4.05% 17-Month / 4.55% 59-Month CD at a Missouri Bank (Truman)

Truman Bank is offering a special 4.05% APY 17-month CD and a 4.55% APY 59-month CD. The minimum deposit is $2,500. These special CDs don't seem to be listed at the bank's website. They were advertised in Friday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The ad is available online here.

My last post on Truman Bank was in April 2007 when it was offering a 5.50% 13-month CD.

Branches are located in the Missouri cities of Saint Louis, Imperial, Crestwood and St. Peters. Their toll free number is 866-392-0555. The bank has been FDIC insured since 1988 (FDIC Certificate # 27316).

5.00% 60-Month / 4.00% 24-Month CD at a New England Bank (Webster)

Webster Bank is offering some competitive long-term CD rates. These include a 5.00% APY 5-year CD, a 4.25% APY 3-year CD and a 4.00% APY 2-year CD. A checking account is required. The minimum deposit is $1,000.

I last reported on this bank in February when they were offering a $100 checking account bonus. When I contacted the bank for that promo, I was told that people in any state can apply online. There are "open" buttons on the CD rate table that link to an online application, but I would recommend verifying with the bank that they do accept out-of-state deposits for their CDs. Also, I recommend verifying the rates since a note at the bottom of the table states that rates may vary by state and region.

Branches are located in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and in Westchester County, New York. The bank is FDIC insured (FDIC Certificate # 18221). It's a fairly large bank with $17.1 billion in assets. BauerFinancial gives the bank 4 stars (excellent) based on 3/31/08 data.

3.70% 3-Month / 3.70% 6-Month CD at Crestmark Bank

Crestmark Bank is offering a 3.70% interest rate on all of its short-term CDs with terms from 30 days to 12 months. The longer term rates are not quite as competitive. They're only 3.45% for terms of 18 months to 5 years. The minimum deposit is $25,000, and the maximum is $200,000. They do not compound interest so the APY and APR are equivalent.

It has been awhile since my last report on Crestmark Bank back in September 2006. When I contacted Crestmark in 2006, I was told that the CDs can be opened by mail. They haven't changed much in the last two years. Their CD application is still in Excel format.

Crestmark often goes through periods in which it stops offering CDs. When you see the rate page with rates of 0%, I was told this meant that they were not accepting new funds. Hopefully, these latest rates will last for awhile.

The bank is based in Troy, Michigan. It has been FDIC insured since 1996 (FDIC Certificate # 34353). Bankrate gives Crestmark a rating of 4 stars (sound) as of 12/31/07.

Best CD Rates

For terms under 9 months, it's hard to get anything over 3.70%. The highest 6 month CD rate at a FDIC-insured bank on my national CD list is 3.70% APY (3.65% rate) at Corus Bank. For 3-month terms, the highest on my list is 3.35% APY at GMAC Bank.

10% 6-Month CD ($2.5K Max) Continues at Flagstar Bank

Flagstar Bank continues to offer a 6-month CD promotion with a yield of 10.00% APY. The minimum deposit is $500, and the maximum deposit is $2,500. It does require you to jump through some hoops. A new checking account is required, and you must have at least 15 transactions per month (can include online bill payments, debits and credits). Instead of the 15 transactions, it appears you can also satisfy the CD requirement with $250 direct deposit of income per month. A $100 penalty may be imposed if the checking is closed before 6 months or if you fail to meet the transaction requirements.

This special is not listed at Flagstar's website. It was advertised in today's Holland Sentinel newspaper in Michigan. The ad is available online here. I last reported on this 10% CD in April.

This CD special is more like a checking account bonus. If you have $2,500, you'll make about $87 more than a 3% account for 6 months.

Matching CD Rates

Readers have informed me that Flagstar will beat any CD rate by 0.05% from a bank within the same county. Another reader reported that Flagstar in Georgia applies this to the entire state. So you can see if you can use this to get a 4% CD (see post).

Flagstar's Express Money Market Account

Flagstar continues to have one of the best online money market accounts, and it's available to people in any state (see post).

Financial Health

Flagstar has been hit hard by the mortgage mess. It has only a 1 star rating at Bankrate.com based on 12/31/07 data. However, BauerFinancial gives Flagstar 3 stars (adequate) based on more recent data (3/31/08). As with any bank, always keep below the FDIC limits (Flagstar FDIC Certificate # 32541).

10% 12-Month / 10% 120-Month CD at a Kentucky CU - $1K Max/Youth (Commonwealth)

Commonwealth Credit Union is advertising a Happy Birthday special CD for children. You can deposit up to $1,000 in the CD under the name of a minor. The account pays 10% APY, and the maturity date is the child's 18th birthday. Your child must be between the ages of 8 to 17.

They have a table showing how much the CD will grow. The best case is if your child is 8 years old, and you get 10 years of compounding. The $1,000 deposit would grow to $2,594 at maturity. As a comparison, the $1,000 would grow to only $1,629 in a 5% CD. So you'll make $965 more than you would in a 5% CD.

My last post on this credit union was in October 2007 when it was offering a 5.50% 15-month CD.

Membership is open to those who participate in a Kentucy Retirement System. Also, families of members are eligible which includes uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews and cousins. Please see the how to join page for more details. Membership requires a minimum $5 deposit into the regular savings account.

Branches are located in Frankfort and Lexington, Kentucky. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 61437). It has $778.1 million in assets and 95,430 members.

Thanks to the reader who mentioned this special CD in the finding the best deals post

E*TRADE Savings Account Bonus Update

E*TRADE has a new $25 bonus for opening the Complete Savings Account. This new one is good through 8/31/2008. The terms seem to be the same as before including the requirement of only a $1 deposit to earn the $25. Here's the important small print:

$25 will be credited to your Complete Savings Account within 30 days of the account being funded with a minimum deposit of $1. Payments will be reported as interest income. Accounts must be opened by 8/31/2008 to quality for the $25 offer. Must be a new account opened with new funds. Offer applies to one new account per customer. Not good with any other offer.

Last year I received this $25 bonus without any problems. However, several commenters have mentioned that they had to call before the bonus was credited. So be sure to record when you sign up, keep a copy of the promo page, and if you don't receive the bonus within 30 days after funding the account, be sure to call. Based on the comments in this previous ETRADE bonus post, most seem to be receiving the bonus although several still had to call.

Complete Savings Account Review

E*TRADE Complete Savings Account currently has a yield of 3.15% APY. It has no minimum balance requirements and no monthly fees. I have many more details on the Complete Savings Account in my previous E*TRADE bonus post.

A commenter in that post mentioned that E*TRADE has added a verification step for large outbound electronic transfers which involves questions from Nexus/Lexus. I've recently done small transfers out of my Complete Savings Account, and I was not required to go through this extra step.

ETRADE Bank is FDIC insured (Certificate # 30746). It has $48.2 billion in assets and $32.4 billion in deposits.

Thanks to the reader who mentioned this new bonus in the comments.