Tennessee Banking Rates and News

In today's rate environment, it's rare when a bank increases a deposit account rate. That happened at Civic Bank & Trust which has a very competitive 18-month CD special. It has a 1.50% APY which is up from 1.40% APY when I last reported on this in April. Minimum deposit is $5,000. One nice feature of this CD is that you are allowed to add to the CD anytime in multiples of $1,000. There is also a special 10-month CD, but it has a much less competitive yield of 0.90%. These rates are listed in the

First Tennessee Bank has another checking and money market promotion. You can receive up to $200 in bonuses for this new promotion by opening a checking and money market account. Here's the bank's promotions page link. The offer is scheduled to expire on 11/30/2011. Here's what is required to earn the full $200:

• $100 when you open any new checking account with direct deposit
• $100 when you open a Money Market Savings Account with at least $10,000

You can also qualify for an additional $196 in bonuses, but this requires that you open a real estate secured portfolio loan....

Randolph Bank & Trust Company is offering a very competitive 3-year CD special. It's only available via an online application to residents of certain southeast states (see below). The 3-year CD has a 2.05% APY, and the minimum deposit is $5,000. This special is listed in the bank's CD page as of 8/31/2011. There's also a branch 3-year CD with a 1.85% APY with some special features and requirements. Thanks to the reader JasonLee who mentioned this deal in this forum thread.

In addition to this CD, Randolph also has good deals on...

Several readers became customers at Beacon Federal last year due to its high-interest reward checking account. The bank has some additional deposit deals that would be most appealing to those with large savings. First, the bank is offering two CD specials: 1.60% APY 17-month CD and 1.40% APY 11-month CD. Minimum deposit is $10,000, and at least half the money must be new money. These specials are listed at the bank's promos page as of 8/9/2011 (Hat tip to reader pearlbrown who first posted this in the forum).

The second deal is a money...

Yesterday I reviewed the top online CD rates at Focus Bank. The bank also offers a reward checking and savings account. The reward checking is called MAXimum Free Checking. I first reviewed this account in 2007 when the top rate was 6.01% APY. The rate has fallen, but it remains competitive with a 3.01% APY for up to $25K as of 6/14/2011. Balances over $25K earn 0.51% APY. The monthly requirements include 10 debit card purchases, online access and e-statements. I have more details in my Focus Bank reward checking review.

If you...

Focus Bank is offering four competitive CD rates: 2.07% APY 37 months, 1.61% APY 19 months, 1.26% APY 14 months and 1.10% APY 7 months. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These are listed at the bank's CD page as of 6/13/2011.

On the bank's CD page, there's a FAQs tab which provides many details of the CD. I wish more banks provided this many details on their websites. Some notable features include:

• Early withdrawal penalties: CDs 12 months and under = 1 month's interest penalty, CDs 13 – 35 months = 3 month's interest penalty, and...

In the last couple of weeks I've noticed a few new reward checking accounts. This one at Hope Credit Union is one of those new ones. It's nice that institutions are still launching new reward checking accounts. However, there's one downside. Most of these new ones have balance caps of $10,000, and that includes Hope Credit Union. Nevertheless, it has some features that make it noteworthy. In addition to the checking account, there's also a companion savings account. These accounts are under the Kasasa brand name. The checking is called Kasasa Cash and the savings is called...

First Tennessee Bank has another checking and money market promotion. It's not quite as good as what they were offering last year, but it's still a decent bonus compared to what other banks are offering these days. You can receive up to $180 in bonuses for this new promotion. Here's the bank's promotions page linnk. The offer is scheduled to expire on 7/30/2011. Here's what is required to earn the full $180:

• $100 when you open any new checking account with direct deposit
• $50 when you open a Money Market Savings Account
• $30 when you start...

Altra Federal Credit Union continues to offer a competitive special 18-month CD. The top rate is 2.00% APY. This requires a checking account with direct deposit. Otherwise, the rate falls to 1.50% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates page as of 4/27/2011.

Here's how the small print describes the step-up and add-on features of this special CD:

Step Up Certificate allows a one-time rate change based on the then advertised rate for same term. Along with one-time rate change, you may also make an additional deposit to the...

Randolph Bank became popular last year when they launched a nationally available reward checking account called Extra-Mile Choice Checking with a yield of 4.75%. Unfortunately, the availability and the yield didn't last. The bank reduced availability to North Carolina residents, and in late December, the yield fell to 2.50% APY for balances up to $25K. However, I just noticed two favorable changes.

First, the bank is allowing more people to apply. According to their reward checking page, in addition to North Carolina, they're accepting applications from residents of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee...

SunTrust Bank continues to offer its special CD package with the competitive 2.40% APY. I first reported on this special in January. The special requires that you open both a 39-month CD and a 63-month CD with a $2K minimum deposit in both. Both CDs have a 2.40% APY. I have the full details in my SunTrust CD review.

SunTrust just came out with a new CD/IRA special with a higher rate. It's offering a 2.70% APY on a 66-month CD. Minimum deposit is $2K. This is listed at SunTrust's CD page...

If you're looking for a high-yield checking account in Tennessee, there's a good deal at Civic Bank & Trust. Its reward checking is called Civic Elite Checking, and it offers the following rates and features as of 4/14/2011:

• 3.30% APY on balances up to $30,000
• 0.75% APY on portion of balance over $30,000

Monthly requirements to qualify for these yields include:

• 10 debit card purchases
• 1 direct deposit or ACH auto debit
• Access account via online banking
• e-Statements

Unlike most reward checking, this account has a $20 monthly fee if a $1,000 minimum balance is not met.

The bank has also offered some good CD deals....