New Hampshire Banking Rates and News

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...

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...

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...

Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union has a CD promotion with a competitive rate. The special is an 18-month CD with a 1.20% APY. It's also available for IRAs and SEPs. Minimum deposit is $250. This rate is listed on the credit union's rates page as of 12/5/2012. This special rate is the only CD that's competitive. In fact, this rate is even higher than the credit union's long-term CD rates.

The Primary Savings account has a rate of 7% APY on balances up to $500. Balances over $500 earn 0.15%. With a balance of $500, you'll earn about...

Workers Credit Union is offering two competitive rates on its CDs and IRA CDs. The short-term CD deal is an 18-month CD with a 1.50% APY. The long-term CD deal is a 6-year CD with a 2.50% APY. Minimum deposit is $500 for CDs and $1,000 for IRA CDs. These are Member Relationship CD rates which require a Workers’ checking account with at least one monthly direct deposit of pay or Social Security. Without the relationship, the rates are 75 basis points lower. These are rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of...

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

Yesterday I learned about MidFirst Direct, the internet division of MidFirst Bank. It offers a money market account, checking account and CDs with maturities of 3 months to 60 months. Both the money market account and checking account have low rates, but I was pleasantly surprised to see some very competitive CD rates. Compared to other internet banks, the best two are a 1.35% APY 1-year CD and a 1.40% APY 18-month CD. Below is a list of all of the competitive CD rates as listed at the MidFirst Direct CD page as of 9/11/2012:

• 1.35%...

Back in 2011 Connexus Credit Union used to have very competitive CD rates. That changed a year ago when its CD rates had big cuts. Over the last year those CD rates have held steady while the rates at other institutions have fallen. So Connexus CD rates are again competitive. It's one of the few institutions that still offers a 2.00% APY 5-year CD. However, there is an important downside. The top rate requires that you have an active checking account.

One recent change at Connexus is that two new CD terms are listed. A 2-year and 3-year CD are...

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...

Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Union continues to offer very competitive mid-term and long-term CD rates. The best one is a 2.30% APY 5-year CD. Minimum deposit is $500. Below is a summary of all the competitive CD rates as listed in the credit union's deposit rates page as of 7/26/2012.

• 2.30% APY 5-year CD
• 1.90% APY 4-year CD
• 1.65% APY 3-year CD
• 1.30% APY 2-year CD

There was a March date at the bottom of the table so I called the credit union (800-356-0067 option 1) to confirm the rates. I was told these rates are up-to-date. The CSR didn't know...

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...

Workers Credit Union is offering several competitive rates on its CD and IRA CD specials. The highest rate is a 2.50% APY for a 6-year term. Minimum deposit is $500 for CDs and $1,000 for IRA CDs. The full list of rates for all the CD specials are shown below. These are rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 5/30/2012:

• 2.50% APY 6-year CD
• 2.15% APY 54-month CD
• 1.50% APY 30-month CD
• 1.25% APY 23-month CD
• 1.01% APY 14-month CD

One important downside to these specials is that they require an active checking account with direct deposit. This...