Bank of America's New Online CD

Bank of America just launched what it calls its "High Yield CD". It's a 10-month certificate of deposit with rates as high as 5.20% APY. Compared to other banks, this rate is nothing special, but for a Bank of America CD, this is a big improvement. This CD requires a minimum of $10K and must be opened online.

Rates vary by state. The highest that I've found is 5.20% APY in Illinois. 5.15% APY is available in New York. 5.00% APY is available in Texas, Florida and California. 4.95% APY is available in Colorado and Virginia. The lowest rate that I've found is 4.50% in Georgia.

Perhaps this is Bank of America's first step to compete with the latest CD deals from other major banks such as Washington Mutual's 6% 13-month CD special or Citibank's 6% 6-month CD special (6% in Texas, 5.50% elsewhere).

The next thing I hope to see from BofA would be a truely free checking account similar to what Washington Mutual now offers. BofA's free checking accounts like its MyAccess Checking account require direct deposit to avoid monthly fees. Note, there are ways around these fees (see post on checking account bonus).

Thanks to David who mentioned this new CD in the finding deals post.