Bank Deals Blog: Internet Banks

Last month, I reviewed the traditional CDs from MapleMark Bank. Those CDs remain competitive, but in today’s low interest rate environment, it’s hard to find any CD attractive. If you’re looking for the potential for higher yield without risking your principal, MapleMark Bank’s new Market-Linked CD may be something to consider.

It has been a long time since I reviewed any market-linked CDs. In the past, they’ve been called by other names, such as Equity-Index CDs and Market...

In the last three weeks, only a few savings and money market accounts had rate cuts.

One of the money market accounts in the 1% group has fallen. Connexus Credit Union lowered the top tier rate of its money market account from 1.00% to 0.85%. I have more on this rate cut in my review of the rate leaders below.

One money market account that used to be near the rate leaders was the Ascent Money Market account at Customers Bank. It had another rate cut a few days ago which lowered...

Most of the CD rate changes in the last two weeks were at credit unions. The good news is that most of the changes were rate increases. Most increases were small, and the new rates are still very low by historical standards. Nevertheless, it’s a positive sign that we may be past the rate bottom for CDs.

Out of 15 noteworthy credit union CD rate changes, ten were rate increases, three were rate reductions, and two were a mix of rate hikes and cuts.

PenFed was one of the nine credit unions...

In the last two weeks only three banks changed rates on their online checking or savings accounts. Unfortunately, all three were rate cuts.

Most noteworthy was the rate cut at Paramount Bank. Its Interest Checking account rate fell 10 bps from 0.75% to 0.65%. This applies to balances up to $100k for accounts opened after March 24th. This checking account has been a rate leader when its rate was 0.85% from June 2020 through April 2021. Its current 0.65% rate remains near the high-end of online savings account rates, but the...

Out of the 13 institutions that changed their CD rates in the last two weeks, five had rate hikes.

The most noteworthy rate hikes were at Quontic Bank. Four of its CDs had rate hikes. The longer-term CDs had the largest rate gains. The 3-year yield increased 25 bps (1.00%), the 2-year yield increased 15 bps (0.85%), the 1-year yield increased 10 bps (0.75%), and the 6-month yield increased 5 bps (0.65%).

Also noteworthy were the rate hikes at Sallie Mae Bank. Two of its CDs had rate hikes. Its 18-month CD...

Unfortunately, there was no repeat of the last summary when a major online bank raised its savings account rate. The May 25th rate hike at Synchrony Bank will probably not be repeated anytime soon. For this summary, the only noteworthy rate changes in the last two weeks were rate cuts. One of those rate cuts was at a major online bank. That was Live Oak Bank which lowered its online savings account rate by 5 bps to 0.50%.

For the smaller online banks, three had rate cuts that lowered their rates...

CD rate changes continue to be on the slow side. Not all are rate cuts. In fact, there are quite a few rate hikes. However, none of the rate hikes are anything to be excited about. Nevertheless, it’s a hopeful sign that the worst of the low rates may actually be behind us.

For the major banks, only two had rate changes.

Marcus by Goldman Sachs did a change of its promotional offering. It had been offering a competitive rate on its 9-month CD, but that rate fell in June (0.65% →...

The big news in online savings accounts over the last two weeks was the rate increase at Synchrony Bank. Its online savings account rate increased from 0.40% to 0.50%. It’s nothing to get excited about, but any savings account rate increase at a major online bank is big news these days.

We’ll need to see more of this kind of rate hike at other online banks before we can say that we’re past the rate bottom. As we saw during the zero rate period from 2008 to 2015, online banks often...

CD rate changes have slowed. Most of the changes are still rate cuts, but there have been the occasional rate increase.

The latest rate increase was at Sallie Mae Bank. Last February, Sallie Mae Bank had lowered the rates on its CDs with terms from one year to five years to 0.45%. Last week, the rates were increased on the 1-year (0.55%), the 18-month (0.55%), the 2-year (0.60%), the 30-month (0.60%), and the 3-year (0.70%). These new rates aren’t anything to get excited about, but it’s nice to see a major...

My most recent blog post about Investors eAccess was two years ago, shortly after New Jersey-based Investors Bank launched its first internet division. The initial offering included three products with excellent rates, with the 6-month No Penalty CD (2.50% APY) having the most competitive rate. Within two months, the rates started to fall and by the beginning of May 2021, the rates on the eAccess Money Market, 10-month CD, and 6-month No Penalty...