E-LOAN has some competitive mid-term and long-term CD rates. These include a 2.47% APY 24-month CD and a 3.50% APY 60-month CD. Minimum deposit is $10,000. CD must be opened online, and it must be funded using an ACH transfer from an existing checking or savings account. These rates are listed at
E-LOAN's interest rates page as of 7/29/09.
E-LOAN's savings account used to be competitive, but in the last year, the rates have been below average for online savings accounts.
When E-LOAN CDs mature, you can have the funds transferred via ACH to the account that was used to originally fund the account, and you can specify the instructions in an online form before maturity. That's a nice feature. However, it's important that you provide the CD maturity instructions before maturity. Here are the instructions that E-LOAN provides:
You may enter CD maturity instructions beginning 60 days prior to maturity. We will accept maturity instructions online up to 5:00 pm Pacific Time on the maturity date. At that time, the last instructions received will become final and cannot be changed. If we do not receive instructions from you before the maturity date, your CD will automatically renew at the rate in effect at the time of renewal.
Your external account must be verified at least 5 business days prior to your CD maturity date.
If you're late with these instructions or late verifying your external account, the CD may automatically renew. If the external account that was used to fund the CD has remained the same, I think you should be okay. However, if this account has been closed, you'll need to link another account and have it verified.
E-LOAN's disclosure does state that there is a grace period:
After an automatic renewal, we allow a ten (10) calendar day "grace period" during which you can withdraw funds without being charged a penalty. The grace period begins on the day after the maturity date of your CD. No interest is paid past the maturity date on accounts closed during the grace period.
I'm not sure why this seems inconsistent with the instructions above. If you want to keep things easy, it would be best to ensure the maturity instructions are provided early. Readers have informed me of various problems with E-LOAN CDs. If you have experience with them, please leave a comment.
Update 12:15pm PDT: I sent an email to E-LOAN asking about the discrepancy between the CD maturity instructions and the grace period mentioned in the disclosure. Here is what I received:
To close a CD account that is within its grace period, please send a detailed Secure Message with the last 4 numbers of the account to be closed.
Upon closure, all funds will be sent via an electronic Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer to the most recently verified linked account on file.
This may take 2-4 business days to be completed.
So it appears you can close the CD during the grace period, but you just can't use the form.
E-LOAN is a subsidiary of Banco Popular North America (BPNA), a New York state chartered bank. E-LOAN's deposit products are insured by the FDIC through BPNA (
FDIC Certificate # 34967). BPNA's ratings for safety and soundness have gone down quite a bit and are now at the lowest levels at both
BauerFinancial and
Bankrate.com based on 3/31/09 financial data.
Other High Certificate of Deposit Rates
