BankUnited (FL/NYC) Adds 9-Month Special CD

UPDATE 10/18/2016: No longer available.

Earlier this week, Florida-based BankUnited added a 9-month Special CD (1.20% APY). The minimum opening deposit is $1k of new money, with no stated balance cap.

As stated in the Terms and Conditions brochure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

Term of CD, 90-365 days – Amount of Penalty, an amount equal to 90 days interest

Thanks to DA reader, thowellIII, for taking time out of his “three-hour cruise” to post in the Forum about this Special CD.

Vertical Rewards Checking

About a year ago, I wrote about BankUnited’s (then new) Vertical Rewards Checking account, which currently earns 1.05% APY on qualifying balances up to $250k for the first 90 days following account opening. This is different from the initial offering that guaranteed the rate for the first 6 months following account opening; otherwise, no other requirements or conditions have changed for this RCA. For more details, please refer to my October 2015 blog post on the Vertical Rewards Checking account.

Availability

Headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida, BankUnited’s market area includes Central and South Florida and the New York City metropolitan area.

Opening a 9-month Special CD can be done by visiting any of 95 Florida branches located along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts and six New York branches located in Brooklyn, Long Island, and New York City (4).

Currently, BankUnited's online banking platform is limited to account management and bill payment services, including PopMoney®, Apple® Pay, and Google® Pay.

Bank Overview

BankUnited (FDIC Certificate # 58979) has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas ratio of 3.23% (excellent) based on June 30, 2016 data. In the past year, BankUnited increased its total deposits by $2.88 billion, an excellent growth rate of 18.56%. Please refer to our financial overview of BankUnited for more details.

BankUnited is the successor to BankUnited, FSB, which was seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision in 2009. The Bank was taken over by the FDIC, which transferred control to a private equity group, headed by North Fork Bank President, John Kanas. The new BankUnited assumed $12.7 Billion in assets and $8.3 Billion in nonbrokered deposits. The Herald National Bank (NY) was acquired by BankUnited in 2013 and today, BankUnited has assets in excess of $26 billion.

How the CD Compares

When compared to the 285 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com, which require a similar minimum deposit and are available to Florida residents, BankUnited’s 9-month Special CD APY currently ranks first.

The above rates are accurate as of 9/16/2016.

To search for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to the CD rates section of DepositAccounts.com or our Rates Map page.