North Carolina Banking Rates and News

Most of the CD rates at INOVA Federal Credit Union are low, but there's one rate that's very competitive. It's the 6-year share certificate which has a 2.50% APY. Minimum deposit is $200. There's also a step-up option, but the rate is 0.10% lower. This allows the member to step-up the rate one time during the term. The IRA share certificates have rates 0.10% higher. These rates are listed in the CD rates page as of 1/11/2012.

According to the member service rep, the 6-year CD has an early withdrawal penalty of 180 days of...

There had been rumors that Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) was going to finally start offering 10-year certificates to all members in January. A reader reported that he was told by a CSR the yield would be 3.00%. I wasn't able to confirm this 10-year CD last week, and there isn't any mention of this new CD at PenFed's website. New January rates are posted with no mention of a 10-year CD or IRA CD.

There is some good news with PenFed's January rates. First, the 1-year CD yield has increased from 0.99% to 1.16% APY. This is...

KeySource Commercial Bank continues to offer very competitive CD and savings account rates. The best CD deal is its 7-month CD special which has a 1.15% APY. Its regular 12-month CD rate is also competitive with a 1.20% APY. KeySource Commercial Bank also has a good deal on a savings account with a 1.15% APY. These rates are listed at the bank's rates page as of 12/27/2011.

The savings account is called the Blue Savings Account. Some important features of the account include:

• Minimum of $100 to open an account in person or...

Coastal Federal Credit Union has been offering its reward checking account, the Go Green Checking, for about four years. I first reviewed it in early 2008. Like all deposit accounts, rates have fallen, but there was an interesting rate hike in October as noted in the discussion forum. Coastal FCU increased the rate of its reward checking account from 2.00% to 2.51% APY, and it didn't decrease the balance cap. This 2.51% APY applies to balances up to $50,000. However, there was an unfortunate change. It increased the required number of monthly debit card purchases...

Piedmont Advantage Credit Union is offering some competitive long-term CD and IRA CD rates. The three best are a 2.50% APY 5-year CD, a 2.10% APY 4-year CD and a 1.75% APY 3-year CD. Minimum deposit is $500. These rates are listed at the credit union's rates and fees page as of 10/14/2011.

Membership is open to anyone to lives, works, worships, or attends school in any of the following North Carolina counties: Forsyth, Guilford, Rockingham, Iredell, Mecklenburg and Duplin. Please refer to the credit union's membership page for more details.

With all the CD rate cuts over the last couple of months, I was happy to see that Pentagon Federal Credit Union kept its CD rates the same in October. These rates have held up since March 2011. At that time, these rates were not that competitive, but now PenFed's long-term CD rates are back near the top for nationally available CDs.

Below are PenFed's long-term CD yields as listed in PenFed's Money Market Certificates page as of 10/05/2011.

• 2.75% APY 7-year CD & IRA CD
• 2.25% APY 5-year CD & IRA CD
• 2.00% APY 4-year CD &...

Randolph Bank & Trust Company is offering a very competitive 3-year CD special. It's only available via an online application to residents of certain southeast states (see below). The 3-year CD has a 2.05% APY, and the minimum deposit is $5,000. This special is listed in the bank's CD page as of 8/31/2011. There's also a branch 3-year CD with a 1.85% APY with some special features and requirements. Thanks to the reader JasonLee who mentioned this deal in this forum thread.

In addition to this CD, Randolph also has good deals on its savings...

Premier Federal Credit Union has some very competitive short-term and mid-term CD rates. The best short-term CD rates are 1.25% APY for a 6-month term and 1.55% APY for a 1-year term. Minimum deposit is $500. For a $50K minimum, the 6-month CD has a 1.30% APY. The best mid-term CD rates are 2.00% APY for a 2-year term and 2.30% APY for a 3-year term. Minimum deposit is $500 ($1,000 for IRA CDs). These rates are listed in the credit union's savings rates page as of 6/9/2011.

Credit union membership is open to those...

Carolina Cooperative Federal Credit Union is offering an account called E-Checking that looks a lot like a reward checking account, but it lacks the debit card usage requirements. The account has a 1.90% APY for balances up to $50K if the the customer has direct deposit and e-statements. The rate and details are described in this credit union's E-Checking page as of 5/17/2011.

Membership in this credit union is open to those who live, work, worship or study in the majority of Gaston County which is located just west of Charlotte (Mecklenburg...

Randolph Bank became popular last year when they launched a nationally available reward checking account called Extra-Mile Choice Checking with a yield of 4.75%. Unfortunately, the availability and the yield didn't last. The bank reduced availability to North Carolina residents, and in late December, the yield fell to 2.50% APY for balances up to $25K. However, I just noticed two favorable changes.

First, the bank is allowing more people to apply. According to their reward checking page, in addition to North Carolina, they're accepting applications from residents of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia....

SunTrust Bank continues to offer its special CD package with the competitive 2.40% APY. I first reported on this special in January. The special requires that you open both a 39-month CD and a 63-month CD with a $2K minimum deposit in both. Both CDs have a 2.40% APY. I have the full details in my SunTrust CD review.

SunTrust just came out with a new CD/IRA special with a higher rate. It's offering a 2.70% APY on a 66-month CD. Minimum deposit is $2K. This is listed at SunTrust's CD page as of...

Founders Federal Credit Union is offering a very competitive 4-year CD with a 3.03% APY. The 3-year CD is also competitive with a 2.02% APY. The IRA CDs have rates that are even higher: 3.14% APY for 4 years and 2.12% APY for 3 years. Minimum deposit is $500. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 3/28/2011.

Membership is limited to those who live, work, worship, volunteer or attend school in certain designated areas. The credit union's eligibility page doesn't provide details. Three years ago it used...