Texas Banking Rates and News

BBVA Compass is offering its first major checking account promotion since it added new checking account fees. The promotion is listed on the bank's home page. Here's the direct link to the promotion. You can earn $100 for opening a new Build-to-Order or CompassLink Checking Account online by June 30, 2012. Also required is either a qualifying direct deposit or 3 online bill payments of at least $50 each within 60 days of online account opening. Below is the offer's small print:

$100 Bonus Terms & Conditions: New consumer checking accounts opened online from May 4, 2012...

For those who in the Dallas area who don't like being locked into long-term CDs, this is something to consider. Texas Security Bank is offering a very competitive 6-month CD special with a rate of 1.25% APY. New money is required. This special is listed at the bank's rates page as of 4/25/2012.

The bank also has another deposit special, but it's not quite as good as the CD special. It's a money market account with a special 1.00% APY guaranteed for the first 90 days. The rate guarantee can be extended for another 90 days by...

Space City Credit Union is offering very competitive long-term CD and IRA CD rates. The best one is the 5-year CD which has a 2.53% APY. Its 4-year CD is also competitive with a 2.02% APY. These rates are listed in the credit union rates page as of 4/23/2012.

For those with IRAs who don't want to lock into a long-term CD, the credit union has a top yield of 1.51% APY for its IRA savings account.

Membership is open to those who live, work, worship or attend school within a 10 mile radius of the credit union's...

Many banks may have ended their free checking accounts, but at least a few are still offering new account bonuses. Customers will have to be more careful if they plan to take advantage of these promotions. That's the case with BB&T which is offering a $100 bonus for opening a checking account and performing some additional activities. Last year BB&T ended its free checking account, so those interested in this promotion will have to make sure they can avoid the fees.

To qualify for the $100 bonus, new customers must open a BB&T checking account and set-up direct deposit OR...

The seven banking divisions of BOK Financial Corporation are offering a cash bonus for opening a new checking account. Four of the divisions are offering a $100 bonus, and the other three are offering a $50 bonus. To qualify for the bonus, the customer must either activate direct deposit OR make 10 debit card purchases ($10 minimum per transaction). The promotion is scheduled to end on May 31, 2012. Below are the links to the promotion pages of the seven divisions:

• $100 bonus at Bank of Texas (free checking)
• $100 bonus at Colorado State Bank and...

Alliant Credit Union reduced its savings account and High Rate Checking rates by 5 basis points. The new April yields are 0.95% for the savings account and 0.90% for the High Rate Checking. There was also a cut to the Health Savings Account rate. The yield fell from 1.75% to 1.50%.

I was hoping that Alliant would be repeating 2011 when they kept the savings and checking accounts rates steady for the whole year. At least they only cut these rates by 5 basis points this time.

It's also disappointing to see the savings account rate fall below 1.00%. In my...

Washington Federal is offering a new checking account promotion in which customers can receive either an Amazon Kindle or Kindle Fire. The details are listed at Washington Federal's promotion page. The promotion is scheduled to end on May 31, 2012.

To qualify for the Amazon Kindle ($79 value), a Simple or Performance Checking Account must be opened. To qualify for the Kindle Fire ($199), a Stellar Checking account must be opened. As you might expect, you'll have to worry about monthly fees, especially for the Stellar Checking account. However, if you're careful, these could be good deals....

First Central Credit Union has three term share certificate specials with very competitive rates. These include a 2.30% APY 49-month CD, a 2.00% APY 37-month CD and a 1.80% APY 25-month CD. There's also a 13-month CD special, but it's not quite as competitive. Its rate is 1.00% APY. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates sheet as of 3/13/2012.

Credit union membership is open to anyone who lives or works in McLennan, Hill, or Brown County, Texas. Please refer to the credit union's Who Can Join page for more details. A...

Texas Security Bank is offering a very competitive 16-month CD special with a rate of 1.60% APY. New money is required. Minimum deposit is $1,000, and the maximum is $250,000. This special is listed at the bank's rates page as of 3/12/2012. The special is scheduled to end on 3/31/2012.

The bank also has two other deposit specials, but they're not nearly as competitive as this 16-month CD. One is a special 1-year CD with a 1.00% APY. The other is a money market account with a special 1.00% APY guaranteed for the first 90 days. The...

It has been over a year since my last post of Justice Federal Credit Union. Over the years I have done several posts on this credit union due to its competitive rates and a field of membership that allows many people to qualify. Even though many may be able to qualify for JFCU membership, it doesn't mean it's easy as a reader described in this review. Because of this problem, I haven't mentioned this credit union for the last year. However, it continues to offer some top CD rates. Also, several readers have been able to join. Thus,...

• 2.50% APY 7-year CD (was 2.76%)
• 2.00% APY 5-year CD (was 2.25%)
• 1.74% APY 4-year CD (was 2.00%)
• 1.25% APY 3-year CD (was 1.50%)
• 0.99% APY 2-year CD (was 1.25%)
• 0.90% APY 1-year CD (was 1.16%)

PenFed calls their CDs...

Texas Brand Bank is advertising three CD specials with competitive rates. These include a 1.20% APY 18-month CD, a 1.35% APY 2-year CD and a 1.50% APY 3-year CD. Minimum deposit is $50,000. These don't seem to be listed on the bank's website. They were advertised in Tuesday's Dallas Morning News (2/14/2012). The ad is available online here. The ad states that the "offer expires February 28, 2012 at 4:00pm".

In a previous post a reader noted that the bank does not accept out-of-state deposits. It appears a branch visit is required....