South Dakota Deposit Account Rates and Deals

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.

MetaBank is offering a high-yield reward checking account called Preferred Checking Plus. It's one of the rare reward checking accounts that has the potential of monthly fees. However, the rate is above average so it may be worth the risk of monthly fees. The account has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met (as of 5/12/2010):

• 4.25% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.60% APY on portion of balances over $25,000
• 0.10% base rate if requirements are not met

Monthly requirements include:

• 15 debit card purchases (used to be 20)
• 1 Direct Deposit of your salary or other regular monthly income of $100 or more electronically deposited to your account by your employer or outside agency
• Log into Internet Banking
• Receive electronic statements

There's a $7 monthly service charge which is waived if you meet the monthly requirements OR maintain a $10,000 minimum daily balance in your checking account OR a relationship balance of $25,000 in loans and/or deposits.

The bank also offers the Preferred Checking Account which has no monthly fees and only requires 10 debit card purchases a month. The downside is that the top rate is only 2.00% APY as of 5/12/2010. All other features appear to be the same.

A branch visit is required to open an account, and you are required to reside in their market area. Branches are located in the Iowa cities of Des Moines and Storm Lake and in the South Dakota cities of Sioux Falls and Brookings.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little above average: 3½ stars (good) at BauerFinancial, 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our MetaBank rates and reviews page). The ratings are based on 12/31/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1955 (FDIC Certificate # 30776).

Thanks to the reader who emailed me news about this account.

When a reader mentioned this reward checking account, I thought MetaBank sounded familiar. It turns out they had some publicity last year when nearly 50 institutions filed suit against MetaBank to recover $4 million in allegedly stolen certificate of deposit funds. Please refer to this post for more details.

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.

Greater Western Bank is offering three CD specials. The most competitive one is a 2.18% APY 18-month CD. The other two are a 2.68% APY 38-month CD and a 3.08% APY 58-month CD. These rates include a 0.15% bonus for new or existing checking or savings account customers. Minimum deposit is $5,000, and new money is required. These special CD rates are listed in the bank's CD page as of 2/01/2010.

It appears that a branch visit is required. Branches are located in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Missouri.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1935 (FDIC Certificate # 15289).

You can fund the CD by either wiring the money or mailing a check. As far as the 3% rate, if you let me know that you are sending a check we will honor that rate when the check gets here. That's not a problem.

The early withdrawal penalty would be 3 months interest. We do not charge a penalty if it has to be taken out early if it's for nursing home, medical or funeral expenses.

At maturity we can wire you the funds, mail a check or you could transfer into an ultimate checking.

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

• 13-month term
• $5,000 minimum deposit
• Interest will be compounded and credited annually
• Early withdrawal penalty equals 6 months of interest on the amount withdrawan
• Grace period at maturity of 10 calendar days
• Add-on feature: You will be able to make additional deposits to the CD up to the original deposit amount without extending the term of the CD
• CD starts earning interest on the business day that they receive the initial deposit (CSR)
• CD rate that you will receive is the rate as of the date that they receive the application (CSR)
• When the CD matures, you may elect to have those funds withdrawn by a mailed check, ACH transfer or wire transfer (CSR)
• You can close the CD over the phone. They'll use security questions to verify your identity (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

Update 5/24/2010: This account is no longer available nationwide. The bank is now restricting applications to residents of SD, ND, NE, MN and IA.

First Bank & Trust is offering a reward checking account called easyGROW Checking. The account has the following rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met:

• 4.01% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.75% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
• 0.20% base rate if monthly requirements are not met
• Refunds all ATM fees worldwide without limit

The monthly requirements include:

• 10 Visa check card purchases
• 1 automatic payment or direct deposit
• Receive e-statements

Additional features of the account regardless of the monthly requirements include:

• $100 minimum initial deposit
• No minimum balance requirement
• No monthly service charge
• Requirements for the first statement cycle are waived

Update 5/24/2010: The following was added to the bottom of the easygrow webpage:

At this time we are only able to accept applications from residents of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

There's an online application at the bank's microwebsite. I used the website's chat feature and asked the CSR if people from any state could apply. According to the CSR, they do accept applications nationwide. After you apply, they'll mail you some documents including a signature card that must be filled out and returned. When I asked about a hard credit pull, the CSR said they "do a credit check as part of the application process."

First Bank & Trust is one of five banks that offer this same easyGROW Checking. They are all part of the Fishback Financial Corporation, a bank holding company. The websites of all these banks can be accessed from the Fishback Financial Corporation's home page at BankEasy.com. First Bank & Trust is located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Three other of the banks are also located in South Dakota. The fifth bank, The First National Bank and Trust, is located in Pipestone, Minnesota.

First Bank & Trust has been a FDIC member since 1987 (FDIC Certificate # 27078). From the bank's FDIC page, you can get holding company info and the info on the other banks by clicking on the bank holding company link.

Other Reward Checking Accounts

To find reward checking accounts in other areas of the nation or to learn more about these accounts, please refer to my High Yield Checking website.

• 2.76% APY $5K to $25K
• 3.01% APY $25K to $100K
• 3.26% APY $100K and over

• Minimum opening deposit of $5,000
• $2/month fee if balance falls below $5K on any day of the month
• Interest credited and compounded quarterly
• $50 closing fee if closed within first 90 days
• If account is closed before the interest is paid, you'll lose the accrued interest
• Typical limit of 6 withdrawals per month

• 13-month term
• $5,000 minimum deposit
• Interest will be compounded and credited annually
• Early withdrawal penalty equals 6 months of interest on the amount withdrawn
• Grace period at maturity of 10 calendar days
• Add-on feature: You will be able to make additional deposits to the CD up to the original deposit amount without extending the term of the CD

• No hard credit inquiry. They just use ChexSystem
• ACH service provided to allow electronic funding of savings account and CD. You can also mail a check
• Savings account has an ACH transfer service. Transfers are free, and there are no size limitations on transfers (CSR didn't appear too knowledgeable about this)
• CD rate locks at the time that the application is submitted

If your account has an original maturity greater than one year, the penalty will be the greater of either A or B, plus a $25 early withdrawal fee.

A. One-half of the interest that would have been earned on the funds withdrawn if held for the entire term.

B. 3% of the amount withdrawn.

Arizona      -  60    Arkansas     -  47 
California   - 338    Colorado     - 147
Georgia      -   1    Idaho        -  91
Illinois     - 128    Indiana      -  24
Iowa         - 110    Kansas       -  31
Kentucky     - 125    Minnesota    - 135
Missouri     - 219    Montana      -  25
Nebraska     -  61    Nevada       -  58
North Dakota -  25    Ohio         - 332
South Dakota -  20    Tennessee    -  27
Texas        -   1    Utah         -  45
Washington   - 187    Wisconsin    - 127
Wyoming      -  14

Update 7/14/10: The debit card usage requirement has increased from 12 to 15.

Reliabank Dakota is offering a reward checking account called Ultimate Checking that pays 4.07% APY on balances up to $25,000 (1.01% for above) if the following monthly requirements are met:

• 15 check card purchases
• one direct deposit or ACH auto debit or bill pay
• receive electronic statements

If these are not met, the rate falls to 0.25%. Minimum initial deposit is $50. There is no monthly service change or minimum balance requirement.

There's an online application. I contacted the bank on 10/07/2009, and I was informed that they do accept applications from outside their market area. Please note that small banks often change the availability of these accounts. So please check with the bank for the latest policy. Update 2/25/10: The webpage now states that they do not accept out-of-state applicants

Branches are located in the South Dakota cities of Estelline, Hayti, Hazel, Watertown and Hartford.

The bank has been FDIC insured since 1945 (FDIC Certificate # 16221).

Thanks to the reader who mentioned this checking account in the comments.

Other Reward Checking Accounts

This is my first South Dakota reward checking account. To find reward checking accounts in other areas of the nation or to learn more about these accounts, please refer to my High Yield Checking website.

Can banks afford to pay this high interest rate for the long-term? I discuss the issue in this recent post.

Account History:

• 07/14/10: debit card usage requirement increased from 12 to 15
• 02/25/10: no longer available nationwide per bank's webpage
• 10/07/09: online application and available nationwide per CSR
• 01/22/09: 4.07% APY up to $25K; 1.01% above: 0.25% base