Bank Deals Blog

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held the federal funds rate steady for the sixth straight time at the end of its two-day policy meeting May 1. The benchmark rate has remained in the target range of 5.25% to 5.50% since July 2023.

In a statement after the meeting, the Fed noted the lack of further progress toward its 2% inflation objective.

The Fed repeated that it “does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until...

The Department of the Treasury announced new rates for I bonds and EE bonds issued between May 1 and Oct. 31, 2024.

New I bonds will pay 4.28% interest, a decrease from the 5.27% rate offered since November 2023. EE bonds will pay 2.7% interest, which is unchanged from six months ago.

The interest rate on I bonds changes every six months, rising or dropping based on inflation. The interest on I bonds is a combination of a fixed rate...

People switch banks for countless reasons — maybe you moved, got frustrated by poor customer service or found higher interest rates elsewhere.

Changing banks can be harder than you think, with more options than you might expect. You’ll need a little extra know-how to set yourself up for success....

A bank account number is usually located at the bottom of a check, the second set of numbers from the left between the nine-digit routing number and the check number. The account number is used to identify your bank account to carry out any number of...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) was established in 1933 to protect the accounts of Americans if a bank were to fail. You’re covered up to the standard FDIC insurance limit of $250,000 at FDIC-insured banks, and you may be able to insure accounts above that limit if you...

The past couple of years have been good to depositors, with interest rates rising and fees falling. And 2023, in particular, was good to bank account holders. In fact, those with deposit accounts netted 5.25 times more in interest than in 2022.

Here’s what else we found.

Update 4/3/2024: For an up-to-date Liquid Account Summary, please refer to this scaled-down version in the DA Forum: Liquid Account Leaderboard for April 3, 2024. For the latest savings, money market and reward checking rates, please refer to DA's savings account rate table, money market account rate table and reward checking account rate table.

Some changes are coming to the DA blog. First, this will be the last weekly summary. More attention will be placed in DA’s main rate tables to ensure they remain the best resource for finding the highest...

The Federal Open Market Committee held the federal funds rate at the target range of 5.25% to 5.50% at its March meeting. This is the fifth consecutive FOMC meeting that the rate has remained unchanged. The committee’s updated forecast also still calls for three quarter-point rate cuts later this year.

The last rate change was at the July 2023 meeting, when the target range increased by a quarter percentage point to the current level. This continues to mark the highest target range since 2001.

Inflation is driving the committee’s decision to hold...

At the end of 2022, one of the most competitive 5-year CDs in the country was offered by Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union (MSGCU). The 4.75% APY (very competitive in 2022), a low $500 minimum opening deposit, a one-time rate bump option, and a mild Early Withdrawal Penalty (EWP) lasted for five months.

Utah-based Home Savings Bank is currently offering 5.50% APY on its 6-month Internet CD. The minimum opening deposit is $5k, with each individual “limited to “$250,000 in any one or combination of Online Certificate Accounts.”

The 6-month Internet CD is also available as Internet IRA CD (Traditional and Roth), earning the same APY with the same deposit requirements.

The fine print on the Internet Rates page reads, “Additional disclosure applies to accounts opened online.” Some of...

It’s been about ten months since I wrote about the CFG Bank 12-month CD, which had been quite competitive in the first half of 2023. In the past five months, the 12-month CD APY lost 42 bps, with last fall’s short-lived 5.67% APY a distant memory. With two rate increases (15 bps) in the past two weeks ago, the 12-month CD is currently offering a very competitive 5.40% APY....

For a limited time, M1 Bank is offering two CDs with market-leading rates: 10-month (5.75% APY) and 15-month (5.50% APY). The minimum opening deposit is $1k, with no stated balance cap. CSR stated there is no specified end-date and the “CDs will be available until the goal is met."

Early Withdrawal Penalty