Maine 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

Checking account bonuses often require opening a checking account that you probably won’t want to keep for the long term. If you’re not careful, you may lose more in fees with these checking accounts than you’ll make from the bonus. That’s not the case with The Bank of Maine and its Promise Rewards Checking account. This is one of the rare cases where you can earn a sizable new-account bonus on a checking account that you’ll want to keep for the long run. The checking account has no monthly service charge and offers free ATM use anywhere in the...

Mutual Bank in Massachusetts did something that is rare these days. It increased the rate of its reward checking account. Another nice change is that the bank is now allowing anyone from New England to apply online. The rate increase makes the reward checking competitive, but I wouldn’t call it a hot deal since it still has a small balance cap. There’s also a companion savings account called REALSaver which helps offset the checking's low cap. Below is a summary of the rates and features of these two accounts. These are based on the bank’s REWARDChecking...

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 so many banks cutting their CD rates, I was pleasantly surprised to see that EBSB Direct continues to offer a very competitive 3-year CD rate. As of the morning of 8/1/2012, the APY is still 1.80%. This yield has remained unchanged since August 2011. I last reviewed it in October. At that time the rate was competitive. As rates at other banks have fallen, this 1.80% APY has become much more competitive. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed at EBSBdirect.com as of 8/1/2012.

I called the bank this morning to make sure that this 1.80% APY is...

Update 12/14/2012: The checking promotion has been extended to December 31, 2012.

These Sovereign Bank promotions aren't anything to get excited about, but in today's environment, they may be something to consider if you're looking for a checking account bonus or a decent CD rate. With some of these accounts, you'll have to watch out for fees. Like at other banks, it has become harder to avoid some of the fees.

Checking Account Promotion

For the checking account promotion, Sovereign Bank is offering up to a $125 bonus for opening a checking and money market account. Here's the direct...

In February Rockland Trust launched the internet division Rockland Direct with a competitive money market account. It has a yield of 1.00% APY for balances of $2,500 to $1 million as of 5/17/2012. A $2,500 minimum balance is required to earn interest and to avoid a $15 monthly fee. There's no guarantee about how long the rate will last, but I was told it's not an intro rate, and it will probably remain the same for some time to come.

Application Details

There's an online application via andera.com which allows funding via an ACH transfer from your existing checking account. The...

EBSB Direct is offering a competitive 3-year CD yield of 1.80% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. This used to a better deal back in June when the yield was 2.25%, but it's still quite competitive compared to what's available today. There's also a 10-month CD, but the rate is much less competitive at 0.55% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed at EBSBdirect.com as of 10/04/2011.

According to the bank's disclosure, "terms over 12 months the penalty will equal 6 months interest on the amount withdrawn."

EBSBdirect.com also offers an online savings account, but this rate...

People's United Bank is offering a $100 gas card when you open any personal checking account and perform certain activities. The account must be opened with a minimum of $25 by 10/31/2011. They give you three choices of activities which must be completed within 60 days of account opening. You can choose any one of the following to qualify for the bonus:

• Receive a recurring direct deposit of at least $100
• Use the debit card to make at least 10 purchases of at least $25 each
• Make at least 5 payments of at least $25 each using Online Banking

The promotion is listed...

KeyBank is again offering an iPod touch as part of a checking account promotion. One thing that has changed since the last one is that you have to make twice the number of payments and/or purchases. So if you want the free iPod touch, it will require some work. 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 new KeyBank promotions page. The offer is scheduled to last until July 22, 2011. The following are the requirements to qualify...

Update 11/16/2011: The offer has been extended. However, based on the comment below, you may first want to call Key to ensure your application will qualify for the bonus.

KeyBank has checking promotion in which you can earn $150. It's very similar to KeyBank's iPod touch checking promotion that I mentioned last month. It should appeal to those who don't want an iPod touch or who just prefer a cash bonus in which you don't have to worry about the gift value that the bank reports to the IRS. Like before it's an online-only offer, but the online...

KeyBank has a new checking account promotion with an iPod touch bonus. It's similar to what they were offering last year, but this one requires more work. 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 June 24, 2011. The following are the requirements to qualify for the iPod touch:

• open a qualifying KeyBank checking account online and enter offer code ONTT0311 by June 24, 2011
• make at least 10 payments and/or purchases...