Bank Deals Blog: Internet Banks

In the last two weeks, no major online bank lowered its CD rates. That’s another sign that we are nearing a rate bottom. Unfortunately, several of the small online banks and several credit unions lowered their CD rates.

As is typical for the start of a month, there were several credit union CD rate changes. Most were cuts. Three noteworthy cuts were made to the 5-year CD at Affinity Plus FCU (1.50% → 1.25%), the 15-month CD Special at NASA FCU (0.80% → 0.70%), and the 18-month CD Special at USALLIANCE...

Fewer major online banks have been cutting their online savings account rates. I only list three with rate cuts in the last two weeks. One is a repeat from the last summary. Discover Bank had its second 5-bp rate cut in the last month. Its Online Savings Account rate is now 0.40%. Synchrony Bank also had its second 5-bp rate cut in the last month. Its Online Savings Account rate is now 0.50%.

Compared to the major online banks, more small banks have cut their online savings or money market rates....

When February started, the CD summary listed no rate cuts from the major online banks. I’m afraid that wasn’t repeated. In the last two weeks, CD rate cuts occurred at Synchrony Bank and at Sallie Mae Bank. Synchrony Bank’s cuts were small, with no rate cut on its 5-year term. Sallie Mae Bank’s cuts were larger with its 5-year CD rate falling 15 bps to 0.45%.

Not all of the rate changes were cuts at the major online banks. TIAA Bank increased its CD rates in the last two weeks. The...

Last week I introduced the new online savings marketplace called SaveBetter. As I mentioned in the SaveBetter review, this new marketplace has potential, but the current products are disappointing. The main reason now to give this marketplace a try is the new account bonus being offered. One...

For the last three months, online savings account rates haven’t fallen as fast as they had in August and September. You can see this trend in our online savings account index which is the average rate of ten well-established online savings accounts. As of February 1st, the average online savings account rate is 0.49%.

The slowing of online savings account rate declines can also be seen at the major online banks. Fewer of the major online savings accounts have had rate cuts. I only list two with rate cuts in the...

The German financial technology company Deposit Solutions launched an online savings marketplace in the US late last year called SaveBetter.com. The website is intended to make it easy for customers to open and manage accounts at multiple banks. The SaveBetter website allows customers to complete just one registration that can be used to open accounts at multiple banks without having to go through different registrations at each bank website. In addition to only having one registration, customers access the online accounts and statements at the different banks from the...

This is the first CD summary in a long time when there have been no CD rate cuts from the major online banks. It’s another sign that we may be nearing a rate bottom for CDs.

Another positive sign is that there are a couple of rate increases. For the less well-known online banks, two had rate increases. State Bank of India in New York increased its 5-year CD rates by 5 bps. Its 5-year Senior Citizens CD rate increased from 0.95% to 1.00%. The other online bank is iGObanking. Its...

While First Internet Bank (First IB) offered consistently good (and occasionally great) CD rates starting in 2016, those rates began a steady decline in early 2019. This past April, First IB did across-the-board CD rate increases (in the neighborhood of 20-25 bps), but those gains were short-lived. A series of five decreases began in early June, with rates finally stabilizing in early October. Although none of First IB CDs currently have outstanding rates, the longer-term CDs continue to be featured in DA’s bi-weekly CD...

For the last three months, online savings account rates haven’t fallen as fast as they had in August and September. You can see this trend in our online savings account index which is the average rate of ten well-established online savings accounts.

The slowing of online savings account rate declines can also be seen at the major online banks. Fewer of the major online savings accounts have had rate cuts. I only list two with rate cuts in the last two weeks. The latest was Synchrony Bank. Today, its High Yield...

In the last two weeks, there was only one major online bank that lowered its CD rates. It’s another sign that we may be reaching the bottom for CD rates. However, the new low CD rates at this bank suggest we may see further cuts at other online banks. The major online bank is Citizens Access, and its new CD rates are far below the average CD rates for online banks. Its 1-year standard CD rate is now only 0.10% and its 11-month Liquid (no-penalty) CD rate is only 0.05%....