Arizona Deposit Account Rates and Deals

BBVA Compass Bank is offering another bonus of up to $150 for opening a new checking account, using online bill pay and direct deposit. Here's the promotion page link. It's not as good as the January promotion since the $150 is not all cash. $50 of the bonus is a hotel gift card. Here are the important details of this new promotion:

• Open a new Build-to-Order checking account online by 3/31/2010 (small print says 3/31 even though headlines say 4/30)
• $100 cash when you establish a recurring payroll direct deposit by 04/30/2010
• $50 hotel gift card when you pay at least one bill for at least $25 to an unrelated third party via online bill pay by 04/01/2010

Note, according to the small print, the $50 hotel gift card is also available for existing BBVA Compass checking customers who haven't used online bill pay in the last 90 days. I don't know the "true" value of the hotel gift card. It can only be used for hotels booked at www.myhotelgiftcard.com and requires a two night minimum stay.

Requirements for Opening Compass Bank Accounts:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen
• Have a permanent residence within a state where BBVA Compass has a banking center (Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, or Texas) and your permanent residence must be located in close proximity to a BBVA Compass banking center.

BBVA Compass now has branches in California after its acquisition of the failed Guaranty Bank last August. However, these branches may not be transitioned over yet to allow people to qualify for these Compass promotions. If you're in California and interested in this promo, it may be worth a call to Compass.

BBVA Compass Checking Accounts

I completed a Compass checking promotion in 2006 and received the promised $50 gift card without any problems. One downside is that I did received two hard credit inquiries by Transunion.

The Build-to-Order Free Checking comes with some basic features. Two additional premium features are allowed without cost. The notable basic feature is no minimum balance or direct deposit requirement. Also, bill pay is free. The notable premium feature for those who want to make extra money is a $25 anniversary cash bonus. One feature that is lacking is free checks. A reader in a previous Compass post mentioned that the first order of checks is free.

The disclosure has some of the details of $25 anniversary cash bonus feature. I switched my Compass checking account to this Build-to-Order Free Checking in December 2007 and chose the $25 anniversary cash bonus as one of my premium features. Then I set up small monthly ACH debits from my online bank account to keep the checking active. I received the $25 bonus for both 2008 and 2009.

BBVA Compass Bank is a member FDIC (FDIC Certificate # 19048).

Credit for this find goes to this iBankDesign thread.

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other bonus deals, please refer to my best bank bonuses page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.

Bank of the West has extended its $100 checking account bonus. According to the bank's promotions page, the new checking account must be opened by 4/16/2010. You can receive a $100 when you open a checking account with funds new to Bank of the West and set up direct deposit of at least $250 OR pay 10 bills online. I reviewed the small print in this January post.

Update: It appears Bank of the West has changed the availability of the promotion since January. According to the CSR, online account opening is limited to states which have Bank of the West branches. These states include AZ, CA, CO, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI and WY.

When I contacted the bank in January, I was told this bonus was available to people in any state, and you didn't need to come into a branch. Readers seemed to confirm this in the comments in January. Here's one of the comments:

We did this offer in late 2009 as well. We did NOT visit a local branch. We filled out the application online. We used direct deposit to fulfill the requirement. $100 bonus was paid eventually.

If you have participated in similar promotions in the past, please leave a comment about your experience.

Also from my January call, I was told they don't do a hard credit inquiry in the application (only a soft pull). So you shouldn't have to worry about a ding to your credit score. It should be noted that I've often received wrong info on this issue from CSRs so please leave a comment if you have personal experience on this issue.

Checking Account with no ATM Fees for One Year

Bank of the West's free checking account qualifies for the bonus. In addition, they have a new checking account called Choice ATM checking which offers one year of free ATM use within the USA. This allows you to withdraw cash from any financial institution's ATM free of charge for one year. Surcharges assessed by other banks will be automatically refunded. One thing to note about this Choice ATM Checking is that you have to worry about a $10 monthly fee unless you meet certain balance or activity requirements. Also, Choice ATM checking is only offered in the following states: CA, CO, MN, NV, OK and OR.

Online Savings Account

Bank of the West continues to offer an online savings account with a competitive yield. It has gone down from 1.50% APY in January to 1.25% APY as of today (3/10/10). Unfortunately, 1.25% APY is a decent savings account rate these days. This rate requires a $10,000 minimum balance. The low tier rate has also gone down by 0.25%. It's now 0.25% APY for balances under $10,000. In August I was told by the CSR that there's a $2/month fee if the balance falls below $300. Another downside is that their ACH bank-to-bank transfer service has a transfer limit of $2,000 per day.

Bank Overview

Branches are located throughout the Western and Midwestern states including Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and California.

Bank of the West is one of the large regional banks with $60 billion in assets and $40.2 billion in deposits. Its ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data) and 1 star (lowest) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 3514).

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other bonus deals, please refer to my bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.

Firsts Citizens Bank has a check card reward program called FreeMoney in which you can earn close to 4% cash back on your debit card purchases with a maximum of $500 per year. Unlike other debit card and credit card cash back reward programs, this requires some work if you want to maximize the cash back reward.

First, you're required to open the First Citizens personal checking account and FreeMoney Bonus Savings Account. To earn cash back, the following debit card usage is required:

• Make 10 non-PIN check card purchases per month
• AFTER these 10 check card purchases are made, you'll earn $1 for every non-PIN check card purchase of $25 or more.
• The FreeMoney bonus is deposited into the FreeMoney Bonus Savings Account each month

According to the terms and conditions, the maximum bonus per checking account is $500 per calendar year.

As you can see, it won't be easy to get close to 4% cash back from this program. Your first 10 check card purchases would have to be small since there's no cash back associated with them. The additional check card purchases during the month would have to be $25 or just a little bit higher. Then you could get close to earning 4% cash back. Of course if it were too easy, everybody would earn the 4%, and the bank wouldn't be able to afford it.

A branch visit is required to open an account. Branches are located throughout North Carolina. It also has branches in Arizona, Maryland, Tennessee, Washington, California, Virginia and West Virginia.

You might be wondering why the branches are so scattered across the country. First Citizens Bank has been expanding in the last several months with much of the expansion coming from the acquisition of failed banks. The latest acquisition was on Friday when it acquired Sun American Bank in South Florida.

First Citizens Bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data) and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 11063)

Other debit card and credit card reward programs

As I've mentioned in previous posts, banks make sizable profits from non-PIN debit card usage. This is one new type of program that encourages debit card use. PerkStreet Financial is one that's available nationwide which offers 1% cash back without any hoops to jump through. It also has a special 2% cash back promo (see review). For those with large savings, you'll probably do better with high-yield reward checking accounts (refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com).

If you prefer using credit cards, some of the best cash back programs are from PenFed, Charles Schwab and Fidelity.

AEA Federal Credit Union is offering a special 2.00% APY 12-month CD. Minimum deposit is $10,000. It's called the CEO special, and it's listed in the credit union's rates page as of 2/16/2010.

Membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in either Yuma or La Paz County, Arizona. Please refer to the credit union's Eligibility Page for the full details. Membership requires a one-time $5 fee and a minimum balance of $25 in the share savings account.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com and 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 4915).

Metro Phoenix Bank is offering some competitive mid- and long-term CD rates:

• 2.52% APY 24-month CD
• 2.78% APY 36-month CD
• 3.03% APY 48-month CD
• 3.54% APY 60-month CD

These rates are listed in the bank's rate sheet as of 2/09/2010. Minimum deposit is $5,000 ($2,000 for IRAs). The CD rates for terms of one year and less are not quite as competitive.

At first I thought their money market rate was also competitive with a 1.56% APY, but after a closer look, I realized this was the rate for a tier of $1M and above. Balances from $100K to $1M only receive 1.16% APY. I wonder how many people hold $1M+ in their money market accounts? If you do, you may want to consider United Central Bank (see review).

Metro Phoenix Bank is a small one-office bank located in Phoenix, Arizona.

Its ratings for safety and soundness are average: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 2007 (FDIC Certificate # 58402).

Greater Western Bank is offering three CD specials. The most competitive one is a 2.18% APY 18-month CD. The other two are a 2.68% APY 38-month CD and a 3.08% APY 58-month CD. These rates include a 0.15% bonus for new or existing checking or savings account customers. Minimum deposit is $5,000, and new money is required. These special CD rates are listed in the bank's CD page as of 2/01/2010.

It appears that a branch visit is required. Branches are located in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Missouri.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1935 (FDIC Certificate # 15289).

Vantage West Credit Union is offering a special 18-month IRA share certificate special with a 3.00% APY. Minimum deposit is $500. New money is required. The offer is scheduled to end on February 27, 2010. This special is listed at the credit union's promo page as of 1/23/2010.

Membership is open to those who live, work, worship, or volunteer in Pima County, Pinal County and parts of the Greater Phoenix metro area. You can also be eligible to join based on your employer, your college or an association membership. Please refer to the credit union's membership page for the full details. Membership requires a minimum $5 balance in the regular share savings account.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are average: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 68558).

Thanks to the reader who mentioned this special in the Open Discussions Thread.

Other IRA CD Deals

If you're looking for better CD rates on an IRA, January is a good time. Banks and credit unions often have good deals during this time since people often make their IRA contributions between January and April 15th when you can make a contribution for both the current and previous year.

Two easy-to-join credit unions are still offering 3% IRA CD deals as of 1/23/2010:

• 3.00% APY 14-month IRA CD at Apple FCU
• 3.00% APY 60-month No-Penalty IRA CD at Agriculture FCU

As I've been reporting, banks are trying new ways to encourage customers to use their debit cards with the credit (signature-based) option. High-yield reward checking is one way, and this mostly benefits those with larger balances ($25K or more). The larger banks have tried reward checking that rewards with cash back rather than high interest rates. M&I Bank is the latest example with their Cash Back Checking.

In addition to the cash-back features, M&I Bank is offering a $100 cash bonus for opening their Cash Back Checking Account. Offer is scheduled to last until 2/12/2010. Here's the small print of the offer:

Simply open an M&I Cash Back Checking account by February 12, 2010. To receive your $100 you must make five qualifying** purchases with your M&I Bank Check Card within the first 45 days after account opening. Your account will be reviewed 45 days after opening. The $100 cash bonus will be paid within 2 weeks of that review if the requirement above has been met. Offer applies to new accounts opened with new money not currently on deposit with M&I Bank, no exceptions. One bonus per household ever 12 months. Cannot be combined with other offers.

Note, qualifying purchases requires signature-based purchases with the debit card.

Here's the summary of the cash back features of this checking account:

• 0.25% cash back bonus based on the total amount of your net signature-based M&I Bank Check Card purchases made during the statement cycle.
• $0.25 for a deposit up to a maximum of $2 per statement cycle (8 deposits)
• $0.25 for each monthly online statement
• $0.05 for automatic payments deducted from your account (Online Bill Payment, internal M&I loan payment and ACH debit) up to a maximum of $2 per statement cycle (40 payments)

Note, high-yield reward checking accounts often require the above activity to qualify for the high yield. For those with small balances, the above cash-back features could earn you more than high interest rate.

One downside to the Cash Back Checking is the potential of a $10 monthly maintenance fee which would eliminate the benefits of the above rewards. The bank lists these three options to avoid this fee:

• making 3 transactions per statement cycle
• maintaining $1,000 minimum average daily balance in the account
• if you are under the age of 25

The offer appears to only be available where M&I Bank has branches. You need to enter your zip code if you apply online, and it'll tell you if you're not in their market area. According to their branch locator, the states where they have branches include: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada and Wisconsin. Most of the branches are located in Wisconsin which is where their headquarters is located.

M&I is a large regional bank with $51.6 billion in assets. It has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 1020).

Credit for this find goes to FW member buyerbware who posted it on this FW thread.

• CD rates at DepositAccounts.com (overview of DepositAccounts.com)
• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD deals

• Open any new personal checking account
• First recurring direct deposit must be posted to your account within 60 calendar days of your account opening date
• The 10 bill payments must occur within 60 calendar days of your account opening date
• Bonus will be credited to your account within 60 days after satisfaction of conditions
• Offer valid for a new personal checking account opened from with $100 or more from a financial institution other than Bank of the West
• Offer does not apply to second or multiple checking accounts and/or existing checking customers
• Limit of one $100 bonus per household per calendar year
• Value of the offer reported to the IRS on Form 1099