Bank Deals Blog: Internet Banks

It’s been about six months since I wrote about any of ableBanking’s CDs. In early December, the 1-year CD offered 1.75% APY, which at the time placed it at the top of the rate pile. Except for a short stay at 2.00% APY in January, the 1.75% APY has been in effect for the past seven months. As DA reader, IvoryMale, noted in a Forum...

This morning, Ally Bank increased the rates of its Online Savings Account, its 11-month No Penalty CD and five of its High Yield CDs. The Online Savings Account rate went up 5 bps to 1.65% APY. For CDs, the 6-month CD and 11-month No Penalty CD had the largest rate gains. The new APYs are...

The Fed’s two-day meeting started today. The meeting announcement is scheduled for 2:00 PM EDT Wednesday. A Fed Funds rate hike of 25 bps is widely expected. In addition to the meeting announcement, the FOMC forecasts will be released. These include the “dot plot” which shows the projections of future Fed Funds rates. Lastly, at 2:30 PM, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will be holding a press briefing.

Bill McBride provided an FOMC meeting preview in his Calculated Risk Blog which reviewed how tomorrow’s FOMC projections will likely change from March. McBride...

There’s no need for a wordy introduction about Northern Bank Direct’s (NBD) promotional Money Market Account: 2.26% APY (up to $250k), guaranteed through June 30, 2019. The minimum opening deposit is $5k minimum deposit, with a $250k maximum opening deposit.

This limited-time offer is for “new account opened June 8, 2018 and after, which is subject to...

Late last week, FNBO Direct increased the rate of its Online Savings account by 15 bps to 1.75% APY. This is FNBO Direct’s second rate hike of the year. The last one was in late February when the rate went up 20 bps to 1.60%. Several of FNBO Direct’s recent rate hikes have followed the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes. In December 2015, FNBO Direct was the first internet bank to raise a rate...

Over the weekend, MySavingsDirect (MSD) added 115 bps to its 6-month CD, raising the rate to 2.15% APY. Of the three CDs offered by MSD, the 6-month is clearly the most competitive. The minimum deposit is $1k, with no stated balance cap.

As stated in the Account Disclosures brochure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

Funding a CD can be done through your MySavings Account or a linked external checking account....

DA readers that follow the bi-weekly CD Rates Summary may have noticed that Sallie Mae Bank’s CDs weren’t included in this week’s issue. They were removed in the May 22 Summary because the APYs were too low. With a round of rate increases this week, Sallie Mae Bank CDs are once again competitive, with the 24-month CD offering the best APY....

American Express National Bank raised its American Express Personal Savings account (Personal Savings) by 5 bps to 1.65% APY. This is the second 5-bps rate hike in the last two weeks. Since the March Fed rate hike, the Personal Saving account rate has risen a total of 20 bps. The 1.65% APY applies to all balances. There are no monthly fees or minimums.

The new Personal Savings rate isn’t high enough to be...

Last week’s market volatility proved to be just a glitch for interest rates. The strong May jobs report that was released Friday helped to bring back economic optimism. In his review of the jobs report, Fed Watch economist Tim Duy summed up his view that the economy will continue to be strong for the rest of 2018 and that will push the Fed into raising rates for a total of four times in 2018:

We will know more next week after the Fed’s June 12-13 meeting.

If the Fed continues to hike...