Virginia Deposit Account Rates and Deals

Chartway Federal Credit Union is offering some competitive CD rates. The most competitive is its 12-month CD which has a top rate of 2.06% APY for a minimum deposit of $10,000. Other competitive ones include a 1.60% APY 6-month CD and a 2.26% APY 24-month CD. These yields require a Preferred Plus, Elite 50 Plus or Premier Checking. Without these checking accounts, the rates are 25 basis points lower. These rates are listed in the credit union's rates sheet as of 2/05/2010.

The checking account requirement does hurt this deal. All three of the qualifying checking accounts have a minimum balance requirement to avoid a monthly fee. The Preferred Plus checking and the Elite 50 Plus checking have a $10 monthly fee unless a minimum balance of $2,500 is maintained. These two would be preferable to the Premier Checking which has a $20 monthly fee unless a minimum balance of $5,000 and direct deposit are maintained.

Unfortunately, their eChecking account does not qualify for this CD. This is a reward checking account that pays up to 3.84% APY on a $20K balance (see review).

Another good deal at the credit union is the money market accounts. The top rate on the Money Market Plus and Link accounts is 2.02% APY for balances of at least $100K as of 2/05/2010. These rates don't require the above checking accounts.

Membership and Locations

Membership is open to those who live, work, worship or go to school in a defined geographic area served by the credit union's Virginia, Florida, Rhode Island and Texas branches. A reader noted in a previous post that the geographic areas are narrow, so please call to see if you can be eligible. You can also be eligible via schools and select employer groups. The online application has a list of eligible schools and employers. Please refer to their Membership Page for more details. Membership requires a $5 minimum deposit into the Prime Share savings account.

Branches are located in Virginia, Georgia, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Ohio and New Jersey.

The credit union has some decent financial ratings for safety and soundness: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com. Both are based on 9/30/09 data. Chartway is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 13242).

Eastman Credit Union continues to offer competitive certificate rates. The two most competitive ones include a 2.00% APY 12-month CD and a 2.30% APY 2-year CD. Minimum deposit is $1,000. An extra 10 basis points are applied to Jumbo CDs with a $100,000 minimum deposit. These rates are listed in the credit union's deposit rates table as of 2/2/2010.

Membership is open to those who live, work or attend school in several counties in the northeast part of Tennessee. Counties in southwest Virginia and in Harrison and Gregg Counties in Texas are also included. There's also a long list of Select Employer Groups. Please refer to the Who Can Join Page for the full details.

Branches are located in Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, South Carolina and Arkansas.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are strong: 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com and 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The Bankrate rating is one star higher than what I reported in August when it was based on 3/31/09 data.

The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 68095). It's a large credit union with $2.1 billion in assets and 109,770 members based on 11/17/09 NCUA data.

Village Bank is offering a few competitive mid-term CD rates. The best ones include a 2.07% APY 15-month CD, a 2.12% APY 18-month CD and a 2.28% APY 24-month CD. Minimum deposit is $500. These rates are listed in the bank's rates page as of 1/28/2010.

The bank also offers a high-yield reward checking account (see review).

It appears that a branch visit is required to open accounts. Branches are located in Richmond, Virginia and in its metro area.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial and 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1999 (FDIC Certificate # 35111).

Village Bank is offering a high-yield reward checking account called Village eRewards Plus. It has the following rates as of 1/28/2010 which don't appear to be dependent on monthly requirements:

• 3.04% APY up to $25,000
• 0.50% APY on portion of balance over $25,000

However, there are still monthly requirements, and if you don't meet them, there's a $40 per month service charge. The monthly requirements include:

• 10 ATM or debit card transactions (note ATM transactions are included)
• one ACH debit or credit
• Receive e-statements

Other features of the account include:

• $50.00 minimum opening deposit
• No minimum balance requirement
• 1st box of wallet size checks free

It appears that a branch visit is required to open an account. Branches are located in Richmond, Virginia and in its metro area.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial and 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 9/30/09 financial data. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1999 (FDIC Certificate # 35111).

Which is Worse: Risk of Monthly Fee or Lost Interest?

Monthly service fees on reward checking accounts are rare. Most are free checking accounts. Typically, the only results of not meeting the monthly requirements are lost interest and no refunds of ATM fees.

Village Bank's monthly fee if you don't meet the requirements may seem bad, but it could be better if you have a $25K balance than having to worry about losing the interest for the month. For example, if you were to earn 0.50% instead of 3.04% due to not meeting the monthly requirements, you would miss out on about $52 of interest for a $25K balance. However, you also have to consider the amount after taxes. Another downside is that it makes it harder for rate chasers. If you find a better deal, you can't just leave a little amount in the account and let it sit.

1st Commonwealth Bank of Virginia has recently launched a high-yield reward checking account. It has the following rates if certain monthly requirements are met:

• 4.01% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.75% on portion of balance over $25,000
• 0.10% base rate if requirements are not met

The monthly requirements include:

• 12 debit card purchases
• One bill pay (through 1CBV Online Banking) OR one direct deposit/ACH transaction
• Receive e-statements and maintain a valid email address

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

• $5 minimum initial deposit
• No monthly fees
• No minimum balance requirements

Note, I don't see any mention of refunds of ATM fees.

Since the account was just launched (1/18/2010), hopefully, it will maintain the 4.01% for a while.

It appears that a branch visit is required to open an account. It's a small, one-office bank located in Arlington, Virginia.

The bank was just established in February of this 2009, so it doesn't have any ratings for safety and soundness. The bank is a member FDIC (FDIC Certificate # 58773).

• 3.51% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 1.01% APY on portion of balance over $25,000
• Reimburses up to $25 in ATM fees nationwide per month

• 12 debit card purchases
• 1 Automatic Payment or Direct Deposit transfer
• Receive electronic statements

• $50 minimum initial deposit
• No minimum balance requirement
• No monthly maintenance fee
• Free Bill Pay

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

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

At the December meeting, our Board of Director approved lower Money Market & IRA Certificate rates for January 2010 than previously announced. We became aware of the change in rates on December 29. It is very rare for the Board of Directors to make a change in the rates after we project them, but in this case; other factors in the market forced us to lower our projected rates slightly.

As indicated in all of our disclosure statements, our rates are always subject to change. Below, I have provided a few key points regarding the rates along with a January 2010 rate chart.

* All members who participated in the CD Rollover Subscription program will have their reservations honored, and they will receive the advertised rate from that promotion: 3 yr/3.50%, 5 yr/4:00% and 7 yr/4.25

* With the exception of CD Rollover Subscription enrollees that will receive the promised CD Rollover Subscription rates, the 0.25% APY certificate rollover bonus will be applied to all qualifying certificates rolling over between December 29, 2009 and February 1, 2010, inclusive. These certificates will receive the "Rollover " rates reflected in the chart below. Update 1/06/09: I received a clarification about the below rates. For those members with CDs maturing December 29-31, 2009 and February 1, 2010 (and did not participate in the CD Reservation program), and wish to rollover, they will receive the rate in effect for that month - plus the 0.25% bonus.

        APY for
CD      CD Subscription  APY for    APY for
Term    Participants     Rollovers  New Money
----    ---------------  ---------  ---------
6 mo    -                1.00%      1.00%
1 yr    -                1.25%      1.25%
2 yr    -                1.75%      1.75%
3 yr    3.50%            3.25%      3.00%
4 yr    -                3.50%      3.25%
5 yr    4.00%            3.75%      3.50%
7 yr    4.25%            4.00%      3.75%

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

• 3.00% APY 3 year
• 3.25% APY 4 year
• 3.50% APY 5 year
• 3.75% APY 7 year

• Early withdrawal penalty for the terms of 3 to 5 years is 180 days of dividends (all dividends if redeemed before 180 days from issue date)
• IRA CDs available with the same rates
• IRA CD holders over 59½ can avoid most of the early withdrawal penalty (see see post)