5.41% 12-Month CD and the New Savings Account at Countrywide Bank

Countrywide Bank made a nice bump to their 12-month CD. It's now paying 5.41% APY. The minimum deposit is $10K. This just beats out Corus Bank's new 5.40% APY 12-month CD.

I noticed that Countrywide Bank has added a new type of savings account called SavingsLink. Like the typical online savings account it can link to your accounts at other financial institutions (not just checking). You can link up to 3 external accounts, and all links can be done online. Also like the typical online savings accounts, there are no minimum balance requirements to avoid a monthly fee. However, you need a balance of $1K to open the account and to obtain the APY.

The SavingsLink interest rate is not the best, the current APY for deposits between $1K and $50K is 4.25%. However, this account can be convenient to use for their certificates of deposit. You can fund a CD with money from the Savingslink account although I was told this has to be done by phone. Also, when the CD matures, you can move the money back into your SavingsLink account where you can do an ACH transfer to the next best deal.