If you happen to live in Missouri and near a Guaranty Bank, you might want to take advantage of a great reward checking account promotion going on in your backyard. Guaranty Bank has a Guaranty Advantage Checking that offers a 5.00% APY yield on balances up to $30,000 and a 0.50% APY yield on balances above $30,000. If you fail to meet the qualifications, the base rate is 0.50%. They also refund ATM fees up to $5/month.
The requirements? A little on the heavy side – 15 debit card purchases (usually it’s more like 10-12), one ACT direct deposit, and you must use online banking and e-statements. $50 minimum deposit, no minimum balance requirement.
One little benefit they do offer that I haven’t seen elsewhere is that you earn five cents for every signature-based debit card purchase.
You’ll have to visit a branch to open this account.
UFB Direct, a subsidiary of Waterfield Bank, an FDIC insured bank, has one of the best set of certificate of deposit rates currently available today. The crown jewel of the bunch is a 12-month certificate of deposit (CD) at 2.65% APY with a minimum deposit of $8,000. All of their CDs have a minimum deposit of $8,000. They also offer a six month term CD for 2.30% APY, which is a pretty solid rate itself. If you’re willing to go to a 60-month CD, they are willing to give 3.50%, which is a fair value for that length.
If you want a CD for multiple years, I recommend trying Pentagon Federal Credit Union because their 3-year yields 3.50% APY and the 5-year sports a 4.00% APY rate. You can qualify to join PenFed if you join the National Military Family Association, an organization anyone can join by paying an annual fee.
The only nationally available rate that I can think of that beats the UFB Direct 2.65% on a 12-month CD is GMAC Bank, 2.85% for a 12-month term CD and their minimums are only $500.
Typically the longer the maturity, the higher the interest rate. However, in with the economy the way it is now, cash is king and many banks aren’t willing to pay top dollar for longer maturities. If you’re looking to find a decent short term certificate of deposit rate, you won’t find many banks offering terms as good as these banks. Many of them are online banks where the paperwork for opening such short term CDs is so automated and their overhead is much lower, but there are some traditional banks offering solid rates.
The best rate you can get is 3.00% APY CD from TD Bank USA, you may be familiar with TD Ameritrade, and that’s if you have $25,000. TD Bank USA deposits are FDIC insured up to the FDIC maximum ($250k until December) and you can get this rate if you open and deposit an account
If you don’t have $25,000, then a four-month CD at 3.00% APY at Danversbank may be your best option. They offer a 4-month Online CD with a 2.96% APR/3.00% APY with a minimum of only $500 to open. Danversbank is also FDIC insured and based out of the Town of Danvers, near Boston Massachusetts. Danversbank also has a Free Rewards Checking account currently offering $4.01% APY on balances up to $25,000, which makes it a great one-two punch.
Capital One Direct Banking has been on an all-out promotional blitz lately, you can’t go to a single financial website without seeing their offer of a 2.01% APY savings account if you can deposit five figures. For those who aren’t in love with that offer, Capital One has decided to sweeten the pot by throwing in a $50 promotional bonus if you open the account by April 15th and depsosit at least $10,000. The promotional code is OFFER50 and you can open the account by visiting this link.
The account can be a savings account, money market account, or certificate of deposit but you have to open it by 4/15 and have $10,000 on deposit by 5/8. New accountsholders only and the bonus will be deposited 4-6 weeks after 5/29.
If you’ve been reading the news lately, you’ve probably read about the latest “fad” in bank accounts – the high yield reward checking account. A high yield reward checking account is a basic checking account that, if you fulfill its requirements, offer an interest rate that makes high yield savings accounts look pathetic. Malvern Federal Savings Bank, an FDIC bank located in Chester County, Pennsylvania, now offers a Reward Plus Checking account that pays out 5.01% APY.
You read that right, 5.01% APY. Online banks like ING Direct, once leaders in interest rates, current have rates under 2.00% APY! Malvern FEderal is offering double that on a checking account, which usually offers more flexibility than an online bank’s saving’s account. In addition to the phenomenal rate, the account has no minimum balance and no monthly fee.
So what’s the catch? There are several requirements you have to fulfill, many of which are standard for these types of accounts:
- 10 debit card transactions at POS per statement cycle;
- One direct deposit or ACH debit per statement cycle;
- Access free online banking one per statement cycle.
If you satisfy those three, you earn 5.01% APY on savings up to $35,000 and then 1.01% on balance above that. If you fail to satisfy them, you earn 0.20% APY; which probably still beats your current bank’s rate!
