Best Bank Account Interest Rates - Summary for Week Ending August 27, 2011

Investors and economists were listening intently at what Bernanke would say at the Jackson Hole conference this week. There was speculation that Bernanke would provide hints of his plans for more monetary stimulus such as a new round of US Treasury bond purchases to further drive down interesting rates (aka QE3). The only real clue was the announcement that the next FOMC meeting will be extended from one day to two. Perhaps he wants more time to get buy-in for more monetary stimulus. It's a little more difficult now that he has 3 dissenters on the committee. One of them even acknowledged the impact to savers of the extremely low rates.

This talk of more monetary stimulus is starting to lose relevance. For us savers, I'm not sure how much more damage the Fed can do after its mid-2013 pledge. You can see in the Fed fund futures that there's no real expectation for a higher Fed funds rate through 2012 and into 2013. The only good thing to note is that there was a slight increase in these expectations near the start of 2013. Also, Treasury yields finally ended their fall and had slight increases this week. The details of these changes can be seen below (Numbers are based on Yahoo bond rate data and the CME Group FedWatch.)

Treasury Yields:

• 5--year: 0.93% up from 0.89% last week
• 10-year: 2.19% up from 2.06% last week
• 30-year: 3.53% up from 3.39% last week

Fed funds futures' implied probability for a higher rate by:

• Jun 2012: 2.1% up from 2.0% last week
• Dec 2012: 7.9% up from 3.1% last week
• Mar 2013: 13.3% up from 8.0% last week

This was one of the rare Fridays in which there were no bank failures. There was also no credit union liquidations this week. The total number of bank failures for 2011 remains at 68.

One note about the bank failures on August 19th, Virtual Bank is now back up and operating as part of a new bank. Its former parent, Lydian Private Bank was closed by regulators, and the FDIC arranged for Sabadell United Bank, N.A. to assume all Lydian deposits. It appears Sabadell United has made the decision to continue Virtual Bank.

Savings & Checking Account Rates

There were only two banks on my list of liquid accounts that cut rates this week. Perhaps we're seeing the end of the rate cuts spawned from the Fed's mid-2013 pledge. At least we can hope.

Unfortunately, we had another savings account fall below 1.00% this week. Ally Bank reduced its savings and money market account APY from 1.00% to 0.99%. It's a small cut, but it adds yet another liquid account to the sub-one-percent list.

If you want to avoid watching your liquid account be added to the sub-one-percent list, there is one way to ensure it stays off the list for at least a year. Capital One has a promotion in which they're guaranteeing 1.01% APY for one year on its Interest Online Checking Account (see my review). This is not quite a nationwide deal. The online checking account isn't available in areas where Capital One has branches.

Reward Checking Account Rates

My list of top nationally available reward checking accounts held this week with no rate cuts. Unfortunately, none of these reward checking accounts are great deals. If you're lucky, you'll find a local reward checking account with higher rates and larger balance caps. There are a few that are available state-wide, but even these often don't last long. As an example, two weeks ago I posted on Security Bank's great reward checking/savings combo deal that was available to all Texas residents. This week Security Bank reduced the availability to just its local market area in a small part of Texas.

So if you're looking for a reward checking account, be sure to use our reward checking rate table to find one in your state. Please refer to my rate table guide to learn how to use the rate tables.

If you're new to reward checking, my recent post, 10 Common Traits of High-Yield Reward Checking, should come in handy.

Rate Hikes:

1. None

Rate Cuts:

1. Clear Sky Savings - 1.04% (was 1.10%)
2. Ally Bank MMA/Savings - 0.99% (was 1.00%)

Certificate of Deposit Rates

My recap of CD rate changes and the list of CD deals will now be in my Friday surveys of the best CD rates. My Saturday recaps will now focus on banking news of the week and liquid accounts.

Recap for the Week - Links to This Week's Posts

Banking News/Resources

• Debit Card Fraud and Keeping Your PIN a Secret
• FDIC's 2nd Quarter Report & Our Updated Health Ratings

Savings/Checking Accounts - Nationwide

• No new posts

CD Deals - National

• The Search for Higher Rates - Foreign Currency CDs
• Long-Term CD Strategy Review with an Updated Comparison of Ally & Discover Bank

Checking/Savings/CC Bonuses

• New DepositAccounts.com Feature - Bank Promotions
• $100 Checking Account Bonus at Salal Credit Union - Washington State Only

Reward Checking Accounts

• Top Reward Checking Account at Pasadena Service Credit Union in CA - Local Only
• High-Interest Checking Account at Liberty Bank Available in MO, KS, AR & OK

CD and Money Market Deals - Local

• Survey of the Best CD Rates for August 26, 2011
• Competitive CD Rates at Collins Community Credit Union in Iowa - Local Only
• Top 7-Month Liquid CD Rate at Marathon National Bank in NYC - Local Only
• Competitive 3-Year CD Rate at Broward Bank of Commerce in Florida - Local Only

Posts from Previous Weeks

• Archive of 2011 Posts

The rates listed below are based on Annual Percentage Yield (APY). No minimum balances are required unless noted. MMA next to the rates indicate a money market account. Most MMAs have check writing and ATM cards. Online savings accounts usually lack both of these. Previous weekly summaries are available at this page.

Rates as of August 27, 2011

Checking/Savings/Money Market Accounts:

• Best Savings Account Rates (Nationwide & by State)
• Best Money Market Rates (Nationwide & by State)
• Best Checking Account Rates (Nationwide & by State)

• How to View Rates for Your State

• Noteworthy Accounts Available Nationwide:

• UFB Direct (Bank of Internet) - 1.30% Savings account review
• MyBankingDirect - 1.25% (min $5K) promo rate
• AmTrustDirect - 1.25% (min $10K, max $150K) promo rate
• Incredible Bank - 1.25% MMA ($2.5K min) account review
• Capital One/Costco - 1.16% InterestPlus Savings ($10K min, includes 10% quarterly bonus) 1.06% (w/o bonus) account review
• ING Direct - 1.15% ($100K) 1.10% ($50K) Electric Orange Checking
• Alliant Credit Union - 1.15% (min $100) account review
• Sallie Mae Bank - 1.15% MMA account review
• Incredible Bank - 1.11% Checking ($1K min) account review
• SFGI Direct - 1.11% (not accepting new accounts) account review
• Capital One - 1.11% InterestPlus Savings ($10K min, includes 10% quarterly bonus) 1.01% (w/o bonus) account review
• Discover Bank - 1.10% Savings (min $500) account review
• SmartyPig - 1.10% (min $25, max $50K) withdrawal restrictions, account review
• CNB Bank Direct - 1.05% account review
• Colorado Federal Savings Bank - 1.05% ($2.5K min) account review
• Clear Sky Accounts - 1.04% (max $250K) account review
• Capital One - 1.01% Checking (rate guaranteed for 1 yr) account review
• American Express Bank - 1.00%, account review
• ING Direct - 1.00% Orange Savings
• Ally Bank - 0.99% MMA account review
• airbanking.com - 0.95% Savings
• Hudson City Savings Bank - 0.90% (min $2.5K)
• EverBank - 0.81% MMA ($5K min)

Reward Checking Accounts:

• Best Reward Checking Account Rates for a $10,000 Balance - Nationally Available
• Best Reward Checking Account Rates for a $25,000 Balance - Nationally Available

• How to View Rates for Your State

• Noteworthy Accounts Available Nationwide:

• Consumers Credit Union - 4.09% (up to $10K) 1.59% ($10K-$25K) 0.76% ($25K+)
• Lake Michigan Credit Union - 4.00% (up to $15K) 0.00% ($15K+)
• ABCO Federal Credit Union - 2.52% (up to $25K) 0.50% ($25K+)
• Community Bank of Pleasant Hil - 2.51% (up to $25K) 0.50% ($25K+)
• Community Bank of Raymore - 2.51% (up to $25K) 0.50% ($25K+)
• Pacific Resource Credit Union - 2.27% (up to $15K) 0.61% ($15K+)
• Provident Credit Union - 2.26% (up to $25K) 0.31% ($25K+)
• First New England Federal Credit Union - 2.03% (up to $15K) 0.25% ($15K+) (extra 1% w/relationship)
• Atlantic Coast Bank - 2.01% (up to $15K) 0.50% ($15K+)
• Connexus Credit Union - 2.00% (up to $25K) 0.50% ($25K+)

Certificates of Deposit:

• Best CD Rates (Nationwide & by State)
• Best IRA CD Rates (Nationwide & by State)

• How to View Rates for Your State

• Survey of the Best CD Rates for August 26, 2011 (Nationwide & Local)

Various Deposit Account Deals

• Bank Deals Forum
• Checking/Savings Account Bonuses
• Best IRA CD rates, local and nationwide deals
• Latest CD and Savings Account Deals with No Major Deposit Limitiations

Bank Account Alternatives

• GE Interest Plus - 1.30% rate for $50k+
• Ford Interest Advantage - 1.25% rate for $50k+, Ford Interest Advantage review
• Vanguard Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund - 0.06% 7-day yield
• Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund - 0.03% 7-day yield
• Fidelity Money Market Fund - 0.01% 7-day yield (reviews on Fatwallet)
• Fidelity Municipal Money Market Fund - 0.01% 7-day yield
• TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund - 0.00% 7-day yield
• PayPal Money Market Fund has ended effective 7/29/11
• FW Thread on Treasury Bills
• I Savings Bonds for 2011, I Bond Article, I Bonds as CD Alternatives

Historical Rates from the Federal Reserve (Federal funds, Treasury bills, CD's)