New VirtualBank CD Rates - 5% 6-month CD

VirtualBank increased the yields on all of its CDs today. The best increases were on CD terms of under 1 year. The 3-month CD increased from 4.50% to 4.85% APY. The 6 and 9-month CDs went up from 4.80% to 5.00% APY. The longer term CDs increased from 0.05% to 0.15%. The eMoney Market APY remains the same at 4.60%. Below is the full list of CD rate changes:

CD Term    Old APY   New APY
3 months    4.50%      4.85%
6 months    4.80%      5.00%
9 months    4.80%      5.00%
12 months   5.10%      5.15%
18 months   5.05%      5.15%
2 years     5.05%      5.15%
3 years     5.05%      5.15%
4 years     5.05%      5.20%
5 years     5.05%      5.20%

The certificates of deposits have a $10K minimum deposit requirement. Based on info received from VirtualBank, the penalty for early withdrawal is one month of interest for the 3-month term, 3 months of interest for the 6 and 9 month terms, and 6 months of interest for the 12 month and longer terms.

One nice feature of these CDs is that they can be funded from money in your eMoney Market account. You can also have the CD money deposited in this account at CD maturity or if you need to do an early withdrawal. VirtualBank accepts instructions via the secure message system accessible when you are logged into your account.

So if you're interested in a VirtualBank CD, I recommend first opening an eMoney Market account which is currently paying 4.60% APY. There's a $100 minimum deposit requirement but no balance requirement. You can even receive a $20 sign-up bonus through a referral (email me your first and last name to bankdeals@gmail.com if you're interested). For more info on the eMoney Market account and this sign-up referral system, refer to this post.

The CD application process can be done online, however, you do have to send in a signature card. This can printed during the application process. VirtualBank will also mail you the signature card with a postage-paid envelope along with the CD documentation. For more info on VirtualBank's CDs refer to this post in which I described my experiences of opening a CD with them.