Here is a bank CD rate to feast on during Thanksgiving. Enjoy!!! Presidential Bank, FSB has decent interest rates especially if you are limiting your deposits to the Maryland area. Their financial stats are improving, but still not out of the woods. My biggest concern is their huge change in number of employees. They went from 212 as of September 2009 to 344 for September 2010. I would be keeping a close eye on their profits.

Presidential Bank, FSB doesn’t have the best CD Rates, but they are competitive for their area. And that is all they are really trying to do. They will allow for deposits from outside of their area, but they aren’t trying to compete with the likes of Ally Bank and Flushing Savings Bank CD Rates. However, they do offer a savings account at 1.00% for balances up to $35,000. That rate is competitive with what else is out there. Let me know what you think.

cd :O)

The holidays and work load have reduced our postings a little, but still managed two posts this week. In addition, we’ve added another page to focus on 1-year CD Rates. So certainly keeping busy. Pages for the other terms will come, maybe at a pace of 1 a week, we shall see. Of course we can be bribed with social media mentions, link love, or even a nice comment.

Before I get to the rates just a short rant. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving. Although the retailers seem to like to gloss over this day, let us not forget why we celebrate it. Be thankful for a Loving God who through providence brought the Pilgrims to the soils of the New World. Be thankful that they found the strength, fortitude and perseverance to survive in this New World. Be thankful for the Indians who taught them much needed skills for living in the new land. Let us do our best to model the same. Find that inner strength, but don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you are in a position to be the help, do so in a mighty way. Wikipedia has a great article if you would like some history. Thanksgiving

Now for the review of Alliant Credit Union.

Alliant Credit Union has had quite competitive CD rates for a number of years now. They are quite popular on the internet because of the high interest rates plus their membership is open to all through the PTA (if you don’t qualify otherwise). I believe they have two draw backs. The first is their online application. At least 50% of the people I know have failed when trying to complete it. The process uses a service to serve up five questions from your credit report. Some of the questions are purposely presented to trip you up. If you aren’t able to complete the online process, you can still open an account through the mail, but that of course takes time and in a falling rate environment such as we’ve had for the last 3-years, time is no friend.

The other draw back is they don’t give you any grace with the rates. If you are sending a check in the mail and rates drop, you lose out. Of course if we were in a rising rate environment, that could work to your advantage.

Once a member they seem to have good customer service, but I have found them not to be very helpful during the set-up process. That is why I recommend going through the process even if you don’t have the funds. I made the same recommendation for Pentagon FCU.

One side note, our rating system gives them a 3-stars, but I’ve seen others that give them 5-stars. Frankly, when looking at the basic data, they look fine to me, so I wouldn’t let the 3-stars scare you. You are of course federally protected by the NCUA up to $250,000.00

cd :O)

Pentagon Federal Credit Union has been around since 1935. Interestingly, they didn’t become federally insured until 1971. They are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year and have a great logo to represent it. They are quite strong and doesn’t look like they plan on going anywhere, anytime soon.

Pentagon Federal Credit Union, also referred to as PenFed, is very easy to deal with and I haven’t heard many complaints about them except when they had an IRA special that was supposed to last a month and ended up being pulled in the middle. Many people had made arrangements for funds to transfer before month end and had to scramble to get transfers done earlier. Now they don’t make promises for rates to be good through a certain period of time.

They recently ran a unique offer for maturities in October. If members would move funds into a savings account, they would lock-in the current rates and the customer could open a certificate of deposit in January. They made this available for a limited amount of funds, but the rates at the time were much higher than other offers.

PenFed primarily serves the military and their families and have 24/7 customer service. Yes, you can reach someone (a very helpful someone, I might add) on the phone 24-hours a day/ 7-days a week. That is quite impressive. Their CD rates tend to be at the top or above the market and they often offer specials in January. This is one that I feel would be worth joining even if you don’t have funds for a CD now. Then when you do, you can jump on it quickly. Rumor has it that they will be offering a very competitive 10-year CD in January. Click here to subscribe to our rate alerts

cd :O)

First, thank you to everyone that has enjoyed the series of posts featuring various bank and credit union CD rates. Second, I thought I would take a little respite and focus on a few other topics. One may save you a lot of money and hassle, another may alleviate some fears with opening online savings accounts or certificates of deposit, and a third may land you a nice home.

We received a mass fax today from a company that was offering to include our company in their online directory. The company (Yellow Page B.V. or Yellow Publishing NQ LTD) operates a series of websites such as yellowpage-california.com, yellowpage-kentucky.com, etc. First problem is the logo looks very similar to the real Yellowpages logo so many people assume that is who they are. Second, they make a false claim about offering to do a free Google Submission. There is no such thing. Finally, they are charging an exorbitant amount of money ($89/mo) to be listed on a site that has practically no value. If you want some more information visit Yellow Page Scam and/or Fighting Yellow Page BV. Note those are the same site, just trying to help a couple of likely search phrases.

The other topic may assuage some fears when it comes to opening online accounts and your credit score. As you may have run into, many online applications do a soft or hard credit inquiry on your credit. Sol Nasisi who writes for BestCashCow did an article on whether or not it aversely affects your credit score. Check it out: Does opening a savings, CD, or checking account impact your credit score? And it doesn’t have to be online either. Your local bank may do it also, I just run into it more with online stuff.

Finally, something sort of fun. Yahoo ran a story on houses under $100K. Some of these are amazing. My favorite is the Tudor in Michigan. So if you are looking to move, check them out. Homes under $100K. Let me know your favorite.

Have a great Veteran’s Day tomorrow. Remember to give thanks for the sacrifice they have given for our freedoms.

cd :O)

I’ve been targeting 3-posts a week and so far I’m a little behind. But last week was shortened by a Friday absence and this week we have the very important Veteran’s Day. Regardless I hope all of the bank rate postings have been helpful. By the way, I also tried to do my part to spur on the economy by freeing up some monthly expenses, but at this point was unable to re-finance. The sad thing is I could probably force one, but I don’t like the idea of just stopping my payments when I can in fact afford to make them. I believe I made an agreement, and I plan on fulfilling it even though it seems the “good guys” are getting the shaft. Oh well, enough of my rant. Today I bring you Discover Bank.


Discover Bank has for the most part remained in good standing. The bank backs their credit card business so they don't have a bunch of mortgage loans going bad. The 2nd quarter profit number was $48MM. It jumped up to $308MM in the 3rd quarter. Looks like they are doing good.

Discover Bank has retail and institutional rates. I haven't dealt with the retail side of things, but the folks on the institutional side are wonderful. Individual investors can open a CD on-line or over the phone. Institutional investors have to complete a series of forms. Once all documentation has been completed, Discover Bank issues an account# to wire into. The 6-month penalty is a nice feature as well. Their CD rates are competitive.

So go forth and "discover" yourself some yield, Man.
cd :O)

Bank of Internet USA is often a strong player in the online certificate of deposit and savings account world. I actually remember the day they opened, July 4, 2000. We referred our first deposit there at the end of July. These days they don’t really like wholesale funds and prefer retail deposits. Which is good for you.

Bank of Internet USA is quite healthy and pretty much always has been. They finished their first six months with about $60MM in assets, now look at them. Of course with opening on the day we celebrate our Independence and a name like they have, who wouldn’t want to help them with their American dream of having a successful business.

You really don’t hear many complaints about them except for their lack of an ACH system. I think that is a little odd given their online focus, but also quite a money savings for them. They seem to be happy with letting other banks push and pull funds from the accounts.

They do actually take funds from corporations, banks, and credit unions as well as individuals, but they have separate rates. They do not accept IRAs. One nice feature is their CD terms are flexible so if you don’t want a straight 6-month term, you can take the rate out to 8-months. I would not do a long term CD with them at this point, unless it is really a term you need. Their early withdrawal penalty is 24-months of interest. That is pretty steep.

They do have an online application and even banks and credit unions have to provide CIP information on their signers. One other thing to watch out for, their signature card needs to be returned within 30-days or they will close the CD and send the funds back.

Happy CD Investing!
cd :O)

Melrose Credit Union has some of the best certificate of deposit rates out there. They don’t update rates very often. Prior to the current update, it as 8/26/10.

Melrose Credit Union is one of the few credit unions that allow for nationwide membership. I’ve recommended in other articles, that even if you don’t have enough money for a CD today, it is one that would be worth joining so that when you do have funds, you can just fund the CD and not have to wait on the membership process. Melrose needs the original application before they can open the CD. You can complete one online and then print it, sign, and mail it or they can mail you one. Another often overlooked or unknown benefit to holding accounts at credit unions is that some of them pay a dividend at the end of the year.

cd :O)