Hillcrest Bank's Money Market Breaks 5%

Hillcrest Bank made some substantial increases on its Index Money Market rates. For very large deposits (over $500K) the APY was increased from 4.85% to 5.09%. For more reasonable deposits of between $50K and $250K, the APY was increased from 4.54% to 4.78%. Below are the interest rates for all of the balance tiers:

APY   Interest  Min Deposit  Min Balance
      Rate      to Open      for APY
4.20%   4.13%   $10,000       $10,000 
4.46%   4.38%   $10,000       $25,000 
4.78%   4.68%   $10,000       $50,000 
4.93%   4.83%   $10,000      $250,000 
5.09%   4.98%   $10,000      $500,000 

It looks like Hillcrest intends to remain on top of the money market rates. About a month ago, I reported on Hillcrest's 4.54% APY.

This fatwallet thread does a good job at reviewing this bank and this Index Money Market Account. It can be opened through the mail without having to visit the branches. The minimum deposit requirement is only $10K. If balance falls below $10K, there's a $10 per month fee (This might have recently changed since the FW thread specifies a $50K minimum opening deposit and balance requirement to avoid fees.) The other features of this account seem similar to most other money market deposit accounts such as 6 withdrawals per month allowance (3 of the 6 can be debits to a third part. $10 fee per withdrawal after 6) and check writing privileges. It was also reported on the FW thread that Hillcrest gives you the first 40 checks free.

The only drawback from Hillcrest is that its online banking system doesn't seem to have an ACH transfer capability. However, you should be able to link it to the ACH systems of other banks like HSBC.

Hillcrest Bank's main office is in Overland Park, Kansas, and bank has 5 branches in Kansas and 5 in Missouri. Bankrate.com rates the financial strength of the bank as 3/5 stars (performing). As of September 30, 2005, it had $1.2 billion in total assets. As a comparison, ING Direct also has 3 stars, and in September 30, 2005, it had reported $51.4 billion in total assets (Bankrate.com).