Rhode Island 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...

In February Rockland Trust launched the internet division Rockland Direct with a competitive money market account. It has a yield of 1.00% APY for balances of $2,500 to $1 million as of 5/17/2012. A $2,500 minimum balance is required to earn interest and to avoid a $15 monthly fee. There's no guarantee about how long the rate will last, but I was told it's not an intro rate, and it will probably remain the same for some time to come.

Application Details

There's an online application via andera.com which allows funding via an ACH transfer from your existing checking account. The...

Webster Bank is offering four checking account bonuses with values that range from $50 to $100. The amount of the bonus depends on the checking account that is opened. As you might expect, the higher the bonus, the harder it is to avoid the monthly fees. Webster Bank used to have the Totally Free Checking account, but this changed to the Value Checking which has potential monthly fees.

Here's the checking promotion page. The offer is scheduled to end on 6/22/2012.

To qualify for the bonus, the customer must complete one of the following by 7/20/2012:

• 1 direct deposit,...

Most reward checking accounts are free checking accounts. You don't have to worry about a monthly maintenance fee even if you don't meet the monthly debit card requirements. However, there are a few reward checking accounts that do have potential monthly fees, and that's the case with UniBank for Savings and its new reward checking account called eChecking. If you're careful, you can avoid the monthly fee and be rewarded with a reward checking rate that's quite competitive in today's environment.

The following eChecking rates and requirements are listed at UniBank's checking page as of 4/10/2012:

• 2.75% APY...

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