5.50% 12-Month CD for Amboy Direct's Savings Account Customers read and submit comments for this post

Amboy Direct Online Savings Account customers can open a 5.50% APY 12-month certificate of deposit online. This CD isn't advertised at Amboy's website. You have to have a savings account. When you log in, a CD offer link will be listed at the botton. The CD application page seems to be publicly available, however, you need to enter your Amboy Direct account number to open the CD. According to the CSR, this CD is available to anyone who has a Premium Online Savings Account.

It appears the CD opening and closing process can all be done online. You just enter the amount of the deposit ($10K minimum, $50K maximum) and your Amboy's account number. The CD deposit will be transferred from your Amboy Direct account. Principal and interest will be transferred to your Amboy Direct account at maturity. The CD can also be opened by mail.

If you're interested in a 5.50% 1-year CD, you should consider this even if you're not interested in the savings account. Since the Premium Online Savings Account has no minimum balance requirements or fees, there's not much extra work or money required. Also, it has a very competitive 5.25% APY (5.35% for balances over $20K) and there's a $25 refer-a-friend sign-up bonus (see post).

Another promo that a reader just informed me about is on their Money Market Maximizer Account. According to the CSR, this is available only to new customers who had received the offer in the mail. It's not listed on their website. The promo is 6% APY for the first 3 months for balances from $30K to $100K. Offer expires 1/15/07.

The Best 1-year CD

A month ago, a 5.50% 1-year CD wasn't anything special. But with falling rates, it's now hard to find. The highest yielding 1-year CD listed at Bankrate.com is currently 5.41% APY at AmTrustDirect. In my weekly summary I had listed a 5.64% APY 12-month CD at GTE FCU which is widely available. However, GTE FCU just lowered this rate to 4.96% APY.