3.45% 11-Month CD at First Commercial Bank of Florida read and submit comments for this post

First Commercial Bank of Florida has another competitive CD promotion for this week. The special CDs include a 3.45% APY 11-month CD, a 3.15% APY 7-month CD and a 3.00% APY 4-month CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000, and the maximum is $99,000. As is typical with this bank, the rates are not listed at the bank's website. I had to call the bank. These special CD rates typically only last through Friday (1/16/09).

A branch visit is required to open the CD if you don't already have accounts at the bank. The bank has several branches in the Central Florida including the cities of Orlando, Edgewood, Kissimmee, Winter Park, Deltona and Lake Mary.

First Commercial's financial ratings have gone down since my previous post on this bank in late July. It now has a 3 star rating (adequate) at BauerFinancial and a 2 star rating (below peer group) at Bankrate.com. These are based on 9/30/08 data. Previously, both ratings were 4 stars based on 3/31/08 data. The bank has been FDIC insured since 1999 (FDIC Certificate # 34965).

No-Cap Reward Checking Account

The bank is still offering a high yield reward checking account that I first reported on in March 2007. The rate continues to fall. I was informed by the CSR that the current rate as of 1/12/09 is 2.25% APY (down from 2.74% in November, and 5.64% APY in 2007). Even though the rate is low for reward checking accounts, there are no balance caps which limit the balance that can earn the top yield. To find other reward checking accounts, please refer to my High Yield Checking website.