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Do I Have to Pay Taxes on CD Earnings?Top CD and Savings Account Rates at GE Capital Retail Bank
GE Capital Retail Bank (formerly MetLife Bank) just had another rate increase on its 5-year CD and IRA CD rates. Its top 5-year CD APY was increased from 2.15% to 2.25%. Minimum deposit is $25,000. The CD has a 2.20% APY for a $2,000 minimum deposit. These rates are listed on the bank’s CD rates page as of 3/5/2014. This 2.25% APY is now the top 5-year CD rate that’s nationally available. It just exceeds CIT Bank’s Jumbo 5-year CD APY of 2.20%.
| APY | MIN | MAX | INSTITUTION | PRODUCT | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.10% | $0 | - | Synchrony Bank | High Yield Savings | |
| 4.00% | $0 | - | Synchrony Bank | 60 Month CD |
GE Capital Retail Bank has been making its deposit products more competitive lately. Just last week it increased the rate of its High Yield Savings account from 0.90% to 0.95%. This rate applies to all balances. It has a $5 monthly service fee, but it only requires a minimum balance of $50 to avoid the fee. This savings account became competitive back in November when the bank raised the rate from 0.15% to 0.90%.
Last August the bank came out with a special 1.15% APY 15-month CD. This is still available as of 3/5/2014. Minimum deposit is $2,000. This is an online only offer that requires that you enter the promo code BON12 in the online application. Details of the promotion are listed in the bank’s promotions page.
The bank’s CD early withdrawal penalties are fair, and it has some nice IRA CD features. Please refer to my last GE Capital Retail Bank CD and IRA review for more details.
Bank Overview
In January 2013 MetLife officially became GE Capital Retail Bank. As I mentioned in 2013, the products remained the same including the CDs, IRAs and money market accounts. In addition, they are still offering a free identity theft resolution service for deposit customers.
GE Capital Retail Bank’s main office is located in Draper, Utah. The bank has been around for awhile. It was established with FDIC insurance in 1988. However, it has not been in the retail deposit-taking business before the MetLife Bank acquisition. Its business focus has been on providing customized credit programs to retailers and consumers.
The bank has an overall health grade at DepositAccounts.com of an A with a Texas ratio of 8.05% (excellent) based on December 2013 data. Please refer to our financial overview of GE Capital Retail Bank for more details.
GE Capital vs. GE Capital Retail
One thing that’s confusing is that there are two GE Capital banks. The former MetLife Bank is GE Capital Retail Bank which I described above. GE Capital Bank is the other bank. It started offering an online savings account and CDs in May 2013. These are two separate banks, but both are part of the General Electric Company. They have separate FDIC certificate numbers (27314 for GE Capital Retail bank and 33778 for GE Capital Bank), and deposits in these two banks should be treated separately from a FDIC deposit insurance point of view.
GE Capital Bank also offers competitive rates, and unlike GE Capital Retail Bank, you don’t need large deposits to receive the best rates. These two banks appear to be competing with each other which seems strange since they’re under the same parent company. Nevertheless, this competition is good for us savers. I hope they don’t consolidate these two banks.
Searching for the Highest CD Rates
To search for nationwide CD rates and CD rates in your state, please refer to the best CD rates section of DepositAccounts.com.
