New Jersey Deposit Account Rates and Deals

Dime Savings Bank is offering a special 15-month IRA CD with a 2.50% APY. Minimum deposit is $500, and the maximum is $250,000. New money is required. The special is listed at this Dime promotions page as of 3/12/2010.

In the small print of the promotion, it states:

Additional deposits have the same maturity date as the initial deposit and become part of the principal. Additional deposits are also subject to IRS contribution limits.

So it appears add-on deposits are allowed. The Dime IRA CD special that I reported on last November also had this add-on deposit feature. This feature is not as beneficial for IRA CDs as it is for a regular CDs due to the IRS contribution limits.

Dime Savings continues to offer fairly competitive long-term regular CD rates. These include a 2.75% APY 4-year CD and a 3.25% APY 5-year CD. These rates are listed at the rates page as of 3/12/2010. I have more details about Dime Savings' CDs in this previous post.

When I last checked with a Dime CSR last November, the IRA CD was able to be opened without a branch visit. If you call (800.321.3463), they should be able to mail you the application documentation. You can also open the IRA CD at a branch. Dime Savings' branches are located throughout the Greater New York metro area.

Dime Savings Bank has some solid financial ratings for soundness: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data) and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1943 (FDIC Certificate # 16012).

Credit for this find goes to this BestCashCow post.

Best IRA Rates

For other IRA CD rates and terms that are available locally and nationwide, please refer to the IRA rates section of DepositAccounts.com.

Citizens Bank has a checking account promotion in which you can earn $100. The details of the checking account bonus are listed at www.citizensbank.com/220. Offer ends 3/26/2010. The requirements to earn the $100 include:

• $50 for setting up direct deposit of $250 or more
• $25 for making 5 online bill payments
• $25 for making 5 signature-based debit card or credit card purchases

Some important details mentioned in the small print includes:

Requirements must be met by 4/30/2010. Bonus will be deposited into the checking account by 6/30/2010 and reported to the IRS. Checking account must remain open for at least 6 months or the amount of the banking bonus will be debited from the account at closing.

The Green Checking qualifies for this bonus, and it's a free checking account with no monthly fees. Minimum opening balance is $50.

The Green Checking also qualifies for the Green$sense program. Citizens Bank says you can get paid up to $120 per year in Green$ense. However, this would require 100 debit card purchases, online bill payments or automatic payments per month for 12 months. For each of these non-paper transactions, Citizens Bank pays you 10 cents. Since this is considerable work, I'm not including this $120 in the bonus amount.

This is very similar to the promotion the bank was running late last year. One small change is that they now require a minimum direct deposit of $250 instead of $50. In that post, a reader mentioned that there's a hard pull in the application.

There's an online application at the promotions page. However, it only accepts zip codes in their market area. Their market area includes Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Citizens Bank operates under two FDIC charters: Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania (FDIC Certificate # 57282) and RBS Citizens, N.A. which has branches in several states outside of PA and NJ (FDIC Certificate # 57957).

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other bonus deals, please refer to my bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.

The Bank of Princeton is offering a special CD with a 3.35% APY for terms of 4 and 5 years. This special is listed in the bank's promotions page as of 2/28/2010. There are no details listed.

It appears a branch visit is required to open an account. Branches are located in the New Jersey cities of Princeton, Hamilton and Pennington.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are mixed: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 2007 (FDIC Certificate # 58513).

Thanks to the reader who emailed me news of this CD special.

Sharonview Federal Credit Union is offering some very competitive CDs and IRA CDs especially for large deposits. The most competitive CDs for a $100K minimum include:

• 2.25% APY 6 months
• 2.50% APY 12 months
• 2.75% APY 24 months
• 3.00% APY 36 months

Rates are 25 basis points less for a $50K minimum deposit and 50 basis points less for a $10K deposit. Even for a $10K deposit, the 6- and 12-month CD rates are still competitive.

Unfortunately, membership appears primarily limited to select employer groups. There's not many details on the credit union's Join page. It gives the following instructions to determine eligibility:

If you would like to find out if you qualify through your current employer, please call our Financial Solutions Center at (704) 969-6700 in the Charlotte, NC area, or (800) 462-4421, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM until 6:00 PM EST.

Branches are located in North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are a little mixed: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 22458).

Bogota Savings Bank is offering some competitive CD and IRA CD rates. The most competitive is the 4-year CD which has a 3.25% APY. Other decent deals include a 2.25% APY 2-year CD and a 1.90% APY 18-month CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed in the bank's rates page as of 2/26/2010.

In addition to CD rates, there's also a good deal on a money market account. The top rate is 1.50% APY as of 2/26/2010 for a minimum balance of $50K.

It appears that a branch visit is required to open an account. Branches are located in Bogota and Teaneck, New Jersey.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 5 stars (superior) 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 1937 (FDIC Certificate # 29941).

Hat tip to Wil who mentioned this 4-year CD in the comments.

Update 2/19/2010: Top rate is scheduled to fall to 0.85% effective March 1, 2010. Readers have just reported being told this by the bank. One other change is the elimination of the deposit card usage requirement.

Allegiance Bank is now allowing residents of PA, NJ and DE to open its STAR reward checking account online. The rate is low for reward checking (2.75% APY as of 2/16/2010). However, this rate is for balances up to $250K. That's 10x the typical reward checking balance cap. The rates and the link to the online application are in the deposit rates page. I have more details on this reward checking account in my account review. The 2.75% APY has held since last May.

At the top of the online application it states:

We welcome all residents of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware to apply.

In addition to the reward checking account, online applications are available for the Star Money Market Account and a for a few CDs. However, rates on these are not that competitive.

In addition to the online application, you can also open the account at one of its PA branches which are located in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Considering the recent snowfall around this area, I would think most would prefer the online application.

One issue to note, Allegiance Bank's ratings are weak: 0 star (lowest) at BauerFinancial and 1 star (lowest) at Bankrate.com. These ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. Also note, the bank has been operating under a FDIC Cease and Desist Order since 11/4/2009. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1999 (FDIC Certificate # 35078).

Thanks to the reader who emailed me news of this reward checking account.

Spencer Savings Bank is offering a competitive 3.25% APY 49-month IRA CD. Unfortunately, it's not available as a regular CD. Minimum deposit is $500. This rate is listed at the bank's IRA rates page as of 2/16/2010. This same rate is also listed in the Coverdell Education Savers rate table.

One flexible IRA CD feature mentioned in this bank's page includes:

One term change is allowed per year for customers over age 59 1/2 years of age without penalty.

I'm not sure exactly what this means. It sounds like you are allowed to change to a shorter or longer term CD. Changing to a short-term CD could come in handy if rates go up.

There's an online application but it states that you have to visit a branch with two forms of ID to complete the application. Branches are located in 18 Northern New Jersey cities.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are above average: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1939 (FDIC Certificate # 30076).

Sovereign Bank is offering a checking and money market promotion in which you can earn a bonus of $150 and receive a 1.50% APY guarantee for 3 months in the money market account. The promo is scheduled to expire 3/13/2010. Here's the promo page link.

First, here are the requirements for the $150 checking account bonus:

• Open a new Sovereign Premier Checking, Business Owner Premier Checking, Interest Checking, or Partnership Checking account by March 13, 2010, with a minimum opening deposit of $100
• Open any Sovereign savings or money market savings account with a minimum opening deposit of $100 or already have a savings or money market savings account
• Enroll in Online Banking at account opening
• Set up and receive one direct deposit within 60 days of opening your account
• Request a Sovereign Debit Card and make 5 Debit Card purchases within 60 days after you open your account

When you qualify, you will receive a credit of $150 to your new checking account within 75 days after you open your checking account.

Some important small print:

• Offer available only to residents in the following states: ME, VT, NH, CT, RI, MA, NY, NJ, PA, MV, MD, DE, and District of Columbia.
• Direct deposits you initiate from an account at another bank do not qualify
• The amount of the bonus credited to your account will be reported to the IRS as interest
• Current personal checking customers or anyone who has had a personal checking account with Sovereign Bank in the last 6 months are not eligible for this offer.
• Current savings customers are eligible

An important note regarding the Interest Checking is that direct deposit is required to avoid a $10 monthly fee. On the plus side is that they provide free checks. The Premier Checking is even worse in terms of potential fees. A $15,000 combined balance is required to avoid a $30/month fee. For the savings accounts, the Money Market Savings appears to be a good choice since it has no monthly maintenance fee and no minimum balance requirement. Note, the monthly fees and minimum balance vary considerably based on your state.

Here are the requirements to qualify for 1.50% APY for 3 months:

• Open a new Premier Checking account and open a new Premier Money Market Savings account by March 13, 2010
• Bonus rate will apply for each day your balance is $10,000 to $499,999 and is guaranteed for 3 months from the date you open your account

Some important small print:

• Same geographic restriction as mentioned above
• Anyone who has had a Sovereign savings, money market savings, or personal checking account with Sovereign in the last 6 months are not eligible for the bonus rate

Unlike the checking account promotion, this requires a Premier Money Market Savings account. Details of this account are in the promo page (click more for this account in the promo page). The Premier Money Savings is free of minimum balance requirements and has no monthly fees as long as you have a Premier Checking account (which, as I mentioned, has its own fees)

When I called Sovereign Bank in April 2008 regarding a similar promotion, I was told that there's no account closure fee if an account is closed after 90 days. Otherwise, it's $25. The CSR also said they don't perform a hard credit inquiry. They just use ChexSystem in the application.

There's an online application link in the promo page. However, the small print states that residential addresses must be located in the northeast states (see above).

Branches are located in the Northeast in the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The bank is a FDIC member (FDIC Certificate # 29950).

Other Bank Bonuses

Refer to the Bank Bonus page for the other bonuses at banks and credit unions around the nation.

PNC Bank is offering a $150 bonus for opening a personal checking account with qualifying direct deposit at its new branch in Summit, New Jersey. The offer is scheduled to end on 1/31/2010. This was advertised last week at NJ.com. The ad is available online here. As you can see in the ad, PNC is publicizing its new Green branch at Summit, NJ. The address is at 517 Springfield Avenue. Phone number is 908-522-3440.

Some important details mentioned in the small print of the promo include:

• First direct deposit must be credited to your PNC Bank Checking Account by 3/15/10 in order to receive the $150 which will be credited to your account within 30 days of the first direct deposit transaction
• A qualifying direct deposit is defined as a direct deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security or other regular monthly income electronically deposited into a Free, Performance or Performance Select Checking Account. The direct deposit must be made by an employer or an outside agency.
• Offer is available to new PNC Bank Checking Account customers only and is limited to one per household
• Offer available only at the PNC Bank Summit branch

The $100 bonus for opening PNC's Virtual Wallet account appears to still be available. Refer to my September post for more details. One thing that has changed is that the small print now states that the offer is limited to residents of: DC, DE, IN, KY, MD, NJ, OH, PA, VA.

• 3.51% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 1.01% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
• Reimburses up to $25 in ATM fees nationwide per month

• 12 debit card purchases
• 1 Automatic Payment or Direct Deposit transfer
• Receive electronic statements

• $50 minimum initial deposit
• No minimum balance requirement
• No monthly maintenance fee
• Free Bill Pay