Massachusetts Deposit Account Rates and Deals

Digital Credit Union is offering a free FICO credit score service to its members. Details are described in this credit union page. It states that "through DCU you can receive your Equifax FICO Credit Score via Message Center once a month FREE." Additional details are listed in the credit union's FAQ page.

Free credit scores from one of the major credit bureaus are not easy to find. Free trial periods are common, but these require you to sign up for a monthly subscription. You'll have to cancel before the trial period to avoid being charged the monthly fee. Other sites that offer free credit monitoring services may not be offering FICO scores.

You can get a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the bureaus from AnnualCreditReport.com, the website setup by the government. However, this does not provide your credit score.

Another reason to join DCU is their CD specials. Every now and then DCU comes out with a nice CD special. The last one was in February when DCU was offering 2% for a 14-month term.

Anyone can join DCU via membership in an association. Refer to this credit union page for the list of associations. The least expensive membership is $10 for joining Reach Out for Schools. You can be immediately eligible to join DCU if you live, work, worship or attend school in parts of Georgia and Massachusetts. Refer to the Join DCU page for the full details.

In the instructions for joining DCU there are links to an online membership application and a PDF application. A reader who commented on his experience with the online application in my DCU post from 2008 provided the instructions he received from DCU after he applied:

In order to continue processing your application, please mail a $5 check or money order payable to DCU to fund your membership.

If you have joined through a sponsoring organization, then please make sure to also include funds to cover that organization's membership fee.

Also, please mail a copy of your driver's license or passport. If sending a passport, or if your license does not show your current address, please also send either a utility bill in your name (electric, gas, home telephone) or a copy of your apartment lease agreement. If you have listed a Joint Owner on your application, that person must also send the required ID and address proof.

Please note, we do not accept cell phone bills, bank statements, credit card statements or pay statements as address verification.

Make sure to check with the credit union for the latest instructions. One downside to joining is a potential hard credit inquiry (which can temporarily ding your credit score). Here's what a commenter mentioned in my August 2008 DCU post:

I also have been a five-year DCU member, holding several jumbo CDs with them. Yet, when I added checking to my account this past January, they ran a check on me through Equifax!

Branches are located throughout Massachusetts, in Hudson, Merrimack and Nashua in New Hampshire, in Colorado Springs, Colorado and in Alpharetta, Georgia.

DCU is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 23521). It's a large credit union with $4.2 billion in assets and 376,824 members.

Credit for this find goes to FW member jackcrawfish who mentioned it on this FW thread.

Service Credit Union is offering a competitive CD special: 2.02% APY for 11 months. Minimum deposit is $1,000. It's only available online (not by phone or at branches), and it's scheduled to last to 3/19/2010. The special is shown on the front page of the website as of 3/12/2010.

The credit union continues to offer two other competitive CD specials. The rates have gone down a bit, but the CDs are still very competitive: 1.77% APY for 7 months and 2.15% APY for 19 months. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 3/12/2010. Unlike the 11-month CD special, these are also available at the credit union branches.

The online application uses the Andera account opening system. Transfers are done via ACH or by debit/credit card.

Service Credit Union membership is available to anyone living or working in New Hampshire (except Coos County which is way north in NH) and in the Falmouth MA area, as well as anyone related to an existing member (by family), or anyone who has served in the US Military. Please refer to the credit union's membership eligibility page for the full details. Membership requires a $5 minimum balance in the share savings account.

Branches are located in the New Hampshire cities of Bedford, Epping, Lebanon, Keene, Manchester, Newington, Portsmouth, Rochester, Salem and Somersworth and in Falmouth, Massachusetts. There are also branches in Germany to service military members.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data) and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data). The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 68375). It's a large credit union with $1.4 billion in assets and 124,270 members.

Clinton Savings Bank has a few competitive CDs that can be opened online if you're a MA resident. The two best are a 2.40% APY 24-month CD and a 2.01% APY 18-month CD. Minimum deposit is $500. These are also available in an IRA. These rates are listed in the bank's rates page as of 3/07/2010.

According to the bank's truth in savings disclosure, the early withdrawal penalty is 6 months of interest on the amount of principal withdrawn for all CD maturities of one year or more. The grace period is 10 calendar days after the maturity date.

The bank also offers a reward checking account that currently pays 2.76% APY on balances up to $50K (see account review). When I first reviewed this account over two years ago, the rate was 6.01% APY.

There's an online application provided by Andera that allows ACH funding. However, the application only allows residents of Massachusetts to apply.

Branches are located in the Massachusetts cities of Berlin, Bolton, Boylston, Clinton, Sterling and West Boylston.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data) and 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data). The bank was established in 1851 and has been a FDIC member since 1985 (FDIC Certificate # 90181).

Crescent Credit Union has a nice checking account promotion. It's offering up to $150 for opening any Crescent checking account and meeting the following criteria. If you meet only 2 out of the 3 following criteria, you can still qualify for $100. A link to this promotions page is on the credit union's front page as of 3/1/2010. Below are the criteria:

1. Sign up for direct deposit of your recurring net income source
2. Enroll in our free bill pay service and pay 2 bills in the first 60 days
3. Use a Crescent debit card to pay for 10 purchases within 60 days of account opening

Crescent Credit Union does offer a free checking account with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements.

The credit union also has some CD specials, but the rates are not that competitive.

Membership is open to those who live or work in Plymouth, Bristol, Norfolk, or Barnstable counties in Massachusetts. A minimum balance of $25 in the savings account is required for membership. Please refer to the credit union's Join page for the full details.

Branches are located in the Massachusetts cities of Brockton, Taunton, Norwell and Cambridge.

The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 68048).

Other Bank Bonuses

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

Citizens Bank has a checking account promotion in which you can earn $100. The details of the checking account bonus are listed at www.citizensbank.com/220. Offer ends 3/26/2010. The requirements to earn the $100 include:

• $50 for setting up direct deposit of $250 or more
• $25 for making 5 online bill payments
• $25 for making 5 signature-based debit card or credit card purchases

Some important details mentioned in the small print includes:

Requirements must be met by 4/30/2010. Bonus will be deposited into the checking account by 6/30/2010 and reported to the IRS. Checking account must remain open for at least 6 months or the amount of the banking bonus will be debited from the account at closing.

The Green Checking qualifies for this bonus, and it's a free checking account with no monthly fees. Minimum opening balance is $50.

The Green Checking also qualifies for the Green$sense program. Citizens Bank says you can get paid up to $120 per year in Green$ense. However, this would require 100 debit card purchases, online bill payments or automatic payments per month for 12 months. For each of these non-paper transactions, Citizens Bank pays you 10 cents. Since this is considerable work, I'm not including this $120 in the bonus amount.

This is very similar to the promotion the bank was running late last year. One small change is that they now require a minimum direct deposit of $250 instead of $50. In that post, a reader mentioned that there's a hard pull in the application.

There's an online application at the promotions page. However, it only accepts zip codes in their market area. Their market area includes Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Citizens Bank operates under two FDIC charters: Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania (FDIC Certificate # 57282) and RBS Citizens, N.A. which has branches in several states outside of PA and NJ (FDIC Certificate # 57957).

Other Bank Bonuses

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

Southbridge Savings Bank is offering a special 2.00% APY 15-month CD. Minimum deposit is $500. It's also available as a Traditional and Roth IRA. This special is listed in the bank's rate tables as of 2/26/2010.

The bank has been offering a reward checking account since July 2007. Back in 2007, the top rate was 6.01% APY for balances up to $50K. This has fallen 2.50% APY, but at least the tier remains at $50K. There's also a companion savings account called Key Rewards Saver which is currently paying 1.25% APY on balances up to $100K. Refer to my Southbridge reward checking review for more details.

It appears a branch visit is required to open an account. Branches are located in Massachusetts cities of Southbridge, Charlton, Holden, Sturbridge and Worcester. They also have branches in Big Y Supermarkets in several other cities.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial and 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank was established in 1848 and has been a FDIC member since 1981(FDIC Certificate # 23524).

Webster Bank is offering up to $100 for opening a checking account and with some additional requirements. Details are listed in the bank's promotions page. Three different bonuses are available for three different checking accounts:

• $25 for Totally Free Checking
• $50 for Relationship Checking ($4K minimum balance to avoid $15/mo fee)
• $100 for Premier Checking ($10K minimum balance to avoid $20/mo fee)

Offer is scheduled to end on 3/01/2010. One of the following is required to be done by 4/16/2010 to qualify for the bonus:

• One Direct Deposit (PayPal transactions are excluded), OR
• 5 Visa Check Card Signature purchases, OR
• 5 online Bill Payments

If you meet the above requirements, the bonus will be transferred into the newly-established checking account by 5/14/10. Bonus amount will be reported to the IRS.

According to the small print, the offer is limited to residents of NY, MA, RI and CT. It appears that you can open the checking account online. The first page of the application has a box for the offer code, but I don't see a code mentioned in the promotions page. Opening at a branch may be easier. Branches are located in Southern New England and Westchester County, New York. Most of its branches are located in Connecticut.

The bank has been a FDIC member since 1960 (FDIC Certificate # 18221).

Credit for this find goes to Bank Perks.

Other Bank Bonuses

Refer to the Bank Bonus tag for the other bonuses at banks and credit unions around the nation.

River Bank is offering a competitive 5-year CD yield of 3.51% APY. The shorter terms are not quite as competitive. The ones that are a little above average include the 1.70% APY 15-month CD and the 1.40% APY 9-month CD. An extra 0.10% is available for money market or checking account customers. These are also available as IRA CDs. Minimum deposit is $500. These rates are listed in the bank's deposit rates page as of 2/18/2010.

River Bank also offers a competitive savings account called xStream Savings which has a 1.45% APY with no minimum balance requirements. It does require a minimum $40 automatic monthly transfer. This rate is listed in the bank's savings rates page as of 2/18/2010.

There's an online application, however, the second page form only allows residents of Massachusetts and New Hampshire to apply. It appears funding can be done by an ACH transfer. Under the CD rates table, the following is stated regarding when the CD rate locks:

The CD interest rate is guaranteed for five business days following the date of internet application. If we do not receive your deposit within this period, the interest rate will be the rate in effect on the day the deposit is received.

The bank is headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts. In addition to North Andover, branches are located in Andover, Lawrence and Methuen, MA and in Salem and Derry, NH.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 5 stars (superior) 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 1981 (FDIC Certificate # 23288).

Service Credit Union is offering a limited-time CD special that's very competitive: 2.15% APY for 13 months. Minimum deposit is $1,000. It's only available online (not by phone or at branches) The offer is scheduled to last only to midnight Monday (2/15/2010). The offer is shown on the front page of the website.

The credit union continues to offer two other competitive CD specials: 2% APY for 9 months and 2.25% APY for 19 months. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 2/14/2010. Unlike the 13-month CD, these are also available at the credit union branches.

The online application uses the Andera account opening system. Transfers are done via ACH or by debit/credit card.

Service Credit Union membership is available to anyone living or working in New Hampshire (except Coos County which is way north in NH) and in the Falmouth MA area, as well as anyone related to an existing member (by family), or anyone who has served in the US Military. Please refer to the credit union's membership eligibility page for the full details. Membership requires a $5 minimum balance in the share savings account.

Branches are located in the New Hampshire cities of Bedford, Lebanon, Epping, Keene, Manchester, Newington, Portsmouth, Rochester, Salem and Somersworth and in Falmouth, Massachusetts. There are also branches in Germany to service military members.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com. Both are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 68375). It's a large credit union with $1.4 billion in assets and 124,270 members.

Digital Credit Union is offering a special 14-month certificate with a 2.00% APY. Minimum deposit is $500. It's also available in an IRA. The CD is listed in the DCU's special offers page as of 2/10/2010.

Every now and then DCU comes out with a nice CD special. The last one was in October when DCU was offering 2% for a 9-month term. You can see the interest rate environment has continued to worsen since October.

Anyone can join DCU via membership in an association. Refer to this credit union page for the list of associations. The least expensive membership is $10 for joining Reach Out for Schools. You can be immediately eligible to join DCU if you live, work, worship or attend school in parts of Georgia and Massachusetts. Refer to the Join DCU page for the full details.

In the instructions for joining DCU there are links to an online membership application and a PDF application. A reader who commented on his experience with the online application in my DCU post from 2008 provided the instructions he received from DCU after he applied:

In order to continue processing your application, please mail a $5 check or money order payable to DCU to fund your membership.

If you have joined through a sponsoring organization, then please make sure to also include funds to cover that organization's membership fee.

Also, please mail a copy of your driver's license or passport. If sending a passport, or if your license does not show your current address, please also send either a utility bill in your name (electric, gas, home telephone) or a copy of your apartment lease agreement. If you have listed a Joint Owner on your application, that person must also send the required ID and address proof.

Please note, we do not accept cell phone bills, bank statements, credit card statements or pay statements as address verification.

Make sure to check with the credit union for the latest instructions. One downside to joining is a potential hard credit inquiry (which can temporarily ding your credit score). Here's what a commenter mentioned in my August 2008 DCU post:

I also have been a five-year DCU member, holding several jumbo CDs with them. Yet, when I added checking to my account this past January, they ran a check on me through Equifax!

Branches are located throughout Massachusetts, in Hudson, Merrimack and Nashua in New Hampshire, in Colorado Springs, Colorado and in Alpharetta, Georgia.

DCU's rating for safety and soundness has gone down from 3 stars to 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com since my October post. DCU continues to be rated as 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. DCU is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 23521). It's a large credit union with $4.2 billion in assets and 376,824 members.

Other Competitive Certificate of Deposit Rates

• CD rates at DepositAccounts.com
• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD deals