Rhode Island Banking Rates and News

Chartway Federal Credit Union is offering a 7-month CD promotion with very competitive rates. For deposits of $100K to $500K, the 7-month CD has a 1.25% APY. For deposits of $5K to under $100K, the CD has a 1.00% APY. This is a limited time promotion. These rates are listed at the bottom of Chartway's certificates rates sheet as of 12/13/2011. Thanks to the reader who emailed me news of this promotion.

Chartway used to offer a reward checking and savings account called eChecking and eSavings. Earlier this year, Chartway stopped accepting new applications for...

Sometimes you can get a competitive rate at a local bank, but there are often two issues. First, it may be a promo rate that won't stay competitive for the long term. Second, there are often hoops that you have to jump through. This typically involves some type of checking relationship. So keep these issues in mind for the deal at Admirals Bank. It's offering a money market account with a 1.15% APY for balances of at least $20K. This rate is listed in the bank's rates page as of 11/14/2011. It's called the...

EBSB Direct is offering a competitive 3-year CD yield of 1.80% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. This used to a better deal back in June when the yield was 2.25%, but it's still quite competitive compared to what's available today. There's also a 10-month CD, but the rate is much less competitive at 0.55% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed at EBSBdirect.com as of 10/04/2011.

According to the bank's disclosure, "terms over 12 months the penalty will equal 6 months interest on the amount withdrawn."

EBSBdirect.com also offers an online savings...

UniBank is again offering a very competitive 4-year CD. It has a 3.00% APY with a maximum deposit of $250,000. The rate is subject to change at anytime. It's listed at the bank's rates page as of 6/27/2011.

I first reported on this special in March, but I just learned this special hasn't been available for that entire time. It just came back about a month ago. I was told the early withdrawal penalty is 6 months of interest.

I also learned that it's a branch-only special that is not available from their online...

Citizens Bank has another checking account promotion, and unlike the last one, it's a little easier to qualify for the bonus. In this new one, a new personal checking account must be opened by June 30, 2011. Once you open the account, make 5 qualifying online bill payments of at least $50 each before July 29, 2011. The bonus amount is $100. The promotion is listed at www.citizensbank.com/100cash1. It's also available at Citizen's subsidiary, Charter One (www.charterone.com/100cash1). Here's the small print of the offer:

To qualify for this offer you must open your...

Home Loan Investment Bank is advertising three competitive CD rates. The best deal is the 4-year CD with a 2.50% APY. The others are a 2.75% APY 5-year CD and a 2.00% APY 3-year CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates were advertised in today's (4/17/2011) The Providence Journal. The ad is available online here. The 5-year and 3-year rates are also listed on the bank's home page as of 4/17/2011.

It appears that a branch visit is required to open an account. Home Loan Investment Bank branches are located in Warwick and Providence,...

Update: Promotion is back. New expiration date is 10/28/2011. Small print now says "offer available in branch and by phone and excludes select Philadelphia area branches."

Citizens Bank has a checking account promotion in which you can earn $240. It does require some work and it'll take at least 6 months. The offer is listed on the bank's front page, and they have a special page at www.citizensbank.com/240. The new personal checking account must be opened by May 6, 2011. Once you open the account, you'll be paid $40 a month for up to 6...

EBSB Direct continues to offer a good deal on its high yield savings account for those with large balances. The savings account has a 1.30% APY on balances of $50K to $1M as of 4/10/2011. For balances of $5K to $50K, the rate goes down to 0.75% APY, and for balances under $5K, no interest is paid.

This rate has held since I reviewed EBSB Direct in December. Back at that time, a 1.30% APY was good but there were several banks offering higher rates. That's not the case any more as you can see in my

Every now and then Doral Bank Direct offers competitive CD rates. Its latest deal is a 1-year CD with a 1.40% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. This is the only rate that's competitive. All the other CD rates are low. These rates are listed in the bank's CD page as of 3/29/2011.

My last report on this bank was about a year ago when they were offering a 1-year CD special. One odd thing is their requirement to close out a CD. You have to send them the original Certificate that was sent...

UniBank is offering a very competitive rate of 3.00% APY on a 4-year CD special. Minimum deposit is $500. The CD specials with shorter terms are not nearly as competitive. These include a 1.50% APY 2-year CD and a 1.00% APY 1-year CD. On the plus side, these two shorter term CDs give you the option to step up to a higher rate once during the life of the account. These rates are listed in the bank's deposit rates page as of the morning of 3/14/2011.

As a comparison to CDs available nationwide, the best...

Update: Chartway is no longer offering new eChecking or eSavings accounts.

I first reported on Chartway Federal Credit Union's reward checking account called eChecking in July 2008. The rates have remained unchanged since then, but the best deal is now the companion savings account called eSavings. It's a tiered-rate account with a top rate of 2.25% APY for balances of at least $100K. As shown below, rates are also competitive for lower tiers. These rates are listed in Chartway's eProduct Rates sheet as of 2/14/2011:

• 2.25% APY $100K+
• 2.00% APY $50K-$100K
• 1.75% APY $25K-$50K
• 1.50% APY $10K-$25K
• 1.00% APY $5K-$10K
• 0.00%...

Sovereign Bank is offering two special CDs. The one with the most competitive rate is the 5-year CD which has a 3.00% APY. The other one is a 1.25% APY 18-month CD. Both have a minimum deposit of $500. The 5-year CD special is listed on the bank's front page and in this bank's promotion page as of 2/10/2011. The 18-month CD special is listed on the bank's CD page.

Sovereign Bank CD Details

Update 2/12/11: Readers have informed me that they've been told that the CD is available nationwide. I called Sovereign again using...