Rising Bank 15-Month No Penalty CD Offered Nationwide

Rising Bank, the internet division of Missouri-based Midwest BankCentre, recently added a 15-month No Penalty (NP) CD to its product line. Currently earning 0.65% APY, the 15-month NP CD can be opened with a $1k minimum deposit. The 15-month term is four months longer than the typical NP CD, which only adds to its competitiveness. The longer term gives you the option of keeping the rate longer, while the NP feature removes any downside of the longer term.

The 15-month No Penalty CD section of the Truth-In-Savings disclosure (page 29) states,

You may withdraw the total balance and interest earned, without penalty beginning seven days after the funds have been received for your Certificate of Deposit. No withdrawals are permitted during the first six days following the receipt of funds.

CSR confirmed that only early closures are allowed; no partial withdrawals are permitted. There is no limit on the number of 15-month NP CDs that can be opened. A large deposit could be distributed among any number of NP CDs, making a quasi-partial withdrawal possible.

According to CSR, a request for a total withdrawal can be done on the phone or by using Rising Bank’s secure online chat. The secure online chat is only available to existing customers, which is why it doesn’t automatically pop up on the Bank’s website. The quickest way to gain access to NP CD funds is to transfer the funds into a Rising Bank savings account. CSR stated that type of transfer would take about an hour and doesn’t incur any type of fee.

According to the Truth-In-Savings disclosure, interest will be compounded and credited every three months. I mention this because an early closure could be affected by interest that has not been credited.

Rising CD

Rising Bank is also offering two Rising CDs ($25k min/$500k max), which offer both a rate bump-up option and an add-on deposit option. (Both options can be exercised: the bump-up and add-on options are not mutually exclusive.) These two unique features can be useful in an uncertain interest rate environment.

The 36-month Rising CD features two opportunities to make additional deposits ($5k minimum) at any time during the term, while the 18-month Rising CD only allows for one additional deposit ($5k minimum) during the term. The ideal add-on CD has a small minimum initial deposit and no limits on the add-on deposit amounts. With the $25k minimum initial deposit, the $500k maximum balance cap, and the limited number of add-on deposits, neither Rising CD is “ideal,” but it could prove to be a good deal, considering the possibility of rates continuing to fall into the new year.

The rate bump-up option is described in the Truth-In-Savings disclosure (page 34) as follows:

We will not change the rate on your account during the term of the account. However, you have the option to exchange this interest rate two times during the original term of the account. The new interest rate will be the interest rate we are then offering on the 36 Month Rising Certificate of Deposit. This exchange will be at no cost to you. If you make an exchange, the maturity date of this account will remain the same as originally scheduled. You may exercise this option two times during the original term of the account.

This bump-up option for the 18-month Rising CD reads the same, with the exception of only one bump-up allowed during the term.

Both Rising CDs are subject to an Early Withdrawal Penalty of 180 days of interest on the amount being withdrawn.

Beneficiaries

Unlimited payable-on-death (POD) beneficiaries are allowed, but can only be named after an account is opened; the online application isn’t set up to accept beneficiaries. Only individuals and trusts (no charities/non-profits) can be named as beneficiaries. While Social Security numbers are not required for beneficiaries, CSR stated having a Social Security number for identification purposes is preferable.

Availability

Headquartered in Lemay, Missouri, Rising Bank offers its product line nationwide to U.S. citizens and resident aliens, 18 years or older, who have a valid Social Security number or Taxpayers Identification Number.

Rising Bank only offers individual and joint accounts. Custodial accounts and trust accounts are not permitted, but as mentioned above, a trust can be named as a beneficiary.

As an internet bank, Rising Bank has no brick-and-mortar branches. Opening any type of account can only be done online. The online application process is designed to be easily completed on a PC or a smartphone in three minutes or less.

Bank Overview

As an online division of Midwest BankCentre, Rising Bank operates under Midwest BankCentre’s FDIC Certificate and shares its financial history.

Rising Bank/Midwest BankCentre has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.35% (excellent) based on September 30, 2020 data. In the past year, the Bank increased its total non-brokered deposits by $254.82 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 17.04%. Please refer to our financial overview of Rising Bank/Midwest BankCentre (FDIC Certificate # 1058) for more details.

According to the small print of Rising Bank’s website:

Rising Bank® and Midwest BankCentre® are treated as the same entity for the purpose of calculating FDIC insurance limits and deposits.

Opening its virtual doors for business in early 2019, Rising Bank is the online division of Midwest BankCentre, a community bank with 17 branch locations in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Founded in 1906, Midwest BankCentre is currently the 16^th largest bank in Missouri, with assets in excess of $2.2 billion and more than 55,000 customer accounts.

You might wonder, does a community bank have the technology resources to successfully run an internet bank? Financial technology (fintech) companies are helping community banks by providing services to help manage internet divisions. Midwest BankCentre has partnered with XpertSavers to assist with Rising Bank. The following excerpt from XpertSavers’ home page describes what they do:

XpertSavers is an alternative channel for banks and credit unions to gather deposits. Our team is led by a group of banking experts with a solid record of building internet deposit businesses, while meeting the rigorous regulatory and security demands of the financial industry.

How the No Penalty CD Compares

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, no-penalty CDs are not that common, and the longer the term, the more competitive the CD. When compared to other nationally available no-penalty CDs, Rising Bank’s 15-month No-Penalty CD APY currently ranks first.

The above rates are accurate as of 12/23/2020.

Interested in a No-Penalty CD? Check out DA’s bi-weekly “Best Bank Account Interest Rates” blog post, which includes the nationally available No Penalty CDs currently being offered.

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