Rhode Island Deposit Account Rates and Deals

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.

Webster Bank is offering up to $100 for opening a checking account and with some additional requirements. Details are listed in the bank's promotions page. Three different bonuses are available for three different checking accounts:

• $25 for Totally Free Checking
• $50 for Relationship Checking ($4K minimum balance to avoid $15/mo fee)
• $100 for Premier Checking ($10K minimum balance to avoid $20/mo fee)

Offer is scheduled to end on 3/01/2010. One of the following is required to be done by 4/16/2010 to qualify for the bonus:

• One Direct Deposit (PayPal transactions are excluded), OR
• 5 Visa Check Card Signature purchases, OR
• 5 online Bill Payments

If you meet the above requirements, the bonus will be transferred into the newly-established checking account by 5/14/10. Bonus amount will be reported to the IRS.

According to the small print, the offer is limited to residents of NY, MA, RI and CT. It appears that you can open the checking account online. The first page of the application has a box for the offer code, but I don't see a code mentioned in the promotions page. Opening at a branch may be easier. Branches are located in Southern New England and Westchester County, New York. Most of its branches are located in Connecticut.

The bank has been a FDIC member since 1960 (FDIC Certificate # 18221).

Credit for this find goes to Bank Perks.

Other Bank Bonuses

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

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.

Chartway Federal Credit Union is offering some competitive CD rates. The most competitive is its 12-month CD which has a top rate of 2.06% APY for a minimum deposit of $10,000. Other competitive ones include a 1.60% APY 6-month CD and a 2.26% APY 24-month CD. These yields require a Preferred Plus, Elite 50 Plus or Premier Checking. Without these checking accounts, the rates are 25 basis points lower. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates sheet as of 2/05/2010.

The checking account requirement does hurt this deal. All three of the qualifying checking accounts have a minimum balance requirement to avoid a monthly fee. The Preferred Plus checking and the Elite 50 Plus checking have a $10 monthly fee unless a minimum balance of $2,500 is maintained. These two would be preferable to the Premier Checking which has a $20 monthly fee unless a minimum balance of $5,000 and direct deposit are maintained.

Unfortunately, their eChecking account does not qualify for this CD. This is a reward checking account that pays up to 3.84% APY on a $20K balance (see review).

Another good deal at the credit union is the money market accounts. The top rate on the Money Market Plus and Link accounts is 2.02% APY for balances of at least $100K as of 2/05/2010. These rates don't require the above checking accounts.

Membership and Locations

Membership is open to those who live, work, worship or go to school in a defined geographic area served by the credit union's Virginia, Florida, Rhode Island and Texas branches. A reader noted in a previous post that the geographic areas are narrow, so please call to see if you can be eligible. You can also be eligible via schools and select employer groups. The online application has a list of eligible schools and employers. Please refer to their Membership Page for more details. Membership requires a $5 minimum deposit into the Prime Share savings account.

Branches are located in Virginia, Georgia, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Ohio and New Jersey.

The credit union has some decent financial ratings for safety and soundness: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com. Both are based on 9/30/09 data. Chartway is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 13242).

Update 3/05/2010: The bank has restricted the online CDs and money market account to residents of New England and New York State. I just called their toll-free number and received this info.

EBSB Direct has started offering online CDs, and it's offering a competitive 10-month CD with a 1.77% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. This is listed at the bank's website as of 12/14/09. The site also lists a 36-month CD, but the rate is much less competitive at 2.35% APY.

I first reported on EBSB Direct in May when it launched its internet savings account. The savings account rate has remained fairly competitive, but it requires a $50,000 balance to qualify for the top rate, which is currently 1.67% APY.

The website doesn't include many of the CD details so I called the bank this morning at its toll-free number (800-657-3272). Here are some of the details I received from the CSR:

• Available nationwide
• Funded via ACH transfer from an external account
• CD rate locks when you submit your application
• Rates are typically changed on Wednesdays
• Beneficiaries can be added in the application
• At maturity, there's a 10-day grace period
• Receiving the CD funds via ACH is an option

EBSB Direct is part of East Boston Savings Bank which operates 13 branch offices in the greater Boston area. The bank has $1.15 billion in assets and $931 million in deposits based on 9/30/09 FDIC data.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little above average: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial (based on 9/30/09 data) and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com (based on 6/30/09 data). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1991 (FDIC Certificate # 33510).

Other Competitive Certificate of Deposit Rates

If you don't mind a little longer term, you can still get 2% APY at a few banks. One bank is ING Direct which started offering a 2% APY 12-month CD on Friday (see post).

For other CDs, please refer to the following:

• CD rates at DepositAccounts.com (overview of DepositAccounts.com)
• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD deals

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

• Minimum deposit is $2,500 in 6-month Save CD and $2,500 in 3-year Invest CD (web)
• Maximum deposit is $499,999 (web)
• Must be opened on or before November 27, 2009 (web)
• 100% of your principal is guaranteed in the 3-year Invest CD if there is no early withdrawal (web)
• Early withdrawal penalty for the 3-year Invest CD equals 9% of principal for withdrawals in year one, 6% in year two and 3% in year 3 (CSR)
• Not available in IRAs (CSR)
• 2.25% is earned on the 3-year CD until November 30, 2009 (CSR)
• Branch visit is required (CSR)

• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD deals
• My weekly list of all nationwide CD deals
• Index of state CD and bank deals

• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD deals
• My weekly list of all nationwide CD deals
• Index of state CD and bank deals

• Open a Premier or Interest Checking Account along with a minimum $100 deposit by 10/31/2009
• Open any Sovereign savings or money market savings account with a minimum $100 deposit (or already have a savings account)
• Request a Sovereign CheckCard and make 2 check card purchases within 60 days of opening your account
• Enroll in Online Banking at account opening
• Whey you qualify, you will receive a $100 credit to your new checking account within 75 days after you open your checking account

• Residential address must be located in the following states: ME, VT, NH, CT, RI, MA, NY, NJ, PA, WV, MD, DE, District of Columbia.
• Bonus will be reported to the IRS as interest
• Current personal checking customers or anyone who has had a personal checking account with Sovereign Bank or any of its divisions in the last 6 months are not eligible for this offer

I signed up for the very similar January promo. I live out-of-state (Southwest); online application worked flawlessly, no hard pull. I made six online purchases with the debit card and got my $100 bonus about a week before the due date. ACH push (e*trade) counts as direct deposit for me -- no monthly fee.

• 3.33% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 1.25% APY on the portion of the balance over $25,000
• 0.10% base rate if qualifications are not met
• ATM fee refunds of up to $25 per cycle

• 12 debit card purchases
• 1 direct deposit, automatic payments or online bill payment
• Receive e-Statements

• $500 minimum opening deposit
• No minimum balance requirement
• No monthly service charge