Competitive 1-Year CD Rate at the New Internet Bank ableBanking

Earlier this month the new internet bank ableBanking increased some of its CD rates, and there is now one CD that's especially competitive. It's the 12-month CD which has a 1.12% APY (as of 11/16/2012). Minimum deposit is $1,000.

I first reviewed ableBanking in July. It's the internet division of Northeast Bank, a Maine community bank. In addition to CDs, ableBanking also offers a personal money market account. As I described in my July review, ableBanking is trying to differentiate itself from other internet banks with its charity connection. The bank will give $25 to the charity of your choice when you become a customer. In addition, they will give 0.25% of your average balances every year, for each account on your ableBanking anniversary.

Before this recent CD rate hike, ableBanking has made two rate hikes of its money market savings account. In July the money market yield was 0.85%. That increased to 0.90% in August and to 0.96% in October.

For more CD details, please refer to the bank's CD disclosure. It lacked some details so I contacted the bank via its online chat service. The service worked well, and the CSR was helpful. Below are some important CD features. I noted the features which are based on what I was told by the CSR:

• An online application allows funding by ACH transfer from an existing bank account
• Online application allows designating a beneficiary
• Additional beneficiaries can be designated by contacting the bank after the application is done (CSR)
• The rate at the time of the application is the rate at which your CD will be (CSR)
• Interest earned must remain on deposit until maturity
• early withdrawal penalty equal to 90 days interest on the amount withdrawn for CDs with terms of less than 3 years (180 days for longer-term CDs)
• Grace period is equal to 10 calendar days.
• During the grace period, you can withdraw the funds by notifying the bank by email or calling Customer Care at 1-888-I AM ABLE.
• If you choose to close the CD, you can have the bank send the funds back to the account from which it was originally funded or you can opt for a check to be mailed to the address they have on file (CSR)

Bank Overview

ableBanking is a division of Northeast Bank, and deposits are held under Northeast Bank. The bank has an overall health score at DepositAccounts.com of 5 stars (out of 5) with a Texas ratio of 9.06% (above average) based on June 2012 data. Please refer to our financial overview of Northeast Bank for more details. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1967 (FDIC Certificate # 19690).

How This CD Rate Compares

ableBanking's 1-year CD rate is currently the highest for internet banks. It just tops the next highest, 1.11% APY at AloStar Bank of Commerce. The highest 1-year CD rate that's nationally available is 1.26% APY at Pentagon Federal Credit Union which is an all-access credit union. These rates are accurate as of 11/16/2012.

Searching for Top CD Rates

To search for nationwide CD rates and CD rates in your state, please refer to the best CD rates section of DepositAccounts.com.