West Town B&T Has 2 Nationally Available Competitive CD Specials

Illinois-based West Town Bank & Trust (WTBT) is currently offering two nationally available CD Specials – 7-month (5.88% APY) and 11-month (5.77% APY). The minimum opening deposit is $10k of new money, which is defined as funds from another financial institution. These near rate-leading APYs are available to both new and existing WTBT customers.

Early Withdrawal Penalty

There is no Truth-in-Savings disclosure on the WTBT website. According to CSR, the Early Withdrawal Penalty for both CD Specials is all interest earned, no matter when an early withdrawal is made. Partial withdrawals are allowed, with the principal protected.

Availability and Account Opening

Headquartered in North Riverside, Illinois (Cook County), West Town Bank & Trust has a single full-service branch in Illinois, but is offering the 7-month and 11-month CD Specials on a nationwide basis.

There is no online application. A CD Special can be opened over the phone (919.948.1990, operations headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina) or at the North Riverside, Illinois branch located on West 26^th Street.

Funding and Other Details

The following information is from a conversation with a very helpful CSR.

• Funding – Wire or check (if opening in-branch).
• Ownership – Individual, joint, or trust.
• Interest – Compounded/credited quarterly and can be transferred to a WTBT checking/savings account.
• Maturing Funds – Wire.
• Beneficiaries – Unlimited and percentages can be assigned; Social Security number not required.
• Grace Period – 10 calendar days.
• Credit Check – ChexSystems.

Bank Overview

West Town Bank & Trust has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 14.33% (excellent) based on June 30, 2023 data. In the past year, WTBT’s total non-brokered deposits decreased by -$10.72 million, a below average annual growth rate of -4.02%. Please refer to our financial overview of West Town Bank & Trust (FDIC Certificate # 28151) for more details.

West Town Bank & Trust was established in 1922 as the West Town Savings and Loan Association located in Cicero, Illinois. The Bank remained a Savings and Loan for 70 years, and in 1992 was changed to a mutual savings bank and re-branded as West Town Savings Bank. In 2009, the Bank was recapitalized through the efforts of a group of investors from North Carolina, and two new branches were opened, and operated as Albemarle Bank & Trust, A West Town Bank. A May 2019 press release announced West Town Bancorp’s successful recapitalization of North Carolina-based Sound Bank,

as part of the bank’s plan to grow its franchise into a high performing, statewide North Carolina community bank. As part of the recapitalization, West Town sold a substantial portion of its interest in Sound Bank through a series of concurrent secondary sales of shares of Sound Bank common stock to certain third-party purchasers, which secondary sales resulted in gross proceeds to West Town of $28,010,000. Simultaneous with West Town’s completion of these secondary sales, Sound Bank completed a private placement of newly issued shares of Sound Bank common stock, which primary sales by Sound Bank resulted in gross proceeds to the bank of approximately $62 million, before fees and expenses of the bank offering. Following the concurrent closings of West Town’s secondary sales and Sound Bank’s primary offering, which are referred to collectively as the recapitalization, West Town retains an approximate 4.9% ownership interest in Sound Bank’s voting common stock and a 9.9% total equity interest in Sound Bank.

How the 11-Month CD Special Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally, have fixed rates, and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, one credit union has a higher rate than currently offered on the West Town B&T 11-Month CD Special. The following table compares the 11-Month CD Special to the two highest-rate CDs from credit unions and the two highest-rate CDs from other banks.

How the 7-Month CD Special Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally, have fixed rates, and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, two credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the West Town B&T 7-Month CD Special. The following table compares the 7-Month CD Special to the two highest-rate CDs from credit unions and the two highest-rate CDs from other banks.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 11/21/2023.

To search for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD rates table page.