Bank Deals Blog: Internet Banks

Rate cuts on savings and money market accounts have been widespread since the October Fed rate cut. Online banks have generally been responding to each Fed rate cut with two to three small rate cuts over a period of one to two months after the Fed rate cut. So we will likely see more cuts in the next two months. If the Fed holds rates steady in December, we may finally see the end of widespread rate cuts by January.

Below are the noteworthy savings and money market account rate changes...

For the two Ally Bank accounts that offer checks, interest rates have a history of being low, and the rates have fallen even more. Last Friday, Ally Bank lowered the rates on its Interest Checking Account and Money Market Account. There was no rate change on the Online Savings Account.

I’m disappointed in these rate cuts for two reasons. First, these rates were already low, and now these rates have fallen to new lows. Second, it appears Ally Bank did not send an email to customers about these rate...

In September, I wrote about the new Direct Money Market Deposit Account (DMMDA) offered by Florida-based TotalDirectBank (TDB). The 2.35% APY on balances between $5k and $500k is still in effect. For more detail about the DMMDA, please refer the September 26 blog post.

In September, TotalDirectBank’s CD rates were fairly competitive, but in the past seven weeks as many other rates dipped, the...

FitnessBank recently cut rates again on its Fitness Savings Account. The top rate fell from 2.75% to 2.60% APY at the start of November. For two months in the summer, the top rate had been 3.00% APY. After three Fed rate cuts that total 75 bps, a 40 bp rate cut seems reasonable. With a top rate of 2.60% APY, the Fitness Savings Account remains the rate leader for nationally...

The new fintech, HMBradley, has launched a website describing a new digital banking platform that offers a deposit account with a 3% APY. As is typical with new fintech companies, there’s only a waitlist. Also, there are many details to qualify for the 3% APY. Just like last December when Robinhood received media attention for an announced 3% bank account, HMBradley has started to receive media attention. This Money.com article was published yesterday.

The unique thing about HMBradley’s proposed deposit account is the Savings Tiers which are based on how...

When I see a good rate these days, my first thought is, “I wonder how long it will last.” The only indication I could get from a SallieMae Bank CSR concerning the 12-month CD (2.35% APY) was, “we haven’t received any notification of an upcoming rate change.” While not exactly a guarantee of no impending rate change, that’s the only information CSR had to offer. Like all of SallieMae Bank’s CDs, the...

With last week’s Fed rate cut combined with the start of a new month, CD rate cuts were widespread at both banks and credit unions. If the Fed is beginning a long pause period, this might be the last large wave of CD rate cuts for some time.

We still see a few credit unions offering CD specials. We lost a few popular CD specials in the last week, such as from Navy Federal. There are also a few credit unions that have continued their CD specials for the last several...

More banks lowered rates on their savings and money market accounts. If the Fed cuts rates again on Wednesday, we should expect more savings and money market cuts in November. Online banks have generally been responding to each Fed rate cut with two to three small rate cuts over a period of one to two months after the Fed rate cut. If the Fed decides to end its rate cuts after Wednesday, we may finally see the end of widespread rate cuts by January.

Below are the noteworthy savings and money...

CD rate cuts continue as the odds of another Fed rate cut keep rising. We still see a few credit unions offering CD specials, but the best ones aren’t lasting long. Many of the noteworthy CD specials have been around for several months. They have just become competitive as CD rates have fallen at other institutions.

In the last two weeks, noteworthy cuts have occurred at the following banks. I’ve separated them into two groups. The first includes the popular banks. All percentages are APYs.

• Goldman Sachs Bank USA (5yr fell 20...