MySavingsDirect Offers Top Rate On 36-Month CD

APY	MIN	MAX	INSTITUTION	PRODUCT	DETAILS
2.25%	$1k	-	MySavingsDirect	36 Month CD
2.25%	$1k	-	MySavingsDirect	24 Month CD

History of the three online savings accounts

Launched in 2013, MySavingsDirect is the third online banking division created by Emigrant Bank. The first online division was EmigrantDirect (launched in 2005), followed by the creation of DollarSavingsDirect in 2008.

Emigrant Bank historically uses one of its online divisions to attract deposits with competitive rates while the other two online divisions have uncompetitive rates. Existing customers at those online divisions with uncompetitive rates lose out if they keep their money at those divisions.

DollarSavingDirect’s savings account was the rate leader last September, and then in December, MySavingsDirect’s savings account became the rate leader with a 4.35% APY. That rate has yet to change, but its rate-leader status did as rates went up at many other banks. In June, DollarSavingsDirect’s savings account rate increased to 5.00% APY. Even though that’s not a rate leader for online savings accounts, it’s in the ballpark of the rate leaders, and it’s currently the rate leader among the Emigrant online divisions.

History of their CDs

The three Emigrant Bank online divisions have long offered CDs, but like the savings accounts, they often have uncompetitive rates. You can see those uncompetitive rates now at MySavingsDirect. Only the 2- and 3-year CDs have a 5.00% APY. The other CDs have much lower rates that are very uncompetitive. They include a 5-year CD with a 2.00% APY and a 6- and 30-month CD with a 1.50% APY.

As I mentioned above, the 3-year 5% CD is also being offered by DollarSavingsDirect. Its other CDs have rates higher than MySavingsDirect CDs, but they’re still uncompetitive (3.50% APY for terms from 6 to 24 months and 3.00% APY for the 60-month term).

EmigrantDirect is also offering a 5% CD, but the term is only 15 months. Its longer-term CDs (terms from 16 to 120 months) have a 2.75% APY.

The frequent uncompetitiveness of their CD rates is an important issue when the CDs mature. The CD will automatically renew at maturity, and it’s likely that the new rate will be low. You have a 10-day grace period from the date your CD automatically renews, in which you can close the CD without an early withdrawal penalty. It would be wise to mark your calendar of the maturity date so you don’t forget.

CD Features

In the Account Disclosure (link at the bottom of all pages of the MySavingsDirect website), Emigrant Bank gives itself the right to refuse an early withdrawal request. The Disclosure reads as follows:

Principal or any part thereof may not be withdrawn from the CD Account prior to maturity without the consent of the Bank. If the Bank consents to a withdrawal of principal prior to the maturity date we will impose an early withdrawal penalty.

The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) is not too bad for the longer terms. According to the Disclosure:

The maximum penalty imposed will be:

For an account with a term of less than one year, the penalty will be an amount equal to 90 days interest (whether earned or not) and calculated at the contract rate on the principal amount.

For an account with a term of one year or more, the penalty will be an amount equal to 180 days interest (whether earned or not) and calculated at the contract rate on the principal amount.

If you want to receive your interest before maturity, the Disclosure provides these instructions:

Note that credited interest can be transferred, without penalty, before maturity to your MySavings Account. For such request please contact our Customer Service Department.

The Grace Period is 10 calendar days. If you decide not to renew, no interest will be earned during this time. So you’ll want to close the CD as soon as possible from the time it matures:

There will be a 10 calendar day grace period, from the date your CD Account is automatically renewed, in which you can close your CD Account without being assessed a penalty. If you choose to close your CD Account during this period, please contact our Customer Service Department. Note that if you direct us to close your account, no interest will be earned during this grace period.

Additional account and beneficiary details are provided in the FAQs page

My Experience with MySavingsDirect CDs

In March 2020, I had opened a 5-year CD with a 2.30% APY at MySavingsDirect. That was when rates were plummeting after the Fed cut rates to near zero as the Pandemic started. I assumed that the zero-rate environment was going to last for several years. That turned out not to be the case. The 2.30% APY was nice in 2021, but savings account rates started to exceed this in 2022. Late last year when MySavingsDirect’s savings account became a rate leader with a 4.35% APY, I decided to do an early closure of this CD. The early withdrawal penalty was only 180 days of interest, and it was easy to close via MySavingsDirect’s secure message system. The Bank closed the CD and transferred the entire balance, minus the penalty, to my MySavingsDirect savings account within one business day.

Last Wednesday evening, I opened a MySavingsDirect 3-year CD and funded it with money from my MySavingsDirect savings account. When you’re logged, you can begin the online application. You select the CD in the first page of the online application. The second page gives you the options of an individual account or a joint account (with an existing customer). There’s also an option for a single beneficiary. I selected that option, and the next page required me to enter the name, phone number, address and social security number of the beneficiary.

The next application page provided account funding options. It gave you the options of your existing MySavingsDirect savings accounts, your existing linked checking account, and a personal check from a new external funding account. Once you select your funding options and the amount of the deposit, it moves you to the page where you have to review and agree with the account disclosures and agreements. The Account Disclosure is the same one that is listed at the bottom of each website page. Finally, the “Review and Submit” page lists all CD details for you to confirm. When you click this “submit” button, the application has been submitted and a confirmation number is displayed. The CD was immediately displayed in the account overview section.

Availability and Account Opening

Headquartered in New York City, MySavingsDirect offers its product line to U.S. citizens and Resident Aliens who are at least 18 years of age, have a valid Social Security number, and have a residential address in the United States.

As an online division of Emigrant Bank, MySavingsDirect has no brick-and-mortar branches and any account with MySavingsDirect must be opened online.

As stated on the FAQ page, opening a CD is “easy.”

If you have a MySavings Account, simply log on and click on the Open Account tab. If you do not have a MySavings Account, click on the Open Now button on our home page and complete an online application. Once your account is opened, you can log on and open your CD through the Open Account function.

During the online application for the MySavings Account, you must establish a link to an existing checking account that will serve as the funding account. Initial funding can be done with ACH transfer from this checking account or by mailing in a check. “The check must be from the same bank account you established as your linked funding account on the online application.” All subsequent deposits must be done by ACH transfers.

MySavingsDirect allows customers to open multiple savings and CD accounts. The software also allows customers to designate a separate beneficiary for each account. These features make insuring deposits over $250k fairly simple, with the Maximizing Your FDIC Coverage at MySavingsDirect document explaining how this can be accomplished.

If you want to ensure the vast majority of your savings goes to just one beneficiary and still insure over $250k, this can also easily be done. Please refer to my blog post Maximizing Your FDIC Coverage with Beneficiaries.

Funding and Other Details

The following information is from the Account Disclosure, FAQs and a conversation with a CSR:

Funding – ACH, check or internal transfer.
Ownership – Individual or joint.
Interest – Compounded daily/credited monthly and can be withdrawn penalty-free (internal transfer or transfer to external linked account.)
Maturing Funds – ACH (back to linked account) or internal transfer.
Grace Period – 10 calendar days before automatic renewal.
Beneficiaries – One per account. Social Security numbers are required for beneficiaries.
Credit check – ChexSystems.

Bank Overview

MySavingsDirect (in addition to EmigrantDirect and DollarSavingsDirect) is an online division of Emigrant Bank, and operates under Emigrant Bank’s FDIC Certificate and shares its financial history.

MySavingsDirect/Emigrant Bank has an overall health rating of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 10.41% (excellent), based on March 31, 2023 data. Deposit growth has strengthened in the past year. For the year ending on June 30, 2022, the Bank had lost $268.61 million (-7.32%) of non-brokered deposits. For the year ending on March 31, 2023, the Bank has increased its non-brokered deposits by $1.88 billion (54.13%), an excellent growth rate. The Bank continues to have an excellent capitalization level (20.47%), the result of holding $7.21 billion in assets with $1.48 billion in equity. Please refer to our financial overview of MySavingsDirect/Emigrant Bank (FDIC Certificate # 12054) for more details.

Emigrant Bank was founded by 18 members of the Irish Emigrant Society in 1850 as a mutual savings bank. By the 1920s, it had grown to become the largest savings bank in the nation. In support of its “hometown,” the Bank invested substantial funds into the New York City community, underwriting constructions loans for Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and a public works project that later became Central Park.

In 2013, the Milstein Family (owners of Emigrant Bank) sold 29 of its 31 branches to Apple Bank for Savings. The remaining two branches are located in New York City and Ossining (Westchester County). In addition to its online banks, Emigrant Bank retained its lending platforms and its residential mortgage, mixed-use and small business lending businesses.

Emigrant Bank is currently New York’s 17^th largest bank (and also the largest privately owned bank in the country) with assets in excess of $7.2 billion and nearly 198,000 customer accounts.

How the 36-Month CD Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, only one credit union offers a higher rate than currently offered on the MySavingsDirect 36-month CD. The following table compares the 36-month CD to the two highest-rate CDs from other banks and the two highest-rate CDs from credit unions.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 8/4/2023.

To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Best CD Rates Table page.