New World Savings CD Special: 5.51% 7 to 11 Month

World Savings just started a new CD special today. They're offering 5.51% APY CD. Like the last special they give you a range of terms to pick from (from 7 to 11 months). New funds are required. The minimum deposit requirement is $10K and the maximum deposit limit is $100K per term. This special is only available at the branches and expires on June 3, 2006. There is a 3-month early withdrawal penalty.

According to the CSR, the $100K max per term means that you can deposit up to $100K for the 7-month, $100K for the 8-month, all the way to 11-month.

As is typical with these World Savings certificate of deposit specials, your local branch may not be aware of this special. It may take them a while to confirm it. The best thing to say is that you heard about it from a friend who received a mailer. The CSR with whom I spoke wasn't aware of it until she checked into it. Also, she wasn't sure if it were available at all the branches, but after further review, she said there were no branch restrictions. Please refer to World Savings' branch finder for a local branch.

Note that this special is not advertised at World Savings' website. They often have these secret ceritifcate of deposit deals which are targeted to specific customers. Fortunately, World Savings seems to always let others in on these deals if they request them. The best internet deal is a 5.16% APY 5-month CD. They have also been advertising special 4-month CDs up to 5.01% APY at some branches.

Also note that it requires new funds. This is another typical requirement of their CD specials. They probably hope people will just let their CDs renew at the standard rates which are very low (their current internet standard 6-month CD rate is only 3.51% APY). So to get the most out of World Savings, you'll need to withdraw the money when your CD matures, and then open a new CD with money that had been withdrawn to another bank. I've heard of some people who have been able to negotiate with the branch manager on this, but many haven't had much luck.

This requirement of new funds is a good reason to have a high yield money market account from a bank like GMAC. You can fund this World Savings CD with a money market account check. You should lose minimal interest between the time you write the check and the time that it's posted into the CD. When the CD matures, you should be able to request a check where you can deposit the money in your local account. Then use GMAC's ACH system to transfer it back to the high yield savings account within a day. You may want to consider a World Savings checking account which could be used as a way to transfer from the CD to money market account. Unfortunately, all of World Savings checking and money market accounts have low rates and minimum requirements to avoid fees.

For more information on World Savings, please refer to my post on their last branch CD special. Several people shared their experiences with World Savings in the comments.