Shore Bank certainly does “get it” as far as promotional CD rates go. As of January 21, 2009 Shore Bank has an astonishing 3 month CD promotion yielding a whopping 10% APY for deposits up to $1,000. This CD rate tops BankVibe’s CD promotional rates category and will most likely remain at the number 1 spot for quite some time. Although the maximum deposit is fairly low this is still a phenomenal investment opportunity for those wishing to invest smaller amounts of money.
Shore Bank is a subsidiary of Hampton Roads Bankshares and is headquartered in Onley, Virginia. It is one of the top 5 largest banks in that state by customer base and asset size. Shore Bank has just 9 bank branches, but Hampton Roads Bankshares is fairly large institution with just over 700 employees.
Hampton Roads Bankshares is a publicly traded company and can be found on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol HMPR. Hampton Roads Bankshares have been hit hard lately and as of Q2, 2012, have a market cap of around $60 million. A fraction of what they used to be worth, you can buy shares of Hampton Roads Bankshares (as of Q2, 2012) for under $2 apiece.
Our Take:
We’ve covered a number of these promotional savings products recently where an incredibly high interest rate is accompanied with a low maximum deposit allowance. While ideal for newbie savers, they may not be that beneficial to more veteran savers. For those looking to invest much more into a deposit, you may want to consider a jumbo CD. A jumbo CD typically features a higher APY while requiring a much larger minimum deposit. Another important factor to consider is our current interest rate landscape. As a whole, interest rates are scheduled to continue their decline and will likely hover near zero until, tentatively, 2014 (according to latest FED meeting). Given this, we would suggest perhaps a longer term deposit such as a 3 or 5 year CD to hedge against future low rates.
