Oklahoma Deposit Account Rates and Deals

RCB Bank has two good deposit deals. The first is a high-yield checking account called Go Green Rewards Checking. I first reported on this account in 2008. The rate has fallen, but it's still very competitive for reward checking accounts. As of 8/9/2010, it pays 4.10% APY on balances up to $25K. The main requirement is 12 debit card purchases a month. It does not require direct deposit, but it does require that you log into your account at least once a month. As is typical, e-statements is also required.

The other deposit deal is a competitive 5-year CD rate of 3.00% APY as of 8/9/2010. Minimum deposit is $1,000 for the regular CD and $250 for the IRA Roth CD. This rate is listed in the bank's CD rate sheet as of 8/09/2010.

One thing that has changed since my 2008 reward checking review is that they have added branches outside of their home state of Oklahoma. They now have branches in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona and in the Kansas cities of Wichita, Winfield and Arkansas City. In Oklahoma, they have branches in several cities including Oklahoma City, Edmond, Broken Arrow, Owasso and Stillwater. Please refer to the bank's location page for all of the addresses.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are above average: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial, 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 3 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our financial overview of RCB Bank). These ratings are based on 3/31/10 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1936 (FDIC Certificate # 15399).

Searching for the Best Reward Checking Account

If you're in Arizona, there's another reward checking account that's a good deal. Sonoran Bank, N.A. continues to offer 4.26% APY on balances up to $30K (as of 8/09/2010). I have more details about this account in my 2009 reward checking review.

To find reward checking accounts in your state or to find those available nationwide, please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com.

Fidelity Bank has some competitive money market and CD rates. In Oklahoma, it was adverting 1.50% APY on its Money Market XTRA account. This requires a $50K deposit and a checking account. Without the checking account, the rate is 0.25% lower. The rate for balances of $10K to $50K is 1.25% APY and 0.75% for under $10K. This money market deal was advertised in the 8/8/2010 edition of the Oklahoman paper. The ad is available online here.

The bank also has some good deals on its CD specials. The best rates include a 2.01% APY 21-month CD, a 1.51% 11-month CD and a 1.31% APY 7-month CD. Minimum deposit is $500. These rates are listed in the bank's OK rates sheet as of 8/09/2010. The same CD specials are available in Kansas, but some of the rates are lower.

Branches are located in the Oklahoma cities of Edmond and Oklahoma City and in the Kansas cities of Wichita and Derby.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are fair: 3½ stars (good) at BauerFinancial, 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 3 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our financial overview of Fidelity Bank). These ratings are based on 3/31/10 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1957 (FDIC Certificate # 30895).

The Fort Sill National Bank is offering several competitive CD rates. The most competitive one is the 6-month CD with a 1.41% APY. Other ones include a 1.75% APY 18-month CD, a 2.00% APY 30-month CD and a 3.00% APY 60-month CD. Minimum deposit is $500. These rates are listed in the bank's rates page as of 8/04/2010.

It appears that a branch visit is required to open an account. As you might expect by the name, the bank is targeted to military communities, and many of its branches are on military bases. However, the bank also serves civilian communities, and it has many branches outside of bases (many are in Walmart). The states which have several branches outside of military bases include Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Carolina. The other states in which the branches are mostly inside military bases include California, Texas, South Carolina and Delaware.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are very strong: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial, 5 stars (superior) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our FSNB reviews page). These ratings are based on 3/31/10 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1946 (FDIC Certificate # 16416).

Bank of the West has another $100 checking account bonus. This new bonus is scheduled to last until 8/20/2010, and like the last one it allows either direct deposit of at least $250 or 10 online bill payments. The details are listed in the bank's promotion page. Below is the promotion's small print. I've highlighted the important details:

Open any new personal checking account, and either establish one monthly recurring direct deposit of at least $250 to your new account or make 10 bill payments at Bank of the West Online Banking and receive a $100 bonus. Direct deposit must be payroll, social security, pension or other government benefit. The first recurring direct deposit must be posted to your account within 60 calendar days of account open date. The 10 bill payments must occur within 60 calendar days of account open date. Bonus will be credited to your account within 60 days after satisfaction of conditions. Offer valid for new personal checking accounts opened from 7/6/10–8/20/10 with $100 or more from a financial institution other than Bank of the West. Offer subject to change without prior notice and may be terminated or extended based on response. Offer does not apply to second or multiple checking accounts. Limit of one $100 bonus per personal household per calendar year. Offer not valid in CA, CO, UT, NV or WY. To the extent required by law, Bank of the West will report the value of the offer to the IRS on Form 1099. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the account holder. All accounts are subject to the Bank’s standard terms and conditions and fee schedule.

When I checked with Bank of the West in March, I was told that the online account application is limited to states which have Bank of the West branches. Also, as you can see in the small print above, the offer is not valid in CA, CO, UT, NV or WY. That leaves the following states which should be eligible for this promotion: AZ, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, WA and WI.

Regarding a hard credit pull, I was told earlier this year that they don't do a hard credit inquiry in the application (only a soft pull). So you shouldn't have to worry about a ding to your credit score.

Several reader commented in my previous post that Bank of the West closed their accounts for no apparent reason. It appears that when Bank of the West started to restrict availability to their market areas, out-of-area customers who had opened the account before the change were being targeted for account closure. Some readers also reported not receiving the bonus. Most readers who were in the market area have reported success with the promotion. One reader commented:

Just got bonus posted and ACH from online bank to yourself for over the necessary amount DOES count as a DD and only needed to be done 1 time.

Bank of the West is one of the large regional banks. It has $61.18 billion in assets and $41.38 billion in deposits. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 3514).

Other Bank Bonuses

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

Air Force FCU has come out with a very competitive 18-month CD special. Rates range from 2.25% APY for a $100K minimum deposit to 2.00% APY for a $1,000 minimum. The following is a full list of the rates as listed in the credit union's savings rates page as of 7/5/2010:

• 2.25% APY 18-month CD min $100,000
• 2.20% APY 18-month CD min $25,000
• 2.15% APY 18-month CD min $12,500
• 2.10% APY 18-month CD min $2,500
• 2.00% APY 18-month CD min $1,000

These same rates are also available for IRA certificates. The credit union's early withdrawal penalty is a little convoluted:

The early withdrawal penalty will be equal to one half of the dividends that would accrue from the date of the withdrawal to the maturity date applying the contracted rate on the certificate based to the amount withdrawn over and above any dividends credited to the certificate to date of withdrawal.

It has been a while since I last reported on Air Force FCU. My last post was in January 2009. The credit used to offer many competitive CD rates back in 2007 and 2008.

One thing that has changed at Air Force FCU since my previous posts is the field of membership (FOM). The credit union has reduced the size of the FOM. It used to be open to all US Armed Forces. If you click on the credit union's "join us" link and then click on "become a member" link, you can see the full details of the credit union's FOM. In summary, it's now limited to those connected to the military who are working in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, or Mississippi.

Membership application is available online. For those who prefer to visit an office, branches are located in San Antonio, Texas. The credit union is also part of the CU Service Centers which allows you to make several banking transactions at shared branch offices around the nation.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are mixed: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial, 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 3 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our Air Force FCU financial overview). These ratings are based on March 2010 data except for Bankrate which is based on 12/31/09 data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 8169).

Membership Eligibility Change and the NCUA

This change in the FOM has an interesting history that could be relevant to other credit unions. Last year the NCUA cited Air Force FCU for improper membership. According to the NCUA's letter of understanding and agreement

The Credit Union previously took an overly expansive view of their field of membership that was inconsistent with Section 5 of its charter. As a result, it has accepted share accounts, and extended loans to, individuals otherwise unqualified for membership, which has had a direct effect on the Credit Union's rapid growth and accounts for a significant percentage of its shares and its loan portfolio. These actions have led to our present supervisory concerns about operations and management.

For those who joined the credit union when they had a broad FOM, they may be at risk of losing their membership. Here's the last agreed upon action in the letter of understanding:

The Credit Union, if so directed by NCUA after reviewing the Firm's audit results, shall divest itself of all loans and shares attributable to "unqualified members."

I've seen cases in the past in which people were angered when they were not allowed to join a credit union. This shows why credit unions enforce their field of membership. Also, it shows how members could be affected by credit unions which don't follow their own charters. Based on this example, it appears that members with long-term CDs could find their CDs closed early (I would guess they would get all accrued interest) if the credit union ends their memberships.

Some of the banks under the bank holding company Central Bancompany are offering a $100 bonus for opening their MyChoice Checking and their SaveUp Savings. Two banks offering this $100 bonus include Boone County National Bank in Missouri and ONB Bank and Trust in Oklahoma.

The links to the promotion pages are in the flash displays on the banks' home pages. Here's the promo page for Boone County National Bank, and here's the promo page for ONB Bank and Trust.

This seems to be an easy bonus with no direct deposit required. Some of the details include:

• Promotion ends 10/31/2010
• $50 minimum to open the Free Checking account
• $250 minimum to open the SaveUp Savings account
• No minimum balance required to receive incentive
• Monthly fee of $2 when SaveUp Savings account balance falls below $50
• Incentive reported to the IRS as interest
• If account is closed within the first 90 days, a fee may be imposed

One important note about the MyChoice checking is that there's a $3 monthly fee unless you have one of the following: 1) $750 average daily balance, 2) ACH direct deposit, or 3) 10 monthly debit card purchases.

The SaveUp Savings Account is probably not a savings account where you'll want to keep a large balance. The current interest rate is only 0.50% APY, and that requires monthly automatic transfers from any checking account. Otherwise, the rate is cut in half.

This Central Bancompany page lists its family of banks along with the links to the banks' websites. This is a similar promo they were offering last year. However, fewer of the banks seem to be participating. Some are only offering $50.

The banks have branches in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Credit for this find goes to markber at iBankDesign.

Other Bank Bonuses

For other checking and savings account bonuses from other banks, please refer to this Bank Bonuses page.

Red River Federal Credit Union is offering a high-yield reward checking account called CHA-Ching Reward Checking. The balance cap is a little disappointing, but the rates are better the average. The following is the list of rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met (as of 4/30/2010):

• 4.25% APY up to $10,000
• 1.25% APY on portion of balance over $10,000
• 0.10% base rate if requirements are not met
• Nationwide ATM fee refunds up to $25 per cycle

Monthly requirements include:

• 10 debit card purchases
• 1 direct deposit or automatic payment
• Access online banking
• Receive e-statements

Other features of the account include:

• No minimum initial deposit or minimum balance requirement
• No monthly service fees
• Free online bill pay

Membership is open to those who live, work, worship, volunteer, or attend school in one of the following counties in OK: Comanche, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa, and Tillman. Also included is Vernon, Texas in Wilbarger County. Please refer to the credit union's membership page for more details. Membership requires a minimum balance of $5 in the share savings account.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are above average: 5 stars (superior) 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 # 12082).

Other High-Yield Reward Checking Accounts

Please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com to find reward checking accounts in your state or that are available nationwide.

Stillwater National Bank is advertising a competitive CD rate of 1.50% APY for a 7-month term. Minimum deposit is $5,000. This special doesn't seem to be listed at the bank's website. It was advertised in Sunday's (4/11/2010) Oklahoma City newspaper. The ad is available online here.

In February the bank was offering 2% on an 18-month CD special, and in December it was a 2% 11-month CD.

It appears a branch visit is required. The ad lists branches in Oklahoma City and Edmond. The bank has many other branches in Kansas and Texas, but these special CDs may be specific to the Oklahoma branches.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness continue to be fair: 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data) and 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 4201).

Searching for the Best CD Rates

A 1.50% APY may seem low, but it's very competitive in today's low-rate environment. As a comparison, the best 6-month CD rate currently listed at Bankrate is 1.29% APY. You can find higher rates in the CD rates section of DepositAccounts.com. The tables now have a new & improved format!

Bank of the West has extended its $100 checking account bonus. According to the bank's promotions page, the new checking account must be opened by 4/16/2010. You can receive a $100 when you open a checking account with funds new to Bank of the West and set up direct deposit of at least $250 OR pay 10 bills online. I reviewed the small print in this January post.

Update: It appears Bank of the West has changed the availability of the promotion since January. According to the CSR, online account opening is limited to states which have Bank of the West branches. These states include AZ, CA, CO, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI and WY.

When I contacted the bank in January, I was told this bonus was available to people in any state, and you didn't need to come into a branch. Readers seemed to confirm this in the comments in January. Here's one of the comments:

We did this offer in late 2009 as well. We did NOT visit a local branch. We filled out the application online. We used direct deposit to fulfill the requirement. $100 bonus was paid eventually.

If you have participated in similar promotions in the past, please leave a comment about your experience.

Also from my January call, I was told they don't do a hard credit inquiry in the application (only a soft pull). So you shouldn't have to worry about a ding to your credit score. It should be noted that I've often received wrong info on this issue from CSRs so please leave a comment if you have personal experience on this issue.

Checking Account with no ATM Fees for One Year

Bank of the West's free checking account qualifies for the bonus. In addition, they have a new checking account called Choice ATM checking which offers one year of free ATM use within the USA. This allows you to withdraw cash from any financial institution's ATM free of charge for one year. Surcharges assessed by other banks will be automatically refunded. One thing to note about this Choice ATM Checking is that you have to worry about a $10 monthly fee unless you meet certain balance or activity requirements. Also, Choice ATM checking is only offered in the following states: CA, CO, MN, NV, OK and OR.

Online Savings Account

Bank of the West continues to offer an online savings account with a competitive yield. It has gone down from 1.50% APY in January to 1.25% APY as of today (3/10/10). Unfortunately, 1.25% APY is a decent savings account rate these days. This rate requires a $10,000 minimum balance. The low tier rate has also gone down by 0.25%. It's now 0.25% APY for balances under $10,000. In August I was told by the CSR that there's a $2/month fee if the balance falls below $300. Another downside is that their ACH bank-to-bank transfer service has a transfer limit of $2,000 per day.

Bank Overview

Branches are located throughout the Western and Midwestern states including Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and California.

Bank of the West is one of the large regional banks with $60 billion in assets and $40.2 billion in deposits. Its ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial (based on 12/31/09 data) and 1 star (lowest) at Bankrate.com (based on 9/30/09 data). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 3514).

Other Bank Bonuses

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

Stillwater National Bank is advertising a competitive CD rate of 2.00% APY for a 18-month term. Minimum deposit is $5,000. This special doesn't seem to be listed at the bank's website. It was advertised in today's (2/28/2010) Oklahoma City newspaper. The ad is available online here.

Three weeks ago the bank was offering 2% on a 15-month CD special, and in December it was a 2% 11-month CD. As you can see, a 2% APY is getting harder to find for shorter terms.

It appears a branch visit is required. The ad lists branches in Oklahoma City and Edmond. The bank has many other branches in Kansas and Texas, but these special CDs may be specific to the Oklahoma branches.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness continue to be fair: 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com and 3½ stars (good) at BauerFinancial. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 4201).