New York Deposit Account Rates and Deals

Atlas Savings and Loan Association continues to offer competitive CD and IRA CD rates. Short-term CD rates have fallen a bit since my January post, but they remain attractive compared to what other banks are offering. The most competitive CDs and IRA CDs as listed in the bank's rates page as of 3/18/2010 include:

• 1.82% APY 12 months (2.02% IRA)
• 2.02% APY 18 months
• 2.38% APY 24 months (2.53% IRA)
• 2.63% APY 36 months (3.25% IRA)

Note the very competitive 3-year IRA CD. Minimum deposit is $2,500 for both the regular and IRA CDs.

It's a small bank with one office in located in Brooklyn, New York. It appears that a branch visit is required to open accounts.

The bank continues to have strong ratings for safety and soundness: 5 stars (superior) 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 1955 (FDIC Certificate # 30783).

Other Competitive Certificate of Deposit Rates

• CD rates at DepositAccounts.com
• IRA CD rates at DepositAccounts.com
• List of the best CD rates as of March 13, 2010

City National Bank continues to offer competitive long-term CD rates. The following rates are listed at the bank's rates page as of 3/18/2010:

• 3.50% APY 5 years and over
• 3.00% APY 4 years to under 5 years
• 2.50% APY 3 years to under 4 years
• 2.00% APY 2 years to under 3 years

All the above rates except the 2-year CD rate are the same as what I reported in my December review of this bank. The 2-year rate fell by 25 basis points.

Minimum deposit is $500. It appears these rates also apply to IRA CDs.

A branch visit appears to be required to open an account. Branches are located in the New Jersey cities of Newark, Hackensack and Paterson; in the New York cities of New York City, Hempstead and Roosevelt; and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The bank's rating for safety and soundness went down by one star level at Bankrate.com since my December post. The new rating is 2 stars (below peer group) based on 9/30/09 data. The bank continues to have 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1973 (FDIC Certificate # 21111).

Other Competitive Certificate of Deposit Rates

• CD rates at DepositAccounts.com
• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD 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.

Countryside Federal Credit Union is again offering a special March Madness CD. If you pick the right teams, you can get a 2.70% APY 12-month CD. The details are listed at this credit union page. The base rate is 1.70% APY for a $5,000 minimum deposit. Higher rates will depend on your correct picks for the Final Four NCAA basketball:

• 0.10% for each Final Four team for a total of 0.40%
• 0.20% for each Final Two team for a total of 0.40%
• 0.20% for the National Championship team

Picks must be received by 3/24/2010.

I first reported on Countryside's March Madness CDs in 2006. In 2007 the March Madness 12-month CD yield ranged from 5.50% to 6.50% (the good old days).

Membership is open to those who live, work, worship, or attend school in Onondaga County, New York. The county seat is Syracuse. Please refer to the credit union's About Page for more details. Membership requires a $5 minimum deposit in the savings account.

Countryside's ratings for safety and soundness are above average: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data) and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data). The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 4745).

March Madness CDs?

This could be a good deal if you can at least pick a few teams that make it to the Final Four. For example, if you can pick at least two that make it to the Final Four and at least one that makes it to the Final but doesn't win, that will give you an extra 0.40% which would result in a 2.10% APY 12-month CD.

I've seen a few other credit unions offer similar CD promotions in the past. If you come across a March Madness CD special, please leave a comment.

Island Federal Credit Union has a couple of competitive certificates: a 2.05% APY 18-month CD and a 3.00% APY 48-month CD. These are also available in an IRA CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 3/11/2010.

My last post on this credit union was in August of 2009 when the 18-month CD had a 2.65% APY.

Membership is open to those who live, work, worship or attend school in Suffolk County or Nassau County (with the exception of the townships of East Hampton, Southampton or Shelter Island). Refer to the credit union's Who We Are page for more details. Membership requires a minimum balance of $5 the regular savings account.

Branches are located in Sayville, Hauppauge and Hicksville, New York.

Island FCU continues to have strong financial ratings for safety and soundness: 5 star rating (superior) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data) and 4 star rating (sound) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data). The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 10023).

Quorum Federal Credit Union is offering a special 2.00% APY 11-month CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000. The yield is 2.10% APY for a $100,000 minimum deposit. This is a limited time offer that is listed on the credit union's promotions page as of 3/08/2010.

Membership is open those associated with a long list of companies and groups at the credit union's membership requirements page. One group listed is the Select Savers Club. In the eligibility section of the Andera online application, one of the options is to join this club. This is what the option says.

I would like to join the Select Savers Club Inc, and become a Quorum FCU member

When you check this option, the following is shown:

The Select Savers Club Inc. provides its members with information on spending, saving, borrowing and managing debt wisely. Membership is open to anyone who has an interest in achieving his or her financial goals. Members pay a $5 lifetime membership fee. Quorum will cover this fee for any new member wishing to join the credit union concurrently.

Quorum FCU is located in Purchase, NY 10577. Its ratings for safety and soundness are mixed: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data) and 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data). The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 22769).

Credit for this find goes to FW member RichTJ99 who mentioned it in the FW CD thread.

Visions Federal Credit Union is offering some competitive CD and IRA CD rates. The noteworthy rates for a minimum of $500 include:

• 2.02% APY 1-year CD
• 2.53% APY 30-month CD
• 3.50% APY 60-month CD
• 2.53% APY 15-month IRA-only CD
• 3.05% APY 32-month IRA-only CD

These rates are listed at the credit union's rate table as of 3/03/10. Above the table there's a date range of 3/03/10 to 3/09/10.

For the non-IRA CD rates above, you can get an extra 25 basis points with an account relationship. Refer to the bottom of the rate table for details about eligible relationships. A VisionsPlus Checking with Visa Check Card and a Gold credit card can qualify you.

Membership is open to those who live, work or worship in Broome, Chenango, Tioga, Schuyler or East/Central Chemung Counties in New York and Bradford County in Pennsylvania. There's a $1 membership fee and a $25 minimum deposit into the Share Money Manager Account. Please refer to the credit union's membership page for more details.

Branches are located in the New York cities of Binghamton, Elmira, Endicott, Endwell, Horseheads, Johnson City, Newark Valley, Owego, Spencer, Syracuse, Vestal and Watkins Glen. In Pennsylvania, the branches are in Sayre and Wysox.

Visions FCU has strong ratings for safety and soundness: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 17429). It's a large credit union with $2.2 billion in assets and 120,997 members.

KeyBank is offering a decent checking account promotion. Here's the link to the promotion. The $150 bonus is for opening its free checking account. The $200 bonus requires one of their checking accounts that has monthly fees. Both bonuses require the same activities:

• Open the checking account by April 30, 2010
• Make one KeyBank Rewards debit card transaction (ATMs excluded)
• Make a combination of two direct deposits and/or automated payments each of $100 or more by July 2, 2010

Some important small print:

• You must have or request a KeyBank Rewards debit card and enroll in the KeyBank Rewards points program. ... There is a $20 annual fee for the KeyBank Rewards program that will be waived for the first year.
• Offer not available to individuals who have opened a KeyBank checking account in the last 12 months.
• If you close your account within 180 days of account opening, you will be charged a $25 account early closure fee.

The promotion FAQs has some important points including who's eligible:

The offer is not available in all areas. Individuals and businesses will only be eligible in the following districts: Cleveland, Eastern OH, Idaho, Western NY, Oregon, Seattle Cascades, South Puget Sound, Central NY, Rochester, Maine, Northwest OH, Michigan, and Capital Region NY.

There's also a business checking account promotion that offers up to $275.

When I had contacted KeyBank in previous years, I've been told by their customer service reps that they don't do a hard credit inquiry. They only use ChexSystem in the application approval process.

KeyBank has been a FDIC member since 1956.

Credit for this find goes to FW member DreamKrusher who posted on it in this FW thread.

Other Bank Bonuses

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

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.

CheckSpring Bank is offering a special 13-month CD with a 2.00% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. This special isn't listed on the bank's website. I emailed the bank yesterday (2/23/10) and was told of this special. The special is subject to change at anytime.

It's a small bank located in Bronx of New York City. It appears that a branch visit is required to open an account.

The bank was established in 2007, and thus, it's labeled as a start-up at BauerFinancial without a rating. However, Bankrate.com gives it a 3-star rating (performing) for safety and soundness based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since October 2007 (FDIC Certificate # 58668).