s Sweepstakes, either as primary account holders or as joint account holders.

Yes. Since withdrawals are strictly limited, it would make little sense for a checking or similar transaction account to serve as the Saver’s Sweepstakes account.

No. An individual can only be the primary account holder – the person who is entered into the prize drawings – on one Saver’s Sweepstakes account per participating credit union.

Yes, the primary account holder of a Saver’s Sweepstakes account at one credit union can also be the primary owner of other Saver’s Sweepstakes accounts at other credit unions … but it won’t increase that person’s odds of winning a statewide prize pool.

Yes. Like nearly any credit union account, Saver’s Sweepstakes savings accounts can have joint account holders. They must be individuals – not a business or other organization. Like any other joint account, Saver’s Sweepstakes savings accounts are just as accessible to joint account holders as they are to primary account holders.

Only the primary account holder is entered into prize drawings and is eligible to win a prize – regardless which account holder(s) made the deposits that earned entries into Saver’s Sweepstakes drawings.

Yes. There are three options:

1. A minor may be a joint account holder if the primary account holder is eighteen (18) years old or older; or
2. A minor may be the sole or primary account holder but only with a parent or legal guardian’s written permission to participate; or
3. A Saver’s Sweepstakes account for a minor may be held as a custodial account, subject to the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act.

If a minor wins a Saver’s Sweepstakes prize, the prize money is distributed to the minor by a deposit into the minor’s membership share account.

No. A representative payee is authorized by a government agency (like the Social Security Administration) to manage certain federal benefits for another person. The representative payee has no general authority to act for that person on other matters (like a guardian or a POA agent might do). Therefore, the representative payee could not agree on the beneficiary’s behalf to all of the terms in the Saver’s Sweepstakes Account Agreement.

Yes, if the Power of Attorney documentation or the court-issued Letters of Guardianship/Conservatorship allow for it. (They can vary widely in what they allow or prohibit.) The POA agent, the guardian or the conservator is not the “account holder,” though; they simply act for the person who actually owns the account. The account holder (and potential prize winner) is the POA “principal” who appointed the agent or the “ward” who is under the court-ordered guardianship or conservatorship.

Yes, Saver’s Sweepstakes accounts can have POD beneficiaries, who are automatically legally entitled to the account’s funds upon the death of the owner (or all of the owners, if it’s a joint account). This happens outside the probate process, so POD funds cannot be claimed by the personal representative of the decedent’s estate.

Yes. Saver’s Sweepstakes prizes, and interest/dividends earned on Saver’s Sweepstakes accounts, are tax reportable. WCCU tracks these amounts and reports them as income by issuing any 1099 or other tax reporting documentation or information returns that are required by the IRS or state tax authorities.

Yes. Both Wisconsin and Minnesota have joined a growing list of states that have adopted laws for prize-linked savings programs. Section 186.114 of the Wisconsin Statutes says that a “savings promotion prize program” offered by a credit union will not violate Wisconsin’s statutes on raffles, lotteries and betting. Minnesota Statutes §609.761 (subd. 6) allows credit unions to offer “savings promotion raffles” that are exempt from Minnesota gambling laws.

Yes. The 2014 American Savings Promotion Act removed federal barriers that had prohibited credit unions (as well as banks and thrifts) from offering prize-linked savings programs.

Yes. They are insured through the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).