Posts Tagged ‘Arkansas Checking Accounts’
Best CD (certificate of deposit) rates in Arkansas: Top 3
Below are the highest yielding CD rates available to residents in the state of Arkansas. The financial institutions offering these rates are local to this state but may also cover a larger regional area. If you reside in one of Arkansas’s bordering states you may also be eligible to take advantage of the savings products below, but you will need to contact a representative.
Some of the products listed below may be promotional and therefor only available for a limited time. These promotional deposit rates generally come with odd maturities (outside of the standard 6 month increments).
How did we compile this list? As you are probably aware, higher CD rates tend to accompany longer maturities and since we did not want to strictly list long maturity CD’s we decided to list the deposit rates which beat the national average by the highest margins.
To get a better idea of how these local CD rates compare with national ones, compare CD rates nationwide.
Top 3 CD rates in Arkansas:
(clicking on the institution will bring you to their rates page)
- Eastman Credit Union: Batesville, AR. 24 month CD yielding 2.70% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. ECU offers deposit rates based on a range of maturities. For example, you will receive a 2.70% APY for 2-3 year deposits. You can opt for any duration of time within that period and lock in the same fixed rate of 2.70%. To join Eastman credit union you need to either live, work, worship or attend school in one of the counties listed on their coverage maps OR work for one of their selected group of employers.
- Arkansas Federal Credit Union: Little Rock, AR. 36 month CD yielding 3.0% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. This rate became effective on the first of August. Joining this credit union is a bit tricky if you fall outside of their group of selected employers. However, if you have family members whom fit within the criteria you may be able to join. The list of selected employers is largely made up of city municipalities and/or military service units such as LIttle Rock Air Force Base, Camp Pike, Camp Robinson, etc. Along with these organizations, Arkansas Federal Credit Union also has list of 500 participating small and medium sized companies within the state.
- Carter Federal Credit Union: Magnolia, AR. 48 month CD yielding 3.30% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. If you opt for a jumbo CD (deposit of $50,000 or more) then they will bump up this rate to 3.43% APY. Carter Federal Credit Union also has a very noteworthy high interest checking account which is yielding an APY of 5.01% on balances up to $30,000. However, you will need to meet the monthly requirements to earn that advertised interest rate. If you live, work, worship or attend school, or are a business or other legal entity in Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Bienville, Claiborne, DeSoto or Red River Parishes, and Columbia or Lafayette Counties, you can join Carter Federal. Your family members, co-workers and neighbors may also be eligible.
All of the institutions listed above are federally insured by either the FDIC or the NCUA (credit union equivilent). If you live in Arkansas and know of a better rate offered by your local bank, please share by leaving a comment.
Heartland Community Bank’s Interest Plus Checking Accounts
Another great interest checking account came through our inbox today. Heartland Community Bank of Arkansas has an “interest plus checking” account (or rewards checking account) which is yielding 4.01% APY and is available to prospective customers across the country.
You can only earn the advertisied interest rates on balances up to $30,000. If your balance exceeds this amount, the excess funds will generate a still respectable 1.31% APY. This is a variable interest rate, meaning it is subject to change without notification.
Also, if you are familiar with rewards checking accounts, you probably know you must meet the typical requriements each month. For this particular account these include:
- at least 10 check card transactions
- Receive a monthly Electronic Statement
- One direct deposit or ACH Auto Debit
- Access Online Banking
In exchange for fulfilling the above requirements, you will receive (along with 4.02% interest on your balance):
- Free ATM’s Nationwide
- Write as many checks each month without a per-check charge.
- Earn high-interest yields on your account
- No minimum balance
- No service charge
- overdraft privilege available
- Free ATM or Visa check card
- Telephone Banking
- Free Internet Banking
Heartland bank is federally insured by the FDIC. You’re balances will be insured up to $250,000.
Heartland Community Bank’s Interest Checking Account: 4.02%
Here is another great interest checking account available to customers nationwide! Currently Heartland Community Bank out of Arkansas has an “interest plus checking” account which is yielding 4.02% APY on all balances up to $30,000 (1.31% APY paid on all balances above $30k). They also offer free ATM use nationwide in the form of ATM reimbursements. Typically these high interest checking accounts will reimburse a portion of your foreign ATM fees, however, Heartland Community Bank will reimburse all of them.
Benefits of Checking with Interest through Heartland Community Bank:
(as seen on their website)
- Free ATM’s Nationwide
- Write as many checks each month without a per-check charge.
- Earn high-interest yields on your account
- No minimum balance
- No service charge
- Overdraft privilege available
- Free ATM or Visa check card
- Telephone Banking
- Free Internet Banking
Requirements to earn interest rate and free foreign ATM use:
- Make at least 10 check card transactions
- Receive a monthly Electronic Statement
- One direct deposit or ACH Auto Debit
- Access Online Banking
United Federal Credit Union’s Interest Plus Checking: 6.01%
Last week’s theme on BankVibe tended to revolve around the nations best interest-bearing checking accounts, therefor I found it necessary to point out THE BEST of the best.
Currently United Federal Credit Union (Arkansas) has an “interest plus checking” account which is yielding an unheard of 6.01% APY on all balances up to $25,000 (0.25% APY on balances above $25k). One very noteworthy aspect of this interest rate is that United Federal Credit Union has guaranteed it until at least 2010! If you have been researching interest checking accounts lately then you have undoubtedly noticed the fact that they typically come with variable interest rates that are subject to change without notice, thus making this offer pretty lucrative in comparison.
How to qualify for the 6.01% interest rate:
- Enroll in eStatements – receive your statements electronically
- Have One Direct Deposit OR One ACH (Electronic Payment)
- Conduct a minimum of ten (10) Debit Card Swipe and Sign purchases (Credit transactions/Non-PIN based).
An important note from their fine print: A debit card purchase using your PIN will not count as a Debit Card Swipe and Sign purchases. All direct deposit, ACH and Debit Card Swipe and Sign purchases must post to your account by 6:00pm (EST) on the last business day of the month to count towards that month.
Additional benefits from this account:
- A whole range of FREE electronic services: Online Banking (PowerLink) with Bill Pay, instant eStatements and e-mail alerts, and online account aggregation.
- Your savings are insured to at least $500,000; a combination of $250,000 provided by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a U.S. federal government agency, and $250,000 by Excess Share Insurance (ESI), a private deposit insurance company.
- Overdraft protection from your savings account(s), along with Courtesy Pay protection up to $1,000 is available to save you embarrassment and expense of Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) items!
- Free private and personal Financial Planning and Financial Seminars
- Free Medallion (Signature Guarantee) and notary services
