Nebraska Deposit Account Rates and Deals

Greater Western Bank is offering three CD specials. The most competitive one is a 2.18% APY 18-month CD. The other two are a 2.68% APY 38-month CD and a 3.08% APY 58-month CD. These rates include a 0.15% bonus for new or existing checking or savings account customers. Minimum deposit is $5,000, and new money is required. These special CD rates are listed in the bank's CD page as of 2/01/2010.

It appears that a branch visit is required. Branches are located in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Missouri.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 4 stars (excellent) 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 1935 (FDIC Certificate # 15289).

• Open any new personal checking account
• First recurring direct deposit must be posted to your account within 60 calendar days of your account opening date
• The 10 bill payments must occur within 60 calendar days of your account opening date
• Bonus will be credited to your account within 60 days after satisfaction of conditions
• Offer valid for a new personal checking account opened from with $100 or more from a financial institution other than Bank of the West
• Offer does not apply to second or multiple checking accounts and/or existing checking customers
• Limit of one $100 bonus per household per calendar year
• Value of the offer reported to the IRS on Form 1099

Update 1/21/2010: The bank extended the rate guarantee to 5/31/2010.

Adams Bank & Trust is offering a high-yield reward checking account called SuperSmart e-Checking. It has the following rates and features if you meet certain monthly requirements:

• 4.00% APY on balances up to $35,000 (guaranteed until 5/31/2010)
• 2.00% on portion of balance over $35,000
• 0.20% base rate if requirements are not met
• ATM fee refunds up to $10 per month

The monthly requirements include:

• 25 debit card purchases (PIN or signature based)
• 1 direct deposit or direct payment (ACH)
• Receive e-statements

Additional account features include:

• $100 minimum initial deposit
• $7 monthly membership fee if requirements are not met

For those who don't want to do 25 monthly debit card purchases, the bank offers the Smart e-Checking which has easier requirements but the rates are lower:

• 2.00% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 1.00% on portion of balance over $25,000
• 0.15% base rate if requirements are not met
• ATM fee refunds up to $10 per month

The monthly requirements include:

• 15 debit card purchases (PIN or signature based)
• 1 direct deposit or direct payment (ACH)
• Receive e-statements

Another reason to choose this account over the SuperSmart e-Checking is that it lacks the monthly fee if you fail to meet the monthly requirements.

It appears that a branch visit is required to open an account. Branches are located in Nebraska and Colorado.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial (based on 9/30/09 data) and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com (based on 6/30/09 data). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1962 (FDIC Certificate # 18489).

Other Reward Checking Accounts

The high debit card usage requirement and the monthly fee when requirements are not met are rare for reward checking accounts. Most only require 10 purchases a month and have no monthly fees regardless of meeting the requirements. The only good thing about these requirements is that it should encourage people to use the account as their primary checking account which should make it easier for the bank to maintain the high rates.

To find reward checking accounts in other areas of the nation, please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com. To learn more about reward checking, please refer to this reward checking overview.

Rate History:
4.00% APY up to $35K; 2.00% over (guaranteed to 5/31/10)
4.00% APY up to $35K; 2.00% over (guaranteed to 2/27/10)

• 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial
• 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com

• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD deals
• My weekly list of all nationwide CD deals
• Index of state CD and bank deals

Update 1/20/10: The new account bonus has gone down to $25.

Pinnacle Bank of Nebraska has launched an internet bank called BankOn. The internet bank has a no-minimum online savings account with a 2.05% APY as of 10/12/09. Unfortunately, it's not a nationwide deal. When you select the Apply Now button, the first page of the application states that they are only accepting online applications from Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Wyoming residents. It looks like a good deal for residents of those states.

You are required to open BOTH the checking account and money market account. The only small print related to the bonus that I can see is that the bonus will be paid within 10 business days of account opening. Also, there's a limit of one per household. So it looks like an easy $50.

There's no mention about a hard credit inquiry in the application process (which can temporarily ding your credit score). I'll check with the bank tomorrow. Update 10/13/09: According to the CSR, they do check your credit report. She wasn't sure if this would be a hard pull.

There's also no mention about an ACH transfer service which allows you to transfer funds to and from your bank accounts at other institutions. I'll also check on this tomorrow. Internet banks often neglect this critical internet banking feature. Some may have a basic service, but it often lacks important features such as the capability to link to multiple external accounts, fast transfers in which little or no interest is lost and the allowance of large transfers. Update 10/13/09: The CSR wasn't too familiar with the ACH features. She suggested that transfer features were part of the bill pay service. I'll have to email for clarifications.

Below is a list of the important features described on the bank's website. I was able to get a few additional details from the disclosure documents which are available in the middle of the online application.

BankOn Checking and Money Market Savings Shared Features:

• No required minimum balance after opening
• No monthly fees
• No checks
• E-statements only
• Online only accounts
• Online application via andera.com
• Options to fund account: Credit or debit card or U.S. checking account
• Online application allows for joint accounts, but doesn't allow for beneficiaries
• Dormant Account Fee: $50.00 annually (per fee schedule)
• Incoming Wires: $12.00 per wire (per fee schedule)
• Must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident alien
• Only available to residents of NE, CO, KS, MO & WY

BankOn Money Market Savings Features:

• 2.05% APY as of 10/12/2009
• No minimum initial deposit

BankOn Checking Features:

• No interest
• $100 minimum initial deposit
• Free Bill Pay
• Visa Check Card with Cash Back Rewards (0.50% on signature-based purchases paid monthly to account)
• Free foreign ATM transactions (but no mention of reimbursements of other banks' fees)

The state restriction may be good if you live in one of the eligible states. It should reduce the chance that they'll be overwhelmed with deposits. As we've seen many times this year, new online banks offering good deals are often overwhelmed with new customers, and they end up suspending new applications or restricting availability.

There's always the question about if it's worthwhile to chase rates at a new bank. I discussed this issue at length in this post.

FDIC/Financial Info:

BankOn is provided by Pinnacle Bank. One thing Pinnacle Bank did right is to include a link to the BankOn website at their main website at www.pinnbank.com. Pinnacle Bank is a FDIC member, and you can verify this and their website address at this FDIC page. According to the 6/30/09 FDIC data, the bank has $2.4 billion in assets, $2.1 billion in deposits and 57 branches.

Pinnacle Bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 6/30/09 financial data.

Other Competitive Savings Accounts and Bank Bonuses

• Savings Account Weekly Rate Summary
• my last 40 posts on checking and savings account bonuses
• bank deals by state

• 5.00% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.50% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
• 0.25% on all balances if requirements are not met
• ATM fee refunds nationwide up to $25 per cycle

• 10 Visa check card purchases
• One direct deposit or automatic payment
• Receive electronic statements

• $25 minimum initial deposit
• No minimum balance requirements
• No monthly service charge
• Multiple accounts can be opened, but requirements must be met for each to earn the top rate

• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD deals
• My weekly list of all nationwide CD deals
• Index of state CD and bank deals

• 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial
• 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com

• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD deals
• My weekly list of all nationwide CD deals
• Index of state CD and bank deals

• First recurring direct deposit must be posted to your account within 60 calendar days of your account opening date
• The 10 bill payments must occur within 60 calendar days of your account opening date
• Bonus will be credited to your account within 60 days after satisfaction of conditions
• Offer valid for a new personal checking account opened from with $100 or more from a financial institution other than Bank of the West
• Offer does not apply to second or multiple checking accounts and/or existing checking customers
• Limit of one $100 bonus per household per calendar year
• Value of the offer reported to the IRS on Form 1099

• Receive a $5 bonus per transfer of $25 or more
• Maximum of $10/month can be received for 2 transfers
• The $5/transfer bonus lasts the first 6 months
• Bonus goes down from $5 to $1 after the first 6 months

You may apply for a checking account online, however you must be reside within 50 miles of the Omaha Metro area.