NASB Nationally Available CD Special Rates Are Near The Top

Early Withdrawal Penalty

I have no idea what the Early Withdrawal Penalty (EWP) is for the CD Specials. In the past, the EWP was 180 days interest, with partial withdrawals allowed. In a Live Chat, CSR stated the 180 days EWP was incorrect and instead,

We use a mark to market approach when determining the early withdrawal penalty. This all varies.

Mark to market aims to provide the realistic appraisal of a bank's current financial situation based on the current market conditions. The penalty is processed at the current market value at the time of closure, rather than 3 or 6 months interest penalties.

If you open your account at 5%, but the rate for that term increases to 6%, and you decide to close the account early, the mark to market approach will penalizes at the current market value of 6% rather than the 5% you locked the term in for.

When I asked exactly how a penalty would be determined, the answer again was “it varies.”

I understand using the mark to market approach to determine current and fair market value of investments that fluctuate (like bonds), but I have reservations about applying mark to market to a fixed rate CD, not the least of which is trusting a bank to come up with a variable EWP that is fair and honest. The semantics of “it varies” is worrisome in itself, as “vary” means a change or alteration in a typical attribute or characteristic, and there is no typical EWP available for a NASB CD Special to use as a starting point for a comparison.

CSR did make one statement concerning the EWP that I have to agree with:

If you keep the funds for the complete term you will not run into this [situation].

Availability

Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, North American Savings Bank is currently offering the 7-month, 13-month, and 24-month CDs nationwide to all U.S. citizens and alien residents (18 years or older) who have a valid Social Security number and a permanent physical address in any of the 50 states.

Opening any of these CDs can be done online. If you’re looking for a brick-and-mortar experience, NASB has ten full-service branches, located in Kansas City metro area: Excelsior Springs, Gladstone, Grandview, Harrisonville, Independence, Kansas City, Lee’s Summit, Lexington, Platte City, and St. Joseph.

Account Opening

NASB has an eBook, “Everything You Need To Know About Certificate of Deposit Accounts” available for download, but it contains only the most basic of information. As there is no Truth-in-Savings disclosure on NASB’s website, the following comes from a Live Chat session.

Funding – ACH (three days to complete).
Ownership – Individual or joint; no trusts.
Maturing Funds – ACH back to originating financial institution, wire (same day, $20 fee), or cashier’s check to address on file.
Interest – Compounded daily/credited quarterly. Can post to the CD or transferred to an external account.
Grace Period – 7 calendar days before automatic renewal.
Beneficiaries – Unlimited (individuals or in the name of a trust), percentages can be assigned, Social Security numbers appreciated by not required.
Credit Check – ChexSystems

Bank Overview

North American Savings Bank has an overall health rating of "A+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 3.53% (excellent), based on December 31, 2022 data. In the past year, NASB has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $252.03 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 18.45%. Please refer to our financial overview of North American Savings Bank (FDIC Certificate # 29708) for more details.

Established in 1923 in St. Louis, North American Savings Bank was originally known as the City Building and Loan Association (CBLA). A few years later, CBLA moved across the state to Kansas City and changed its name to North American Savings Association; it was known as NASA well before the space age. In the 1990s, the name was changed to North American Savings Bank when the Bank became a federally chartered stock savings bank. North American Savings Bank is currently the 13^th largest bank headquartered in Missouri, with deposits in excess of $1.6 billion and more than 42,000 customer accounts.

How the 24-Month CD Special Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, only one credit union has a higher rate than currently offered on the NASB 24-Month CD Special. The following table compares the 24-Month CD Special to the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions and the two highest-rate CDs from banks.

How the 13-Month CD Special Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, one bank and one credit union have higher rates than currently offered on the NASB 13-Month CD Special. The following table compares the 13-Month CD Special to the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions and the two highest-rate CDs from banks.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 4/24/2023.

To search for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD rates table page.