CD (Certificate of Deposit) Rates, Money Market Rates, High Interest Savings Accounts

2-Year CD Rates Last To Hit Record Low

CrankySaver — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:54:04 +0000

The average return on 24-month CDs fell to a record low of 1.34% APY this week. In doing so, it became the last of the five CD rates we follow on a regular basis to set a new record for miserly returns since last summer. Indeed, the average rate on 1-year certificates of deposit also fell to [...]

Fixed-rate mortgages cheaper than ever

RateRunner — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:35:28 +0000

Interest rates on the safest and most popular types of mortgages fell to record lows this week. The average cost of a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 5.06% in Bankrate’s latest weekly survey of major lenders — the lowest average since the survey began in 1985. In every market we checked, we found lenders offering these loans [...]

Best 24-Month CD Rates Jump to 2.60%

DealMaven — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:02:05 +0000

The best 24-month CD rates are a little higher this month than they were in October. Last month you could earn 2.40% APY to 2.50% APY with the top-paying, 2-year certificates of deposit. Now you earn from 2.50% APY to 2.60% APY. That increase came in spite of the fact that the average rate on 24-month CDs [...]

Earn $100 Bonus From Bank Of The West

DealMaven — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:33:55 +0000

Bank of the West is paying a $100 bonus for opening a new checking account. Although the offer is available nationwide, we wouldn’t recommend it to anyone outside the 20 states where Bank of the West has more than 700 branches. That’s because it doesn’t provide free use of ATMs at other banks — a great perk [...]

Buy A Home, Get A Tax Credit

RateRunner — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:15:43 +0000

Congress has extended the popular tax credit for first-time homebuyers and created a new tax break for homeowners looking to trade up. When President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 into law earlier this month there was an audible sigh of relief from the real estate industry. The first-time buyers’ tax credit [...]

The Jacksonville Bank Has 3 Top CD Rates

DealMaven — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:50:16 +0000

A small north Florida bank has shot to the top of our rankings of the best, nationally available CD rates. The Jacksonville Bank is now paying the best rates on three different terms: 2.60% APY on a 24-month certificate of deposit. That beats the 2.55% APY from Frontier Bank. 2.25% APY on a 12-month CD. That beats the [...]

$50 Bonus For Investing At Lending Club

CrankySaver — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:01:52 +0000

With CD and savings account rates plunging to record lows every week, it may be the time to consider a more lucrative alternative — social or peer-to-peer lending. This is where you loan money directly to worthy borrowers through a Web site, rather than putting your money in a bank and allowing its loan officers to [...]

Small Bank, Good Odd-Term CD Rates

DealMaven — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:00:36 +0000

A small bank in central Kentucky has two odd-term CD rates that are well worth considering Century Bank Direct is paying 2.25% APY on a 15-month certificate of deposit with a $1,000 minimum deposit. This beats the 2.10% APY you can earn with the best, nationally available 12-month CDs from Amboy Direct and UmbrellaBank. Century Direct is also [...]

Hugely Talented And Richly Compensated

CrankySaver — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:43:29 +0000

How long does it take 16 of the biggest names in sports to make as much as you do in an entire year? Go to ESPN Salary Crunch, pick your favorite star, enter your annual income and prepare to be humbled. If you’re not a grossly overpaid bank executive you’ll need a stopwatch, not a calendar, to [...]

CD Rates Take Break From Relentless Fall

CrankySaver — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:23:24 +0000

Four of the five average CD rates we track remained unchanged this week, giving savers a brief reprieve from the past year’s relentless decline. The return on 12-month certificates of deposit was the only one to change — and of course it fell to yet another record low. Bankrate’s weekly survey of large banks and thrifts taken [...]

Top 6-Month CD Rates Turn For The Worse

RateRunner — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:27:57 +0000

Finding good deals on any certificate of deposit is a chore, but 6-month CD rates have been particularly hard hit. Just five weeks ago, our October ranking of the best 6-month CDs was led by H&R Block Bank’s 2.00% APY. Now Block is paying 1.00% APY. Country Bank has cut its rate from 1.80% APY to 1.60% [...]

Earn 2.50% With Savings/Checking Combo

RateRunner — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:15:31 +0000

You can land a $50 bonus and top rate with Ridgestone Bank’s checking and savings account combo. Its Momentum Savings account pays 2.50% APY on balances between $2,500 and $50,000. That beats the best nationally available savings account rate and matches the best returns on 24-month CDs. To qualify for that rate you have to open a Momentum [...]

Discover Motiva Pays You To Pay On Time

CardShark — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:15:23 +0000

The Discover Motiva credit card has an intriguing bonus for anyone who carries a balance. Pay at least the minimum due on time for six months and Discover will return your last interest payment. That bonus can be credited to your credit card account, electronically deposited in a checking or savings account, or claimed through gift [...]

Show Your Disgust With Corporate Greed While Earning Valuable Reward Points

CrankySaver — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:31:13 +0000

Jon Stewart begins this segment of The Daily Show by worrying that we’re never going to see any serious reform of the banking and financial industry. “You get the sense they want to preserve as many loopholes as possible,” Stewart says. “It’s kind of like we’re going to cut down on robberies. From now on [...]

No Help From Fed As CD Rates Slide Again

CrankySaver — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:57:58 +0000

The Federal Reserve said it will continue to hold interest rates down for an “extended period” as CD rates reached new record lows this week. The Fed’s rate-setting committee met on Wednesday and concluded that the weak economic recovery continues to make cheap credit more important than reasonable returns for investors. As a result, prudent savers will [...]

Frontier Alone At Top Of 2-Year CD Rates

DealMaven — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:40:44 +0000

Frontier Bank is now alone at the top of our rankings of the best 24-month CD rates. It did that by raising the best rate on its “Silver CDs” to 2.55% APY from 2.50% APY at a time most banks are lowering their returns. But you’ll need an awfully lot of money to take advantage of Frontier’s [...]

Top CD Rates Meet Rewards Checking

DealMaven — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:18:03 +0000

First National Community Bank has an intriguing offer that combines a high-yield checking account with attractive CD rates. It’s paying 4.01% APY on balances of up to $25,000 in its “Maximum Earnings” checking account. Anything over that earns a paltry 1.01% APY, which is quite typical for these kinds of accounts. But FNCB is also [...]

Top 36 Month CD Rates Hold At 3%

DealMaven — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:33:50 +0000

Hudson City Bank hasn’t cut its chart-topping 36-month CD rates for more than a month now. That’s noteworthy given the way other banks chopped their returns and CD rates fell in October. Hudson City, which has dozens of branches in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, continues to pay 3.00% APY with a minimum deposit of [...]

Earn 1% Rebate With PerkStreet Checking

DealMaven — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:10:10 +0000

PerkStreet Financial is an odd little newcomer that does one thing, and one thing only: checking accounts. You can open an account with as little as $25 and pay no monthly fees as long as you use your account once a month. There’s also no charge for using any of the 37,000 ATMs in the STAR network [...]

Free Tacos Halloween Night!

CrankySaver — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:19:51 +0000

Taco Bell is my usual stop for Saturday lunch. But I may postpone today’s trip because Taco Bell’s offering everyone a free Black Jack taco from 6 p.m. to midnight. These babies usually cost 89 cents and I can’t find anything on the Taco Bell Web site that says you have to buy anything to get your [...]