5% 5-Month Money Market at a Tennessee Bank read and submit comments for this post

First Capital Bank is offering a money market account with an APY of 5% that's guaranteed for 5 months from the date of account opening. After the first 5 months, the rate is subject to change. The minimum opening balance is $50K. Like any money market account, it's limited to a maximum of 6 pre-authorized withdrawals per month. It's available for personal and business accounts. This special is not listed at the bank's website, but was advertised in the March 31st edition of the Memphis newspaper. The ad is available online here.

You can think of this money market account like a 5% 5-month CD except with the ability to make withdrawals.

First Capital is located in Germantown, Tennessee which in the eastern suburbs of Memphis.

10% 12-Month CD at a Multi-State CU ($2.5K max) read and submit comments for this post

Tenet Federal Credit Union is offering a 10% APY 12-month CD. The minimum deposit is $500 and the maximum is $2.5K. Additional deposits can be made in $100.00 increments throughout the term (dividends accrue from date of deposit) to a maximum deposit of $2,500. The certificate must be opened within 30 days of opening your TenetCU Checking Account. You must also have direct deposit with a minimum $500 payroll deposit per pay period. Credit for finding this deal goes to a commenter in the finding deals post.

As is typical with promotional CDs with very high rates, there is a maximum deposit limit. However, the limit is $2.5K which isn't so low that it makes this deal not worthwhile. This CD provides 1-year with a rate of about 5% higher than what's easily available. That results in about an extra $125. This is similar to a checking account sign-up bonus except that you have to deposit money for a year to get the bonus. I'm surprised this isn't done more often rather than the typical checking account bonus. If you don't have much to deposit, the immediate sign-up bonus is preferrable. However, if you are able to max out the deposit limit, this type of bonus can be better. You also have to make sure to be ready to withdraw the money when the CD matures since it's likely that it'll renew into a low rate CD.

Unfortunately, the credit union's field of membership is primarily limited to those employed in jobs linked to Tenet Healthcare Corporation. However, this does include many people since Tenet operates many facilities in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Tenet FCU has branches in Los Alamitos, Modesto, Anaheim, California; Memphis, Tennessee; and Atlanta, Georgia. The credit union is NCUA insured with 19K members and $52 million in assets.

5.30% 13-Month / 5.10% 10-Month CD at a Virginia Bank read and submit comments for this post

Virginia Commerce Bank is offering 3 nice CD specials: 5.30% APY 13-month CD, 5.10% APY 10-month CD and a 4.90% APY 6-month CD. The minimum deposit is $15K for all terms. To qualify for these promotional offers, new VCB checking account opening deposit must be at least $1,000. The CDs are available for both consumers and businesses. For consumers, these certificates of deposit are available in an IRA.

The bank also has a money market account promotion but it requires very large balances just to reach 4.50% APY.

Credit for finding this deal goes to a commenter in this finding deals post.

Virgina Commerce Bank has branches in several Virginia cities including Arlington, Alexandria, McLean, Vienna, Chantilly and Manassas.

5.76% 60-Month / 5.66% 48-Month CD at a South Carolina CU read and submit comments for this post

SC State Credit Union has some very high long-term CD rates. With additional services, the 5-year CD is 5.76% APY and the 4-year CD is 5.66% APY. Without the additional services, the rates are 0.25% less. The services can include a SCU checking or money management account, a Visa credit card or a loan. Instead of the 0.25% rate increase, you can chose to take the option for a one-time bump-up to the current rate.

Credit for this find goes to Victor who left a comment in the finding deals post. As he points out, these CDs also have the nice feature of a low minimum deposit of $500 and the allowance of additional deposits of $250 or more at any time. The certificates are available for both regular and IRA accounts.

The credit union's field of membership includes those who live, work or attend school in the following South Carolina counties: Anderson, Florence, Greenwood, Lexington, Oconee, Orangeburg, Richland or Spartanburg County. The credit union is NCUA insured with $362 million in assets and about 88K members.

ING Direct Raises Non-Promo Savings Account APY to 4% read and submit comments for this post

Just a few hours after speculation about ING Direct's non-promo yields remaining at 3.80%, they finally do an increase. ING Direct's Orange Savings Account now pays 4.00% APY. This is the first savings account rate increase for this year. The last increase of the non-promotional rate was December 31, 2005 when the yield increased from 3.75% to 3.80%. The promotional APY of 4.75% remains on new deposits through April 15th (see ING Direct). The Winter Save Up Sale has been going on since January 19th.

At least ING Direct is making some attempt to keep its standard rates competitive. Unfortunately, the 4.00% is not much better than 3.80% especially when many others are offering no-minimum savings accounts with yields of 4.50% and over. I'm sure ING is hoping people who opened accounts and moved their money into ING will just let the money sit there after the sale. Even if just a quarter of the people do this, the sale will probably have been a success for ING Direct. I wonder if EmigrantDirect is planning for a big rate hike in mid April. This would be a perfect time for a 0.5% rate increase on its savings account.

ING Back to 3.80% after Save Up Sale? read and submit comments for this post

According to jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, ING Direct has notified their affiliates that they'll be returning to the pre-promotion rate of 3.80% once the Winter Save Up Sale ends on April 16. With 4.50%+ no-minimum savings accounts being offered by HSBC, VirtualBank, EmigrantDirect and now Citibank, there's likely going to be lots of money flowing out of ING if they keep with their pre-promotion rate.

If your savings are at ING Direct now, you might want to plan on moving them out. HSBC's 4.80% savings account would be a good choice. Even though this promotion is scheduled to end on April 30, HSBC has a record of keeping their rates high. Before the 4.80% promotion, the rates had been close to the fed funds rate (see chart). So I wouldn't be surprised if HSBC keeps it at 4.80% after the promo.

The fastest way to transfer from ING to HSBC would be to have both a HSBC checking account and the 4.80% Online Savings account. This will allow you to have a direct link between HSBC and ING. Note, ING prevents you from linking your HSBC Online Savings account to your ING account. There are still two sign-up bonuses for HSBC's checking accounts. Refer to this post for more info.

5.30% 12-Month / 5.50% 24-Month CD at a New York Bank read and submit comments for this post

The State Bank of Long Island has been maintaining some very high CD yields in the last month. Currently, it's offering a 5.30% APY 1-year CD and a 5.50% APY 2-year CD. The 6-month CD also has a decent yield of 4.90% APY. As you can see in the following table, State Bank's rates have been steadily rising since my February 28th and March 23rd posts.

Term              Feb 28  Mar 23  Mar 30
                  APY     APY     APY
3 months          ?       4.50%   4.50%
6 to 11 months    ?       4.75%   4.90%
12 to 23 months   5.05%   5.25%   5.30%
24 to 59 months   5.25%   5.25%   5.50%
60 months         5.30%   5.30%   5.50%

These certificates of deposit all have a minimum deposit requirement of $2.5K. They are also available in an IRA account with only a $500 minimum.

Unfortunately, you have to be local to get these CDs. A bank associate informed me by email that customers must be present in the branch to open a certificate of deposit. State Bank of Long Island has 16 branches in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk, New York.

5.25% 3-Month / 6-Month CD at a Massachusetts Bank (plus other terms). read and submit comments for this post

This is just a reminder for Massachusetts residents. Middlesex Savings Bank is still offering 5.25% APY on all CD terms from 3 months to 71 months. When I first reported on this special 2 weeks ago, it was available to out-of-state people, but this didn't last long. However, for those in Massachusetts, it's a great deal that's still avaialable, at least through April 4, 2006.

These certificates of deposit have a $250 minimum. The early withdrawal penalty is 3 months of interest for terms of 12 months and less. The penalty is 6 months of interest for terms over 12 months.

The bank has 23 branches through out Massachusetts.

5.16% 13-Month CD at a Pennsylvania Bank read and submit comments for this post

Penn Liberty Bank is offering a special 5.16% APY 13-month CD. There's a $750 minimum deposit requirement. The certificate of deposit is available for retirement and regular accounts.

The Bank has four branches in the western suburbs of Philadelphia.

$85 in Bonuses For Checking Account at a St. Louis Bank read and submit comments for this post

First National of St. Louis has several sign-up bonuses for its free checking account and related services. The bonuses are paid with gift cards and can add up to $85. The offer is good through 5/31/06 and is available on personal accounts only. This special is not listed at the bank's website but was advertised in the March 28th edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The ad is available online here. Here are the details of the bonus:

• $50 gift card for signing up for banking@home and a free debit card
• $25 gift card for Direct Deposit or BillPay
• $35 gift card for both Direct Deposit and BillPay
• You must have at least one direct deposit or BillPay transaction within 60 days of account opening to receive additional gift cards
• The minimum balance to open the free checking account is $50

The bank also has a decent CD special: 13-month 5% APY CD with a minimum deposit requirement of $1K.

In addition to St. Louis, First National Bank has branches in several cities around Missouri including Clayton, Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, O'Fallon, Des Peres and Wildwood.

Last November, St. Louis Bank had been offering a checking account bonus of up to $101.

ING No Longer Showing the 4.75% Promo - What's Next? read and submit comments for this post

Perhaps because the Winter Save Up Sale is nearing its end (April 16), ING Direct has stopped advertising it. It's no longer being shown at ING Direct's website. You have to wonder what ING Direct will try next. ING's standard rate of 3.80% looks very low compared to other banks. They have to assume many will be transfering their savings if they don't come up with something attractive by April 16.

I've seen some speculation that ING may start another promotion. Perhaps they'll offer 5% on new money. If this is the case, it may be worthwhile to transfer money out before April 15. If another Save-Up sale occurs, anything you transfer out after the start of the promotion will be deducted from what will count toward the new promotional rate. However, I don't think ING would want to start this kind of trend. So I have a feeling it will do something different.

I think ING could keep more deposits if it had more competitive CD rates. Opening a certificate of deposit at ING is extremely easy. Plus, there's no minimum. The only issue is locking up your money for a specific time. However, if they had some decent rates (perhaps 5% on a 6-month term), it could encourage people to give it a try. Currently, the ING 6-month CD only pays 4.30% APY.

Citibank's 4.5% e-Savings Account read and submit comments for this post

We have another bank in the high yield savings account game. Citibank just re-introduced its e-Savings Account with the very competitive rate of 4.50% APY. According to this FW thread, Citibank began the e-Savings Account around last May. The rate had been at 3.25% APY when Citibank ended it last October. There must have been some doubt at Citibank whether it was worth it for them to be in this game. Perhaps they now see the popularity of these high yield savings accounts. Hopefully, they'll now make the commitment to be in it for the long term.

Here are some of the important details of the Citibank e-Savings Account:

• No minimum balance requirements
• To open a Citibank e-Savings Account you must have or open a checking account in the Citibank EZ Checking, Citibank Account, Citibank Everything Counts Account or CitiGold Account relationship package.
• You can only open the account online.
• Your initial deposit can be funded via a transfer from your current bank account, by using your credit card, or by mailing in a check.
• Once your account is open, you can deposit money into your e-Savings account at a Citibank ATM, by visiting a Financial Associate at a Citibank Financial Center, or by mail. You can also transfer money into your Citibank e-Savings account from an external (non-Citi) account using Citibank’s Inter Institution Transfers.
• Once your account is open, you can withdraw the available funds in your Checking or e-Savings account using your Citibank ATM/Debit card at thousands of ATMs worldwide. You can transfer your money to an external (non-Citi) account using Citibank’s Inter Institution Transfers service. You can also visit a Citibank Financial Center.

This new e-Savings account is good news for savers. It may not have the best rates, but it adds competition. Credit for this find goes to a commenter who posted on it in the finding deals post. Thanks!

High Yield CDs at Crestmark Bank read and submit comments for this post

Crestmark Bank of Troy, Michigan has high rates on all of its CDs. The 1-year CD rate is now 5.25% APR and the 180-day CD is at 5.10% APR. There's a minimum deposit of $25K and a maximum of $200K. Credit for this find goes to Victor who posted about it in the finding deals post. Below is the full list of CD rates:

Certificate of Deposit Rates
Maturity         Rate (APR)
30 days             4.80%
60 days             4.85%
90 days             5.00%
180 days            5.10%
270 days            5.15%
365 days            5.25%
545 days (18 mos.)  5.30%
730 days (2 yrs.)   5.35%
910 days (30 mos.)  5.30%
1095 days (3 yrs.)  5.30%
1275 days (42 mos.) 5.30%
1460 days (4 yrs.)  5.30%
1825 days (5 yrs.)  5.30%

Note, that these rates are in APR. The APY may be even higher. The website doesn't provide the compounding details. In fact, it doesn't provide many details at all. From the looks of Crestmark's website, it appears the bank is only intended for business accounts. However, both Victor and I have received email from Crestmark stating that they do accept personal accounts. I was told these CDs can only be opened through the Troy, Michigan office. However, they can be opened by mail. So I believe it's available to those who live outside Michigan.

The bank is FDIC insured and ranks 3 of 5 stars at Bauer Financial (adequate).

Fed Hikes Rates - Savings Account/CD Rates? read and submit comments for this post

As expected, the Fed raised the intended federal funds rate from 4.50% to 4.75% (CNN article). This is the highest it has been since March 20, 2001 (see rate history). It seems likely that the Fed will raise rates at least one more time on May 10th. Further rate hikes seem a little more likely after today's meeting.

Which banks will be the first to react? There already have been a few increases today with UmbrellaBank and VirtualBank (CDs). I don't expect one from EmigrantDirect since they just did an increase to 4.50% on March 15. Both HSBC and ING Direct are still active in their promos. After the last Fed rate hike in January, Presidential Bank raised its savings account yield by 0.25% to 4.37% APY. Perhaps they'll do another 0.25% increase this week. GMAC Bank may also be a likely candidate for a rate hike. Its last money market rate hike was March 10th when it increased from 4.60% to 4.65% APY.

New VirtualBank CD Rates - 5% 6-month CD read and submit comments for this post

VirtualBank increased the yields on all of its CDs today. The best increases were on CD terms of under 1 year. The 3-month CD increased from 4.50% to 4.85% APY. The 6 and 9-month CDs went up from 4.80% to 5.00% APY. The longer term CDs increased from 0.05% to 0.15%. The eMoney Market APY remains the same at 4.60%. Below is the full list of CD rate changes:

CD Term    Old APY   New APY
3 months    4.50%      4.85%
6 months    4.80%      5.00%
9 months    4.80%      5.00%
12 months   5.10%      5.15%
18 months   5.05%      5.15%
2 years     5.05%      5.15%
3 years     5.05%      5.15%
4 years     5.05%      5.20%
5 years     5.05%      5.20%

The certificates of deposits have a $10K minimum deposit requirement. Based on info received from VirtualBank, the penalty for early withdrawal is one month of interest for the 3-month term, 3 months of interest for the 6 and 9 month terms, and 6 months of interest for the 12 month and longer terms.

One nice feature of these CDs is that they can be funded from money in your eMoney Market account. You can also have the CD money deposited in this account at CD maturity or if you need to do an early withdrawal. VirtualBank accepts instructions via the secure message system accessible when you are logged into your account.

So if you're interested in a VirtualBank CD, I recommend first opening an eMoney Market account which is currently paying 4.60% APY. There's a $100 minimum deposit requirement but no balance requirement. You can even receive a $20 sign-up bonus through a referral (email me your first and last name to bankdeals@gmail.com if you're interested). For more info on the eMoney Market account and this sign-up referral system, refer to this post.

The CD application process can be done online, however, you do have to send in a signature card. This can printed during the application process. VirtualBank will also mail you the signature card with a postage-paid envelope along with the CD documentation. For more info on VirtualBank's CDs refer to this post in which I described my experiences of opening a CD with them.

UmbrellaBank Raises Rates - 4.80% 3-Month CD read and submit comments for this post

Perhaps we'll see more bank rate hikes this week after the Fed makes its expected hike to the Fed funds rate today. UmbrellaBank is one of the first. However, there are no big increases. UmbrellaBank increased rates on most of its deposit accounts. The APY of the UmbrellaBank's Pot o'Gold Money Market Account increased from 4.61% to 4.66% APY for deposits over $1K. The biggest rate gain for a CD was the 3-month term with an increase from 4.51% to 4.80% APY. The other CD terms increased from 0.05% to 0.10% (see below):

CD Term   Old APY  New APY
3 Month    4.51%   4.80%
6 Month    4.90%   4.95%
1 Year     5.10%   5.15%
1.5 Year   5.00%   5.16%
2 Year     4.95%   5.10%
2.5 Year   4.90%   5.00%
3 Year     4.90%   5.00%
4 Year     4.90%   5.00%
5 Year     4.90%   5.00%

For more info on UmbrellaBank refer to my previous posts from February and December.

Advanta Bank's Money Market Account Rate Hikes read and submit comments for this post

Advanta Bank Corp recently increased rates on all tiers of its money market account by 0.25%. The new rates are shown below:

Tier                Interest Rate   Annual Percentage Yield
$100 to $999        4.16%           4.25%
$1,000 to $9,999    4.50%           4.60%
$10,000 to $49,999  4.55%           4.65%
$50,000 to $99,999  4.59%           4.70%
$100,000 and above  4.64%           4.75%

The bank also has some nice rates on certificates of deposit. The 12-month CD has an APY of 5.10%. The 6-month CD is at 4.75% APY.

Advanta's rates have remained competitive since I've been following the bank. Refer to my posts from December and September. They still don't offer an ACH transfer system. Accounts have to be opened by mail and funded by check.

5.25% 12-Month CD at a Texas Bank read and submit comments for this post

Century Bank is offering a 5.25% APY 12-month CD. There's a minimum deposit of $1K and it requires a new or existing Century Bank checking account. This special certificate of deposit is not listed at the bank's website. An ad with this special was published in today's Dallas Morning News and is available online here.

Century Bank does offer a free checking account with no monthly balance requirements or monthly service charges.

Century Bank has branches primarily in the Dallas Texas area. Branches are also located in the Texas cities of Texarkana, Addison, Atlanta, Farmers Branch and New Boston.

5.15% 11-Month CD at a Multi-State CU read and submit comments for this post

Wings Financial is offering a special 5.15% 11-month CD. The minimum deposit is $500. The credit union also has 5%-plus CDs for terms of 1-year to 5-year. The 5-year certificate of deposit pays 5.56% APY. The CDs are available as share and IRA accounts.

As the name would suggest, the commond bond of the credit union's membership is flight. The field of membership is primarily limited to employees of the air transportation industry who work in the US.

The credit union has branches in the states of California, Georgia, Hawaii, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee and Washington.

5% 9-Month CD at a CA/MD/TX CU read and submit comments for this post

Spectrum Federal Credit Union is offering a special 5% APY 9-month CD. The minimum deposit is $10K and it requires new money. The offer is valid through March 31, 2006.

The credit union's field of membership is primarily based on employment, however, it does include areas of San Francisco, California and a few cities of Maryland.

Branches are located in San Francisco, California; Houston, Texas; and Frederick, Maryland.

5% 6-Month CD at a Washington State CU read and submit comments for this post

Verity Credit Union is offering 5.0% APY on its 6-month, 9-month and 12-month CDs. The minimum deposit is $1K and the maximum is $100K. The offer ends on April 8, 2006. These special certificates of deposit don't seem to be listed at the credit union's website, but were advertised in Sunday's Seattle newspaper and is available online here.

The credit union's field of membership includes all those who live, work, worship or go to school in any county within Washington State.

Verity is NCUA insured with $329 million in assets and over 26,000 members.

One interesting note about Verity is that it has a blog in which several of its employees contribute. It's intended to help customers get to know the employees better.

For those who live in nearby Oregon, there are still two 6% short-term CDs available. OnPoint Credit Union is offering a 6% APY 6-month and 12-month CD (see post). Advantis Credit Union is offering a 6% APY 5-month CD (see post).

iPod Nano Checking/Savings Account Bonus at TCF Bank read and submit comments for this post

TCF Bank is offering a free iPod 1G nano when you open any personal or small business checking account (with recurring Automatic Payment and Direct Deposit services) plus a new Savings account. Establishing just one service qualifies for a $50 Visa Gift Card. This special doesn't seem to be listed at their website, but an ad was published in the March 26th Denver Post newspaper and is available online here.

TCF Bank has a Totally Free Checking account; however, the savings accounts seem to have minimum required balances to avoid a fee.

Some of the important small print of this deal includes:

This is open to households without a checking account in the past 90 days. The new savings account requires minimum opening deposit equal to the minimum balance required to avoid a monthly fee, or $500, whichever is greater. The value of the bonus will be reported as interest income on your current year 1099-INT.

Netbank had a good iPod CD/money market promotion which seemed to have expired in Feburary (see post).

TCF Bank also had a nice $75 Checking Account bonus. That expired on March 17 (see post).

TCF has 453 banking locations in six states, including Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado and Indiana.

[Update on 5/28/06: There's a new iPod nano deal at TCF. Refer to this post.]

BankAtlantic $77 Checking Account Bonus Continues read and submit comments for this post

BankAtlantic is still offering a $77 MasterCard Gift Card for opening a checking account. In addition, you can get $25 for turning in unused checks from your current bank. I reported on this offer back in November and the bonus also included a MP3 player or portable TV. The extra bonus this time is a free milkshake maker. This current offer ends March 31, 2006.

Some of the important small print includes:

$77 Gift Card bonus offer is limited to one account per person. Minimum opening deposit to obtain the bonus is $500. Must establish autopay or direct deposit with this account and your account must be in good standing 77 days after opening. Bonus will be mailed within 30 days of account qualification.

Bank Atlantic has 79 branches in South Florida including the counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie. It also has branches in Tampa Bay.

Credit goes to the commenter who posted this latest BankAtlantic deal in the finding deals post. Thanks!

4.88% Money Market Account ($50K min) read and submit comments for this post

Ravenswood Bank of Illinois has a money market account called the Investors Money Market which currently pays 4.88% APY. The rate equals the 13-week Treasury plus 0.25%. This APY requires a $50K balance. Balances below $50K will earn at the rate of the Individual Statement Savings Account. Balances under $2.5K result in a $25 monthly fee.

Credit for this find goes to Victor who posted this deal in the finding deals post. Thanks! This account is not advertised at the bank's website.

The Investors Money Market Account has some additional transaction limitations over the typical money market account. Here are the details that Victor receivied from the bank:

TRANSACTION LIMITATION - One withdrawal per calendar month are allowed at no charge. There is a charge of $25.00 per withdrawal for each withdrawal in excess.
There is a $50.00 fee assessed on the account for the first 90 days closure. Balances over $500,000.00 will be paid at the rate of the Individual Statement Savings Account.

Ravenswood is a small bank located in Chicago, Illinois. It has a BauerFinancial rating of 4 out of 5 stars (excellent).

$50 HSBC Smart Checking Package Bonus Update read and submit comments for this post

About 3 weeks after I signed up for the HSBC Smart Checking package, I received the $50 bonus credited to the new checking account. The bonus was credited on March 20th. The 20th of the month seems to be a typical date that HSBC credits bonuses. This checking account bonus is available through April 23rd. Here's the link to the promotional page. Refer to this previous post for all of the details about this $50 bonus and the $10 free-checking account bonus. A checking account will allow you to link your ING Direct Savings account to HSBC.

Unfortunately, the $25 sign-up bonus for the HSBC Online Savings account expired February 28th. I wouldn't be surprised if HSBC offers this bonus again sometime in the near future.

Here's the dateline of events during my Smart Checking Package application process:

• March 5th - Applied for Smart Checking Package
• March 6th - Mailed in signature card
• March 6th - Trial deposits made to linked account
• March 7th - Verified trial deposit at HSBC
• March 17th - HSBC acknowledged the receipt of my signature card
• March 18th - Premium Money Market and Checking accounts shown when logged into the Online Savings account
• March 20th - $50 bonus credited to checking account
• March 25th - Received letter with checking account info and number to call to request first order of checks

5% 10-Month CD at Wachovia Bank in Georgia read and submit comments for this post

Wachovia Bank in Georgia is advertising a 5.00% APY 10-month CD. The minimum deposit is $5K and $2K for IRA CD. This special requires a new or existing Wachovia Crown checking account. This certificate of deposit rate is not advertised at Wachovia's website, but in an ad in the March 21st edition of the Savannah Morning News. The ad is available online here. According to the ad, this special is available in the Georgia counties of Bulloch, Chatham, Glynn and Liberty. Offer expires April 28, 2006.

Wachovia has also been advertising a 4.85% APY 14-month CD with these same requirements in other areas of the country. This Wachovia ad showing the 4.85% CD was pubished in the March 23rd edition of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

These CD specials may be a good deal for those who already have a Wachovia account. These specials do require Crown Banking which has a $20 monthly service fee unless you have $5K in checking, savings and/or money market accounts or $4K with direct deposit. The monthly fee can also be avoided with $10K in combined balances in CDs, deposit IRAs, or various laon balances.

Bank Deal Summary for Mar 25, 2006 read and submit comments for this post

There weren't too many major rate changes this week. We may see more next week after the Fed meeting on Monday and Tuesday. It's widely anticipated that the Fed will increase the targeted Federal funds rate from 4.50% to 4.75%.

The best national deal this week is World Savings 6-month 5.26% APY CD (see post). This is even better than World Savings 5.01% APY 5-month liquid internet certificate of deposit. As is typical with World Savings specials, this 5.26% CD is not advertised. Most World Savings branches seem to honor this CD once you specifically mention it. However, it does require new money. This seems like a common strategy at World Savings (and many banks). They lure you in with a great rate CD. If you just let the CD automatically renew, you end up in a low-rate CD. To get in on the next great CD, you have to bring in new money or jump through hoops of moving your money. But if you're willing to stay on top of things and go through the extra work, you can profit from these deals.

Corus Bank made its typical weekly rate update. All of its rates increased a little. The money market account increased from 4.60% to 4.65% APY. The 1-year CD increased from 5.15% to 5.18% APY and the 6-month CD increased from 4.96% to 4.99% APY.

One Bank that I added to my list is Transportation Alliance Bank (see post). It's an online bank that's offering a 4.50% APY low-minimum money market account and a 5.15% APY 12-month CD.

ETrade's money market account doesn't have competitive rates, but it does have a nice 4.75% 3-month promo rate along with a nice $50 sign-up bonus (see post). ETrade's CDs have been competitive. If you're going to open an ETrade CD, this money market account promotion may be worthwhile.

Some of the best local deals for this week include a 7% CD at an Indiana credit union (see post). There's a $14K maximum deposit limit, but that's large enough to make this a decent deal. The 7.25% CD deal at a Santa Clara California credit union that I posted on in a previous week still seems to be available. This one has a $50K max.

For a good overview of risk-free savings alternatives, I recommend this Money Magazine article. It also has a list of some useful websites (including this one!). For my commentary on this article, refer to this post.

Thanks to all who have helped by leaving comments or sending emails on rate updates. Sorry I can't include all of the best rates in this summary.

The rates listed below are based on Annual Percentage Yield (APY). No minimum balances are required unless noted. MMA next to the rates indicate a money market account. Most MMAs have check writing and ATM cards. Online savings accounts usually lack both of these. Previous weekly summaries are available for Mar 18th, Mar 11th, Mar 4th, Feb 25th, Feb 18th and Feb 11th.

As of March 25, 2006

Savings/Money Market Accounts:

• HSBC - 4.80%, offers checking, (rate history), my post (bonus info)
• GMAC Bank - 4.65% MMA (min $500), offers checking, my post
• Corus Bank - 4.65% MMA (min $10K to open)
• UmbrellaBank.com - 4.61% MMA (min $1K), offers checking, my post
• VirtualBank - 4.60% (min $100), offers checking, my post ($20 bonus)
• MyBankingDirect - 4.55% MMA (min $5K), my post
• EmigrantDirect - 4.50%, my post, ($10 signup bonus), (rate history)
• Transportation Alliance Bank - 4.50% MMA (min $25), my post
• Presidential - 4.37% (min $5K, only first $35K receives this rate), offers checking, my post
• CapitalOne/Costco - 4.30% MMA (min $5K, Costco members only, $50 deal for exec. members)
• Western Financial Bank - 4.25% MMA, offers checking, my post
• FirstFedDirect - 4.25% (closed to CA residents), my post
• CapitalOne - 4.25% (MMA has same rate, but with checks and ATM. $100 min.)
• MetLife Bank - 4.00% MMA (min $5K), my post ($50 bonus)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 3.97% MMA (min $500), my post
• ING Direct - 3.80%, my post (4.75% promo and $25 bonus), (rate history)
• UFB Direct - 3.75% MMA, offers checking, my post
• NetBank - 3.52% MMA ($500 min), requires checking, my post ($175 deal)
• ebank - 3.50% MMA ($1K min, rate for $10K-25K balance), offers checking

6-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• World Savings - 5.26% (min $10K), branch only, new funds only, my post
• Meadows Credit Union - 5.01% ($1K min), new funds only, my post
• World Savings - 5.01% (5-month) (min $5K), new funds only, my post
• Corus Bank - 4.99% (min $10K)
• GMAC Bank - 4.95% (min $500)
• ETrade Bank - 4.92% (min $1K), my post
• UmbrellaBank.com - 4.90% (min $1K)
• FirstFedDirect - 4.81% (min $10K), my post
• VirtualBank - 4.80% (min $10K), my post ($20 bonus)
• NetBank - 4.75% (min $1K)
• UFB Direct - 4.55% (min $8K)
• Western Financial Bank - 4.50% ($100 min)
• ebank - 4.50% (min $1K), 4.75% for ePremium checking customers
• Transportation Alliance Bank - 4.55% ($1K min)
• MetLife Bank - 4.50% ($1K min)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.43% (min $500), my post
• ING Direct - 4.30%

12-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• Melrose CU - 5.35% (min $5K) my post
• Corus Bank - 5.18% (min $10K)
• Western Financial Bank - 5.15% ($100 min) (13-month)
• Transportation Alliance Bank - 5.15% ($1K min)
• GMAC Bank - 5.10% (min $500)
• UmbrellaBank.com - 5.10% (min $1K)
• VirtualBank - 5.10% (min $10K), my post ($20 bonus)
• NetBank - 5.06% (min $1K), my post (iPod/$50 bonuses)
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.02% (min $10K), my post
• FirstFedDirect - 5.02%, (min $10K) my post
• ETrade Bank - 5.00% (min $1K), my post
• MetLife Bank - 4.90% ($1K min)
• ebank - 4.75% (min $1K), 5.00% for ePremium checking customers
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.83% (min $500), my post
• UFB Direct - 4.72% (min $8K)
• ING Direct - 4.50%

18-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• CapitalOne/Costco - 5.21% (min $5K, Costco members only)
• GMAC Bank - 5.15% (min $500)
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.13% (min $10K), my post

36-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Melrose CU - 5.56% (min $5K) my post
• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.50% (min $1K), my post
• GMAC Bank - 5.15% (min $500)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 5.05% (min $500), my post

60-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Melrose CU - 5.77% (min $5K) my post
• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.67% (min $1K), my post
• GMAC Bank - 5.20% (min $500)
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.13% (min $10K), my post
• Self-Help Credit Union - 5.07% (min $500), my post

84-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.88% (min $1K), my post

High Rates with Conditions - Open to All

• 10% Savings Account for kids ($500 max)
• 5.01% 3-month intro rate on checking account
• 5.00% Money Market with $30K (3-month intro rate)
• 5.00% Money Market with $100K min
• 5.00% Money Market with $100K min
• 4.00% checking account (CU that's open to all)

Checking and Saving Accounts at Local Credit Unions

• 5.00% Money Market Account (New York)
• 4.75% no-minimum savings account (New York)
• 4.50% checking account promo (Oklahoma)

CD Specials at Local Credit Unions/Banks Over the Last Two Months

Terms of 60 Months and Over

• 6.66% 62-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 6.40% 60-Month CD at a South Carolina CU
• 6.00% 60-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.80% 60-Month CD at a Virginia CU
• 5.75% 72-Month CD at a CU
• 5.66% 60-Month CD at a South Carolina CU
• 5.64% 60-Month CD at a New York CU
• 5.61% 60-Month CD at a Minnesota Bank
• 5.50% 60-Month CD at a CU
• 5.50% 60-Month CD at a Illinois Bank (gradual withdrawal CD)
• 5.45% 60-Month CD at a Massachusetts CU
• 5.38% 60-Month CD at a Utah CU

Terms of 24 Months to Under 60 Months

• 5.81% 30-Month CD at a Wisconsin CU
• 5.64% 36-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.56% 24-Month CD at a Nashville CU
• 5.50% 55-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.50% 30-Month CD at a Philadelphia Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a New York Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a Philadelphia Bank

Terms of 12 Months to Under 24 Months

• 5.54% 12-Month CD at a Ohio CU ($100K min)
• 5.50% 12-Month CD at a Ohio CU
• 5.50% 18-Month CD at a Washington State CU
• 5.50% 13-Month CD at a Chicago Bank
• 5.50% 15-Month CD at a Florida CU
• 5.5% 17-Month CD at a Nevada Bank
• 5.30% 15-Month CD at a Ohio CU
• 5.30% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Credit Union
• 5.30% 20-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.26% 15-Month CD at a Florida Bank ($50K min)
• 5.25% 19-Month CD at a OH/KY Bank
• 5.25% 17-Month CD at a Wyoming CU
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a Minnesota CU
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.25% 16-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.25% 12-Month CD at a New York Bank
• 5.25% 12-Month CD at a Vermont Bank
• 5.20% 12-Month CD at a Georgia CU
• 5.19% 12-Month CD at a North Carolina Institution
• 5.18% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.15% 12-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.15% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.15% 15-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.13% 12-Month CD at a Washington State Bank
• 5.12% 12-Month CD at a California Bank
• 5.12% 12-Month CD at a Texas Bank
• 5.10% 12-Month CD at a Washington State Bank
• 5.09% 14-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 5.05% 13-Month CD at a CA CU (Open to All)
• 5.05% 13-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.05% 12-Month CD at a New York Bank
• 5.02% 13-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 5.00% 15-Month CD at a Texas Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Washington State CU
• 5.00% 15-Month CD at a OH/KY Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Wisconsin/Illinois CU
• 5.00% 19-Month CD at a Tennessee CU
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Western Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a South Carolina Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 18-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a New Jersey Bank

Terms of Under 12 Months

• 7.25% 11-Month CD at a CA/TX CU ($50K max)
• 7.00% 7-Month CD at a Indiana CU ($14K max)
• 6.00% 6-Month CD at a South Carolina Bank
• 6.00% 6-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 6.00% 5-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 5.50% 11-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.36% 7-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.25% 3-Month CD at a Florida CU
• 5.25% 9-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.20% 9-Month CD at a California Bank
• 5.20% 7-Month CD at a Kentucky CU
• 5.15% 11-Month CD at a Georgia CU
• 5.15% 11-Month CD at a Minnesota Bank
• 5.15% 10-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.13% 6-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 5.10% 9-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.10% 7-Month CD at a Kentucky CU
• 5.07% 5-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.05% 7-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.05% 5-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.00% 5-Month CD at a Wisconsin CU
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.00% 11-Month CD at a Massachusetts CU
• 5.00% 5-Month CD at a New Jersey Bank
• 5.00% 3-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a Missouri Bank
• 5.00% 3-Month CD at a Texas Bank
• 5.00% 7-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.00% 7-Month CD at a Pennsylvania Bank
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a California Bank
• 5.00% 7-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a Virginia Bank
• 5.00% 3-Month CD at a Ohio CU (pick any term)
• 5.00% 9-Month CD at a Massachusetts Bank
• 4.95% 7-Month CD at a California CU
• 4.85% 7-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 4.85% 4-Month CD at a California Bank

CD Alternatives

• I Bond Fixed Rate Predictions, I Bond Article, New I Bond Rate, I Bonds as CD Alternatives

4.52% Checking Account at nBank read and submit comments for this post

This seems to be the checking account with the highest interest rate in the nation. The online bank nBank offers a checking account called nPower XL that currently pays 4.52% APY, and it's not just an intro rate. It's indexed with the 3-month Treasury Bills. The only requirement to receive this rate is a balance of $2.5K. There's a $15 monthly fee if the balance falls below $2.5K. Another nice feature of this checking account is the automatic refunding of ATM fees charged by other banks (up to $8 per month).

From the website it wasn't totally clear that this nPower XL account was a checking account and not a money market account. In the description, it states "Immediate liquidity of a checking account". A money market account has check writing privileges, but unlike a checking account, only 3 checks per month are allowed.

To clarify this issue, I called nBank's customer service. I was pleasantly surprised to have the call immediately answered by a person. Usually, you have to spend several minutes in an automated phone system. The CSR informed me that the nPower XL is indeed a checking account with no check writing restrictions. Also, as you would expect from an online bank, the account can be funded by an ACH transfer.

In addition to those looking for high-interest checking accounts, nBank may be a good choice for small businesses looking for high-interest business money market accounts. It has the nBank Business Money Market account that has the same interest rate as the XL checking account. The minimum balance to open is $5K and there's a $15 monthly fee if the balance falls below $3.5K.

The only potential issue with nBank is a weak finanical condition. Bankrate.com gives it 1 out of 5 stars (weak) and Bauer Financial gives nBank 2 out of 5 stars (problematic). The bank is FDIC insured.

This iBankDesign thread lists 14 banks with checking account rates at or above 3%. In addition to nBank, there are 5 banks with checking account APYs above 4%. Presidential Bank has a 4.25% APY checking account. There's a $1K minimum to avoid monthly fees and it requires direct deposit. City National Bank of Taylor and the First National Bank in Cameron require 10 VISA Check Card point-of-sale transactions per month and direct deposit to be eligible for the high rate. The last two banks have high-balance requirements.

5.20% 12-Month CD at a Georgia CU read and submit comments for this post

The Workmen's Circle Credit Union (WCCU) is offering a 5.20% APY 12-month CD. There is a $5K minimum deposit requirement, and the certificate is available for business, personal and IRA accounts. This special doesn't seem to be listed at the credit union's website. It was advertised in the March 20th edition of the Savannah Morning News. The ad is available online here.

The credit union's field of membership includes residents of Chatham County, Georgia. This is a small credit union with 808 members and $18 million in assets. It's NCUA insured.

5.61% 60-Month CD at a Minnesota Bank read and submit comments for this post

Mainstreet Bank is offering a 5.61% 60-month CD. The minimum deposit requirement is $2.5K. There is also a 4.80% 11-month CD special with a minimum of $1K.

Mainstreet Bank has branches in the following Minnesota cities: Center City, Centerville, Cottage Grove, Forest Lake, Newport, South St. Paul and Woodbury.

5.50% 60-Month CD at an Illinois Bank (gradual withdrawal CD) read and submit comments for this post

West Suburban Bank is offering a special 5.50% APY 60-month CD. The special CD is called a Gradual Withdrawal CD because it allows you to withdraw up to 20% of your original investment every year. The bank is also offering a 5% 2.5-year Gradual Withdrawal CD with a withdraw option every 6 months. Both certificates require a checking account and $5K minimum deposit. Credit for finding this deal goes to Victor who posted the info in my finding bank deals post. Thanks!

The Bank has branches in several Illinois cities including Aurora, Lombard, St. Charles and Wheaton.

Features like this gradual withdrawal help to reduce the risk of locking into a 5-year certificate of deposit. First, it gives you some penalty-free access to the money before 5 years. Second, the withdraw option can be useful if interest rates continue to rise. So with this option, a 5.50% CD may be better than a 5.75% CD with no special withdrawal option.

4.50% Money Market Account / 5.15% 12-Month CD at Transportation Alliance Bank read and submit comments for this post

Transportation Alliance Bank has some impressive rates on many of its accounts. The yield on both the savings and the money market account is 4.50% APY with a low $25 initial deposit and balance requirement. The Money Market Deposit Account offers check writing with the standard 3-check per month limit.

In addition to top savings account rates, the bank has some top CD rates with a low minimum of $1K. The best is a 1-year certificate of deposit with an APY of 5.15%.

Term      APY
60 Month  5.21%
48 Month  5.18%
36 Month  5.15%
24 Month  5.13%
12 Month  5.15%

Early withdrawal penalties on the CD equal 90 days of interest for terms of one-year and less. The penalty for terms over 1-year is 180 days. IRA CDs are available. More info available at the CD FAQ.

The bank has an ACH transfer system but it's not the most convenient. Here are excerpts from the bank's FAQ:

You can request money from an external bank account by ACH transfer, which you must set up before hand. You will have access to funds transferred by ACH within two business days. 90 days after opening your account you can apply for ACH Express, which gives you access to transferred funds within one business day.

You can send money to an external bank account by ACH, which you must set up before hand and costs just $2. You will have access to funds within two business days.

Transportation Alliance Bank is designed as a virtual bank in which all transactions can be done via the bank's webiste or by phone. The bank doesn't have bank branches but has several financial service centers under its parent's name Flying J Inc. These centers are staffed with sales associates who market bank products. The centers are located in Ogden, Utah; Lake Point, Utah; Walton, Kentucky; and Resaca, Georiga.

7% 7-Month CD at an Indiana CU ($14K max) read and submit comments for this post

Finance Center FCU is offering a 7% APY 7-month CD. There is a limit of $7K deposit, but a second $7K CD may be opened with some additional requirements. This special doesn't seem to be listed at the credit union's website. It was posted in this FW thread. The following are some of the details that were posted:

Financial Center FCU 7.00% APY CD, 7mo, $7,000, INDIANA only (Marion County)
I noticed this promotion advertised at the B&M location at
Castleton Center
Northeast
8245 Allisonville Road
(317) 916-7700
The offer may be rescinded at any time.

A second $7000 CD may be opened, but one of three requirements must be fulfilled (loan, checking w/DD, MMA). The checking w/DD is the only appealing option, but it requires one direct deposit of $500 within 60 days.

The credit union's field of membership includes residents of Marion County, Indiana. The credit union has several branches in Indianapolis. It's NCUA insured with 38.8K members and $333 million in assets.

A certificate of deposit that pays 7% provides about 2% over the best short term CDs available now. A deposit of $14K for a 7-month term would result in about an extra $160. That's a nice bonus.

5.64% 60-Month CD at a New York CU read and submit comments for this post

Southern Chautauqua Federal Credit Union is offering a 5.64% APY 60-month CD. The minimum deposit is $5K. Credit for finding this deal goes to the commenter who posted it in the finding deals post.

The credit union's field of membership includes residents of Chautauqua County, New York. The county is in western New York, south of Buffalo.

Southern Chautauqua is a small credit union with 6.2K members and $34.5 million in assets. It's NCUA insured.

The best 5-year certificate of deposit currently listed at Bankrate.com is 5.21% APY at Transportation Alliance Bank of Ogden, Utah.

5.00% 11-Month CD at Compass Bank (plus info on Option CDs) read and submit comments for this post

Compass Bank has some nice CD specials. The best is a 5% APY 11-month CD. The minimum required deposit is $5K. The rates for all of the terms are shown below:

Term      Rate    APY
11 Month  4.879%  5.00%
25 Month  4.926%  5.05%
37 Month  4.974%  5.10%
48 Month  5.022%  5.15%
60 Month  5.069%  5.20%

Compass Bank has branches in Arizona, Alabama, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Texas. Rates can vary by state. I checked a few of these states and all had these same rates.

Compass also offers Option Certificate of Deposits which allow rate bumps. These are often not worth it compared to the standard fixed rate CDs which have higher interest rates. However, Compass's long term Option CD rates are only 0.10% less than the above special fixed rate CDs. It's still probably better to stick with high rate short term CDs, but for those who already have Compass Bank accounts, it might be something to consider. Also for those who already have an Option CD, you want to keep an eye on the rates to see when you should request a bump. For those with terms of 36 months or longer, you can request two rate bumps during the term. Here's the latest terms and rates for these Option CDs in Texas:

Term      Rate    APY
12 Month  4.545%  4.65%
24 Month  4.831%  4.95%
36 Month  4.879%  5.00%
48 Month  4.926%  5.05%
60 Month  4.974%  5.10%

Compass Option CDs continue to be a much better deal than Capital One's No Regret CDs. Here are the latest terms and rates for Capital One's No Regrets CDs:

12 months  3.73 %  3.80 %
18 months  3.78 %  3.85 %
24 months  3.83 %  3.90 %
30 months  3.87 %  3.95 %
36 months  3.97 %  4.05 %
48 months  4.07 %  4.15 %
60 months  4.16 %  4.25 %

Refer to this previous post to see how these rates have changed since January.

EmigrantDirect Increases Cash Back on Credit Card read and submit comments for this post

EmigrantDirect increased the cash back percentage on its Platinum MasterCard from 1.25% to 1.40%. I'm sure the demand for this credit card hasn't been what Emigrant had hoped. I doubt this increase will help. Even with a cash back rebate of 1.40%, it still requires a balance of $10K in your savings account for 6 months.

EmigrantDirect has a lot of competition for cash back rebate programs. Fidelity/MBNA's Investment Reward Mastercard still pays a flat 1.5%. It does require a Fidelity account but this isn't any worse than Emigrant's requirement. For those who have most of their expenses at grocery stores, gas stations and drug stores, it's hard to beat the 5%/1% cash back credit cards.

Some good resources to find the best cash back credit card include: FW thread of good cash back credit cards, FW thread of 5% reward credit cards.

Credit for this find goes to Steve who left a comment in the finding deals post.

4.75% Intro Rate and $50 Bonus for ETrade Money Market Account read and submit comments for this post

Etrade just increased its 3-month promotional rate on its money market account from 4.40% to 4.75% APY. The rate is good for 90 days from the date the account is opened and funded. Accounts must be opened by March 31, 2006. Also, there is a $50 sign-up bonus. Here's the link to the promotional page.

On my last report on this deal back in early February, the offer's expiration date was February 28th. This has been extended to March 31st. Some of the important small print is below:

A $100 minimum deposit is required to open a new E*TRADE Money Market Account and account holders must maintain a minimum average monthly balance of $1,000, or $5,000 in total E*TRADE Bank deposits, by the end of their second statement cycle to avoid a $10 monthly fee. This fee is waived for customers who maintain a combined balance of $50,000 or more in linked E*TRADE Securities and E*TRADE Bank accounts or execute at least 30 stock or options trades during a calendar quarter. A $10 early closeout fee will be assessed if account is closed within 120 days of opening.

After the 90-day introductory period, the rates fall substantially. For balances under $5K, the current APY is 0.30%. Balances between $5K and $50K, the current APY is 2.75%.

Although ETrade's money market account doesn't have competitive rates after the intro period, ETrade has consistently had competitive CD rates with only a $1K minimum. Currently, the 6-month CD pays 4.92% APY. This could be a reason to keep the money market account after the 120 days. If the CD is at least $5K, you could avoid the $10 monthly fee without keeping the $1K balance in the money market account.

5.00% 9-Month CD at a Massachusetts Bank read and submit comments for this post

Framingham Co-operative Bank is offering a 5% APY 9-month certificate of deposit special. The minimum is $500.

The credit union also has a special for its Apex Checking Account. Deposits of over $10K earn 3.50% APY which is guaranteed through July 1, 2006. The minimum opening deposit is $2.5K, and a $2.5K balance is required to avoid monthly fees.

Deposit products are available to Massachusetts residents only.

The bank has 3 branches in the Greater MetroWest areas of Massachusetts.

The highest 9-month certificate of deposit currently listed at Bankrate.com is 5.00% APY at Nexity Bank. One of the best national deals is at World Savings with a 6-month 5.26% CD (see post).

5.25% 12-Month CD at a Vermont Bank read and submit comments for this post

Northfield Savings Bank is offering a 5.25% APY 1-year CD. This rate is also available on terms of 2, 3 and 5 years. The minimum deposit requirement is $1K. Credit for this find goes to eMoneyCentral.

Northfield Savings Bank has 12 branches in the following Vermont cities: Northfield, Barre, Bethel, Burlington, Essex Junction, Montpelier, Randolph, South Burlington, Waitsfield, Waterbury and Williston.

The highest 12-month certificate of deposit currently listed at Bankrate.com is 5.18% APY at Corus Bank. One of the best national deals is at World Savings with a 6-month 5.26% CD (see post).

5.25% 12-Month CD at a New York Bank. read and submit comments for this post

The State Bank of Long Island has increased the yield on its 12 to 23 month CDs from 5.05% to 5.25% APY since my last report in late February. The longer term rates have remained the same. The bank also has some decent short term CD rates: 4.50% APY for 3 months and 4.75% APY for 6 to 11 months. All of the certificates have a $2.5K minimum deposit requirement. The IRAs have the same rates with only a $500 minimum. Below is the full list of CD rates for terms of 3 months and up:

Term              APY
3 months          4.50%
6 to 11 months    4.75%
12 to 23 months   5.25%
24 to 59 months   5.25%
60 months         5.30%

State Bank of Long Island has 16 branches in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk, New York.

$50 Account Opening Bonus at a California Bank read and submit comments for this post

Union Bank of California is offering $50 for opening an account. This is not advertised at the bank's website, but was reported on this SlickDeals thread. Below is what was posted:

Open an account at the Union Bank of California and get $50 credit with 10 days of opening account.

Easy $50!

* Minimum opening balance is $100.00
* If account is closed before 90 days charges may be applied.
* After six months, a $8 monthly fee will apply unless minimum average balance is above $1,000.


California Residents Only.

Go to a branch, or call 1-800-796-5656.
Promotion code: 00409

The $100 minimum and the $8 monthly fee for balances under $1K looks like the Regular Checking account. For this account, the fee can also be waived for direct deposit.

5.20% 7-Month CD at a Kentucky CU read and submit comments for this post

The Fort Knox Federal Credit Union is offering a 5.20% APY 7-month CD. Other longer terms are also available at this same rate. This is up from earlier this month when the yields on these CDs were 5.10%. This credit union has been offering good short-term certificates of deposit deals for some time. Last November the credit union was offering a 5.25% 7-month CD.

The credit union's field of membership is primarily limited to those who live, work or worship in the following Kentucky counties: Boyle, Breckinridge, Grayson, Hart, Larue, Meade and Nelson.

The credit union currently has 10 branches across Kentucky and is NCUA insured.

6.00% 60-Month CD at a California CU read and submit comments for this post

American First Credit Union is offering 5-year CDs with an APY of up to 6.00%. This APY requires a deposit of $30K (4-star bonus). A $15K deposit qualifies for a 3-star bonus with a rate of about 0.15% less. An APY of 5.68% is available for deposits of over $1K.

Even at 6%, a 5-year certificate of deposit is questionable in today's rising rate environment. One thing that helps is that these CDs only have a 90 days of interest penalty for early withdrawal. The typical penalty for certificates over a year is 180 days.

The credit union's field of membership includes those who live in the California counties of Chino Hills, Corona, and Orange County as well as the employees of over 100 companies. The credit union has 6 California branch locations. Accounts can also be opened online and funded with a credit card or by transferring funds electronically from another financial institution.

American First Credit Union is NCUA insured with 75,000 members and over $662 million in assets.

5.50% 11-Month CD at a California CU read and submit comments for this post

Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union is offering a 5.50% APY 11-month CD. This is not advertised at the credit union's website, but was advertised in a newspaper and reported by a FW member on the FW CD thread. Here is what was posted:

Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union -- special grand opening certificate

5.30% APY (11-month term, $5000 min., compounded daily & paid monthly;
5.50% APY on same CD if you also open a Savings Plus, Premier Savings, Checking Plus, Visa or any loan product.

New money only; penalties for early withdrawal.

Determine eligibility by contacting credit union or visit www.addisonavenue.com
-- qualify for membership eligibility through a sponsor group, a specific family relationship or simply by joining the Financial Fitness Association for a one-time $5.00 fee.

For more information, visit the Santa Rosa (CA) branch or call 877-ADDISON.

offer expires 3/31/06.

This credit union seems to be another one in which anyone can join. It looks like the credit union created the non-profit organization, Financial Fitness Association, that allows anyone to join with just a one-time $5 membership fee.

Another nice thing about this credit union is that the membership application and account opening can be done entirely online. Accounts can be funded using credit cards, debit cards and electronic transfers.

Since this CD special is not listed at the credit union's website, it's not clear if the CD special is available to any member through the website or is just for the Santa Rosa Branch. Deposit rates listed at the website don't seem too competitive.

The credit union was originally for HP employees. Here's how the credit union got its name:

Our name comes from the garage--that legendary place on Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, CA where Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard began the startup known today as HP.

This seems to be the reason the credit union has branches through out the US in such places as Santa Diego California, Vancouver Washington, Corvallis Oregon, Boise Idaho, Fort Collins Colorado, Houston Texas, Atlanta Georgia, Andover Massachusetts, Nashua New Hampshire, Wilmington Delaware, and even in Puerto Rico.

As you would suspect, Addison Avenue is a large credit union with 126,000 members and over $1.8 billion in assets. It's NCUA insured.

More Details on the 5.26% 6-Month World Savings CD read and submit comments for this post

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, World Savings has another very nice unadvertised CD special. These deals only seem to be advertised by mailers to certain customers. Fortunately, World Savings allows others to get in on these deals if they are aware of the special from a friend who has received it. One commenter in my yesterday's post suggested that you mention that a "friend got a mailer that you are offering some CD with 5.26% APY". Some branches may handle these specials differently. So I would recommend contacting your nearest branch before visiting.

Also, a commenter noted a useful feature of these CDs that I had missed. They have a flexible maturity date. You can select terms from 6 months to 11 months with the same 5.26% APY rate. A 5.26% yield is so high, it may be worthwhile to get longer terms. As one commenter mentioned, a CD ladder may be a good idea.

Here are the full details of this special certificate of deposit:

5.26% APY CD
Available terms from 6 to 11 months
$10K minimum and $100K maximum deposit
New money only
Offer expires April 22nd
Early withdrawal penalty = 3 months of interest

Comments on your experiences with World Savings are greatly appreciated.

Corus Bank's 6-Month CD Almost Hits 5% read and submit comments for this post

Corus Bank did its usual Tuesday rate updates. The 6-month CD was increased from 4.96% to 4.99% APY. The 12-month CD was increased from 5.15% to 5.18% APY. The minimum deposit for these is $10K.

Corus's money market account yield also had a slight increase from 4.60% to 4.65% APY.

It appears Corus has made some changes to its money market accounts. It use to have two accounts with two different rates. The Managed Money Market Account offered the lower rates and only required $10K to avoid fees. The Ultimate Money Market Account had little better rates but required $100K. Now there's no difference between the two, and only the Managed Money Market Account is being advertised. However, there is now an Ultimate Interest Checking Account that earns the same as the Managed Money Market but requires a $100K for this high rate.

5.12% 12-Month CD at a Texas Bank read and submit comments for this post

Moody National Bank is offering a 5.12% APY 1-year CD. There's also a 4.85% APY 6-month CD. Both have a minimum deposit requirement of $500.

The bank has branches in Galveston, Texas and in the suburbs of Houston.

Useful Tips and Links from Money Article read and submit comments for this post

The latest Money Magazine has an article titled "Triple the Return on Your Savings! No Risk!" I liked the way it described the best choices for individuals based on their circumstances. I also liked some of the links it gave which included this blog! The other bank-related links included the Bankrate.com along with its Safe and Sound database and Fatwallet Finance. I feel lucky to be included. There are several other good banking resources for finding the best deals. Refer to my finding deals post for these. The article is in the April 2006 edition of Money Magazine. It doesn't seem to be available at Money's website

The article listed the best risk-free savings choices for 4 types of people:

• If you're just starting to save
• If you have lots of idle cash
• If you need your cash at a specific time
• If your low-risk savings are devoted to long-term goals

There were some good tips, but I thought it left out some things. Below is my summary and critique of the article's recommendations:

If you're just starting to save

Online Savings Accounts were considered the best choice for the first category for those just starting to save. It mentioned the concern of many about dealing with an online bank. In addition to Bankrate.com, it should also have mentioned using FDIC's database to investigate an online bank. For credit unions, the NCUA has a similar database. You can use this to confirm that the web address of the bank or credit union is legit.

If you have lots of idle cash

For second category (those with lots of idle cash), the best choice was money-market funds. One reason the article gave for money-market funds over bank online savings and money market accounts was that money funds are likely to win out if the Fed continues to hike its target federal funds rate. This may have been true in the past, but with the online competition, I'm not sure if this is true now. But money funds have one advantage that savings account don't have and that is tax-free versions. Money funds based on municipal bonds can be free of federal income tax. However, these tend not to rise as quickly as the taxable money funds when rates rise. To find the highest rates for money-market funds, the article mentioned the site iMoneyNet. I also recommend BestCashCow's Money Market Funds page.

Some of the advantages the article listed for money market funds are minimums as low as $1,000 and the ability to write checks (although amounts generally must be for at least $250). It did mention bank online money market accounts as another alternative. Unlike money funds, bank money market accounts are FDIC insured (although this isn't that important since money funds are so safe). Like money funds, bank money market accounts usually have minimum balance requirements along with limited checking writing privileges. The article mentioned HSBC's online savings account which has ATM access but no check writing. It should also have mentioned some other good money market account choices such as GMAC Bank which has a great 4.65% APY, only a $500 minimum, and check writing and ATM cards. For those who want a smaller minimum requirement, Capital One's Money Market Account's minimum is only $100, and it has a decent yield of 4.25% APY.

If you need your cash at a specific time

Money's best choice for the third category (if you need your cash at a specific time) was short-term certificates of deposit. The article recommended sticking with CDs with terms no longer than 6 months. With so many 6-month CDs offering around 5% or better it's hard to argue with this when most long-term CDs have yields no better than the low 5% range. Some banks which are offering 6-month CDs of 5% and over include World Savings which currently has a 5.26% APY special (see post). Meadows Credit Union is still offering its special 5.01% APY 6-month CD with only a $1K minimum (see post). In addition to a great money market account, GMAC Bank also has some nice CD rates. Its 6-month CD is currently very close to 5% at 4.95% APY. In addition to these national CD deals, there are also many local bank and credit union CD deals. This is one area in which I try to report on.

If your low-risk savings are devoted to long-term goals

For the last category (if your low-risks savings are devoted to long-term goals) Money's best choice was short-term bond funds. They were considered better than money-market funds since they can better take advantage of a likely upswing in the yield curve (when long term rates finally start moving up). The article also mentioned stable-value funds which are usually only available in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. These are a hybrid of bond funds and money market funds that are designed to guard your principal from drops in bond prices. For more info on Stable-Value funds, refer to the website Stable Value Investment Association.

Cash investments to avoid

The article also gave some recommendations of cash investments to avoid. These included Treasure Inflation-Protected Security Funds, EE Bonds and I Bonds. Since the Treasury has changed the EE Bonds to have a fixed rate which is now a low 3.2%, I agree with staying away from these. For I Bonds, the article mentioned the same concerns that I described in this post. I Bonds rates will likely go way down when rates reset in May. However, if the fixed-rate component of the I Bond goes up significantly, in my opinion, it may be worthwhile to consider later this year. Refer to the government's TreasuryDirect website for more info on these. The article left out short term Treasury Bills. These have nice rates, can be bought easily from TreasuryDirect and are free of state and local income taxes. Refer to this FW Thread for the latest discussion about these.

5.26% 6-Month CD at World Savings read and submit comments for this post

World Savings is doing another one of its unadvertised CD specials. I heard rumors of it so I called after I couldn't find it mentioned on the World Savings' website. Here are the details:

5.26% APY 6-month CD
$10K minimum and $100K maximum deposit
New money only
Offer expires April 22nd
Early withdrawal penalty = 3 months of interest

I was told you can get this CD special using the bank's online application, but you'll have to specify this rate in the comment field since the application only lists the standard 6-month rate. I would recommend contacting World Savings before applying for this special. You can also open the CD by visiting one of the branches.

World Savings is still offering a 5.01% APY 5-month liquid internet certificate of deposit. I first posted on this back in February. This one is advertised online at this promo page, however, it's not advertised from the bank's main pages.

5.00% 3-Month CD at an Ohio CU (pick any term) read and submit comments for this post

Glass City Federal Credit Union is offering a CD special with 5.00% APY on any of its CD terms. Available terms includes 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48 and 60 months. Minimum deposit of $2.5K with money new to the credit union is required.

The field of membership includes all those who live, work, worship or attend school in the Ohio counties of Lucas, Wood, Fulton and Ottawa.

Glass City's main office is in Maumee, Ohio. It also has branches in Bowling Green and Toledo.

5.20% 9-Month / 4.85% 4-Month CD at a California Bank read and submit comments for this post

Vineyard Bank is advertising two nice short-term CD specials: 5.20% APY 9-month CD and a 4.85% APY 4-month CD (rate info, pdf). Both require a minimum deposit of $1,000 and the money must be new to the bank. Out-of-state money does not qualify for these promotional rates. Credit for this find goes to this commenter. Thanks!

This bank has branches in several cities in Southern California including San Diego, Manhattan Beach, Irwindale, Irvine, and Chino.

The highest certificate of deposit yield for a nine month term currently listed at Bankrate.com is 5.00% APY at Nexity Bank of Birmingham, Alabama. Nexity also has a 5.15% APY 12-month CD. All have a minimum of $1K.

5.54% 12-Month CD at an Ohio CU ($100K min) read and submit comments for this post

GE Federal Credit Union is offering a special 12-month jumbo CD with an APY of 5.54%. The minimum deposit requirement is $100K. Other share certificates with a minimum deposit of only $500 are also available with lower rates. These include a 5.02% 12-month CD. Similar rates on IRA certificates are also available.

In addition to GE employees, the credit union's field of membership includes employees of more than 300 Cincinnati companies and also residents of Sharonville.

The credit union has branches around Cincinnati and Mason Ohio. There are also branches at GE Aircraft Engine plants in New Mexico, California and Kentucky.

The credit union is NCUA insured and has 54,000 members and $624 million in assets.

5.26% 15-Month CD at a Florida Bank ($50K min) read and submit comments for this post

Florida Choice Bank is offering a 5.26% APY 15-month CD. The minimum deposit is $50K. An APY of 5.12% is available for deposits between $25K and $50K. These certificates of deposit are Flex CDs which have the following features: allows one withdrawal of up to one half the original principle balance without penalty, allows additional deposits in increments of $100, up to one half of the initial deposit amount, and Flex CDs allow an increase of the interest rate one time if the bank offers a higher rate on the same term Flex CD.

These special Flex CDs were advertised in today's Orlando Sentinel and are not listed at the bank's website.

These CD rates are high even without the flexible feature. The withdrawal feature of the flexible feature is nice, however, the one-time bump feature is likely not to be useful since the term has to be the same. Banks often change terms on these special CDs. For example, a few weeks ago the bank was offering a 4.89% APY 14-month Flex CD. So those who opened these CDs will have to wait longer for another 14-month Flex CD to take advantage of the bump-up opportunity.

Florida Choice Bank has branches in the following Central Florida cities: Orlando, Ocala, Clermont, Longwood, Leesburg and Mt. Dora.

5.00% 6-Month CD at a Virginia Bank read and submit comments for this post

Millennium Bank is offering a 5.00% APY 180-day CD special. A 5.10% APY 14-month CD is also available. Both have a minimum deposit of $1,000. Credit for finding this deal goes to the FW CD thread.

Millennium Bank has branches in Richmond and in several cities in Northern Virginia.

This Millennium Bank should not be confused with the offshore non-FDIC Millennium Bank that I posted on last October. This Virginia Millennium Bank is a US bank that is FDIC insured.

$100 Checking Account Bonus at a Massachusetts Bank read and submit comments for this post

Benjamin Franklin Bank is offering $100 for opening a free checking account with direct deposit and for adding internet banking and bill pay with three payers. Offer expires May 31, 2006. A $10 minimum opening deposit in a free checking account and a minimum $10 daily balance in the account for 90 days are required. The ad at this promo page must be brought into one of the bank branches.

The bank has 9 branches in Massachusetts.

Two weeks ago I posted about this bank's special 5% money market account. The 5% rate was guaranteed until May 31, 2006. This checking account bonus replaced this money market special on the promo page.

Bank Deal Summary for Mar 18, 2006 read and submit comments for this post

EmigrantDirect is staying in the game but it isn't doing anything to really impress people. This week, Emigrant raised its savings account APY from 4.25% to 4.50%. That's not bad for a no-minimum savings account, but it's less than VirtualBank and HSBC. Last year, Emigrant's priority was to make a name for itself as America's highest rate no-minimum savings account. This year it seems Emigrant is trying to branch out into other products. Unfortunately, these new products are not that exciting. Emigrant's new credit card introduced in January was a flop. This week Emigrant introduced CDs that can be opened by savings account customers online. This is a nice new feature. The problem is the rates are too low and the terms too long. All CDs have an APY of 5% and the shortest term is 18 months. If terms went down to 6 months, that would have provided some excitement.

EmigrantDirect's New York competitor, MyBankingDirect, raised its money market account rate to be just ahead of Emigrant's rate at 4.55% APY. MyBankingDirect is going to have to do more if it wants to compete. An extra 0.05% is not good enough when there is a minimum deposit requirement of $5K. It does have money market features like an ATM card, but for those who want these types of features, GMAC Bank is probably the best choice.

GMAC Bank raised its CD rates again this week. Its APY of the 6-month CD is closing in on 5%. It's now 4.95%. The 1-year CD APY remained the same at 5.10%. The 4-year and 5-year CD APY is now 5.20%.

Corus Bank also did a slight increase to its 6-month CD. It's now 4.96% APY. And like GMAC, its 12-month CD remains the same from last week.

Corus Bank's 1-year CD is no longer the national 1-year leader. I've now officially placed Melrose Credit Union as the 1-year CD leader with an APY of 5.35% for minimum deposits of $5K (see post). I've confirmed that the credit union is open to anyone in the US. Applications for membership and CDs can be done by mail. You can even get a 1-year CD with an APY of 5.61% with Melrose. But this requires a minimum of $1 million. That's way too much for it to qualify on my CD list.

In addition to the 1-year CD, it also has great rates on its 2 to 5-year CDs ranging from 5.46% to 5.77% APY ($5K minimums). Melrose doesn't offer any CD terms under one year. The savings account has an APY of 3.03%. Membership requires funding the savings account with at least $25. The savings account may be useful when the CD matures. If you don't want to renew, you may be able to transfer the CD funds into the savings and then do an ACH transfer.

It'll be interesting to watch Melrose and see if the rates are able to remain high. The credit union has three time the assets of Self-Help Credit Union so it may be able to handle a larger customer base. SHCU was the CD leader for most of last December and November. The rates then took a fall in late December. They were coming close to being the leader again but the rates took another fall early this month.

There was another great CD deal that looked like it was going to be national. Middlesex Savings Bank started a new CD promotion with 5.25% APY on all of its CD terms from 3 months to 71 months (see post). On Wednesday I called and confirmed that these CDs could be opened by people from out of state through the mail. Yesterday, new rules were posted that requires the CDs to be funded only by in-state funds (Massachusetts).

The best local CD deal this week was a 7.25% 11-month CD at a California credit union (see post). National 1st Credit Union of Santa Clara was offering this for deposits between $5K and $50K. It's limited to the first 400 members and requires a checking account with direct deposit. When you get rates that much higher than the competition, there is almost always a cap on the deposit. Sometimes this cap is as small as $1K. If it's too small, the deal will probably not net you more than what you can get with a checking account bonus. For a CD with a term around 1-year and a rate 2% higher then anything else, you earn about $200 more for each $10K of your deposit. So for it to be a decent deal, a minimum deposit should be no less than $2.5K (that would be like a $50 bonus). For the case of National 1st, a $50K deposit can mean an extra $1000. That's a very hot deal.

Thanks to all who have helped by leaving comments or sending emails on rate updates. Sorry I can't include all of the best rates in this summary.

The rates listed below are based on Annual Percentage Yield (APY). No minimum balances are required unless noted. MMA next to the rates indicate a money market account. Most MMAs have check writing and ATM cards. Online savings accounts usually lack both of these. Previous weekly summaries are available for Mar 11th, Mar 4th, Feb 25th, Feb 18th, Feb 11th and Feb 4th.

As of March 18, 2006

Savings/Money Market Accounts:

• HSBC - 4.80%, offers checking, (rate history), my post (bonus info)
• GMAC Bank - 4.65% MMA (min $500), offers checking, my post
• UmbrellaBank.com - 4.61% MMA (min $1K), offers checking, my post
• VirtualBank - 4.60% (min $100), offers checking, my post ($20 bonus)
• Corus Bank - 4.60% MMA (min $10K to open)
• MyBankingDirect - 4.55% MMA (min $5K), my post
• EmigrantDirect - 4.50%, my post, ($10 signup bonus), (rate history)
• Presidential - 4.37% (min $5K, only first $35K receives this rate), offers checking, my post
• CapitalOne/Costco - 4.30% MMA (min $5K, Costco members only, $50 deal for exec. members)
• Western Financial Bank - 4.25% MMA, offers checking, my post
• FirstFedDirect - 4.25% (closed to CA residents), my post
• CapitalOne - 4.25% (MMA has same rate, but with checks and ATM. $100 min.)
• MetLife Bank - 4.00% MMA (min $5K), my post ($50 bonus)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 3.97% MMA (min $500), my post
• ING Direct - 3.80%, my post (4.75% promo and $25 bonus), (rate history)
• UFB Direct - 3.75% MMA, offers checking, my post
• NetBank - 3.52% MMA ($500 min), requires checking, my post ($175 deal)
• ebank - 3.50% MMA ($1K min, rate for $10K-25K balance), offers checking

6-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• Meadows Credit Union - 5.01% ($1K min), new funds only, my post
• World Savings - 5.01% (5-month) (min $5K), new funds only, my post
• Corus Bank - 4.96% (min $10K)
• GMAC Bank - 4.95% (min $500)
• ETrade Bank - 4.92% (min $1K), my post
• UmbrellaBank.com - 4.90% (min $1K)
• FirstFedDirect - 4.81% (min $10K), my post
• VirtualBank - 4.80% (min $10K), my post ($20 bonus)
• NetBank - 4.75% (min $1K)
• UFB Direct - 4.55% (min $8K)
• Western Financial Bank - 4.50% ($100 min)
• ebank - 4.50% (min $1K), 4.75% for ePremium checking customers
• MetLife Bank - 4.50% ($1K min)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.37% (min $500), my post
• ING Direct - 4.30%

12-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• Melrose CU - 5.35% (min $5K) my post
• Corus Bank - 5.15% (min $10K)
• Western Financial Bank - 5.15% ($100 min) (13-month)
• GMAC Bank - 5.10% (min $500)
• UmbrellaBank.com - 5.10% (min $1K)
• VirtualBank - 5.10% (min $10K), my post ($20 bonus)
• NetBank - 5.06% (min $1K), my post (iPod/$50 bonuses)
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.02% (min $10K), my post
• FirstFedDirect - 5.02%, (min $10K) my post
• ETrade Bank - 5.00% (min $1K), my post
• ebank - 4.75% (min $1K), 5.00% for ePremium checking customers
• MetLife Bank - 4.75% ($1K min)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.73% (min $500), my post
• UFB Direct - 4.72% (min $8K)
• ING Direct - 4.50%

18-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• GMAC Bank - 5.15% (min $500)
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.13% (min $10K), my post
• CapitalOne/Costco - 5.11% (min $5K, Costco members only)

36-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Melrose CU - 5.56% (min $5K) my post
• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.50% (min $1K), my post
• GMAC Bank - 5.15% (min $500)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.93% (min $500), my post

60-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Melrose CU - 5.77% (min $5K) my post
• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.67% (min $1K), my post
• GMAC Bank - 5.20% (min $500)
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.13% (min $10K), my post
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.99% (min $500), my post

84-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.88% (min $1K), my post

High Rates with Conditions - Open to All

• 10% Savings Account for kids ($500 max)
• 5.01% 3-month intro rate on checking account
• 5.00% Money Market with $30K (3-month intro rate)
• 5.00% Money Market with $100K min
• 5.00% Money Market with $100K min
• 4.00% checking account (CU that's open to all)

Checking and Saving Accounts at Local Credit Unions

• 5.00% Money Market Account (New York)
• 4.75% no-minimum savings account (New York)
• 4.50% checking account promo (Oklahoma)

CD Specials at Local Credit Unions/Banks Over the Last Two Months

Terms of 60 Months and Over

• 6.66% 62-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 6.40% 60-Month CD at a South Carolina CU
• 5.80% 60-Month CD at a Virginia CU
• 5.75% 72-Month CD at a CU
• 5.66% 60-Month CD at a South Carolina CU
• 5.50% 60-Month CD at a CU
• 5.45% 60-Month CD at a Massachusetts CU
• 5.38% 60-Month CD at a Utah CU

Terms of 24 Months to Under 60 Months

• 5.81% 30-Month CD at a Wisconsin CU
• 5.64% 36-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.56% 24-Month CD at a Nashville CU
• 5.50% 55-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.50% 30-Month CD at a Philadelphia Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a New York Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a Philadelphia Bank

Terms of 12 Months to Under 24 Months

• 5.90% 12-Month CD at a New York CU (based on NCAA picks)
• 5.50% 12-Month CD at a Ohio CU
• 5.50% 18-Month CD at a Washington State CU
• 5.50% 13-Month CD at a Chicago Bank
• 5.5% 17-Month CD at a Nevada Bank
• 5.50% 15-Month CD at a Florida CU
• 5.30% 15-Month CD at a Ohio CU
• 5.30% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Credit Union
• 5.30% 20-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.25% 19-Month CD at a OH/KY Bank
• 5.25% 17-Month CD at a Wyoming CU
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a Minnesota CU
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.25% 16-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.19% 12-Month CD at a North Carolina Institution
• 5.18% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.15% 12-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.15% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.15% 15-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.13% 12-Month CD at a Washington State Bank
• 5.12% 12-Month CD at a California Bank
• 5.10% 12-Month CD at a Washington State Bank
• 5.09% 14-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 5.05% 13-Month CD at a CA CU (Open to All)
• 5.05% 13-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.05% 12-Month CD at a New York Bank
• 5.02% 13-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 5.00% 15-Month CD at a Texas Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Washington State CU
• 5.00% 15-Month CD at a OH/KY Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Wisconsin/Illinois CU
• 5.00% 19-Month CD at a Tennessee CU
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Western Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a South Carolina Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 18-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a New Jersey Bank

Terms of Under 12 Months

• 7.25% 11-Month CD at a CA/TX CU ($50K max)
• 6.00% 6-Month CD at a South Carolina Bank
• 6.00% 6-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 6.00% 5-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 5.36% 7-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.25% 3-Month CD at a Florida CU
• 5.25% 9-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.15% 11-Month CD at a Georgia CU
• 5.15% 11-Month CD at a Minnesota Bank
• 5.15% 10-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.13% 6-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 5.10% 9-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.10% 7-Month CD at a Kentucky CU
• 5.07% 5-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.05% 7-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.05% 5-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.00% 5-Month CD at a Wisconsin CU
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.00% 11-Month CD at a Massachusetts CU
• 5.00% 5-Month CD at a New Jersey Bank
• 5.00% 3-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a Missouri Bank
• 5.00% 3-Month CD at a Texas Bank
• 5.00% 7-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.00% 7-Month CD at a Pennsylvania Bank
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a California Bank
• 5.00% 7-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 4.95% 7-Month CD at a California CU
• 4.85% 7-Month CD at a Georgia Bank

CD Alternatives

• I Bond Fixed Rate Predictions, I Bond Article, New I Bond Rate, I Bonds as CD Alternatives

MyBankingDirect Raises Money Market Account APY to 4.55% read and submit comments for this post

MyBankingDirect just raised its money market account from 4.30% to 4.55% APY. Like EmigrantDirect, MyBankingDirect is an online division of a New York bank. There seems to be some competition between these two banks. MyBankingDirect keeps increasing its money market rate to be just above the rate offered by EmigrantDirect. Below is a history of their APY changes since MyBankingDirect began operations sometime last August:

Date    MyBankingD  EmigrantDirect
Aug   :  3.75%       3.50%
Sep 20:              4.00%
Oct  7:  4.00%
Dec  1:  4.10%
Jan 26:              4.25%
Feb  2:  4.30%
Mar 15:              4.50%
Mar 18:  4.55%

Even though MyBankingDirect rates have often been slightly higher than Emigrant's rates, MyBankingDirect has a big drawback with its $5K minimum balance requirement. As I mentioned in this previous post, it does have some advantages.

HSBC Savings and Checking Account Bonus Updates read and submit comments for this post

There have been three HSBC bonuses in the last few months. The first was $25 for opening the Online Savings account. This one expired in February and there doesn't seem to be any new one.

The other two are for HSBC checking accounts. The first bonus is $50 for opening a new HSBC Smart Checking package. This had expired on March 15th but has now been extended to April 23rd. The second is a $10 bonus for opening a Free Checking account. This also expires on April 23rd.

Opening a HSBC Smart Checking Package

I finally signed up for the HSBC Smart Checking Package 12 days ago. One extra step that wasn't required when opening the Online Savings account was printing and signing the signature card. It took HSBC 10 days after I sent it in the mail before HSBC recorded receiving this.

One confusing thing about opening this Smart Checking Package is that in addition to the checking account it also requires opening the Premium Money Market Savings Account. I don't know why HSBC still offers this money market account which only pays 0.60%.

The funding and verification process was the same as that of the Online Savings account. You can make the initial deposits with an ACH transfer from an existing checking account. One thing to note is that you can't fund it with the same account that was used to fund the Online Savings account. The trial deposits showed up at my external checking account in two days.

I thought it might be useful to provide a recap of these two checking account bonuses:

Important details of the Smart Checking Package $50 bonus:

• Promotion link is here.
• Promotion code is GET50
• Expiration date is April 23, 2006
• You qualify as a new customer as long as you don't currently have any HSBC interest-bearing checking account
• This requires all of the following: Interest Checking account or Interest Checking Plus account AND Premium Money Market account AND Debit Card.
• The Smart Package Interest Checking account has no monthly fee if either direct deposit or a combined balance of $3,000 is kept in qualifying accounts. Your Online Savings account balance will be included for the balance requirement.
• No charge for your first order of checks.

Important details of the Free Checking $10 bonus:

• Promotion Link is here
• Promotion code is Check
• Expiration date is April 23, 2006
• No monthly maintenance fees
• If the Free Checking account is inactive for 3 consecutive months, the account will be converted to Basic Banking with a $3 monthly fee regardless of balance. Transfers to and from Online Savings Account may count as activity.

Here's a previous post on these checking account bonuses. This January post reports on the 4.80% Online Savings rate and provides links to many of my previous HSBC posts.

5.64% 36-Month CD at a Michigan CU read and submit comments for this post

River Valley Credit Union is offering a 5.64% APY 36-month CD special. The minimum deposit requirement is $500. There is also a 5.12% APY 30-month CD special with the same minimum. These specials are for a limited time only.

The credit union's field of membership includes residents of Kent and Ionia County, Michigan. Branches are located in Ada and Lowell which are on the east side of Grand Rapids.

The credit union is NCUA insured with 10.2K members and $41.5M in assets.

The best certificate of deposit with a 3-year term currently listed at Bankrate.com is 5.22% APY at M&T Bank, NA of Oakfield, New York.

The best 3-year CD rate at a credit union open to those in any state is 5.56% APY at Melrose Credit Union. Pentagon FCU, which is a more well known national credit union, is still offering 3-year CD rates of 5.50% APY.

Next Series I Bond Rates May Be Under 1% read and submit comments for this post

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced yesterday that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2% in February, before seasonal adjustment. The February CPI-U level was 198.7.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose only 0.1% which was less than the 0.2% rise predicted by economists and the 0.2% rise seen in January. This doesn't change the expectations for another 0.25% increase in the funds rate at the next Fed meeting on March 28. However, it adds uncertainty of another rate hike in May (more, CNN).

For US Series I Bonds, there's one more month of CPI-U data that will be used for the inflation component of the I Bond rates starting this May. The important thing to note is that February's CPI-U level of 198.7 is still under September 2005's level of 198.8. If the March index is still under 198.8, the next I Bond inflation compoent will be negative. Those who bought I Bonds since November 2005 could have 6 months with a rate of under 1%.

Why would the rate be under 1%?

I Bond rates are composed of the inflation component and a fixed rate componenet. The inflation component changes every 6 months based on the rates set every May and November. The fixed rate remains the same through the life of the Bond. I Bonds bought since November have a fixed rate of 1% so if the new May inflation component is negative, an I Bond bought last November may earn less than 1% for 6 months after May 1st.

Predictions? Recommendations?

Based on gas prices, it seems likely that March inflation will likely be higher than February's inflation. Let's assume March's inflation matches that of January's with a gain of 0.7%. That would prevent a negative I Bond inflation component in May. However, the component would still be very low at about 1.3%. I Bonds purchased last November would earn about 2.3% starting in May. Currently, I Bonds purchased in November are earning 6.73%. This will surely disappoint many who purchased I Bonds to take advantage of the very high 6.73% rate.

For those interested in I Bonds, there is one good thing if the next inflation component is low. It may help push the I Bond fixed rates higher. If May's inflation component is only 1.3% and the fixed rate component remains at only 1%, the composite rate would only be about 2.3%. Since this is about half of the rate of the best savings accounts that are now available, I Bonds would look very unattractive. So this should increase the odds that the Treasurey will do a major bump to the fixed rate component. I'm predicting it may go to at least 2%.

From the time that the I Bonds started in September 1998, the highest fixed rate has been 3.60% in May 2000. The lowest it has been is 1% which is the current rate. Last November, it was lowered from 1.2% to 1.0%. It seems the Treasury was compensating for the very high November inflation component of 5.70%. Hopefully, the Treasury will compensate in the opposite way this time. I'm predicting a 1% increase to the fixed rate. At the very least, it should increase to some extent. So for those considering I Bonds as a long term investment, I would recommend waiting until May. For those who plan on holding the I Bond for more than 5 years, only the fixed rate is of concern.


Below is the full list of I Bond fixed and inflation component rates based on this Treasury data. The composite rate is slightly more than the sum of the fixed rate and inflation rate. Refer to that Treasury page for the exact equation. Also, I've included the targeted federal funds rate for reference. The funds rate is the rate that was current on either May 1st or November 1st. This is based on data from here.

Date        Fixed    Infl    Targeted
            Rate     Cmp     Fed Funds
Nov 2005    1.00%    5.70%    4.00%
May 2005    1.20%    3.58%    2.75%
Nov 2004    1.00%    2.66%    1.75%
May 2004    1.00%    2.38%    1.00%
Nov 2003    1.10%    1.08%    1.00%
May 2003    1.10%    3.54%    1.25%
Nov 2002    1.60%    2.46%    1.75%
May 2002    2.00%    0.56%    1.75%
Nov 2001    2.00%    2.38%    2.50%
May 2001    3.00%    2.88%    4.50%
Nov 2000    3.40%    3.04%    6.50%
May 2000    3.60%    3.82%    6.00%
Nov 1999    3.40%    3.52%    5.25%
May 1999    3.30%    1.72%    4.75%
Nov 1998    3.30%    1.72%    5.00%
Sep 1998    3.40%    1.24%    5.50%

For more information on I Bonds, refer to this previous post.

5.25% 13-Month CD at a California CU read and submit comments for this post

Cal State 9 Credit Union is offering a 5.25% APY 13-month CD. The minimum deposit requirement is $5K, and the money must come from outside the credit union. Last month Cal State 9 had a similar certificate special but with only a 5% yield.

Cal State 9's field of membership includes residents of the following California counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, Sacramento and Santa Clara.

The credit union is NCUA insured and has over 25K members and over $320M in assets. It's rated 3/5 stars for financial strength by Bankrate.com.

5.15% 10-Month / 5.25% 16-Month CD at a Florida Bank read and submit comments for this post

First National Bank of Central Florida has some nice promotional CD rates: 5.15% APY 10-month and a 5.25% APY 16-month. Both certificates have a minimum requirement of $10K and a maximum deposit limit of $250K.

The bank has branches in Orlando, Florida and in the surrounding suburbs.

5.00% 7-Month / 5.15% 15-Month CD at a Florida Bank read and submit comments for this post

Banco Popular's Florida branches are offering two nice CD specials: 5% APY 7-month CD and a 5.15% APY 15-month CD. Both have a minimum deposit requirement of $1000 for a regular CD. The minimum for an IRA certificate of deposit is $500.

This deal is not listed at the bank's website but was advertised in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. According to the customer service representative, this special is only for Banco Popular's Florida branches. The bank also has branches in California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas.

5.25% 3-Month and Longer CDs Open to All read and submit comments for this post

Middlesex Savings Bank is offering 5.25% APY on all CD terms from 3 months to 71 months. The minimum deposit is $250. The early withdrawal penalty is 3 months of interest for terms of 12 months and less. The penalty is 6 months of interest for terms over 12 months. These rates are only available for a limited time.

Middlesex Savings Bank is located in Massachusetts, however, these CDs are available to out-of-state people and can be opened by mail.

Now this is the kind of CD deal I would have expected from EmigrantDirect instead of their 5% CDs with a minimum term of 18 months.

Note: Middlesex has added an in-state restriction to these CDs. They are now only available to residents of Massachusetts.

[Edited: Mar 25, 2006]

EmigrantDirect Now at 4.50% - Plus New 5% CDs read and submit comments for this post

EmigrantDirect raised the yield on its American Dream Savings Account from 4.25% to 4.50% APY today. The last rate hike by Emigrant was January 26th when it raised the savings account rate from 4.00% to 4.25% APY. These last two rate hikes have been disappointing. I was hoping for at least another 0.5% rate hike like it did last September.

Instead of making news with the highest savings rate, it looks like Emigrant is trying to make headlines with new products. In January it was the new cash back credit card. Now Emigrant has come out with certificates of deposit which can be purchased online by transfering the funds from your existing Emigrant savings account. The terms range from 18 months to 10 years. All earn 5.00% APY. The minimum opening deposit is $1,000. The penalty for early withdrawal is 180 days of interest.

The CD opening process looks easy. This would be a good deal if shorter terms were available. A 6-month 5% CD would be nice. However, a 5% 18-month term is not that good when the best 12-month CDs are up to 5.15% APY.

5.90% 12-Month CD at a New York CU (based on NCAA picks). read and submit comments for this post

The Countryside Federal Credit Union is offering an unique March Madness Certificate Special. If you pick the right 4 NCAA teams that make it to the Final Four, the credit union will reward you with up to an extra 1.00% on a 12-month share certificate. Here are the details:

The minimum APY of the CD is 4.90% and the minimum deposit is $2K. To get the extra 1% you must submit your choice of the final four teams, the final two teams and the national champion by March 22th. You get a bump of 0.1% for each correct team in the final four, 0.2% for each correct team in the final two and 0.2% for the champion.

The credit union's field of membership includes those who live in Onondaga County, New York and is located in Syracuse. It's NCUA insured with 6500 members and $80M in assets.

A list of the brackets is available here. Credit for this find goes to the FW CD thread.

5.10% 9-Month CD at a Mississippi Bank. read and submit comments for this post

Grand Bank is having a grand opening CD special with a 5.10% APY 9-month CD. The minimum deposit is $1,000. The special ends March 17, 2006. Credit for finding this deal goes to eMoneyCentral.

Grand Bank has locations in Mississippi cities of Hattiesburg and Petal.

The best 9-month certificate of deposit rate listed at Bankrate.com is 5% APY at Nexity Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

5.15% 11-Month CD at a Minnesota Bank read and submit comments for this post

Brickwell Community Bank is offering a special 5.15% 11-month CD. The minimum deposit requirement is $5K.

The bank is located in Woodbury, Minnesota which is in the eastern suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

The highest certificate of deposit rate for a one year term listed at Bankrate.com continues to be 5.15% APY from Corus Bank. Corus kept its 12-month CD at 5.15% APY yesterday. However, it did make a slight increase to its 6-month CD from 4.94% to 4.96% APY.

$100 Sign-Up Bonus for Chase Credit Card read and submit comments for this post

Yesterday I posted on the $100 Citi credit card deals. Chase also has a similar $100 credit card deal. Thanks again goes to jeremiah for posting the details at the finding-deals comment section here. Below is a copy of these details:

Chase Cash Plus Rewards Mastercard.
* $100 cash back check after your first purchase
* Earn 5% cash back on qualified grocery store, gas station, drug store purchases and 1% on all other qualified purchases
* Redeem your cash back points for gift certificates at your favorite merchants or a cash back check
* Enjoy a 0% into APR for up to 12 months
* The time period for the into APR and the balances to which it will apply will be based on our review of your application and credit history.
* No annual fee

- Looks like this one is phone only.
Phone: 1-888-787-0329
Offer Code: 93Y

Expires: April 30, 2006

** Please allow 6 to 8 weeks after your first purchase for bonus points to post to you account. Bonus points are contingent on account opening and first purchase. You will receive 10,000 bonus points, which can be redeemed for 1% cash back or a $100 gift certificate.

This card has the nice 5% cash back feature for grocery store, gas station and drug store purchases (everyday purchases) and 1% on all other purchases. Many of the Citi credit cards also have this feature including the Citi Dividend American Express, the Citi AT&T Universal Mastercard and the Citi Dividend Platinum Master Card. The only problem is that they all have a $300 reward limit per year. So it may make sense to have several of these 5% cash back cards. You just want to be sure you can pay off the balances each month. Otherwise, the cash back benefits are diminished. A great list of the latest 5% cash back reward credit cards along with the latest signup bonuses is at this FW thread.

With these nice sign-up bonuses along with the 5% cash back everyday purchases, I'm not sure why anyone would want EmigrantDirect's cash back card which only offers 1.25% cash back. The two benefits are the no cap on your cash back potential and an extra 0.25% cash back on your non-everyday purchases. But most of my purchases are everyday purchases. The extra 0.25% for non-everyday purchases isn't worth the time. So I wonder how successful this credit card has been. Perhaps we'll see a sign-up bonus for it sometime in the future.

7.25% 11-Month CD at a CA/TX CU ($50K max). read and submit comments for this post

The National 1st Credit Union is offering a 7.25% APY 11-month CD. This deal was reported in this FW thread and doesn't seem to be listed at the credit union's website. Here are the details as posted:

Deposit Amount
$5000 - $50,000 - One per household
7.25% APY for 11 mo
Direct Deposit Required
Promotion runs from March 1st to March 31st 2006.
Limited to first 400 members

The credit union's field of membership includes those who live in Santa Clara County California and in the community surrounding the Arlington, Texas branch.

The credit union is NCUA insured and has 16.8K members and $169.0 million in assets.

Those who have $50K to invest would make more than $1,000 over what they could with a 5% 11-month certificate of deposit.

Superior Savings' New 5% Money Market Account read and submit comments for this post

Superior Savings of New England, N.A. has started a new money market account that pays 5% APY. It's called the Incredible Money Market Account, and it requires $100K to earn the 5% APY. There is a $25K minimum balance requirement to open this account. The interest rates for balances between $25K and $100K are not posted on the website. From a call to the customer service, I was told it's 3.50% APY. Balances under $25K earn no interest and incur a monthly fee of $20. Although it's no longer advertised, the Superior Money Market account is still available with an APY of 4.50% for balances over $25K. The bank was one of the first to offer a 4.50% money market account back in October.

As has been stated at this FW thread, this bank doesn't increase rates on its money market account when rates increase. Instead, they just start a new promotional account. This seemed to be just what happened. Too bad the new promotion requires $100K to earn the 5%. Perhaps in another 6 months, they'll come out with the Spectacular MMA with a smaller balance requirement. Then in 2007, perhaps we'll see the Stupendous MMA with an APY of 6%...

5.30% 20-Month CD at an Illinois Bank read and submit comments for this post

Ben Franklin Bank of Illinois has two high yield CD specials. The first is a 5.30% APY 20-month CD. The second is a 5.05% 13-month CD. The minimum deposit requirement is $1,000.

The bank has 3 Illinois branches: two in Arlington Heights and one in Rolling Meadows.

The best 24-month certificate of deposit currently listed at Bankrate.com is 5.13% APY at Pacific Mercantile Bank of Costa Mesa, California.

5.10% 12-Month CD at a Washington State Bank read and submit comments for this post

1st Security Bank of Washington is offering a 5.10% APY 1-year CD. The minimum deposit requirement is $500. The penalty for early withdrawal is 90 days of interest. The rate is good through March 24th. This CD promotion is not listed at the bank's website, but was advertised in the March 12th edition of the Seattle Times newspaper. The ad is available online here.

The bank has branches in several cities in Washington state including Seattle, Tacoma and Redmond.

The best 12-month certificate of deposit currently listed at Bankrate.com continues to be 5.15% APY at Corus Bank. Tuesday is the usual day Corus updates the rates, so this might change later today.

More $100 Sign-Up Bonuses for Citi Credit Cards read and submit comments for this post

Sign-up bonuses for the Citi credit cards continue to be plentiful. A commenter just mentioned a deal for the Citi Simplicity Rewards card. You get a $100 gift card after one purchase. You can apply at apply.citisimplicity.com (enter offer code F2B5) or call 1-800-375-8078. The offer expires 4/15/2006.

This seems very similar to the one I mentioned in a December post. The promo page still seems to be active.

This same basic sign-up bonus is also offered for the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card. Here's the promo page for that offer. In addition to the $100 gift card, both promotions offer 0% APY on balance transfers for 12 months. Credit for this Diamond Preferred card deal goes to this SlickDeals thread.

5.00% 6-Month CD at a California Bank read and submit comments for this post

PFF Bank and Trust is offering a 5.00% APY 6-month CD. There's a $1000 minimum deposit requirement. This certificate of deposit special is not listed at the bank's website, but was advertised in the March 12th edition of The Press-Enterprise newspaper. The ad is also available online here.

The bank has several locations in the California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino.

Melrose CU - High Yield CDs with Easy Membership read and submit comments for this post

I received confirmation that Melrose Credit Union does accept members who live outside of New York. This confirms what is stated at the credit union's membership page:

Since Melrose Credit Union has an open New York State charter there are no geographic or group affiliation field of membership restrictions. So, regardless of where you live or how you earn a living, you may qualify for membership.

Membership application must be done by mail. As I posted on Saturday, this credit union has very high rates on its share certificates such as a 5.35% APY on a 1-year term. The terms range from 1 to 5 years with APYs increasing by 0.10% for each year. Below is the list of all rates:

Term      APY
1 year    5.35%
2 year    5.46%
3 year    5.56%
4 year    5.67%
5 year    5.77%

The minimum deposit requirements is $5K. IRA certificates at these same rates are also available.

The credit union has over $740 million in assets. This is over 3 times the size of the Self-Help Credit Union so it seems Melrose could be able to handle a national membership.

The New WaMu Free Checking Account is Official read and submit comments for this post

The early info that was posted at Fatwallet was correct. Washington Mutual's new Free Checking account has all the perks that I listed in Friday's post. Here is the official WaMu promotion page. The best perks of this free checking account include:

• Free checks for life
• Free outgoing wire transfers
• One free waiver of an Overdraft/Non-Sufficient Funds fee per year
• Free Gold Debit MasterCard with Rewards - get a $0.03 reward for each debit purchase transaction up to $250 per year

Note, the debit card reward is only for point of sale type purchases and not for ATM transactions. This wasn't stated clearly in the early info.

The FW thread mentioned an interesting note regarding the potential to max out the debit card rewards. It would take over 22 transactions a day for a year to reach the $250 limit. It could be useful when you make small purchases of under $3 when the 1% cash back rewards would be less than 3 cents.

For those who already have checking accounts with WaMu, you'll have to go to a banch to convert it into this new checking account. According to one of the FW posters, you'll have to close your current account and open the new one, but you're allowed to keep your same account number. Another poster was told that the account will be able to be switched automatically on April 23.

5.00% 7-Month CD at a Pennsylvania Bank read and submit comments for this post

Sharon Savings Bank is offering a 5% APY 7-month CD special with a $5K minimum balance requirement. The certificate of deposit special is for a limited time only.

The bank has branches in the Pennsylvania cities of Darby, Springfield, Aston and Philadelphia.

5.56% 24-Month CD at a Nashville CU read and submit comments for this post

MPD Community Credit Union is offering high yields on several share certificates. The highest is a 5.56% APY 24-month CD. Others include a 5.30% APY 18-month CD and a 5.04% 12-month CD. All have a minimum deposit requirement of $2.5K.

The credit union's field of membership includes residents of Davidson County, Tennessee along with employees of many police departments and businesses.

MPD Community is a small credit union with two branches in Nashville. It's NCUA insured with about 2,200 members and $11 million in assets.

$25 Gift Card for Wells Fargo Checking or Savings Account read and submit comments for this post

Wells Fargo is offering a $25 gift card for opening a new checking or savings account. The deal is good through April 30, 2006. All checking and savings accounts qualify except PCS accounts. The accounts must be opened online through www.wellsfargo.com/offers/winteroffer.

Wells Fargo Free Checking Account requires a minimum opening deposit of $100. There is no minimum balance requirement or monthly service fee. The Goal Savings Account also has a $100 minimum opening deposit requirement but has a $300 balance requirement to avoid a $3 per month fee (direct deposit or monthly automatic transfers also can be used to avoid the fee). This savings account does earn interest but it tops out at only 0.5%. The free checking is the best account to open for this deal.

It has been reported on this FW thread that Wells Fargo does a hard credit pull for opening a checking account. This means that the bank does an inquiry on your credit report. Too many hard pulls can lower your credit score and result in higher loan and insurance rates. This FW thread lists many banks which do hard pulls.

Bank Deal Summary for Mar 11, 2006 read and submit comments for this post

The best yield improvements this week came from 6-month and 1-year CDs. Several of the well-known online banks are getting close to the 5% 6-month CD. Corus Bank's 6-month CD is now 4.94% APY. GMAC Bank, Etrade Bank and UmbrellaBank all have 6-month CDs at or above 4.90% APY.

Meadows Credit Union continues to offer a 5.01% APY 6-month CD special, and World Savings Bank is still offering its 5-month 5.01% liquid CD.

Corus Bank finally surpassed VirtualBank in the 1-year CD. Corus Bank's 1-year CD is now 5.15% APY. Western Financial Bank (now part of Wachovia) has a great 13-month CD special of 5.15% APY, and unlike Corus, the minimum is only $100. Unfortunately, this special is not available for the rest of Wachovia Bank.

Another good 1-year CD deal that I just found is at a New York credit union which is offering a 5.35% APY with a $5K minimum (see post). It appears that the credit union may be open to anyone, but I'm going to confirm this before I put it on the national list.

There wasn't much movement in the money market and savings accounts. GMAC Bank moved up slightly to 4.65% from 4.60%. UmbrellaBank moved up from 4.60% to 4.61% (perhaps to be above the other 4.60% banks on Bankrate's list).

The disappointment this week was with UFB Direct. It did a major reduction to its money market accounts. The High Yield Money Market Savings account went from 4.50% to 3.75% APY. The yield on the Jumbo Money Market Account also went down. The new APY is 4.50% which is down from 4.73%. Perhaps the pending acquisition of UFB by Sky Financial Group is having an effect (see article).

For local deals, more 5% money market accounts are popping up. The best one is from Flushing Savings Bank of New York. The 5% APY is guaranteed for 6 months and only requires a minimum opening balance of $5K (see post).

Thanks to all who have helped by leaving comments or sending emails on rate updates. Sorry I can't include all of the best rates in this summary.

The rates listed below are based on Annual Percentage Yield (APY). No minimum balances are required unless noted. MMA next to the rates indicate a money market account. Most MMAs have check writing and ATM cards. Online savings accounts usually lack both of these. Previous weekly summaries are available for Mar 4th, Feb 25th, Feb 18th, Feb 11th, Feb 4th and Jan 28th.

As of March 11, 2006

Savings/Money Market Accounts:

• HSBC - 4.80%, offers checking, (rate history), my post
• GMAC Bank - 4.65% MMA (min $500), offers checking, my post
• UmbrellaBank.com - 4.61% MMA (min $1K), offers checking, my post
• VirtualBank - 4.60% (min $100), offers checking, my post ($20 bonus)
• Corus Bank - 4.59% MMA (min $10K to open)
• Presidential - 4.37% (min $5K, only first $35K receives this rate), offers checking, my post
• CapitalOne/Costco - 4.30% MMA (min $5K, Costco members only, $50 deal for exec. members)
• MyBankingDirect - 4.30% MMA (min $5K), my post
• EmigrantDirect - 4.25%, my post, ($10 signup bonus), (rate history)
• Western Financial Bank - 4.25% MMA, offers checking, my post
• FirstFedDirect - 4.25% (closed to CA residents), my post
• CapitalOne - 4.25% (MMA has same rate, but with checks and ATM. $100 min.)
• MetLife Bank - 4.00% MMA (min $5K), my post ($50 bonus)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 3.97% MMA (min $500), my post
• ING Direct - 3.80%, my post (4.75% promo and $25 bonus), (rate history)
• UFB Direct - 3.75% MMA, offers checking, my post
• NetBank - 3.52% MMA ($500 min), requires checking, my post ($175 deal)
• ebank - 3.50% MMA ($1K min, rate for $10K-25K balance), offers checking

6-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• Meadows Credit Union - 5.01% ($1K min), new funds only, my post
• World Savings - 5.01% (5-month) (min $5K), new funds only, my post
• Corus Bank - 4.94% (min $10K)
• GMAC Bank - 4.92% (min $500)
• ETrade Bank - 4.92% (min $1K), my post
• UmbrellaBank.com - 4.90% (min $1K)
• FirstFedDirect - 4.81% (min $10K), my post
• VirtualBank - 4.80% (min $10K), my post ($20 bonus)
• NetBank - 4.70% (min $1K)
• UFB Direct - 4.55% (min $8K)
• Western Financial Bank - 4.50% ($100 min)
• ebank - 4.50% (min $1K), 4.75% for ePremium checking customers
• MetLife Bank - 4.50% ($1K min)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.40% (min $500), my post
• ING Direct - 4.30%

12-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• Corus Bank - 5.15% (min $10K)
• Western Financial Bank - 5.15% ($100 min) (13-month)
• GMAC Bank - 5.10% (min $500)
• UmbrellaBank.com - 5.10% (min $1K)
• VirtualBank - 5.10% (min $10K), my post ($20 bonus)
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.02% (min $10K), my post
• FirstFedDirect - 5.02%, (min $10K) my post
• NetBank - 5.01% (min $1K), my post (iPod/$50 bonuses)
• ETrade Bank - 5.00% (min $1K), my post
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.78% (min $500), my post
• ebank - 4.75% (min $1K), 5.00% for ePremium checking customers
• MetLife Bank - 4.75% ($1K min)
• UFB Direct - 4.72% (min $8K)
• ING Direct - 4.50%

18-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.13% (min $10K), my post
• CapitalOne/Costco - 5.08% (min $5K, Costco members only)

36-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.50% (min $1K), my post
• GMAC Bank - 5.15% (min $500)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 5.08% (min $500), my post

60-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.67% (min $1K), my post
• GMAC Bank - 5.15% (min $500)
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.13% (min $10K), my post
• Self-Help Credit Union - 5.10% (min $500), my post

84-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.88% (min $1K), my post

High Rates with Conditions - Open to All

• 10% Savings Account for kids ($500 max)
• 5.01% 3-month intro rate on checking account
• 5.00% Money Market with $30K (3-month intro rate)
• 5.00% Money Market with $100K min
• 4.91% Money Market with $50K min
• 4.00% checking account (CU that's open to all)

Checking and Saving Accounts at Local Credit Unions

• 5.00% Money Market Account (New York)
• 5.00% Money Market Account (Massachusetts)
• 4.75% no-minimum savings account (New York)
• 4.50% checking account promo (Oklahoma)

CD Specials at Local Credit Unions/Banks Over the Last Two Months

Terms of 60 Months and Over

• 6.40% 60-Month CD at a South Carolina CU
• 5.80% 60-Month CD at a Virginia CU
• 5.75% 72-Month CD at a CU
• 5.66% 60-Month CD at a South Carolina CU
• 5.50% 60-Month CD at a CU
• 5.45% 60-Month CD at a Massachusetts CU
• 5.38% 60-Month CD at a Utah CU

Terms of 24 Months to Under 60 Months

• 5.81% 30-Month CD at a Wisconsin CU
• 5.50% 55-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.50% 30-Month CD at a Philadelphia Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a New York Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a Philadelphia Bank

Terms of 12 Months to Under 24 Months

• 5.50% 12-Month CD at a Ohio CU
• 5.50% 18-Month CD at a Washington State CU
• 5.50% 13-Month CD at a Chicago Bank
• 5.5% 17-Month CD at a Nevada Bank
• 5.50% 15-Month CD at a Florida CU
• 5.35% 12-Month CD at a New York CU (Open To All?)
• 5.30% 15-Month CD at a Ohio CU
• 5.30% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Credit Union
• 5.25% 19-Month CD at a OH/KY Bank
• 5.25% 17-Month CD at a Wyoming CU
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a Minnesota CU
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.19% 12-Month CD at a North Carolina Institution
• 5.18% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.15% 12-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.15% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.13% 12-Month CD at a Washington State Bank
• 5.12% 12-Month CD at a California Bank
• 5.09% 14-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 5.05% 13-Month CD at a CA CU (Open to All)
• 5.05% 13-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.05% 12-Month CD at a New York Bank
• 5.02% 13-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 5.00% 15-Month CD at a Texas Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Washington State CU
• 5.00% 15-Month CD at a OH/KY Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Wisconsin/Illinois CU
• 5.00% 19-Month CD at a Tennessee CU
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Western Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a South Carolina Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 18-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a New Jersey Bank

Terms of Under 12 Months

• 6.00% 6-Month CD at a South Carolina Bank
• 6.00% 6-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 6.00% 5-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 5.36% 7-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.25% 3-Month CD at a Florida CU
• 5.25% 9-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.15% 11-Month CD at a Georgia CU
• 5.13% 6-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 5.10% 9-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.10% 7-Month CD at a Kentucky CU
• 5.07% 5-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.05% 7-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.05% 5-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.00% 5-Month CD at a Wisconsin CU
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.00% 11-Month CD at a Massachusetts CU
• 5.00% 5-Month CD at a New Jersey Bank
• 5.00% 3-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a Missouri Bank
• 5.00% 3-Month CD at a Texas Bank
• 5.00% 7-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 4.95% 7-Month CD at a California CU
• 4.90% 8-Month CD at a AZ/TX CU
• 4.85% 7-Month CD at a Georgia Bank

CD Alternatives

• I Bond Fixed Rate Predictions, I Bond Article, New I Bond Rate, I Bonds as CD Alternatives

5.35% 12-Month CD at a New York CU (Open To All?) read and submit comments for this post

Melrose Credit Union has some very high rates on its share certificates. The one year CD has an APY of 5.35%. The APY of the 5-year CD is 5.77%. Below is the full list of rates:

Term      APY
1 year    5.35%
2 year    5.46%
3 year    5.56%
4 year    5.67%
5 year    5.77%

The minimum deposit requirements is $5K. IRA certificates at these same rates are also available. You can even get an extra 25 basis points on these terms with a jumbo CD. However, the jumbo is not the typical jumbo. The minimum jumbo CD deposit is $1 million.

Melrose CU doesn't have a typical field of membership. It appears open to anyone in the US. Here a quote from the membership page:

Since Melrose Credit Union has an open New York State charter there are no geographic or group affiliation field of membership restrictions. So, regardless of where you live or how you earn a living, you may qualify for membership.

I've sent the credit union an email to confirm that those from out-of-state can join and if membership and CDs can be opened by mail or online.

Melrose CU is located in Briarwood, New York. It's a small credit union in terms of members with less than 15,000 but it's a medium size in terms of assets with over $740M. Perhaps there are several members who have jumbo CDs. The credit union is NCUA insured.

Virtual Bank eMoney Market Referral Bonus Update read and submit comments for this post

There seems to be some delays for people receiving the Refer-a-Friend bonuses. I've contacted VirtualBank and was told that the bonuses should have been credited to your accounts 3 to 4 days after the new eMoney Market account was opened. When I opened my account last year, this was about the time that I was credited. However, several people have reported to me that they haven't received the bonuses. VirtualBank didn't say why there are these delays. I had thought it might be due to the upgrade of their new referral system. It may also be due to the surge of the new accounts after VirtualBank raised the eMoney Market APY from 3.55% to 4.60%.

If you haven't received your $20 referral bonus from VirtualBank within 4 days after your new eMoney Market account was opened, provide VirtualBank my name using the bank's secure message system. I was told they will then manually credit the accounts for the bonuses. My name was included in the official email you received from VirtualBank. If you no longer have that email, just send me a request at bankdeals@gmail.com. Sorry about the delay.

For more info on VirtualBank and the referral bonus, please refer to this previous post.

GMAC Bumps Up Money Market Account and CD Rates read and submit comments for this post

GMAC Bank hasn't done any fancy promotions like ING Direct or HSBC. But it has consistently raised its money market account and CD rates to remain near the top of the rate leaders. GMAC did some more small rate increases today. The money market account now pays 4.65% APY up from 4.60%. The 6-month CD is getting very close to 5%. It's now 4.92% APY up from 4.80%. The 1-year CD increased from 5.05% to 5.10% APY. Below is the full list of certificate of deposit rates:

Term       Interest   APY
3 months   4.45%      4.55%  
6 months   4.80%      4.92%  
9 months   4.83%      4.95%  
12 months  4.97%      5.10% 
18 months  4.97%      5.10% 
2 years    4.97%      5.10%   
3 years    5.02%      5.15%   
4 years    5.02%      5.15%
5 years    5.02%      5.15%   

It has been just about two weeks since GMAC's last money market rate hike. Around February 11th, GMAC Bank was one of the first major online banks to offer a 5% one-year CD.

Washington Mutual's Major New Free Checking Account? read and submit comments for this post

According to a Fatwallet member who posted on this FW thread, Washington Mutual will be launching a major new free checking account tomorrow. I haven't been able to find any other info on this, so I can't confirm it. If it's true, it'll be an impressive checking account. Here is what was posted:

- free check books for LIFE

- free wire transfer (send money anywhere)

- free overdaft, if you don't use it, then it will roll over to next year

- earn 3 cents everytime you use your ATM card, plus at the end of the year WAMU will deposit the money into your account. Maximum you can earn is $250/year.

If you already have an account with WAMU, just ask the teller to convert the account for you.

That ATM card feature seems similar to Bank of America's Keep the Change Program. Like the Keep the Change Program, you can earn $250/year, but the KTC program is only when you make debit card purchases.

There currently is no word about this program at WAMU's website. WAMU's current free checking account doesn't require direct deposit. I hope this new one won't require direct deposit or require some other hoops for people to jump through. Bank of America's "free" checking account requires direct deposit. Otherwise, they charge $5.95/month.

5.15% 11-Month CD at a Georgia CU read and submit comments for this post

Robins Federal Credit Union is offering a 5.15% APY 11-month certificate of deposit. The minimum is $1,000, and it is also available for IRA accounts. The special is available only for a limited time.

The credit union's field of membership includes those who live, work or attend school in the following Georgia counties: Baldwin, Bibb, Clarke, Crawford, Emanuel, Houston, Jones, Macon, Monroe, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam, Taylor, Telfair, Twiggs and Wilkinson. Branches are located through out these counties.

The credit union is NCUA insured with over 126K members and over $892 million in assets.

4.5% Checking Account Promo and $25 Bonus at an Oklahoma Bank read and submit comments for this post

Union Bank is offering 4.5% APY on its Smart Checking Plus account through June 6, 2006. It's also offering $25 for direct deposit or ACH direct debit. The minimum opening deposit required to receive the bonus APY is $10K. There's a $100 fee if account is closed within 120 days. A $10 monthly fee is charged unless a minimum daily balance of $1K or an average daily balance of $2K is maintained.

This special is not listed at the bank's website but in a March 5th ad of The Oklahoma newspaper and is available online here

The bank has 5 branches in Oklahoma City and Edmond.

5.18% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank read and submit comments for this post

First National Bank is offering a 5.18% 12-month CD with a $5K minimum deposit requirement. Last month I had reported on the bank's 5% 13-month CD special. Just like before, this current special isn't listed at the bank's website, but was advertised in the Savannah Morning News and is shown online here.

The bank has branches in Savannah, Folkston and Pooler, Georgia.

5.25% 8-Month CD at a Chicago Bank. read and submit comments for this post

Washington Federal Bank for Savings is offering a special 5.25% APY 8-month certificate of deposit. The minimum deposit is $1K and it requires money new to the bank.

The bank has two branches located in Chicago, Illinois.

Hillcrest's Money Market Account at 5.22% ($500K+) read and submit comments for this post

Hillcrest Bank is building a good reputation as a money market rate leader for large balances. It continues to raise rates on its Index Money Market account. The highest APY is 5.22% for balances over $500K. For more reasonable balances of $50K the new APY is 4.91%. Below shows the full list of rate tiers:

APY   Interest  Min balance
4.33%   4.25%   $10,000 
4.59%   4.50%   $25,000 
4.91%   4.80%   $50,000 
5.06%   4.95%   $250,000 
5.22%   5.10%   $500,000 

I first reported on Hillcrest in January when its $50K balance rate tier hit 4.54% APY. Its highest tier broke 5% in early February.

A couple of people are describing their experience with Hillcrest Bank on this FW thread. A few important points about Hillcrest is that it's open to those in any state and there's a $10 per month charge when balance falls below $10K.

5.05% 5-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank read and submit comments for this post

Clayton Bank and Trust is offering a special 5.05% APY 5-month CD with only a $5 minimum and a 5 month renewal. The special was advertised in yesterday's Knoxville News Sentinel and is also mentioned on the bank's home page.

The bank has two branches in Knoxville, Tennessee.

One-Year 5% Plus CDs Continue to Grow read and submit comments for this post

More and more banks are offering 12-month CDs with rates of 5% and over. Bankrate.com now lists 21 banks with 5% APY or higher CDs. Corus Bank raised its 1-year CD from 5.09% to 5.15% APY yesterday. This is now tied with State Bank of India on Bankrate's list for the highest APY for a 1-year CD. State Bank of India's 5.15% APY requires a minimum of $1K for US residents. You can get an APY of 5.25% with a minimum of $50K and 5.35% with a minimum of $95K.

A recent 12-month certificate of deposit leader is Bank of Internet with an APY of 5.11%. Bank of Internet has the advantage of only a $1K minimum vs. Corus Bank's $10K minimum. Bank of Internet CD can be opened online however it requires either a check or a money order to fund. It doesn't seem to allow an ACH transfer. Bank of Internet CDs also have below average early withdrawal penalties: 6-month CD penalty is only one month of interest, 12-month CD penalty is 3 months of interest.

Western Financial Bank (now part of Wachovia) just came out with a 13-month 5.15% APY CD which has a minimum deposit requirement of only $100.

5.50% 15-Month CD at a Florida CU read and submit comments for this post

Achieva Credit Union is offering a limited-time CD special: 5.50% APY 15-month certificate of deposit. The minimum deposit requirement is $1000.

The credit union's field of membership includes anyone lives or works in the Florida counties of Pinellas, Hernando, or Pasco. Branches are located in the cities of Clearwater, Kenneth City, Largo, Palm Harbor, Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg.

Achieva Credit Union is NCUA insured with over 58,000 members and over $486M in assets.

5% Money Market Account at a New York Bank read and submit comments for this post

Flushing Savings Bank is offering 5.00% APY guaranateed for 6 months with the Power Money Market account. It requires new deposits and a minimum opening deposit of $5,000. The $5,000 balance must be maintained to qualify for the 5% APY. It also requires a linked Breakout Checking Relationship account with a minimum opening deposit of $500. The maximum balance allowed is $150,000 per person. Credit for this find goes to eMoneyCentral.

Flushing Savings Bank has branches in Queens, Nassau, Brooklyn and Manhattan of New York State.

Seems like each new day brings more 5% money market accounts with smaller balance requirements and longer promotional rate periods. Yesterday, I reported on Benjamin Franklin Bank with its 5% MMA for deposits over $25K. Last week I reported on Independence National Bank's 5% MMA for deposits over $100K. I still think EmigrantDirect will be the first with a no-minimum savings to reach 5%. Although I have a feeling Emigrant is not making much money on its new credit card. So perhaps there will be a new MMA leader this year.

$200 Checking Account Bonus at a Michigan Bank read and submit comments for this post

The Bank of Lenawee is offering a checking account sign-up bonus of up to $200 with a minimum opening balance of $2,500 and direct deposit. Smaller opening balances earn smaller bonuses:

Bonus   Min Balance 
 $25       $50
 $50      $101
 $75      $501
$100    $1,000
$200    $2,500

You can also get an additional $20 bonus when you bring in your old checks or debit card. The bonus is for the Free Smart and Simple Checking Account which has no minimum balance, no monthly service charges and no per check charges. Some of the important small print for this deal:

Offer applies to new personal checking accounts only with new direct deposit service. One offer per individual. Existing Bank of Lenawee customers can open new accounts but they cannot transfer funds from their own BOL account to qualify. Your cash bonus will be credited to your new account after the first 90 days. Your account must remain active during this period to qualify. You receive 25 free checks for your new account and must purchase any additional checks.

The bank has branches in the Michigan cities of Adrian, Hudson, Morenci, Tecumseh and Waldron. These cities are about 50 miles southwest of Detroit. Credit for finding this deal goes to this iBankDesign thread.

5.50% 30-Month / 5.25% 24-Month CD at a Philadelphia Bank read and submit comments for this post

Asian Bank is offering several good CD specials which include a 5.50% APY 30-month CD, a 5.25% APY 24-month CD and a 5.00% APY 12-month CD. All of these special certificates require a $10K minimum deposit.

Asian Bank is FDIC insured and located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

5% Money Market Account ($25K+) at a Massachusetts Bank read and submit comments for this post

Benjamin Franklin Bank is offering 5.00% APY on its money market account. This rate requires a balance of over $25K and is guaranteed until May 31, 2006. It also requires new money and a checking account with direct deposit or a $50 minimum monthly transfer from an existing Ben's checking account into the money market account. Below are the full list of rate tiers:

Balance              APY
$10.00-$24,999.99    1.10%
$25,000-$999,999.99  5.00%
$1,000,000+Above     2.02%

The bank has 9 branches in Massachusetts. Credit for this find goes to this SlickDeals thread.

This is the second 5% MMA that I've come across. Last week I posted on Independence National Bank's 5% MMA. In this case the 5% required $100K balance and was guaranteed through May 16, 2006. For very large balances of over $500K, Hillcrest Bank is offering 5.09% on its Index Money Market account.

Which bank will be the first to offer a no-minimum savings account at 5%? My guess is that EmigrantDirect will do another big bump-up in the next month and will be the first.

5.05% 7-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank read and submit comments for this post

Renasant Bank is offering 5.05% 7-month CD with a minimum deposit of $2.5K. The offer is for a limited time and is not listed at the bank's website. It was advertised in the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper. The ad is available online here.

The ad does not mention if the CD is only available at the Memphis branches. The bank has branches in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

5.12% 12-Month CD (IRA) at a California Bank read and submit comments for this post

The Mid-State Bank and Trust is offering 5.12% IRA CDs with terms between 12 to 23 months. Credit for finding this deal goes to this commenter who saw this advertised in the Ventura County Star Newspaper. The special is not listed on the bank's website.

Mid-State Bank and Trust has many branches located along the Central California coast.

5.10% 7-Month CD at a Kentucky CU read and submit comments for this post

The Fort Knox Federal Credit Union is offering a 5.10% APY 7-month CD. Other longer terms are also available at this same rate. This credit union has been offering good short-term certificates of deposit deals for some time. Last November the credit union was offering a 5.25% 7-month CD.

Their field of membership is primarily limited to those who live, work or worship in the following Kentucky counties: Boyle, Breckinridge, Grayson, Hart, Larue, Meade and Nelson.

The credit union currently has 10 branches across Kentucky and is NCUA insured. These CD deals seem to be attracting members. Since I last checked the NCUA database in November, the credit union has grown from 65K members to almost 76K members. Deposits have grown from $415 million to over $481 million.

5.10% 9-Month CD at an Ohio Bank read and submit comments for this post

Citizens Federal Savings and Loan Association is offering a 5.10% 9-month CD. The minimum deposit is $500. Credit for this find goes to eMoneyCentral.

The bank is located in Bellefontaine, Ohio which is about 40 miles northwest of Columbus.

Bank and Credit Union Deposit Insurance Reform read and submit comments for this post

The latest legislation in Congress will do some reforming of FDIC insurance. Insurance limits on retirement accounts are set to increase from $100K to $250K per person. However, the limits won't change on general accounts until 2010 and will only change based on inflation. Changes will be made every 5 years based on inflation.

Current coverage will remain in effect until later this year. According to this Bankrate article, the $100K FDIC limits have remained unchanged since 1980. Before 1980 the limits were $40K.

The FDIC equivalent for credit unions is the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). The insurance limits of the NCUSIF have remained the same as the FDIC limits. It looks like that will continue (NCUA article - pdf).

Even without higher limits on the general accounts, there are several ways for depositors to extend the limits beyond $100K using joint accounts and paid-on-death accounts. FDIC has information on this here. This NCUA publication (pdf) has many details and examples. Here's one of these examples:

Question: Member H invests $100,000 in each of four payable-on-death accounts. Under the terms of each account contract, H has the right to withdraw any or all of the funds in the account at any time. Any funds remaining in the account at the time of H's death are to be paid to a named beneficiary. The respective beneficiaries of the four accounts are H's wife, his mother, his brother, and his nephew. H also holds an individual account containing $100,000. What is the insurance coverage?

Answer: The accounts payable on death to H's wife, mother and brother are each separately insured to the $100,000 maximum. The account payable to H's nephew is added to H's individual account and insured to $100,000 in the aggregate, leaving $100,000 uninsured.

Bank Deal Summary for Mar 4, 2006 read and submit comments for this post

Over the last couple of months, we saw the 5%+ 1-year CD become common. Now the 5%+ 6-month CDs are starting to appear. Last week, it was World Savings Bank with a 5.01% 5-month liquid CD. This week, Meadows Credit Union (membership open to all) came out with a 5.01% 6-month CD special. I just noticed today that ETrade Bank increased its 6-month CD from 4.75% to 4.90% APY. Two Oregon Credit Unions even had 6% 6-month and 5-month CD specials.

The CD rate news wasn't all good news. Self Help Credit Union had another major drop in its CD rates this week similar to what happened last December. The 1-year CD fell from 5.01% to 4.78%. The 6-month CD fell from 4.58% to 4.35% APY. The longer term CD rates fell around 0.15%. SHCU is a rather small credit union so it's possible that it could be influenced after a surge in deposits. That's my only guess about why we see these big drops. The Pentagon Federal Credit Union also had some CD rate decreases. The 6% 7-year CD fell to 5.88% APY. Also the 5.75% 5-year CD fell to 5.67%. Penfed seems to offer very high long-term CD rates early in the year and then move the rates back in line with the competition later in the year.

The higher rate trend is continuing with savings accounts. Both UFB Direct's and Capital One's no-minimum savings account rates were increased this week: UFB Direct from 4.30% to 4.50% APY and Capital One from 4.00% to 4.25% APY. UFB Direct's jumbo money market account increased from 4.65% to 4.73% APY.

Local CD deals continue to improve. The best were in Oregon where two credit unions are offering 6% 6-month and 5-month CDs. Other good CD deals are 5.50% 13-month CD in Chicago and 5.81% 30-month CD in Wisconsin.

Thanks to all who have helped by leaving comments or sending emails on rate updates. Sorry I can't include all of the best rates in this summary.

The rates listed below are based on Annual Percentage Yield (APY). No minimum balances are required unless noted. MMA next to the rates indicate a money market account. Most MMAs have check writing and ATM cards. Online savings accounts usually lack both of these. Previous weekly summaries are available for Feb 25th, Feb 18th, Feb 11th, Feb 4th, Jan 28th and Jan 21st.

As of March 4, 2006

Savings/Money Market Accounts:

• HSBC - 4.80%, offers checking, (rate history), my post
• VirtualBank - 4.60% (min $100), offers checking, my post ($20 bonus)
• GMAC Bank - 4.60% MMA (min $500), offers checking, my post
• UmbrellaBank.com - 4.60% MMA (min $1K), offers checking, my post
• Corus Bank - 4.60% MMA (min $10K to open)
• UFB Direct - 4.50% MMA, offers checking, my post
• Presidential - 4.37% (min $5K, only first $35K receives this rate), offers checking, my post
• CapitalOne/Costco - 4.30% MMA (min $5K, Costco members only, $50 deal for exec. members)
• MyBankingDirect - 4.30% MMA (min $5K), my post
• EmigrantDirect - 4.25%, my post, ($10 signup bonus), (rate history)
• Western Financial Bank - 4.25% MMA, offers checking, my post
• FirstFedDirect - 4.25% (closed to CA residents), my post
• CapitalOne - 4.25% (MMA has same rate, but with checks and ATM. $100 min.)
• MetLife Bank - 4.00% MMA (min $5K), my post ($50 bonus)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 3.97% MMA (min $500), my post
• ING Direct - 3.80%, my post (4.75% promo and $25 bonus), (rate history)
• NetBank - 3.52% MMA ($500 min), requires checking, my post ($175 deal)
• ebank - 3.50% MMA ($1K min, rate for $10K-25K balance), offers checking

6-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• Meadows Credit Union - 5.01% ($1K min), new funds only, my post
• World Savings - 5.01% (5-month) (min $5K), new funds only, my post
• ETrade Bank - 4.90% (min $1K), my post
• Corus Bank - 4.85% (min $10K)
• VirtualBank - 4.80% (min $10K), my post ($20 bonus)
• GMAC Bank - 4.80% (min $500)
• UmbrellaBank.com - 4.75% (min $1K)
• NetBank - 4.65% (min $1K)
• FirstFedDirect - 4.60% (min $10K), my post
• UFB Direct - 4.55% (min $8K)
• Western Financial Bank - 4.50% ($100 min)
• ebank - 4.50% (min $1K), 4.75% for ePremium checking customers
• MetLife Bank - 4.50% ($1K min)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.35% (min $500), my post
• MyBankingDirect - 4.35% (7-month term) ($500 min)
• ING Direct - 4.20%

8-Month Certificate of Deposit:

World Savings - 4.76% ($10K min with new funds), my post

12-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• VirtualBank - 5.10% (min $10K), my post ($20 bonus)
• Corus Bank - 5.09% (min $10K)
• GMAC Bank - 5.05% (min $500)
• UmbrellaBank.com - 5.05% (min $1K)
• ETrade Bank - 5.00% (min $1K), my post
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 4.97% (min $10K), my post
• NetBank - 4.95% (min $1K), my post (iPod/$50 bonuses)
• FirstFedDirect - 4.90%, (min $10K) my post
• Self-Help Credit Union - 4.78% (min $500), my post
• ebank - 4.75% (min $1K), 5.00% for ePremium checking customers
• MetLife Bank - 4.75% ($1K min)
• UFB Direct - 4.72% (min $8K)
• Western Financial Bank - 4.50% ($100 min)
• ING Direct - 4.40%

18-Month Certificates of Deposit:

• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.07% (min $10K), my post
• CapitalOne/Costco - 5.02% (min $5K, Costco members only)

26-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Third Federal - 5.10% (min $500) my post

36-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.50% (min $1K), my post
• GMAC Bank - 5.10% (min $500)
• Self-Help Credit Union - 5.03% (min $500), my post

60-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.67% (min $1K), my post
• GMAC Bank - 5.15% (min $500)
• Pacific Mercantile Bank - 5.13% (min $10K), my post
• Self-Help Credit Union - 5.06% (min $500), my post

84-Month Certificate of Deposit:

• Pentagon Federal CU - 5.88% (min $1K), my post

High Rates with Conditions - Open to All

• 10% Savings Account for kids ($500 max)
• 5.01% 3-month intro rate on checking account
• 5.00% Money Market with $30K (3-month intro rate)
• 5.00% Money Market with $100K min
• 4.78% Money Market with $50K min
• 4.73% Money Market with $50K min
• 4.65% Money Market with $25K min
• 4.00% checking account (CU that's open to all)

Checking and Saving Accounts at Local Credit Unions

• 4.75% no-minimum savings account (New York)

CD Specials at Local Credit Unions/Banks Over the Last Two Months

Terms of 60 Months and Over

• 6.66% 62-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 6.40% 60-Month CD at a South Carolina CU
• 5.80% 60-Month CD at a Virginia CU
• 5.75% 72-Month CD at a CU
• 5.66% 60-Month CD at a South Carolina CU
• 5.50% 60-Month CD at a CU
• 5.45% 60-Month CD at a Massachusetts CU
• 5.38% 60-Month CD at a Utah CU

Terms of 24 Months to Under 60 Months

• 5.81% 30-Month CD at a Wisconsin CU
• 5.50% 55-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.25% 24-Month CD at a New York Bank

Terms of 12 Months to Under 24 Months

• 5.50% 12-Month CD at a Ohio CU
• 5.50% 18-Month CD at a Washington State CU
• 5.5% 17-Month CD at a Nevada Bank
• 5.50% 13-Month CD at a Chicago Bank
• 5.30% 15-Month CD at a Ohio CU
• 5.30% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Credit Union
• 5.25% 19-Month CD at a OH/KY Bank
• 5.25% 17-Month CD at a Wyoming CU
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a Minnesota CU
• 5.25% 13-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.19% 12-Month CD at a North Carolina Institution
• 5.15% 12-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.15% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.13% 12-Month CD at a Washington State Bank
• 5.09% 14-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 5.05% 13-Month CD at a CA CU (Open to All)
• 5.05% 13-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.05% 12-Month CD at a New York Bank
• 5.02% 13-Month CD at a Florida Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a California CU
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Pennsylvania CU
• 5.00% 15-Month CD at a Texas Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Washington State CU
• 5.00% 15-Month CD at a OH/KY Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Wisconsin/Illinois CU
• 5.00% 19-Month CD at a Tennessee CU
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Western Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a South Carolina Bank
• 5.00% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 18-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a Georgia Bank
• 5.00% 12-Month CD at a New Jersey Bank

Terms of Under 12 Months

• 6.00% 6-Month CD at a South Carolina Bank
• 6.00% 6-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 6.00% 5-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 5.36% 7-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.25% 3-Month CD at a Florida CU
• 5.25% 9-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 5.13% 6-Month CD at a Oregon CU
• 5.07% 5-Month CD at a Tennessee Bank
• 5.00% 5-Month CD at a Wisconsin CU
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a Michigan CU
• 5.00% 11-Month CD at a Massachusetts CU
• 5.00% 5-Month CD at a New Jersey Bank
• 5.00% 3-Month CD at a Ohio Bank
• 5.00% 6-Month CD at a Missouri Bank
• 5.00% 3-Month CD at a Texas Bank
• 5.00% 7-Month CD at a Illinois Bank
• 4.95% 7-Month CD at a California CU
• 4.90% 8-Month CD at a AZ/TX CU
• 4.85% 7-Month CD at a Georgia Bank

CD Alternatives

• I Bond Article, New I Bond Rate, I Bonds as CD Alternatives

Should You Close an Old Certificate of Deposit? read and submit comments for this post

With rising interest rates, you may find that an old CD is no longer earning a competitive interest rate. You may be asking yourself if it's better to close the CD, take the penalty, and open a new CD with a higher interest rate. Or would you make more money by just waiting until the CD matures. Since I have not found any calculator that could help with this decision, I've created one here.

Just fill in your old and new CD information, and it'll calculate which is the best option. For simplicity it makes some assumptions. It only compares the money up to the time that the old CD would mature. Also, it doesn't take into account the differences in compounding between CDs or the time it takes to move the money. The calculator is intended to provide approximate answers to help you in the decision making process.

6% 5-Month CD at an Oregon CU. read and submit comments for this post

The Advantis Credit Union is offering a 6.00% APY 5-month CD. It requires $5K minimum deposit of new money, and there's a $50K maximum deposit limit per membership. The 6% APY requires that you maintain an interest checking account for the entire term of the certificate. Without the interest checking account, the APY is 5.50%. The credit union also has a 11-month CD special with no maximum limit. The APY is 5.20% with the interest checking account and 4.80% without it.

The field of membership is primarily employer based. But there seems to be many eligible employers in several Oregon counties. The credit union has 5 branches in Portland, Oregon.

Yesterday I posted on the 6% CDs at the Oregon OnPoint Community Credit Union. These two credit unions must be in competition with each other. Hopefully, we'll see more of this at other banks and credit unions. Credit for finding this deal goes to the FW CD thread.

6.00% 6-Month / 12-Month CD at an Oregon CU. read and submit comments for this post

OnPoint Community Credit Union is offering a 6.00% APY on 6-month and 12-month Time Deposits (CD). These require a $10K minimum deposit with money new to the credit union. The maximum deposit is $500K per membership. It also requires a new or existing Interest Checking account.

The 12-month certificate has a booster rate feature which allows you to get a better rate if a better rate is offered during the term on the 12-month CD (probably unlikely with a 6% APY).

The Interest Checking Account requires a $500 average balance to avoid a $7/month fee.

Unfortunately, the credit union's membership seems primarily limited to just Oregon. The field of membership includes those who live or work in the following Oregon counties: Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Lane, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington, and Yamhill.

Branches are located in the cities of Portland, Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, McMinnville and Milwaukie.

OnPoint Community Credit Union is NCUA insured. It's a large credit union with over 170K members and over $2 billion in assets.

Credit for finding this excellent deal goes to this commenter. Thanks!

5.00% Money Market Account (Large Balances) Open To All read and submit comments for this post

Independence National Bank has a money market account with rates as high as 5.00% APY. Introductory rates are effective through May 16, 2006. The 5% APY is for balances of over $100K. Balances between $50K and $100K earn 4.90% APY. These rates are also available for the business money market account. Below are the rates for all of the tiers:

Personal Money Market Tiers
$2,500 to $9,999.99     3.50% APY
$10,000 to $24,999.99   3.70% APY
$25,000 to $49,999.99   4.50% APY
$50,000 to $99,999.99   4.90% APY
$100,000 and over       5.00% APY

Business Money Market Tiers
$2,500 to $24,999.99    3.90% APY
$25,000 to $49,999.99   4.50% APY
$50,000 to $99,999.99   4.90% APY
$100,000 and over       5.00% APY

The money market account requires a minimum deposit of $2,500 and has a minimum balance of $2,500 to avoid a monthly maintenance fee of $10.

The bank also has a CD special with an APY of 5.00% for a 13 month term. The minimum deposit is $1K.

Independence Natioal Bank is located in Greenville, South Carolina. However, based on the email reply I received from the bank's customer service representative, accounts can be opened via the US mail and can be opened by those who live outside of South Carolina. The bank does have online banking with basic features.

Other large balance very-high-yield money market accounts include Centennial Bank and Hillcrest Bank. Hillcrest's current APY for its Index Money Market Account with balances between $50K and $250K is 4.78% APY. Centennial Bank's APY for its Tiered Passbook account is 4.87% for balances over $50K. One negative regarding Centennial Bank is the lack of online banking.

$100 Bonus at Guaranty Bank - Direct Deposit / BillPay read and submit comments for this post

Guaranty Bank is offering a $100 bonus for taking advantage of direct deposit and BillPay. The $50 direct deposit bonus is good on new personal accounts opened through March 31, 2006. It requires at least 3 consecutive direct deposits of $75 or more from the same source in a 120 day period. The BillPay bonus of $50 requires signing up for the bank's online billpay system and paying 3 bills by April 15, 2006. Credit for finding this deal goes to this iBankDesign thread.

The last deal from Guaranty Bank that I had mentioned was back in December for the bank's $25 direct deposit bonus plus $10 for unused checks. The Fresh Checking account is still a good deal with free checks for the life of the account and no minimum balance requirements. Also, the $10 bonus for unused checks is still active.

As I mentioned in that previous post, Guaranty Bank has some decent rates. Last December the bank's Ultimate Money Market Account was earning 3.75% APY. Now it's earning 4.25% APY. The business money market accounts also have similar rates.

Guaranty Bank has 75 branches in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Most branches are open 7 days a week.

5.30% 13-Month CD at a Georgia Credit Union read and submit comments for this post

The Health and Education Credit Union (HCCU) is offering a special 13 month 5.30% APY CD. The minimum deposit requirement is $1K. Credit for finding this special certificate goes to eMoneyCentral.

The field of membership includes employees, retirees, students, alumni of several Georgia schools, universities, hospitals and other businesses. The credit union has 4 branches in the Georgia cities of Augusta, Martinez and Gracewood.

HCCU is NCUA insured with over 9,300 members and over $43M in assets.

High CD Rates at State Bank of India read and submit comments for this post

I first noticed high CD rates at the State Bank of India back in November. The bank has continued to have very competitive CD and money market rates. Just recently it started to be listed at Bankrate.com and now it includes a link and comments which indicates that the bank is paying for advertising.

The best 6-month and 1-year CD rates are 5.20% and 5.35% for deposits of over $95K. The rates are also very good for deposits under $50K: 4.99% for 6-months and 5.15% for 12-months. The minimum for certificates of deposit is $1K for US residents.

The bank also has some competitive money market account rates. For deposits under $25K, the APY is 4.49%. The minimum for US residents is $2.5K.

As I mentioned in my November post, the bank has US operations in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. All are FDIC insured. The bank in New York City seems to be the one being advertised. I can't find information on its online banking system. I emailed some questions to the New York branch last month but never received a response. For those who can't visit the New York branch, deposits would probably have to be made by check and sent through the mail.

5.81% 30-Month CD in a Wisconsin CU read and submit comments for this post

Dodge Central Credit Union is offering a 5.81% APY 30-month CD. The minimum deposit is $10K. The early withdrawal penalty is 90 days of interest. This special CD also has a bump-up feature that allows a one time bump if rates increase.

The field of membership includes all those who live and work in the Wisconsin counties of Dodge, Columbia, Fond du Lac, Jefferson and Marquette.

The credit union is a small credit union with one branch in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. It's NCUA insured with over 7300 members and over $34M in assets.

The best 2.5 year certificate of deposit currently listed at Bankrate.com is 5.10% APY at IndyMac Bank, FSB of Pasadena, California. This rate is about the same as rates on 1-year CDs so there's not much to gain by locking in for this long. However, a 5.81% APY along with a low early-withdrawal penalty may make a 30-month term worthwhile.

Capital One Savings/Money Market Accounts Now 4.25% read and submit comments for this post

Capital One increased the APY of its High Yield Savings and Money Market Account from 4.00% to 4.25%.

The High Yield Savings has no minimum balance requirements or fees. The Money Market Account has the same rate but has a minimum initial deposit requirement of $100. Unlike the Savings account the MMA has check-writing privileges.

Capital One uses the same online banking platform as EmigrantDirect. Capital One has the advantage of no limits in the number of checking accounts that can be linked rather than EmigrantDirect's limit of 2 per account. Refer to this FW thread for more discussion of Capital One Savings.

Capital One's Money Market Account for Costco members is still at 4.30% APY. Typically, the yield on this is about 0.25% higher than the normal Capital One High Yield Savings account. I would expect this to be increasing soon. The $25 sign-up bonus for Costco Executive members is still valid. The downside of this account is the initial $5K deposit requirement. Another drawback with this account according to the FW thread is that it doesn't have an ACH transfer system. This seems to also be the case with the non-Costco Money Market Account. If you want check writing, a high rate and a good ACH transfer system, GMAC Bank still seems to be the best option.

5.25% 9-Month CD at an Illinois Bank read and submit comments for this post

Prairie Bank and Trust Company is offering a 5.25% APY 9-month CD. There's also a 15-month CD with this same rate. All of the certificates have a $1000 minimum deposit requirement and are availble in IRA accounts. Credit for this find goes to eMoneyCentral.

The bank has 5 branches in several Illinois cities including Chicago.

5.50% 13-Month CD at a Chicago Bank read and submit comments for this post

Community First Bank - Chicago is offering a 5.50% APY 13-month CD (details in pdf) There's a $5K minimum deposit requirement. Also this special certificate requires a free checking account with a minimum balance of $50 and a monthly direct deposit or debit that is opened at the time of opening the CD. Credit for finding this deal goes to the FW CD thread.

5.01% 6-Month CD at CU Available to All read and submit comments for this post

Meadows Credit Union is offering two certificate specials: 5.01% APY 6-month CD and a 4.65% 90-day CD. Both have a minimum deposit requirement of $1K with money new to the credit union. Credit for finding this deal goes to the FW CD thread.

Meadows Credit Union's field of membership is the least restrictive in the country. All you need is an email address. The credit union created an association which is free to join and only requires an email address (see post for more easy-to-join credit unions).

Meadows Credit Union's branch is located in Arlington Heights, Illinois. However, Meadows seems to have a good online banking system with an ACH transfer system so you may never need to visit a branch.

Meadows is still offering a 4.00% APY checking account with a $5K balance and direct deposit. I first mentioned this deal back in November. The 4% APY is guaranteed to last through June 30, 2006.

Meadows is NCUA insured. Even with the national availability and great specials, Meadows is still a rather small credit union with about 16K members and $142M in assets.

5.13% 12-Month CD at a Washington State Bank read and submit comments for this post

Frontier Bank is offering 5.13% APY fixed-rate certificate of deposit on 12 to 18 month terms. The minimum deposit is $500. Frontier Bank is calling this a Silver Certificate speical and it's available for a limited time only. The deal is not listed at the bank's website, but was advertised in today's edition of The Seattle Times Newspaper and is available online here.

Frontier Bank has 44 branches in the Washington State counties of Clallam, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom.

5% 12-Month CD at a New Jersey Bank read and submit comments for this post

Royal Bank America is having a "grand opening special" at the Fort Lee, New Jersey branch. It's offering 5.00% APY CD with a 12-month term and a $1K minimum. A checking account is required. Thanks to Heads Up Guy who posted this deal here. Below are the details as posted:

Royal Bank America
213 Main Street
Fort Lee, NJ (North Jersey/NY Metro)
"grand opening special" (not on website, ad in paper and big sign in window at branch). Can call 201.944.1712.

5.00% (APY) 12 month CD
$1,000 min. - no maximum
must also open a checking account (Free checking account options are available, as is NJ Consumer Checking)
FDIC insured

...also have a 3.55% (APY) interest checking account w/$10k min.

Other branch locations can be found here.

5.00% 7-Month / 5.25% 13-Month CD at an Illinois Bank read and submit comments for this post

First National Bank of Naperville is offering several CD specials including a 5.00% APY 7-month CD and two 5.25% APY CDs. The 13-month 5.25% CD has a breakable feature that allows you to withdraw up to 50% (maximum of $25K) of the original deposit without a penalty. The other 5.25% CD is a 25-month term that has a jump-up option in which you have the option to increase your APY to the bank's then current 24-month CD APY once during the 25 month term. All of these certificates have a minimum deposit requirement of $10K.

These special CDs are also available at the First National Bank of Brookfield. Brookfield and Naperville are both located in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.