Bank Deals Blog

Iowa-based Fidelity Bank & Trust (Fidelity B&T) new rewards checking account, Hometown Hype Checking, was added to the product line this past summer with an initial 2.03% APY on qualifying balances up to $25k. Qualifying balances >$25k and non-qualifying balances both earn 0.05% APY.

The statement cycle qualification requirements include,

• At least 10 PIN or signatured-based debit card transactions
• At least two ACH or direct deposit transactions
• E-Statements with...

Bank of Utica’s Statement Savings Account currently earns a competitive 0.60% APY on balances between $250 and $2 million. According to the Personal Rates page, if the available average balance is greater than $2 million, a 0.25% APY applies to the portion above $2 million. The minimum opening deposit is $100, but balances less than $250 do not earn any interest.

The simple green arrow next to Quontic Bank’s High Interest Checking (HIC) in yesterday’s Best Bank Account Interest Rates Summary doesn’t begin to describe the various changes the HIC has recently experienced.

Here’s a summary of the changes:

• The 1.01% APY is still in effect, but the qualifying balance cap has been increased from $100k to $150k.
• The three rate tiers previously in effect (up to...

There was only one “New to Summary” savings/money market account added to this week’s Liquid Summary: Vio Bank’s Cornerstone Money Market account (Cornerstone MMA), which currently earns 0.55% APY on all balances.

DA began tracking the Cornerstone MMA in late April when the APY was 0.61%. The rate is now 0.55%, following rate cuts in early August (5 bps) and September (1 bps). The current rate is a...

Since the start of September, there have been just a few noteworthy rate changes on savings, money market and standard checking accounts. There were actually more noteworthy rate changes to reward checking accounts. Those changes are covered in the reward checking section below.

For the savings and money market accounts, all were rate cuts, except for one. Sallie Mae Bank increased the rate of its money market account from 0.45% to 0.50%. Sallie Mae Bank had a pretty long history of keeping this account competitive with online savings accounts. However, that...

The Labor Department released the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) report this morning, and the inflation numbers were below expectations. CPI increased 0.3% for the month, which was below the expected 0.4% increase. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.1% for the month, which was below the expected 0.3% increase. Even though these numbers are below expectations, they’re still elevated. The year-over-year CPI is 5.3%, a level that hasn’t been seen before 2021 in about 13 years. However, we may have passed the peak. Last month’s year-over-year CPI...

Last week, the FDIC and NCUA released their reports of the second quarter health of the institutions they insure. They also released the 2021 Second Quarter Call Reports of all insured institutions. We use these reports to derive our financial health grades for each institution. We have finished importing this data, and all of the health grades for banks and credit unions have been updated to reflect the June 30, 2021 reports.

You can view the latest health ratings of your bank or credit union in our Bank Health...

Chicago-based Byline Bank recently introduced its Advantage Money Market, which is available only online.

Earning 0.65% APY on balances up to $500k, the Advantage Money Market requires a $25k minimum opening deposit. As stated in the fine print on Rates page,

While all balances less than $500k earn the stated APY, if the daily balance falls below $25k, a $25 monthly service will be...

Many thanks to DA reader, Cdbob, for his recent Forum post about Dort Financial Credit Union’s (Dort Financial) IRA Shares account.

The IRA Shares account currently offers the following tiered rates:

• 1.51% APY ($25k minimum)
• 1.00% APY ($10k minimum)
• 0.75% APY ($1k minimum)
• 0.50% APY (up to $1k)

There’s not much information on Dort Financial’s website about the IRA Shares account. The following is from the Truth-in-Savings disclosure that...

Tennessee-based Community Bank’s rewards checking account, Community Advantage Checking, has been part of the product line for more than nine years. The initial 3.10% APY on qualifying balances up to $20k was in effect for about four years before it was lowered to 2.08% APY. Qualifying balances >$20k earn 0.25% APY, with non-qualifying balances earning 0.26% APY (an unusually high rate for non-qualifying balances).

The monthly qualification requirements...

Last week, Ohio State Bank added an 18-month CD Special earning 1.00% APY. This limited-time special requires a minimum $500 opening deposit, with no stated balance cap. While the banner for the CD Special on the Bank’s homepage clearly states the limited-time availability, no specific end-date is mentioned. CSR stated that availability is dependent on how quickly the Bank meets its deposit goal. In other words, it will be available...