Alabama Banking Rates and News

Alabama Teachers Credit Union has a reward checking account called nHanced Checking. It has the following rates and features as of 3/26/2013:

• 3.00% APY on balances up to $15,000
• 0.50% on balances over $15,000
• 0.10% on all balances if requirements are not met
• If qualifications are met, ATM fees incurred during the qualification cycle are reimbursed and credited to account on the last day of monthly statement cycle

Monthly requirements:

• 12 debit card purchases
• at least 1 direct deposit, ACH auto debit, or bill payment
• eStatements
• access online banking

There is a qualification cycle calendar here and a qualification checklist here to assist...

Regions Bank is again advertising a checking account promotion in which you can earn $125. This is another big bank that lacks free checking so you'll have to be careful to avoid monthly fees. The offer requires a new customer open a LifeGreen Checking Account online with the promo code 125, have at least $500 in total direct deposits and at least 10 Visa check card purchases in the first 60 days. Offer is scheduled to end on 4/7/2013. The offer is listed in this Region's promotion page.

There's no mention of this offer on Region's home...

Just two weeks ago I posted on a BB&T $100 checking account bonus. Now it's offering a $125 bonus with the same requirements. The nice aspect of this bonus is that you can qualify for it without direct deposit. The downside is that BB&T's checking accounts have potential monthly service fees. So if you open the checking account for the bonus, you have to make sure to avoid the fees.

To qualify for the $125 bonus, customers must open a BB&T checking account and set-up and receive 2 direct deposits of at least $100 OR make 3 online bill payments...

BBVA Compass has changed its checking account promotion for the new year. Instead of a cash bonus, this new one offers a free Kindle Fire HD. Unlike the previous one, this new one requires direct deposit (and they specifically exclude bank-to-bank transfers). Here's the link to the new promotion. Below are the steps required for the bonus:

• Open a consumer checking account with a $25 minimum deposit by 3/31/2013
• Have a qualifying direct deposit of at least $300 from an unrelated third party post to the account within 90 days of account opening, AND
• Make 3 online bill payments...

BB&T is again offering a $100 bonus for opening a checking account and performing some additional activities. Just like most large banks, BB&T's checking accounts have potential monthly service fees. So if you open the checking account for the bonus, you have to make sure to avoid the fees.

To qualify for the $100 bonus, customers must open a BB&T checking account and set-up and receive 2 direct deposits of at least $100 OR make 3 online bill payments of at least $25. The offer is scheduled to end on 3/1/2013. Here's the link to the BB&T...

Pen Air Federal Credit Union had the top spot for the highest 5-year CD rate that's nationally available. Yesterday, Pen Air FCU reduced its CD rates. Its standard 5-year share certificate APY fell from 2.00% to 1.85%. Jumbo certificates used to have rates 20 basis points higher than the published standard rates. That has also gone down. According to a Pen Air FCU representative, the premium is now 10 basis points. So the new Jumbo 5-year share certificate APY is now 1.95%. Minimum deposits for the Jumbo certificates is $100,000. The regular CD and IRA CD rates are listed...

BrandBank has started a checking account promotion which is guaranteeing a 1.07% APY through June 30, 2013. A minimum balance of $50,000 is required. The rates are much lower for smaller balances (0.25% for $10K to $50K and 0.10% for under $10K). There's also another requirement. One of the following criteria must be met within 60 days of account opening: 1) sign up for recurring Direct Deposit on this account; 2) enroll in Brand Bill Pay; or 3) open a CD with at least $25,000 in new money not currently on deposit with BrandBank. If this requirement isn't met,...

When I last reviewed Pen Air Credit Union in August, I noted the competitive 5-year CD yield of 2.00%. That is still available for CDs and IRA CDs with a minimum deposit if $500 as of 11/8/2012. Sometimes an institution will offer higher rates for Jumbo CDs. This wasn't apparent at Pen Air since there are no Jumbo rates listed. Thanks to a reader's tip, I emailed the credit union and was informed of the higher rates. The 5-year Jumbo CD has a 2.20% APY and the 4-year Jumbo CD has a 1.80% APY. These are 20 basis points...

BBVA Compass has been offering competitive rates on its Featured CDs for the last several months. I just learned this morning that customers can receive an extra 10 basis points on the 24-month and 60-month Featured CD rates if the customer also opens a checking account. Below is a summary of the rates as of 11/5/2012:

• 2.10% APY 5-year CD with checking (2.00% w/o checking)
• 1.35% APY 2-year CD with checking (1.25% w/o checking)

These rates without a checking account are listed at BBVA Compass CDs page, but the extra rate with a checking account doesn't appear to be...

Yesterday I learned about MidFirst Direct, the internet division of MidFirst Bank. It offers a money market account, checking account and CDs with maturities of 3 months to 60 months. Both the money market account and checking account have low rates, but I was pleasantly surprised to see some very competitive CD rates. Compared to other internet banks, the best two are a 1.35% APY 1-year CD and a 1.40% APY 18-month CD. Below is a list of all of the competitive CD rates as listed at the MidFirst Direct CD page as of 9/11/2012:

• 1.35%...

When I last reviewed Pen Air Credit Union in April, I mentioned that its CD rates were competitive. After 4 months, Pen Air CD rates have held while the rates of many other institutions have fallen. For example, in late April I had listed 5 all-access credit unions which had 5-year CD rates of 2.20% or higher. In my last CD rate survey, I had listed only one all-access credit union with a 5-year CD rate over 2.00%. So now Pen Air Credit Union CD rates are much more competitive. The two best ones are a 2.00% APY 5-year...

Regions Bank is advertising a checking account promotion in which you can earn $125. This is another big bank that lacks free checking so you'll have to be careful to avoid monthly fees. The offer requires a new customer open a LifeGreen Checking Account online with the promo code Online125Bonus, have at least $500 in total Direct Deposits and at least 10 Visa CheckCard transactions in the first 60 days. Offer is scheduled to end on 9/30/2012. The offer is listed in this Regions promotion page.

There's no mention of this offer on Region's home page. I...