Iowa Deposit Account Rates and Deals

Bank of Weston is another bank offering a high-yield reward checking account called Kasasa Cash. There's also a companion savings account called Kasasa Saver. The checking account has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met (as of 9/03/2010):

• 3.51% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.51% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
• 0.05% base rate if requirements are not met
• ATM fee refunds nationwide of up to $25 per statement cycle

Monthly requirements include:

• 10 debit card purchases
• 1 direct deposit or ACH automatic payment
• Receive eStatements

Other features of this account include:

• $100 minimum to open account
• No minimum balance
• No monthly service charge

The Kasasa Saver account has the following rates if the Kasasa Cash requirements are met (as of 9/3/2010):

• 1.51% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.51% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
• 0.05% base rate if requirements are not met

Kasasa Saver helps a little for those who have balances over $25K and don't want to open multiple reward checking accounts. It provides a nice alternative over using an internet savings account for your additional funds.

There's an online application link at the Kasaa Cash page. This takes you to the Kasasa.com page. If you search at Kasasa.com, this bank shows up for zip codes in Missouri, Iowa and Kansas. The bank is located in Kansas City, Missouri and in its northern suburbs of Weston, Platte City and Camden Point.

The bank has a Texas Ratio of 15.01% (excellent) and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com based on 6/30/10 data (see our financial overview for Bank of Weston). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 1418).

Other High-Yield Reward Checking Accounts

To find reward checking accounts in your state or to find those available nationwide, please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com.

University of Iowa Community Credit Union continues to offer two very competitive CD and IRA CD specials: a 2.50% APY 25-month CD and a 1.90% APY 13-month CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000. The rates are 15 basis points higher for a $100,000 minimum. These yields are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 8/16/2010.

The credit union continues to offer a high-yield reward checking account. As of 8/16/2010, the yield is 4.00% APY for balances up to $25,000. I first reported on this reward checking account in January 2008 when the yield was 6.00% for balances up to $50K.

In addition to University of Iowa students, membership is open to those who live or work in any of more than a dozen counties in Eastern Iowa. Please refer to the credit union's About Us page for more details.

Branches are located in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Grinnell, Vinton and Hiawatha.

The credit union has an overall health score of 3 out of 5 based on March 2010 data at DepositAccounts.com (see our financial overview of University of Iowa Community CU). The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 60269).

Thanks to reader Gohawkeye who mentioned these deals in this forum thread. If you know of a good bank deal in your city, please let us know in the discussion forum.

Searching for the Best CD Rates

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

SAC Federal Credit Union is offering a high-yield reward checking account with the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met (as of 8/01/2010):

• 4.01% APY for balances up to $25,000
• 0.25% APY for balances over $25,000
• 0.10% APY if requirements are not met
• ATM fee refunds up to $10 per month

Monthly requirements include:

• 12 debit card purchases
• Receive e-statements

Other account features include:

• $100 minimum opening deposit
• No minimum balance
• No monthly service charge

According to the credit union's Open New Account page:

Membership in SAC FCU is available to anyone who lives, works, attends school, or worships in Douglas, Sarpy and Cass Counties, NE, and Pottawattamie County, IA. Businesses and other entities qualify if they are located within any of the four counties.

Branches are located in the Nebraska cities of Omaha and Bellevue and in the Iowa city of Council Bluffs.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial, 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our financial overview of SAC FCU). The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 5400).

Thanks to the reader who emailed me news of this account.

Other High-Yield Reward Checking Accounts

It's nice to see another 4.00% reward checking account. These rates are getting harder to find for reward checking accounts with rate caps of at least $25K. The one downside is that it requires 12 debit card purchases per month. The old 10-per-month requirement continues to become less common.

Please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com to find reward checking accounts in your state or that are available nationwide.

Bank of the West has another $100 checking account bonus. This new bonus is scheduled to last until 8/20/2010, and like the last one it allows either direct deposit of at least $250 or 10 online bill payments. The details are listed in the bank's promotion page. Below is the promotion's small print. I've highlighted the important details:

Open any new personal checking account, and either establish one monthly recurring direct deposit of at least $250 to your new account or make 10 bill payments at Bank of the West Online Banking and receive a $100 bonus. Direct deposit must be payroll, social security, pension or other government benefit. The first recurring direct deposit must be posted to your account within 60 calendar days of account open date. The 10 bill payments must occur within 60 calendar days of account open date. Bonus will be credited to your account within 60 days after satisfaction of conditions. Offer valid for new personal checking accounts opened from 7/6/10–8/20/10 with $100 or more from a financial institution other than Bank of the West. Offer subject to change without prior notice and may be terminated or extended based on response. Offer does not apply to second or multiple checking accounts. Limit of one $100 bonus per personal household per calendar year. Offer not valid in CA, CO, UT, NV or WY. To the extent required by law, Bank of the West will report the value of the offer to the IRS on Form 1099. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the account holder. All accounts are subject to the Bank’s standard terms and conditions and fee schedule.

When I checked with Bank of the West in March, I was told that the online account application is limited to states which have Bank of the West branches. Also, as you can see in the small print above, the offer is not valid in CA, CO, UT, NV or WY. That leaves the following states which should be eligible for this promotion: AZ, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, WA and WI.

Regarding a hard credit pull, I was told earlier this year that they don't do a hard credit inquiry in the application (only a soft pull). So you shouldn't have to worry about a ding to your credit score.

Several reader commented in my previous post that Bank of the West closed their accounts for no apparent reason. It appears that when Bank of the West started to restrict availability to their market areas, out-of-area customers who had opened the account before the change were being targeted for account closure. Some readers also reported not receiving the bonus. Most readers who were in the market area have reported success with the promotion. One reader commented:

Just got bonus posted and ACH from online bank to yourself for over the necessary amount DOES count as a DD and only needed to be done 1 time.

Bank of the West is one of the large regional banks. It has $61.18 billion in assets and $41.38 billion in deposits. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 3514).

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other bonus deals, please refer to my bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.

Update: I'm afraid the special CD rates dropped after my post this morning.

US Bank, N.A. is offering competitive rates on its 3 special CDs. The most competitive one is the 27-month CD which has a 2.25% APY. The other ones include a 1.75% APY 19-month CD and a 3.15% APY 59-month CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed at the bank's CD specials page as of 5/21/2010.

There's an online application link on the bank's CD specials page, and according to the CSR, people in any state can apply. In fact, to take advantage of these CD specials, I was told you would have to apply either online or by phone, and not in a US Bank branch. After you submit the application, the CSR said that they'll send you a signature card that must be mailed back with a check for the deposit. You have 30 days to fund the CD. However, according to the CSR, the CD rate won't lock until they receive the funds. I was told you can also fund the CD with a free wire transfer. After you submit the application, you should have the account number which can be used for the wire transfer. You can also fund the CD at a branch, but you'll still need the account number and signature card.

One downside with US Bank CDs is a harsh early withdrawal penalty. I had posted on it last year. I wasn't able to find a new disclosure document, but based on what the CSR mentioned, it appears to be the same as what I posted last year:

If your account has an original maturity greater than one year, the penalty will be the greater of either A or B, plus a $25 early withdrawal fee.

A. One-half of the interest that would have been earned on the funds withdrawn if held for the entire term.

B. 3% of the amount withdrawn.

Early withdrawal penalties for long term CDs are typically only 6 months of interest, so this is much worse. This is one reason to choose the shorter terms rather than the 59-month CD.

US Bank START Savings Program

US Bank also a pretty good deal on a savings account program called S.T.A.R.T. Like the savings programs at Bank of America (Keep the Change) and Wachovia (Way2Save), it's not going to make you a lot of money, but you can easily earn $100 in one year without much work or money (my US Bank START review).

Bank Overview

US Bank has branches in many states. It has most of its branches in the states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin.

US Bank's ratings for safety and soundness are about average: 3½ stars (good) at BauerFinancial, 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 3 out of 5 at DepositAccounts (see our US Bank rates and reviews page). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 6548). It's a very large bank with $278 billion in assets and $194 billion in deposits.

Comparing with Other Certificates of Deposit

As a comparison, Bankrate's best 2-year nationwide CD rate is currently 2.03% APY, and the best 30-month CD is 2.10% APY. The best 2-year CD rate currently at DepositAccounts.com is 2.53% APY at Broadway Federal Bank. However, after Broadway, there are not many institutions offering 2-year rates above 2.00%.

MetaBank is offering a high-yield reward checking account called Preferred Checking Plus. It's one of the rare reward checking accounts that has the potential of monthly fees. However, the rate is above average so it may be worth the risk of monthly fees. The account has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met (as of 5/12/2010):

• 4.25% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.60% APY on portion of balances over $25,000
• 0.10% base rate if requirements are not met

Monthly requirements include:

• 15 debit card purchases (used to be 20)
• 1 Direct Deposit of your salary or other regular monthly income of $100 or more electronically deposited to your account by your employer or outside agency
• Log into Internet Banking
• Receive electronic statements

There's a $7 monthly service charge which is waived if you meet the monthly requirements OR maintain a $10,000 minimum daily balance in your checking account OR a relationship balance of $25,000 in loans and/or deposits.

The bank also offers the Preferred Checking Account which has no monthly fees and only requires 10 debit card purchases a month. The downside is that the top rate is only 2.00% APY as of 5/12/2010. All other features appear to be the same.

A branch visit is required to open an account, and you are required to reside in their market area. Branches are located in the Iowa cities of Des Moines and Storm Lake and in the South Dakota cities of Sioux Falls and Brookings.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little above average: 3½ stars (good) at BauerFinancial, 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our MetaBank rates and reviews page). The ratings are based on 12/31/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1955 (FDIC Certificate # 30776).

Thanks to the reader who emailed me news about this account.

When a reader mentioned this reward checking account, I thought MetaBank sounded familiar. It turns out they had some publicity last year when nearly 50 institutions filed suit against MetaBank to recover $4 million in allegedly stolen certificate of deposit funds. Please refer to this post for more details.

Other High-Yield Reward Checking Accounts

Please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com to find reward checking accounts in your state or that are available nationwide.

Dupaco Community Credit Union is offering 3 CD specials with very competitive rates: 2.77% APY for 35 months, 2.46% APY for 27 months and 1.96% APY for 15 months. Minimum deposit is $5,000. These rates are listed in the credit union's deposit rates page as of 5/05/2010.

Dupaco used to have a good deal on its High-Yield Savings Account. It's still a good deal for those who already have this account. The top yield is 2.68% APY for a $200K balance. However, Dupaco is no longer allowing members to open new accounts. The Investors Choice Money Market Account appears to still be available, and it pays a top rate of 1.92% APY for a $100K balance as of 5/05/2010.

Membership is open to anyone who lives or works in one of 28 counties of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. Please refer to the credit union's Becoming a Member page for the full details. Membership requires a minimum balance of $25 in the savings account.

Branches are located in the Iowa cities of Dubuque, Asbury, Dyersville, Cedar Rapids, Manchester, in the Illinois city of Galena, and in the Wisconsin city of Platteville.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are above average: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial, 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com and 3 out of 5 overall health score at DepositAccounts.com. All ratings are based on 12/31/09 financial data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 64049).

Searching for the Best Money Market & CD Rates

• Best Money Market Rates
• Best Savings Account Rates
• Best CD Rates

Wells Fargo is offering a $50 cash bonus for opening any of its checking accounts. Here's the link to the offer. According to the small print, it's "available only at participating Wells Fargo stores in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin." The list of participating branches is available here. You're required to print the coupon and take it to the Wells Fargo branch and open the checking account by 5/31/2010. Here are some additional important small print details with my highlighting of things to note:

To qualify for your $50 bonus, you must open and fund a new personal Wells Fargo checking account with a minimum opening deposit of $100 (not including the $50 bonus) by 5/31/2010. The $50 bonus is available with all Wells Fargo checking accounts, including non-interest earning checking accounts except the Wells Fargo Teen Checking and Wells Fargo Opportunity Checking accounts. You will receive the $50 bonus within 30–45 days of account opening.

Credit for this find goes to markber at iBankDesign.

Wells Fargo Checking Review

The $50 bonus isn't much for a checking account these days, but at least this doesn't require direct deposit or debit card usage. One thing to note is that there may be a hard credit inquiry. This is based on my conversation with a Wells Fargo CSR in 2008.

Even though Wells Fargo's Free Checking has no monthly service fees, the online bill pay is not free with this checking account. Also, there are no free checks, not even the first order. You can get free online bill pay and free checks with other Wells Fargo checking accounts, but you'll have to watch out for monthly fees.

Wells Fargo's New Way2Save Program

Wells Fargo has a new Way2Save program. I don't think it's available nationwide yet. It's going to be introduced on a state-by-state basis as Wells Fargo converts the Wachovia branches. I reviewed this new program in depth in this October post. I did an update post in January reviewing the progress Wells Fargo is making in the conversions. For those who have Wachovia's Way2Save accounts, you may be disappointed if you've been maxing out the bonus. However, the new program should make it easier to receive a small bonus for the first year.

University of Iowa Community Credit Union has increased the rate of its 25-month CD and IRA CD special from 2.55% to 3.00% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. The rate is 3.15% APY for a $100K minimum deposit. The credit union continues to have other competitive CD specials including a 2.00% APY 15-month CD (2.15% over $100K) and 2.75% APY 35-month CD with add-on and bump features (2.90% over $100K). These rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 2/3/2010. Refer to my January review for more details.

In addition to University of Iowa students, membership is open to those who live or work in any of the following Iowa counties: Johnson, Linn, Poweshiek, Iowa, Muscatine, Washington, Cedar, Tama, Louisa, Keokuk, Benton, Marshall, Jasper, or Mahaska. Please refer to the credit union's About Us page for more details.

Branches are located in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty and Grinnell.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are above average: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 60269).

Greater Western Bank is offering three CD specials. The most competitive one is a 2.18% APY 18-month CD. The other two are a 2.68% APY 38-month CD and a 3.08% APY 58-month CD. These rates include a 0.15% bonus for new or existing checking or savings account customers. Minimum deposit is $5,000, and new money is required. These special CD rates are listed in the bank's CD page as of 2/01/2010.

It appears that a branch visit is required. Branches are located in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Missouri.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1935 (FDIC Certificate # 15289).