Michigan Banking Rates and News

Flagstar Bank is offering a nice savings account promotion for Michigan residents. Flagstar is guaranteeing a 1.00% rate for the first six months on its SuperSmart Savings Account. The rate is good for balances of up to $10 million. New money is required. This rate is listed at Flagstar’s SuperSmart promo page as of 5/21/2013. Note, this page shows a 1.00% 6-mo interest rate and a 0.70% APY. That’s due to the APY being based on the average rate during the first year. After the first six months, a standard rate would apply, and that standard...

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

Citizens Bank and Charter One regularly have checking account promotions with nice bonuses. Both are brand names of RBS Citizens, N.A. Citizens Bank branches are primarily located on the east coast and Charter One branches are located in the Midwestern states of Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. Charter One is currently listing a bonus of up to $175. I can’t find a similar one at Citizens Bank, but when I called Citizens Bank at 888-411-7442, the CSR told me that this same $175 bonus is available. (see update below) However, he said a new customer will need to visit a...

As I was looking over our 1-year CD rate table for Michigan I noticed Health One Credit Union was on top with a rate much higher than the other Michigan banks and credit unions. Its 1-year CD rate is 2.00% for a $100,000 minimum deposit. We have been listing this rate since March. I checked the credit union’s rates page, and sure enough, it’s listed there. I also called the credit union, and I was told that it’s correct. In today’s environment, I’m suspicious of any 2% CD, and especially when the term is only...

Southwest Michigan Federal Credit Union has been offering some top CD rates for quite a while. I was wondering why I haven’t reviewed this credit union before. I found out the reason from the credit union’s 2012 summer newsletter. The credit union had a major expansion of its field of membership. According to the CEO, it was the “largest community charter expansion this year by the National Credit Union Administration.” Before this charter expansion, the credit union probably had a narrow field of membership. I usually don’t focus on credit unions with narrow fields of membership...

Checking account promotions are still common at large banks, but one thing that’s not common are free checking accounts. Huntington Bank is one large bank that’s still has a free checking account. It’s called Asterisk-Free Checking. It has no monthly checking maintenance fee, no minimum balance, and no required number of debit transactions.

Huntington Bank’s promotion for its Asterisk-Free Checking offers a $150 bonus. This promo does have direct deposit and debit transaction requirements which are common for checking account bonuses. At least you don’t have to worry about these requirements to keep the account free.

Here’s the

A reader brought to my attention an interesting reward checking account at Community West Credit Union CWCU. At first look, it may appear like a hot deal. It has a 7.00% APY, but as you might expect there's a balance cap. The 7.00% APY only applies to balances up to $2,000. It's the credit union's Completely Free Checking, and to qualify for this rate, the member must have direct deposit into checking totaling $200 or more and an active debit card. The rate and features are described at this CWCU checking page as of 2/19/2013.

There's also...

Citizens Bank is offering a checking account bonus of up to $150. The bonus doesn't require too much work. One downside is that the checking accounts do have monthly service fees, but there are easy ways to avoid them. This promotion is scheduled to last until 2/28/2013. The details are listed at www.citizensbank.com/150. Here's summary of what's required to earn the full $150:

1. Open your first new personal checking account by 2/28/13
2. Get $50 when you setup direct deposit and have a single deposit of $500 or more clear your new checking account by 4/30/13
3. Get $50 when you...

Consumers Credit Union has two special CDs with very competitive rates and with a nice feature that allows one penalty-free withdrawal during the term. The credit union is calling these Thank You CDs. One has a 2.10% APY for a 5-year term, and the other has a 1.25% APY for a 15-month term. Minimum deposit is $10,000, and the maximum deposit is $250,000. New money is required. This is a limited time offer. These rates are listed at the credit union's rates page as of 11/15/2012.

Credit union membership is open to those who live, work, worship,...

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...

Citizens Bank is offering a promotion that includes a short-term CD special and a special credit card cash-back deal. It's called the "Get the Value of Five." The promotion is scheduled to end on 9/28/2012. Here's the link to the Citizens Bank promo page. Citizen's Bank branches which are branded as Charter One have this same promo. Here's the link to the Charter One promo page. Hat tip to DA reader Kaight who posted on this deal in this forum thread. More details about this promo is available in this

Update 2/27/13: The promotion has regularly been extended. The latest expiration date is 4/1/2013.

PNC Bank has increased its checking account bonus from $100 to $150. It has also made a change to the requirements. As before, customers will have to be careful to avoid fees. One of the qualifying checking accounts is Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend which is an "upgraded" version of Virtual Wallet, and it has potential monthly fees.

Here's the link to PNC's promotion page. The offer is scheduled to end on 4/1/2013 9/30/2012. You can open the account online or choose to have...