Ohio Banking Rates and News

Citizens Bank has a new-account promotion in which you can earn up to $225. To get the full $225 requires opening a new personal checking account and a money market account or CD. It's important to note that both the checking and money market accounts have potential monthly fees. So keep that in mind when considering the bonus.

To qualify for the promotion, complete the form at this Citizens Bank promotions page to get a coupon that you can print and take to your local branch. Accounts must be opened by 6/2/2012 to qualify for the bonuses.

For...

PNC Bank continues to offer a $100 bonus for opening its Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend and for performing certain activities. PNC has made it a little easier to qualify for the $100 bonus compared to last year. However, customers will have to be careful to avoid fees. The Performance Spend is an "upgraded" version of Virtual Wallet, and it has potential monthly fees.

Here's the link to PNC's promotion page. The offer is scheduled to end on 6/30/2012. You can open the account online or choose to have them email you a coupon to take to...

United Federal Credit Union is offering a few good CD and IRA CD deals. First, there's a share certificate special with a 43-month term. Rates are based on the deposit amount: 1.60% APY for $100K, 1.50% APY for $50K and 1.35% APY for $500. The credit union's long-term premier certificates are also good deals. The best one is a 2.00% APY 5-year CD with a $100K minimum deposit. The yield is 1.90% for a $50K minimum. The special CD rates are listed in the credit union's spring share certificate special page as of 4/17/2012. The other...

Bay Area Credit Union is offering three competitive long-term share certificate rates. The include a 2.50% APY for 5 years, 2.25% APY for 4 years and 1.50% APY for 3 years. The same rates are also available as IRA certificates. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed in the credit union rates page as of 4/11/2012.

I find it interesting that the credit union is highlighting its 19-month certificate special which has a rate of only 0.85%. Its CD rates for terms under 3 years are not competitive. Hopefully, its long-term CD rates will remain competitive.

Credit...

Rates have recently fallen at General Electric Credit Union, but it continues to have some good deals on CDs and a money market account.

The 1-year Jumbo share certificate rate fell from 1.42% to 1.26%. The 1.26% rate is still very competitive for 1-year terms. This requires a $100K minimum deposit. The non-Jumbo 1-year CD rate is much lower at 0.90%.

The 5-year share certificate APY fell from 2.63% to 2.33%. Minimum deposit is $500. There's only a higher Jumbo rate for IRAs. That has a 2.39% APY.

For those with large savings, the Money Market Plus Account continues to be a...

Wayne Savings Community Bank just increased the rates on its long-term CDs and IRA CDs. The new rates are now quite competitive. These include a 3.00% APY 10-year CD and a 2.00% APY 6- and 7-year CD. Minimum deposit is $500. These rates are listed in the bank's rate schedule as of 3/22/2012. Below the rate table, it states "APY/Interest Rates are current through March 27, 2012".

Under the rate table, several CD details are provided. The early withdrawal penalties for the long-term CDs are described as "(2) six months interest if the account term is greater...

When I first reported on the 6-year CD at Third Federal Savings & Loan 3 years ago, the yield was 4.00%. Several commenters considered a rate that low and a term that long as "crazy". Interest rates are now much lower, and I'm sure many would consider Third Federal's latest 6-year CD as crazy. The rate is now 2.00% APY, and I'm afraid that is competitive in today's awful interest rate environment. There's also a 1.80% APY 5-year CD. Minimum deposit is $500 ($100 for an IRA CD).

If 6 years is too long for you, they also have two...

Yesterday I reviewed the 7 reward checking accounts that remain in the 4% club. These are reward checking accounts with yields of at least 4.00% on balances of at least $25,000. Unfortunately, readers have reported that 2 of these 7 will be cutting rates or balance caps in January. So it's becoming increasingly difficult to find a 4% club member. You may have better luck finding ones in the 3% club. These are reward checking accounts with yields of at least 3.00% on balances of at least $25,000. We still list over a hundred reward checking accounts in the...

In today's awful interest rate environment, the only deposit account where you can find yields of 4.00% is the reward checking account. Even long-term CDs don't have yields this high. However, there are not many 4.00% reward checking accounts. Rates and balance caps have been falling. As I described in my reward checking overview, reward checking accounts only offer high yields for balances up to a certain cap. For those with large savings, this cap is as important as the rate. Many consider a balance cap of $25,000 to be the minimum cap that makes the reward checking account...

Beal Bank has some good deals on short-term CDs. However, the best rates are only in a few cities where it has branches. You can check what rates are available in your area by entering your zip code in Beal Bank's CD page. I did this for zip codes of most of the cities where Beal Bank has branches. The city with the best 1-year CD rate is San Diego with a 1.15% APY. Three other cities have 1-year CD rates of 1.10% APY. These include Winter Park, Florida (Orlando metro), Frontenac, Missouri (St Louis metro)...

Chaco Credit Union is one of the few institutions which increased some of its CD rates in November. The most noteworthy rate increase was on the 37-month CD. Its rate went up to 2.02% APY which is very competitive for terms around 3 years. Other competitive ones include a 1.75% APY 30-month CD and a 2.15% APY 5-year CD. Minimum deposit is $500. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 11/02/2011.

Membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Butler, Hamilton or Preble County, Ohio....

On Friday US Bank did something that's rare these days. It raised the rate of its competitive long-term CD. The rate of the 59-month CD special increased from 2.00% to 2.25% APY. The two other special CDs with shorter terms are not nearly as competitive. One is a 1.25% APY 37-month CD and the other is a 1.01% APY 19-month CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000, and the maximum is $249,999. These rates are listed in US Bank's CD page as of 10/31/2011. Rates could change at any time, but they typically change on Friday mornings.