OneWest Bank's 28-month CD Special Available Nationwide
California-based OneWest Bank is currently offering three CD Specials: 28-month (2.75% APY), 17-month (2.40% APY), and 8-month (2.00% APY). Of the three, the 28-month is the most competitive. The minimum deposit for any of the CD Specials is $10k of new money, with no stated balance cap.
The CD Special promotion page defines new money as,
funds not already on deposit or held at OneWest Bank or BankOnCIT.com at the time of account opening.
Funds withdrawn from OneWest Bank or CIT within 90 days prior to account opening are also restricted.
As stated in the Banking Terms and Conditions document, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:
Greater than 2 years The GREATER of: (1) 2% of the amount withdrawn; or (2) a Market Adjustment
The Market Adjustment estimates the interest cost that we would incur if we were to replace your early withdrawal or closed CD with another “replacement CD” at a higher cost.
The calculation can be expressed as follows:
(Amount Being Withdrawn) x
(Remaining Term in Days/365) x
(Replacement CD Interest Rate Minus Existing CD Interest Rate)
Initial Funding and Accessing Maturing CDs
OneWest Bank’s CD FAQs page provides answers about funding and accessing your funds.
How can I make my initial deposit into my OneWest Bank CD account?
We accept deposits via mail, wire transfer, ACH or at any OneWest Bank Branch.
What options are available to fund my new account?
You can fund your new account by cash, check, wire transfer, electronic funds transfer (EFT), or transfer from an existing OneWest Bank account.
When my CD account matures, do you charge a fee to mail the funds to me?
Yes, there is a $7.00 Official Check fee.
What doesn’t appear in the FAQs are the options available to retrieve your matured funds. I found this in a pop-up CD Disclosure window:
Withdrawal of funds (whether early or upon maturity) by official
bank check or wire is subject to the current official check or wire fee.
CSR confirmed there is no ACH option for withdrawing funds.
Availability
Headquartered in Pasadena, California, OneWest Bank’s physical market area covers southern California, but the CD Specials are available nationwide through the Bank’s online application.
Opening a CD Special at OneWest Bank can be done online, over the phone (855.503.9976), or at any of 70 full-service branches, located in the southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura.
Bank Overview
As a division of CIT Bank, OneWest Bank operates under CIT Bank’s FDIC Certificate and shares its financial history. Deposits at CIT Bank and OneWest will be counted together for purposes of determining FDIC insurance coverage limits.
OneWest Bank/CIT Bank has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 8.81% (excellent), based on March 31, 2018 data. In the past year, the Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $1.31 billion, an excellent annual growth rate of 4.79%. Please refer to our financial overview of OneWest Bank/CIT Bank (FDIC Certificate #58978) for more details.
In 2009, OneWest Bank assumed the deposits of IndyMac Bank, which had failed in 2008. The FDIC became the conservator of IndyMac in July 2008 and managed the Bank until its sale to OneWest, which was specifically formed by investors for the purpose of acquiring IndyMac. OneWest expanded its footprint when it acquired two southern California banks in 2009 (First Federal Bank of California) and 2010 (La Jolla Bank). In 2015, CIT Bank merged with OneWest Bank, re-branding as CIT Bank, N.A. The OneWest Bank brand remains intact, but now operates as a division of CIT Bank, N.A.
Don’t confuse CIT Bank with Citigroup Inc., which is the bank holding company of Citibank. CIT Bank is one of the businesses that makes up CIT Group Inc., a bank holding company best known for providing commercial financing and other services to small and middle market businesses. CIT Bank is currently the 44th largest bank in the country, with assets in excess of $42.9 billion and nearly 430,000 customer accounts.
How the CD Special Compares
When compared to the 210 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com, which are available nationwide and require a minimum deposit of $10k or less, OneWest Bank’s 28-month CD Special APY currently ranks sixth.
The above rates are accurate as of 7/23/2018.
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.