United Bank Offers New Rate On Advantage Money Market Promo
Last week, a DA reader forwarded an email he had received from United Bank, announcing its “Come Back and Save” Advantage Money Market (AMM) promotion.
Just re-open an Advantage Money Market account with $25,000 or more
and you'll get a guaranteed great rate, up to 2.50% APY for six months.
DA readers, RZ and RichReg, also posted in the Forum about this offer, suggesting it might be available to current United Bank customers. The word “re-open” would seem to imply that new/current AMM customers are not eligible, so I called for clarification. According to the first CSR I spoke with, everyone (regardless of current United Bank relationship) can apply for the new promotional rate. Great!
As I was editing the blog post, I discovered that the link to the online application in promotional email didn’t work, so I called again. This time I spoke with a CSR who specializes in opening new accounts. I was informed that the 2.50% APY offer is definitely a targeted email promotion, and the only way you can take advantage of the offer is to have received the email and open the AMM online using the one-time link.
Bottom line – if you received the targeted email, you are eligible for the 2.50% APY if you deposit at least $25k of new money within 15 days of account opening. If you didn’t receive the email, you are still eligible to open an Advantage Money Market account, earning 2.30% APY. The minimum balance to earn the stated APY is $1, but the minimum opening deposit is $500 of new money; there is no stated balance cap. There is also a limit of “one promotional rate account per customer.
The fine print on the Deposit Rates page states:
The promotional rate and tiers will be in effect for 180 days from the date the account is opened after which the standard rates and tiers that apply to the Advantage Money Market will be the rates and tiers in effect.
The following still apply to all AMM accounts:
- After the rate guarantee period ends, the APY may be lowered (no lower than 1.00% APY), but the Bank will not officially notify you of any change.
- Check writing is available, and United Bank provides 100 free checks.
- There is a limit of five externally linked accounts.
- ACH transfers initiated from United Bank are limited to $5k per day for the first 90 days following account opening, but this can be raised to $100k day if you contact the Bank thereafter. There is no monthly limit. As CSR said, “You can always just write a check.” Incoming transfers are limited to $250k per day, with no monthly limit.
There is a monthly service fee of $15, which will be waived if “a daily minimum balance of $2,500 or more is maintained in your account.” Withdrawals made at United Bank or Allpoint ATMs are fee free, but there is a $2.50 fee per transaction when using an outside of network ATM.
Beneficiaries can be named and require Social Security numbers. Updating beneficiaries can be done by mail, using the form available for download on the Account Disclosures page.
Thanks to the DA reader who emailed me about United Bank’s “Come Bank and Save” promotion, and to DA readers, RZ and RichReg, for their Forum posts about the Advantage Money Market.
19-Month Flex Up CD
United Bank’s online 19-month Flex Up CD (3.15% APY) is still available. The minimum opening deposit is $500, with no stated balance cap. The Flex Up option is “the flexibility to make up to five (5) deposits to your CD during the initial term.”
30-Month CD
The 30-month CD (3.30% APY) is also still be offered, but it must be opened in-branch. A minimum $500 opening deposit is required, but a $50k minimum deposit comes with two years of Amazon Prime.
Availability
Headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, United Bank’s primary market area includes the Connecticut counties of Fairfield, Hartford, Tolland, and New Haven, and Western Massachusetts, including Worcester County, but the Bank regularly offers special products online on a limited basis.
There is a drop-down menu toward the beginning of the online application listing the states in which the Advantage Money Market is offered. Those 25 states are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
While the Advantage Money Market must be opened online, United Bank has 34 Connecticut and 21 Massachusetts branches, for any transactions that require an in-branch visit.
Bank Overview
United Bank has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 4.26% (excellent) based on June 30, 2018 data. In the past year, United Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $400.12 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 9.09% APY. Please refer to our financial overview of United Bank (FDIC Certificate # 18203) for more details.
In 2014, Connecticut’s Rockville Bank and Massachusetts’ United Bank merged to become one of New England’s largest community banks. United Bank currently has deposits in excess of $5.3 billion, with nearly 200,000 customer accounts. In May, the Bank announced an agreement to purchase of six of Webster Bank’s branches, which are located in Connecticut (2), Massachusetts (3), and Rhode Island. The purchase is expected to be finalized in the fall of 2018. According to a May 22, 2018 press release,
United Bank will assume approximately $120 million of branch deposits in the transaction, which is expected to close in the fall of 2018, pending regulatory approval.
United Bank will assume the personal and business banking deposits only at these six branches, including checking, savings, overdraft lines of credit tied to checking accounts, IRAs and CDs belonging to households and business customers.
How the Targeted Advantage Money Market Special Compares
When compared to the Money Market accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the online market area and are not limited by low balance caps, United Bank’s Advantage Money Market targeted APY currently ranks first, regardless of minimum balance requirements.
To search for the best MMA rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Money Market Accounts rates table page.
The above rates are accurate as of 11/19/2018.
...AND it went thru as a charge. (P.S>.....was not $5k...only $500)
Apparently United now has a brand new system with which funding by credit card is no longer possible. Checking or Savings accounts only. Sorry about that DA readers....
I already have a CD with them but to fully take advantage of the highest nationally available saving rate and exceed FDIC limits for an individual account holder, UB does give you the option of establishing a ITF/POD for any of their accounts where if you add two beneficiaries the coverage is doubled to $500K. The form must notarized and include the SS#s of the two or more beneficiaries. Recall that this is not a MA headquartered bank so there is no DIF in effect. Not sure that I will do it but good to know that the option exists.
CSR unequivocally told me today: maximum of $5k/day outgoing ACH. You can request a temporary one time increase of the daily ACH maximum. But the max remains $5k/day, $60k/month and will always require special permission with supervisor's approval to ACH a higher amount.
The time it takes to request & receive special permission, plus the uncertainty of approval, means this account is not useful to me as a hub account. If I'd known that, I would not have invested the time to pursue it.
BTW the account is described as a Savings Account with a check writing feature, so it has the 6 withdrawal/month maximum, and $15 fee for each withdrawal (in any form) that exceeds the 6 /month maximum.
Also a $15 fee for any time the account drops below $2500.
customers. Other banks, such as Citizens Access, are actually offering higher interest rates
on non-term savings and for just one year CD,s banks as Sychrony and Capital one are offering
a lot more interest.