XCEL Federal Credit Union’s Exceptional 3 Year CD Rate: 3.0% APY!

We just got word that XCEL Federal Credit Union (based out of New Jersey) is offering a fantastic 3 year CD (certificate of deposit) promotion. Currently, if accepted to the credit union and with a minimum deposit of just $500 you can open a 3 year CD yielding a whopping 3.0% APY. To put this offer in perspective the current national average for 36 month CD’s sits at just 1.60% APY. This offer almost doubles it!

Thanks to BankVibe.com reader Tom Quigley for tipping us off on this outstanding promotion!

Now here is the bad news…

Unfortunately for most of us, this offer may be off the table considering the relatively exclusive membership eligibility checklist. Below are the complete details for joining:

First – Membership is established by opening a regular XCEL Savings Account and maintaining a $5 minimum balance. Once established, you can take advantage of your XCEL membership services for life – even if you change jobs, move or retire – as long as you maintain your XCEL account.

Second – Membership in XCEL Federal Credit Union is only open to employees and family members of a select group of employers.

See how this offer stacks up against other CD rates in New Jersey.

Cascade Bank’s CD Rates and Promotional Offers

Cascade Bank, based out of Washington state, has a few noteworthy CD rate promotions for 6 month and 12 month terms. Other than those promotions their savings rates are somewhat lackluster – in fact, most sit significantly below the national average.

Cascade Bank has branches throughout the Pacific Northwest and can accept local funds. They were chartered in 1916, and they are the oldest financial institution headquartered in Snohomish County, Washington. Cascade Bank claims to have navigated that region’s history’s highs and lows right along with their customers, changing and growing together. Their claim to fame has always been their customer service and their slogan – “Real People. Real Attention” – reiterates that fact.

CD Rates and Promotions offered through Cascade Bank:

- 3 month CD yielding 0.10% APY and 0.30% APY depending on deposit amount.

- 6 month CD SPECIAL yielding 1.00% APY and 1.25% APY depending on deposit amount.

- 9 month CD yielding 0.25% APY and 0.50% APY depending on deposit amount.

- 12 month CD SPECIAL yielding 1.35% APY and 1.60% APY depending on deposit amount.

- 18 month CD yielding 1.15% APY and 1.40% APY depending on deposit amount.

- 24 month CD yielding 1.45% APY and 1.70% APY depending on deposit amount.

- 36 month CD yielding 1.75% APY and 2.00% APY depending on deposit amount.

- 5 year CD yielding 2.25% APY and 2.50% APY depending on deposit amount.

Like all bank rates, these are time sensitive in nature. Please refer to the date of this article for accuracy. Check out our CD rates page for current rates available in your area.

14 month CD rate promotion: 1.40% APY (available nationwide)

Although it’s pretty tough to get excited about a CD (certificate of deposit) that has a longer maturity than one year and still yields under 2.0% APY, we’d like to give a shout out to Fort Knox Federal Credit Union for offering two pretty decent CD rate promotions. Both offers (a 14 month CD and a 23 month CD) beat the current national average by a fairly significant margin. Their 14 month CD rate special offer comes with an APY of 1.40% and their 23 month CD comes with an APY of 2.25%.

To put these promo’s in perspective the current national average for 12 month CD’s sits at just 1.15% APY and the current avg. for 36 month CD’s sits at 1.98% APY.

* Compare the top 12 month CD rates and 3 year CD rates available throughout the country from our rate tables.

Unlike most credit unions, this one accepts people throughout the country so long as you join American Consumer Counsil – a non-profit aimed at educating consumers of fiscal responsibility – and pay a on time $15 membership fee to the credit union.

Headquartered in Radcliff, Kentucky, FKFCU has 13 branch locations throughout the state – in Hardin, Grayson, Meade, Nelson, Boyle, LaRue and Taylor counties. Currently, Fort Knox Federal Credit Union has over 72,000 members with over $815 million in assets.

Deposit Product Terms and Conditions:

- $500 minimum deposit required.

- Promotional CD Rates accurate as of June 1, 2010

- Dividends paid and compounded quarterly/monthly.

- Rates subject to change at anytime without notice.

Park Bank’s 10 month CD special

Park Bank, a small community bank in Madison, Wisconsin, has a pretty nice 10 month CD special yielding 1.65% APY with a minimum deposit of $5,000 required. Thanks to BankVibe.com reader Nicole for submitting us this CD promotion!

Unfortunately for most of us this promotional offer is off the table. Park Bank has just 11 locations all within a relatively small radius to Madison, WI. They accept local funds and are federally insured by the FDIC. If you are located in this state you may want compare this offer with other CD rates in Wisconsin to see how it stacks up.

Terms and Conditions:

- Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is correct as of May 17, 2010, and may change without notice.

- Interest paid at maturity.

- Minimum of $5,000 is required to open these accounts.

- No brokered deposits and no financial institution deposits allowed.

- There is a penalty for early withdrawal of funds and fees may reduce actual earnings.

- Not applicable to IRAs.

- Member FDIC

Park Bank also has a fairly noteworthy money market special if you happen to be able to hold a balance of $50k. As of the 18th of May, they are offering a money market account yielding 1.75% APY for balances of $50,000 or greater. If your balance dips below this threashold you will only incur an interest rate of 0.77% APY (which is more closely alligned with the current national average). If your balance dips below $20k then your interest shrinks to just 0.60% APY.

Fifth Third Bank CD Rate “Promos”

Fifth Third Bank, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, currently has some CD rate promotions going on at a few of their Michigan branches (other branches may be included as well). Don’t get too excited over these “promos” though as it just seems to be wording ploy to entice customers to sign up. The rates are average (at best) and require a $5000 minimum deposit. Many online banks will provide much better rates than these so-called promos and require much less to invest.

-As a side note Fifth Third Bank was recently mentioned as one of the “least trusted banks in the United States.”

About Fifth Third Bank:

Fifth Third is one of the top 20 largest banks in the country. They serve the Midwest and Southeast portions of the United States.

The Company has $120 billion in assets, operates 18 affiliates with 1,307 full-service Banking Centers, including 92 Bank Mart locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores and 2,341 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Georgia and North Carolina.

Fifth Third operates five main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, Investment Advisers and Fifth Third Processing Solutions. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of December 31, 2008, has $179 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $25 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations.

The bank received $3.4 billion from the U.S. Treasury as part of its Troubled Asset Relief Program in 2008.

In 2008, the company reported a net loss of $2.2 billion due to loan problems and lower market values.

Current CD Rate Promotions offered through Fifth Third Bank:

- 8 month CD “promo” rate yielding 0.50% APY with a minimum deposit of $5,000 required.

- 13 month CD “promo” rate yielding 0.90% APY with a minimum deposit of $5,000 required.

- 24 month CD “promo” rate yielding 1.25% APY with a minimum deposit of $5,000 required.

- 36 month CD “promo” rate yielding 1.75% APY with a minimum deposit of $5,000 required.

- 60 month CD “promo” rate yielding 2.75% APY with a minimum deposit of $5,000 required.

To put the above offers in perspective, the national average for 6 month CD rates sits at roughly 0.80% APY, the national average for 1 year CD rates sits at roughly 1.18% APY and the national average for 3 year CD rates sits at roughly 1.98% APY.

Charter Bank CD Rate (certificate of deposit) Specials!

Charter Bank, out of Georgia, has a few noteworthy CD (certificate of deposit) promotional rates currently available with deposits of $1,500 or greater. Thanks to BankVibe.com reader Chad for submitting this offer!

First, for those who are unfamiliar with Charter Bank they have physical branch locations in just two states (Georgia and Alabama) and can accept local deposits. They are federally insured by the FDIC (FDIC number 30720) and have been around since 1954.

As of April 6, 2010 they have the following CD rate promotions available to both new and existing customers:

1) 11 month CD yielding 1.79% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,500. To put this offer in perspective, the current national average for 12 month CD’s sits at just 1.17% APY.

2) 35 month CD yielding 2.47% APY, compounded daily with a minimum deposit of $1,500. The national average for 36 month CD rates sits at roughly 1.95% APY.

3) 20 month “Added Advantage” CD yielding 2.18% APY, compounded daily with a minimum deposit of $1,500. We are not exactly sure what the “added advantage” feature entails and their website lacks details, however, we would venture to guess you will need to combine this offer with another one of their deposit products.

4) 59 month “bump up” CD yielding 3.50% APY, compounded daily with a minimum deposit of $1,500. Again, their website lacks details as to what the “bump up” feature consits of, however, we also believe this may need to be combined with another one of their deposit offerings.

For further information on these promotional certificates of deposit visit their website.

12 month CD Rate Promotion – Earn twice the national average!

A phenomenal 12 month CD rate promotion was forwarded to us this week by BankVibe.com reader Justin. It comes from Navy Federal Credit Union, based out of Virginia. As of last month they are offering their members 12 month “Easy Start” IRA CDs (certificate of deposits) yielding a whopping 3.25% APY! The current national average for 1 year CD rates sits at roughly 1.20% APY (to put this offer in perspective).

There is somewhat of a catch, however, that comes with this promotional CD. First, before investing in any of Navy Federal Credit Union’s CD’s you must be a member of their institution. Although NFCU is one of the largest credit unions in the country (both by asset size and membership), they still have fairly strict eligibility requirements. To learn more about eligibility, visit their website @ www.navyfcu.org. Second, their 12 month CD promotion is only available to deposits ranging from $50 (min) to $3,000 (max), you must have a NFCU checking account to supplement this account AND it’s only available to those starting an IRA.

12 month CD Promotion Terms and Conditions:

• This offer is effective February 1, 2010, Navy Federal reserves the right to end or modify this offer at anytime.
• $3,000 maximum balance.
• Only one Special IRA EasyStart Certificate per member is allowed.
• Certificate owner(s) age 18 and older must have Direct Deposit of Net Pay (minimum $300 per direct deposit), a Navy Federal checking account, and a monthly automatic deposit of at least $15 within 90 days of the certificate issue date.
• If these requirements are not met your Special IRA EasyStart Certificate dividend rate will be reduced to the prevailing dividend rate of a standard IRA EasyStart Certificate for the remainder of the certificate’s term.
• At maturity the Special IRA EasyStart Certificate will automatically renew to a $100 minimum, standard IRA EasyStart Certificate at the prevailing dividend rate unless member specifies otherwise.

15 month CD rate (certificate of deposit) promotion!

Thanks to BankVibe.com reader Stacey for forwarding us this 15 month CD special being offered through Aspire Federal Credit Union. Currently with a minimum deposit of at least $1,000 you can open a 15 month certificate yielding 1.51% APY. To put this offer in perspective the national average for 12 month CD rates sits at just 1.20% APY with the highest 12 month CD rates paying 1.75% APY.

Aspire Federal Credit Union, originally known as FAA Eastern Region Federal Credit Union, was originally founded in 1948 to serve a small group of Civil Aeronautics Administration employees (currently the Federal Aviation Administration).

In the beginning Aspire had just had seven people who pooled together shares of $5.00 each to initiate the original charter. Today, Aspire FCU is a $175 million dollar credit union, serving approximately 20,000 members within many diverse employee groups throughout the northeastern United States. Aspire FCU is a not-for-profit financial cooperative, which means all earnings at the end of the year are returned to our members in the form of better, low-cost financial services.

Unfortunately for most of us, this offer may be off the table. You must first become a member of Aspire Federal Credit Union to take advantage of the 15 month CD promotion. If you live in the northeast, mainly New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York or Virginia you will most likely be able to join. For the rest of us, unless you have family members in those regions or work for a select group of employers, you probably will not be eligible.

15 month CD rate promotion (details and features):

• minimum deposit of $1,000 required
• no maintenance fees
• fees may apply for early withdrawal
• NCUA insured up to $250,000

- Learn more @ www.aspirefcu.org

Best 6 month CD rates paying 1.76% APY

The highest interest rates for 6 month CDs (certificates of deposit) which are nationally available currently sits at 1.76% APY, down roughly 0.05% APY from last week. The current national average for 6 month CD’s sits at 1.16% APY.

Ascencia Bank of Louisville Kentucky currently holds the number 1 spot with its 1.76% yield. They are a national bank and can accept deposits from any state. They require a minimum deposit of at least $500 and your interest is compounded monthly. 

Sometimes banks and/or credit unions offer promotional rates for deposits which carry odd maturities such as 7 month CDs, 13 month CDs or 15 month CDs. America’s Credit Union currently has two noteworthy promotions going on. The first is a 7 month CD paying 2.0% APY with a minimum deposit of at least $500. The second promotion is a 13 month CD yielding 2.15% APY with a minimum deposit of $500 as well. If you know of a better 6 month CD rate (or similar promotional offer) through your local bank or credit union, please share by leaving a comment.

36 month “step up” CD through Darby Direct

Darby Direct is offering another noteworthy savings product this month. A few months ago Darby Direct stepped on the scene with a lucrative high yield savings account providing a 3.0% interest rate. Unfortunately that account carried a variable interest rate and has since declined. However, this product comes with fixed rates and of course, is FDIC insured.

Here is how the account works:

Upon opening your account you will receive a 3.0% APY. This account will then be “stepped up” on August 15 of 2010 to a whopping 4.0% APY, then again on August 15 of 2011 to an even more impressive 5.0% APY.

To put this unique offer in perspective the average 12 month CD is yielding only 1.60% APY and the average 36 month CD yields 2.20% APY.

Terms and Conditions:

(as seen on their promo page)

• $500 minimum deposit requirement
• Annual percentage rates will change ONLY on the dates specified
• Substantial penalty will be imposed for early withdrawal
• Fees will reduce earnings
• Offer effective as of August 1, 2009
• FDIC insured