Vermont Deposit Account Rates and Deals

Update: This KeyBank promotion has ended. For those who live in parts of New York, another bank is offering a free iPod touch in a promotion that's scheduled to last through 9/30/2010. KeyBank has regularly offered an Apple iPod promo each year, so hopefully, we'll see another one next year.

KeyBank has a new checking account promotion in which you can earn a free iPod touch. This is similar to the Garmin promo they offered last year. Here's a summary of the requirements of this new promo:

• Open a Key Express Free Checking Account by 6/30/10, and
• Make one KeyBank Rewards debit card transaction, and
• A combination of two direct deposits and/or automated payments each of $100 or more by 10/01/10

One important thing to note is that you must have or request a KeyBank Rewards debit card and enroll in the KeyBank Rewards points program. There is a $20 annual fee for the KeyBank Rewards Program that will be waived for the first year. Below are some additional important points from the small print:

Qualifying debit card transactions include signature, PayPass, and PIN-based purchases only. Direct deposit transactions are limited to: payroll, Social Security, pension, and government benefits. Automated payments exclude Key Bill Pay, debit card automated payments, PayPal transactions, and account-to-account balance transfers. Limit one iPod touch per qualifying account. Limit one iPod touch per individual. The value of the iPod touch will be reported on Form 1099-INT. You will receive your iPod touch within 90 days of meeting requirements. Offer available to individuals without an existing checking account at KeyBank as of 4/30/10. Employees of KeyBank, its affiliates, and subsidiaries are not eligible for this offer. If you close your account within 180 days of account opening, you will be charged a $25 account early closure fee.

Credit for this find goes to FW member Neidman who posted it on this FW thread.

One thing not mentioned at the promo page is the version of the iPod Touch. The 8GB version is currently selling at Newegg.com for $189. KeyBank would likely give it a higher value on the 1099-INT.

Like previous KeyBank promos, it appears to be only available in areas where they have branches. Key has branches in the following states: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.

Some FW members have reported problems with the online application. It looks like you'll have better luck by applying by phone.

KeyBank has been FDIC member since 1956

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other bonus deals at other banks, please refer to my bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.

TD Bank is offering an Flip Ultra Camcorder when you open a checking account, make 8 debit card purchases and use online bill pay 2 times within 45 days of account opening. The expiration date is June 5, 2010. The offer is listed at TD Bank's home page, and the details are described in TD Bank's promotions page.

There's an online application, but it only allows applications from states where it has branches. This includes the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Washington DC.

Credit for the find goes to FW member BrianGA who mentioned it in this FW thread. As mentioned in this thread, the retail value of the camcorder will be reported to the IRS. Also, the real value of the camcorder is around $100. So these issues hurt the deal unless you were planning on buying this camcorder.

TD Bank is part of the bank holding company Toronto-Dominion Bank which is Canada's second largest lender. On April 16th, TD Bank acquired three Florida banks that were shut down by regulators (see post). TD Bank has been a FDIC member since 1961 (FDIC Certificate # 18409).

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other promotions at other banks, please refer to my bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.

Sovereign Bank is offering two deposit promotions. One is a $150 bonus for opening a checking account. Unlike the past one, it does not require direct deposit. The second promotion includes a 2.00% 6-month CD. This may sound like a great deal, but you also must open a 36-month CD with the same amount, and that rate isn't listed. These promotions are scheduled to expire on May 28, 2010. The promotions are listed at Sovereign's home page. Here's the link to the promotions page.

First, here are the requirements for the $150 checking account bonus:

• Open a new Sovereign Premier Checking, Business Owner Premier Checking, Interest Checking, or Partnership Checking account by May 28, 2010, with a minimum opening deposit of $100
• Open any new Sovereign savings or money market savings account with a minimum opening deposit of $100 or already have any Sovereign savings or money market savings account
• Enroll in Online Banking at account opening
• Request a Sovereign Debit Card at account opening and make 5 Debit Card purchases within 60 days after you open your account
• Request a Sovereign Debit Card and make 5 Debit Card purchases within 60 days after you open your account

When you qualify, you will receive a credit of $150 to your new checking account within 75 days after you open your checking account.

Some important small print:

• Offer available only to residents in the following states: ME, VT, NH, CT, RI, MA, NY, NJ, PA, WV, MD, DE, and District of Columbia.
• The amount of the bonus credited to your account will be reported to the IRS as interest
• Current personal checking customers or anyone who has had a personal checking account with Sovereign Bank in the last 6 months are not eligible for this offer.

An important note regarding the Interest Checking is that direct deposit is required to avoid a $10 monthly fee. I'm not sure if ACH transfers may count. On the plus side is that they provide free checks. The Premier Checking is even worse in terms of potential fees. A $15,000 combined balance is required to avoid a $30/month fee. For the savings accounts, the Money Market Savings appears to be a good choice since it has no monthly maintenance fee and no minimum balance requirement. Note, the monthly fees and minimum balance vary considerably based on your state.

The CD Promotion

At first glance the CD promotion looks like a good deal with a 2.00% APY 6-month CD. However, as I mentioned at the top, it requires half the money go into a 36-month CD, and the rate isn't disclosed. A very high rate on a 6-month CD doesn't offset a low rate on a 36-month CD. Here's the important small print:

Minimum deposit of $5,000 and a maximum deposit of $499,999 to open a Save & Invest CD Package, which must be opened on or before June 4, 2010. Half of your opening deposit, or at least $2,500, is placed in a Save CD, which is a 6-Month certificate of deposit account. Your Save CD will earn interest at a rate of 1.98%, which corresponds to an annual percentage yield (APY) of 2.00%. The remaining half of your opening deposit is placed in an Invest CD that matures on June 14, 2013.

When I called Sovereign Bank in April 2008 regarding a similar checking promotion, I was told that there's no account closure fee if an account is closed after 90 days. Otherwise, it's $25. The CSR also said they don't perform a hard credit inquiry. They just use ChexSystem in the application.

There's an online application link in the promo page for the checking. However, the small print states that residential addresses must be located in the northeast states (see above). The CD promotion appears to require a branch visit.

Branches are located in the Northeast in the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The bank is a FDIC member (FDIC Certificate # 29950).

Other Bank Bonuses

Please refer to the Bank Bonus page for the other bonuses at banks and credit unions around the nation.

People's United Bank is offering a $100 bonus for opening a checking account with direct deposit. The promotions page is located at www.peoples.com/100. Here's the important small print:

• The cash reward applies only when a "New Customer" opens a new personal People's United checking account with Direct Deposit between 4/1/10 and 5/21/10.
• The minimum deposit to open the account and earn the reward is $25.
• Limit of $100 in reward money per household.
• Qualifying New Customers' accounts will receive the reward credited to the checking account by 7/30/10.
• Reward will be subject to tax reporting
• New Customer must receive at least one direct deposit of $100 or greater into the checking account within 45 days of account opening.

You can avoid a monthly fee on the bank's Plus Checking Account with one of the following: 1) direct deposit, 2) 65 or over, or 3) $100 minimum daily balance.

The instructions give two options to open an account: 1) at a branch or 2) by phone (1-800-772-1090). It appears to be a local deal. People's United Bank has branches throughout Connecticut. Also, the bank has branches throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and New York under several bank divisions:

• Chittenden Bank
• Flagship Bank
• Maine Bank & Trust
• Merrill Bank
• Ocean Bank
• The Bank of Western Massachusetts

People's United Bank has been a FDIC member since 1988 (FDIC Certificate # 27334).

Credit for this find goes to this SD thread.

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other bonus deals at other banks, please refer to my bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.

Citizens Bank has a checking account promotion in which you can earn $100. The details of the checking account bonus are listed at www.citizensbank.com/220. Offer ends 3/26/2010. The requirements to earn the $100 include:

• $50 for setting up direct deposit of $250 or more
• $25 for making 5 online bill payments
• $25 for making 5 signature-based debit card or credit card purchases

Some important details mentioned in the small print includes:

Requirements must be met by 4/30/2010. Bonus will be deposited into the checking account by 6/30/2010 and reported to the IRS. Checking account must remain open for at least 6 months or the amount of the banking bonus will be debited from the account at closing.

The Green Checking qualifies for this bonus, and it's a free checking account with no monthly fees. Minimum opening balance is $50.

The Green Checking also qualifies for the Green$sense program. Citizens Bank says you can get paid up to $120 per year in Green$ense. However, this would require 100 debit card purchases, online bill payments or automatic payments per month for 12 months. For each of these non-paper transactions, Citizens Bank pays you 10 cents. Since this is considerable work, I'm not including this $120 in the bonus amount.

This is very similar to the promotion the bank was running late last year. One small change is that they now require a minimum direct deposit of $250 instead of $50. In that post, a reader mentioned that there's a hard pull in the application.

There's an online application at the promotions page. However, it only accepts zip codes in their market area. Their market area includes Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Citizens Bank operates under two FDIC charters: Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania (FDIC Certificate # 57282) and RBS Citizens, N.A. which has branches in several states outside of PA and NJ (FDIC Certificate # 57957).

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other bonus deals, please refer to my bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.

Sovereign Bank is offering a checking and money market promotion in which you can earn a bonus of $150 and receive a 1.50% APY guarantee for 3 months in the money market account. The promo is scheduled to expire 3/13/2010. Here's the promo page link.

First, here are the requirements for the $150 checking account bonus:

• Open a new Sovereign Premier Checking, Business Owner Premier Checking, Interest Checking, or Partnership Checking account by March 13, 2010, with a minimum opening deposit of $100
• Open any Sovereign savings or money market savings account with a minimum opening deposit of $100 or already have a savings or money market savings account
• Enroll in Online Banking at account opening
• Set up and receive one direct deposit within 60 days of opening your account
• Request a Sovereign Debit Card and make 5 Debit Card purchases within 60 days after you open your account

When you qualify, you will receive a credit of $150 to your new checking account within 75 days after you open your checking account.

Some important small print:

• Offer available only to residents in the following states: ME, VT, NH, CT, RI, MA, NY, NJ, PA, MV, MD, DE, and District of Columbia.
• Direct deposits you initiate from an account at another bank do not qualify
• The amount of the bonus credited to your account will be reported to the IRS as interest
• Current personal checking customers or anyone who has had a personal checking account with Sovereign Bank in the last 6 months are not eligible for this offer.
• Current savings customers are eligible

An important note regarding the Interest Checking is that direct deposit is required to avoid a $10 monthly fee. On the plus side is that they provide free checks. The Premier Checking is even worse in terms of potential fees. A $15,000 combined balance is required to avoid a $30/month fee. For the savings accounts, the Money Market Savings appears to be a good choice since it has no monthly maintenance fee and no minimum balance requirement. Note, the monthly fees and minimum balance vary considerably based on your state.

Here are the requirements to qualify for 1.50% APY for 3 months:

• Open a new Premier Checking account and open a new Premier Money Market Savings account by March 13, 2010
• Bonus rate will apply for each day your balance is $10,000 to $499,999 and is guaranteed for 3 months from the date you open your account

Some important small print:

• Same geographic restriction as mentioned above
• Anyone who has had a Sovereign savings, money market savings, or personal checking account with Sovereign in the last 6 months are not eligible for the bonus rate

Unlike the checking account promotion, this requires a Premier Money Market Savings account. Details of this account are in the promo page (click more for this account in the promo page). The Premier Money Savings is free of minimum balance requirements and has no monthly fees as long as you have a Premier Checking account (which, as I mentioned, has its own fees)

When I called Sovereign Bank in April 2008 regarding a similar promotion, I was told that there's no account closure fee if an account is closed after 90 days. Otherwise, it's $25. The CSR also said they don't perform a hard credit inquiry. They just use ChexSystem in the application.

There's an online application link in the promo page. However, the small print states that residential addresses must be located in the northeast states (see above).

Branches are located in the Northeast in the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The bank is a FDIC member (FDIC Certificate # 29950).

Other Bank Bonuses

Refer to the Bank Bonus page for the other bonuses at banks and credit unions around the nation.

Update 3/05/2010: The bank has restricted the online CDs and money market account to residents of New England and New York State. I just called their toll-free number and received this info.

EBSB Direct has started offering online CDs, and it's offering a competitive 10-month CD with a 1.77% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. This is listed at the bank's website as of 12/14/09. The site also lists a 36-month CD, but the rate is much less competitive at 2.35% APY.

I first reported on EBSB Direct in May when it launched its internet savings account. The savings account rate has remained fairly competitive, but it requires a $50,000 balance to qualify for the top rate, which is currently 1.67% APY.

The website doesn't include many of the CD details so I called the bank this morning at its toll-free number (800-657-3272). Here are some of the details I received from the CSR:

• Available nationwide
• Funded via ACH transfer from an external account
• CD rate locks when you submit your application
• Rates are typically changed on Wednesdays
• Beneficiaries can be added in the application
• At maturity, there's a 10-day grace period
• Receiving the CD funds via ACH is an option

EBSB Direct is part of East Boston Savings Bank which operates 13 branch offices in the greater Boston area. The bank has $1.15 billion in assets and $931 million in deposits based on 9/30/09 FDIC data.

The bank's ratings for safety and soundness are a little above average: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial (based on 9/30/09 data) and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com (based on 6/30/09 data). The bank has been a FDIC member since 1991 (FDIC Certificate # 33510).

Other Competitive Certificate of Deposit Rates

If you don't mind a little longer term, you can still get 2% APY at a few banks. One bank is ING Direct which started offering a 2% APY 12-month CD on Friday (see post).

For other CDs, please refer to the following:

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

• $50 for setting up direct deposit of $50 or more
• $25 for making 5 online bill payments
• $25 for making 5 signature-based debit card or credit card purchases

• Savings Account Weekly Rate Summary
• bank deals by state

• Open a qualifying checking account and enroll in KeyBank Rewards by November 20, 2009
• Make one debit card transaction and a combination of two direct deposits and/or automated payments each of $100 or more by January 22, 2010

• This offer is not available in all states. Individuals and businesses will only be eligible in areas where KeyBank has branches. Key has branches in the following states: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.

• Direct deposit transactions are limited to: payroll, social security, pension and government benefits.
• Automated payments exclude Key Bill Pay, debit card automated payments, PayPal transactions and account to account balance transfers.
• Offer not available to individuals who have opened a KeyBank checking account in the last 12 months.
• The value of the gift card will be reported on Form 1099-INT.
• If you close your account within 180 days of account opening, you will be charged a $25 account early closure fee.