Colorado Banking Rates and News

KeyBank has another checking promotion in which you can earn $150. It's very similar to the $150 bonus that it was offering last year. Like before it's an online-only offer, but the online application only accepts certain areas which appear to be in their market area (see below).

KeyBank doesn’t have the best reputation among many DA readers. You can read the problems customers have experienced in the comments of my 2012 KeyBank post and in my 2011 KeyBank post. If you have experience with KeyBank promotions and checking accounts, please leave a comment below.

Here's the

Partner Colorado Credit Union has a reward checking account that it calls High Interest Checking. It has a competitive rate for reward checking accounts, but the account has a few downsides. It may appeal to some Colorado residents looking for a top rate at a local credit union. Below is a summary of the High Interest Checking rates and features. The rates are listed in the credit union’s rates page. The features are based on feedback from the credit union CSRs. These are accurate as of 4/12/2013:

• 3.00% APY for balances up to $10,000
• 0.50% APY for portion...

Pinnacle Bank is again offering a $100 bonus for opening its PinnCheck Free checking account online. If you missed the one last year, this is another chance. Like last year, the bonus doesn’t require much work. The only requirements listed in the bank's promotions page are:

• Web-exclusive offer for new Pinnacle Bank customers only
• Minimum amount to open an account is $100
• Account must be maintained in good standing for the first 90 days
• Offer valid for PinnCheck Free applicants only

Offer expires April 30, 2013. According to the terms, it's only available to residents of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming and...

BBVA Compass has changed its checking account promotion for the new year. Instead of a cash bonus, this new one offers a free Kindle Fire HD. Unlike the previous one, this new one requires direct deposit (and they specifically exclude bank-to-bank transfers). Here's the link to the new promotion. Below are the steps required for the bonus:

• Open a consumer checking account with a $25 minimum deposit by 3/31/2013
• Have a qualifying direct deposit of at least $300 from an unrelated third party post to the account within 90 days of account opening, AND
• Make 3 online bill payments...

Beal Bank is again offering some competitive 1-year CD rates. However, the best rates are only in a few cities where it has branches, and they are different cities than when I last reported on Beal Bank in August. You can check what rates are available in your area by entering your zip code in Beal Bank's rates page. I did this for zip codes of most of the cities where Beal Bank has branches.

The best 12-month CD deal has a 1.11% APY and is available in Southeast Florida in the Miami metro area. I wasn't...

BBVA Compass has been offering competitive rates on its Featured CDs for the last several months. I just learned this morning that customers can receive an extra 10 basis points on the 24-month and 60-month Featured CD rates if the customer also opens a checking account. Below is a summary of the rates as of 11/5/2012:

• 2.10% APY 5-year CD with checking (2.00% w/o checking)
• 1.35% APY 2-year CD with checking (1.25% w/o checking)

These rates without a checking account are listed at BBVA Compass CDs page, but the extra rate with a checking account doesn't appear to be...

I was pleasantly surprised to see the new certificate rates at Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) for November. Rates went up for terms of 1 to 4 years. In fact, the new 1-, 2- and 3-year CD rates are very competitive. This is different than past PenFed CD promotions in which the best deals have been for the longer terms. Below is the list of the new PenFed CD rates for terms of 1 to 7 years with the noteworthy rates highlighted. I've also listed the old rates in parentheses. These new rates are listed in

Security Service Federal Credit Union continues to offer competitive CD and IRA CD rates. It currently has a good deal on a 15-month CD. The best rate is 1.25% APY. There are several other standard CDs which also have very competitive rates. The highest is a 7-year CD with a 2.85% APY. These top rates require a $100,000 minimum deposit. The rates fall 5 basis points for each lower tier of $50,000, $25,000 and $500. Also, rates vary by location. You can see the rates in your area by inputting your zip code in the credit...

KeyBank has another checking promotion in which you can earn $150. It's very similar to the $150 bonus that it was offering last year. Like before it's an online-only offer, but the online application only accepts certain areas which appear to be in their market area (see below).

Here's the KeyBank promotions page. The offer is scheduled to last until September 28, 2012. Like last year, it requires quite a bit of work:

• open a qualifying KeyBank checking account online and enter offer code ONFT0912 by September 28, 2012, and
• make at least 30 payments and/or purchases within 3...

With 10-year Treasury yields reaching record lows in July, I guess it should have been expected that we would see some big CD rate cuts in August. That was the case at Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) which typically makes rate changes on its CDs at the start of each month. Only its long-term CD rates were cut, and the longest terms had the biggest cuts. Its 7-year CD yield had the largest cut falling from 2.40% to 2.02%. Below is the list the new PenFed CD rates for terms of 1 to 7 years. I've also listed the...

TCF Bank has a fairly competitive 15-month CD special that's available at its Colorado and Arizona branches. It's offering a 1.10% APY for the 15-month term. Minimum deposit is $500. This is a weekly CD special that may not last long. This special is listed in TCF Bank's Colorado rate sheet and Arizona rate sheet as of 7/17/2012. This special is not listed for the other states where TCF Bank has branches.

TCF Bank made news in June when it brought back free checking.

A branch visit appears to be required to open this...

Security Service Federal Credit Union continues to offer competitive CD and IRA CD rates. The highest rates require a $100,000 minimum deposit. The rates fall 5 basis points for each lower tier of $50,000, $25,000 and $500. The rates also vary by location. You can see the rates in your area by inputting your zip code in the credit union's rates page. For zip codes in the area of the credit union's headquarters (San Antonio), the following rates are listed for a $100K minimum deposit as of 7/3/2012:

• 2.85% APY 7-year CD
• 2.30% APY 5-year CD
• 1.60% APY 3-year...