World Savings' 4.65% 5-Month CD

Some banks prefer to keep their best deals quiet. World Savings Bank seems to be one of them. This bank has offered many great short term CD deals over the last few months. However, the best ones are not advertised on the bank's website nor at the branches. The deals become public when customers receive the promotions in the mail and post about them at forums like Fatwallet. Here's World Savings' latest CD deal:

4.65% APY, 5-month CD, minimum $10K deposit. Funds must come from outside of World Savings. Offer expires November 26, 2005 and is only available from the bank branches or by phone. A few posters on this Fatwallet thread have reported that some branches may require a copy of this promotion.

World Savings Bank is not alone in this marketing tactic. HSBC Bank has similar non-advertised promotions. Most have been signup bonuses for the bank's OnlineSavings account. When I've asked about HSBC's signup bonus, the customer service representatives (CSR) have stated that these promotions are only available to specific customers. However, many on Fatwallet have reported receiving the bonuses when they join using the promotion webpage.

Instead of signup bonuses, World Savings Banks seems to offer high CD rates to specific customers. Unlike HSBC, there is no promotion webpage where you can sign up, but the nice thing about World Savings Bank, is that when you call and specifically ask about the promotion, they will let in on it.