Investors eAccess Adds 6-Month No Penalty CD, 2.50% APY

About a month, I wrote about Investors eAccess’ inaugural product, the eAccess Money Market account, which earns 2.50% APY on all balances up to $2 million. Investors eAccess has recently expanded its product line with a 6-month No Penalty CD (2.50% APY) and a 10-month CD (2.70% APY). Either CD can be opened with a minimum $500 deposit. Of the two, the No Penalty CD is the more competitive CD.

According to the FAQs (page 9), no partial withdrawals are allowed, only early closure.

How can I make withdrawals from my 6 Month No Penalty CDs?

Except for the first 7 calendar days following the Open Date of this account, withdrawal of principal may be made at any time and for the full amount in your account (including interest) without an early withdrawal penalty, such withdrawal will close your CD. Withdrawal of funds will be paid out in the form of an official Bank Check made payable to the account owner(s) and mailed via First Class mail to the current account address on record.

Please note the last sentence of the above FAQ. When the CD is closed, they will mail you a check. That is the only withdrawal option listed.

The FAQs also detail the funding process.

How do I fund my account?

You can transfer money from an external account to your online account via ACH, as long as your external account is a checking or savings account in the United States, and you are the primary account owner. If funding your account via ACH is not possible, you may fund your account by sending a check via mail. IMPORTANT NOTE: Deposits to this account may be made in any form other than a transfer from or check drawn against an existing Investors Bank account.

What is the maximum initial funding limit?

For eAccess Money Market Account the maximum initial funding amount is $2,000,000, there is no maximum for eAccess CDs.

Many thanks to DA reader, Ivory Male, for his Forum post about Investors eAccess’ new CDs.

eAccess Money Market Account

The eAccess Money Market account earns 2.50% APY on all balances up to $2 million. With no rate difference between the eAccess Money Market and the 6-month No Penalty CD, to my eye, the eAccess Money Market is more attractive because of the relative ease of accessing funds.

How can I make withdrawals from my eAccess Money Market account?

Withdrawals from this account are only permitted to be made via External Account transfer or ACH electronic debits to another financial institution. Outgoing wire transfers or checks are not permitted. The limit on withdrawals from this account is $250,000 per monthly statement cycle.

While the CD may have a rate lock, a six-month rate lock isn't long enough to offset having to wait for an “official Bank Check” to arrive via snail mail.

Availability

Launched in January 2019, Investors eAccess is the new internet division of Investors Bank, a community-oriented bank serving the residents of New Jersey and the New York City metropolitan area. All US citizens and permanent residents are eligible to open an account through Investors eAccess’ online banking platform.

At this time, CDs are offered only as personal accounts (individual and joint) with right of survivorship.

Opening a CD with Investors eAccess can only be done online. The online application does not have to be completed in one sitting.

If you cannot finish the application in one sitting you can save and return later. Once
you begin the application you will have 14 days to complete it before it is deleted.

Bank Overview

As an online division of Investors Bank, Investors eAccess operates under Investors Bank’s FDIC Certificate and shares its financial history.

Investors eAccess/Investors Bank has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 4.44% (excellent) based on December 31, 2018 data. The Bank has increased an excellent capitalization level (11.33%), the result of holding $26.27 billion in assets with $2.98 billion in equity. Please refer to our financial overview of Investors eAccess/Investors Bank (FDIC Certificate # 28892) for more details.

Investors Bank was incorporated in 1926 as the Washington Rock Building and Loan Association. The twelve original bank directors were prominent Milburn, New Jersey, businessmen, including a lawyer, a pharmacist, a hardware store owner, and a deli operator.

In April 1942 the association changed its name to Investors Savings and Loan Association. Although the association was smaller than the rival Millburn Building & Loan Association, after enactment of new savings and loan laws in New Jersey, Investors was able to purchase the Millburn Association's assets in July 1942 to bring total assets to $2 million.

Beginning in 1977, a series of nine acquisitions helped Investors Bank grow into the second largest bank in New Jersey, with assets in excess of $26 billion and more than 1.8 million customer accounts.

How the No Penalty CD Compares

When compared to the similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide, Investor eAccess’ 6-month No Penalty CD APY currently ranks fifth, 36 bps behind Andrews Federal Credit Union’s 8-month Certificate Special (2.86% APY). Most of the no-penalty CDs currently available have terms of approximately one year, but there is no reason to choose a shorter-term no-penalty CD when longer-term ones have higher rates. Thus, in this comparison, I included the best longer-term no-penalty CDs. When those are included, investors eAccess ranks first, tied with PurePoint Financial.

The above rates are accurate as of 5/6/2019.

To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page. We have also started a no-penalty CD page listing the best no-penalty CDs that are nationally available. The investor eAccess no-penalty CD will soon be added to this.