Virginia Banking Rates and News

Vantria Federal Credit Union is offering a 5-year CD and IRA CD with a 2.27% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000 for the CD and $2,000 for the IRA CD. For the 5-year CD, members have the option to step up the rate 2 times. The rate and the step-up details are described in the credit unions rates page as of 5/10/2012.

Credit union membership is open to those who live, work, worship, go to school, or volunteer in Fairfax County, Virginia, or the independent City of Fairfax, Virginia. Please refer to the credit union's...

PNC Bank continues to offer a $100 bonus for opening its Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend and for performing certain activities. PNC has made it a little easier to qualify for the $100 bonus compared to last year. However, customers will have to be careful to avoid fees. The Performance Spend is an "upgraded" version of Virtual Wallet, and it has potential monthly fees.

Here's the link to PNC's promotion page. The offer is scheduled to end on 6/30/2012. You can open the account online or choose to have them email you a coupon to take to...

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...

Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union used to be a rate leader for many CD and IRA CD terms. That changed a couple of years ago. I just noticed that the credit union's CD rates are becoming more competitive. In addition, it has recently added a 7-year CD that also has competitive rates. The best one is a 2.42% APY for a $40K minimum deposit (2.26% APY for a $2.5K minimum). The 5-year CD rate is also fairly competitive with a 2.05% APY for a $40K minimum. These rates are listed in the credit union's term savings...

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...

SunTrust Bank has a CD and IRA CD special with a competitive rate. It's a 6-year (72 month) CD with a 2.00% APY. Minimum deposit is $2,000, and the maximum opening deposit is $250,000 per CD. A new or existing checking account is required. This is a limited time special, and the rate may vary by location. This special rate and term are listed at the SunTrust CD rates page for several zip codes as of 2/28/2012.

I wasn't able to find an account disclosure online, so I used SunTrust's online chat service to find out about...

The Fulton Financial family of banks is again having a checking account promotion in which you can earn a nice gift. This time the gift is an Amazon Kindle Fire. To qualify for the Kindle Fire, the promotion requires that you open a checking account, sign up for direct deposit and pay three bills using online bill pay.

The Fulton Financial family has 6 banks that cover much of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. You can select the bank that's near where you live from this Fulton Financial map. I checked a few of these, and...

Yesterday I reported on one credit union which offered premium rates for both senior members and Jumbo deposits. A reader reminded me of another credit union that also does this. It's Northwest Federal Credit Union, and its Jumbo CD rates are very competitive for senior members who qualify for the Heritage Club. When you factor in the higher rates (up 0.25%) that are available to Premier Checking members and Heritage Club members, the best Jumbo CD and IRA CD rates are 2.32% APY for 5 years, 1.75% APY for 3 years and 1.51%...

Cardinal Bank is offering a good checking account deal. Its First Choice Checking has a 2.01% APY for balances up to $100,000 (0.31% over). These rates are listed in the bank's First Choice Checking page as of 1/31/2012. It's a limited time offer, and there's no mention how long this rate will last. Credit to iBankDesign member ichaelm for this find.

Unlike the typical reward checking account, you can qualify for the top rate without debit card usage. To qualify for the top rate, they give you the choice between direct deposit...

I last mentioned 1st Commonwealth Bank of Virginia in November when it was offering a special 3-month CD with a 1.00% APY. I learned today that it's still available. More noteworthy in my opinion is the bank's long-term CDs. These are the bank's standard rates, and they are quite competitive. The noteworthy CD rates that are listed at the bank's rate sheet as of 1/11/2012 include:

• 1.40% APY 2-year CD
• 1.75% APY 3-year CD
• 2.00% APY 4-year CD
• 2.25% APY 5-year CD
• 2.40% APY 6-year CD
• 2.60% APY 7-year CD

The bank's IRA CD rates are the same as above, but there...

There had been rumors that Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) was going to finally start offering 10-year certificates to all members in January. A reader reported that he was told by a CSR the yield would be 3.00%. I wasn't able to confirm this 10-year CD last week, and there isn't any mention of this new CD at PenFed's website. New January rates are posted with no mention of a 10-year CD or IRA CD.

There is some good news with PenFed's January rates. First, the 1-year CD yield has increased from 0.99% to 1.16% APY. This is...