North Dakota Banking Rates and News

Bank of the West has just started a new checking account promotion with a $100 bonus that's scheduled to last until 9/16/2011. Here's the link to the offer. Unlike previous Bank of the West promotions, this one requires direct deposit. There doesn't seem to be online bill pay option. Like previous promotions, only those who reside in their market area are eligible (see below for the eligible states). The bank is still advertising a free checking account with no monthly service charges or monthly fees. This is becoming rare for large banks.

Below is the...

Every now and then Doral Bank Direct offers competitive CD rates. Its latest deal is a 1-year CD with a 1.40% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. This is the only rate that's competitive. All the other CD rates are low. These rates are listed in the bank's CD page as of 3/29/2011.

My last report on this bank was about a year ago when they were offering a 1-year CD special. One odd thing is their requirement to close out a CD. You have to send them the original Certificate that was sent...

Update 4/3/2011: The bonus has been extended to 4/22/2011.

Bank of the West has another $100 checking account bonus. This new bonus is scheduled to last until 3/25/2011, and like the promotion from last July it allows either direct deposit of at least $250 or 10 online bill payments. One difference is that this new one requires that each bill payment be at least $25. The direct deposit or bill payment most be completed within 60 days of account opening.

Update 2/14/11: The promotion is now listed on Bank of the West's website. Here's the promotion link.

As...

First International Bank & Trust is offering a competitive long-term CD special. It's a 62-month CD with a 3.10% APY with a qualifying relationship or 3.00% APY without the relationship. Minimum deposit is $2,500. The qualifying relationship requires a savings account or checking account. This special is listed at the bank's rates page as of 9/16/2010.

The bank has been offering this 62-month CD special for a while. In July the rates were 20 basis points higher.

A branch visit appears to be required to open an account. Branches are located in the...

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...

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...

Update 5/24/2010: This account is no longer available nationwide. The bank is now restricting applications to residents of SD, ND, NE, MN and IA.

First Bank & Trust is offering a reward checking account called easyGROW Checking. The account has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met:

• 4.01% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.75% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
• 0.20% base rate if monthly requirements are not met
• Refunds all ATM fees worldwide without limit

The monthly requirements include:

• 10 Visa check card purchases
• 1 automatic payment or direct deposit
• Receive e-statements

Additional features of the account...

• 10 debit card purchases
• one direct deposit or automatic payment
• electronic statements
• log into online banking

Update 7/15/10: The top rate has fallen to 3.00% APY. Refer to the bottom of the post for the rate history.

United FCU is offering a reward checking account called Interest Plus Checking that pays 3.00% APY on balances up to $25,000 (0.25% for above) and refunds ATM fees of up to $25 per month if the following monthly requirements are met:

• 10 signature-based debit card transactions
• one direct deposit or ACH
• receive your statements electronically

If these are not met, the rate falls to 0.10%. There are no minimum balance requirements. One downside mentioned in...