Salem Five CD and Savings Account Promo Updates

Salem Five Bank increased the rate of its 2-year CD special from 1.50% to 1.75% APY. Its other two special CD rates remain the same and not too competitive: 2.50% APY for 5 years and 1.10% APY for 14 months. Minimum deposit is $10K for a regular CD and $2K for an IRA CD. These CD rates are listed in the bank's account rates page as of 4/27/2011.

This new 2-year CD rate is close to the best nationally available 2-year CD rate of 1.77% APY at Self-Help Credit Union (as of 4/27/2011).

I reviewed the details of these CDs and the application process in my December Salem Five CD review. These CDs can be opened online by people in any state. One downside to Salem Five's long-term CDs is a severe early withdrawal penalty. For a 5-year term, it's 15 months of interest. The penalty for the 14-month and 2-year CDs is 6 months of interest. Please refer to their CD Disclosure for more details.

Salem Five Direct Savings Account Promo Update

Salem Five's online division, Salem Five Direct, continues to offer a savings account promotion with a 1.25% APY that's guaranteed to last until April 1, 2012. Please refer to my eOne Savings Account promo review for the full details.

Existing eOne Savings Account Customers Don't Qualify

One important note about this promo is that those who already have an eOne Savings account appear to be out of luck. Two readers had been told that existing eOne Savings Account customers could open a new eOne Savings Account and qualify for this promo. After the new accounts were opened, Salem Five closed the accounts and informed them that customers can have only one eOne Savings Account.

These types of promotions may help the bank attract new customers and new deposits, but they're unfair to existing customers. And when the bank makes a mistake in their communication and then takes it out on the customers like this, it's even worse.