Best CD Rates in New York City, NY: Top 3

Below are the highest yielding CD (certificate of deposit) rates available to the residents of New York City, NY. These come in the form of 6 month CDs, 12 month CDs and 24 month CDs. After sorting through dozens of rate pages by local community banks and credit unions serving New York City as well as the state of New York, we found that for the most part, you will be able to receive slightly better rates with local institutions than with national ones.

Keep in mind interest rates are time-sensitive in nature, so you will want to refer to the date of this article for accuracy. To get the most CD current rates from national banks, compare CD rates nationwide. 

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.

Best 6 month CD rates in New York City, NY:

• .Signature Bank has a 6 month CD yielding 1.90% APY with a minimum deposit of $5000 required. They have locations throughout the city but primarily operate out of the Bronx.
• Actors Federal Credit Union out of New York City has a 6 month CD yielding 1.75% APY with a minimum deposit of $500 required.
• Quorum Federal Credit Union has a 6 month CD and a 9 month CD yielding 1.75% APY with a minimum deposit of $1000. They have locations on Manhattan Island and in the Bronx.

Best 12 month CD rates in New York City, NY:

• Signature Bank (Bronx branch) also has a 12 month CD yielding 2.20% APY with a minimum deposit of $5000.
• Liberty Point Bank (New York City) has a 12 month CD yielding 2.17% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000 required.
• Park Avenue Bank of New York City has a 12 month CD yielding 2.12% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000 required.

Best 24 month CD rates in New York City, NY:

• Island Federal Credit Union has a 24 month CD yielding 2.65% APY with a minimum deposit of $5000 required. They have several locations within the city and are headquartered out of Brooklyn, NY.
• Fort Lee Federal Savings Bank has a 24 month CD yielding 2.55% APY with a minimum deposit of $1000 required. They have locations (either physical branch or ATM) in New York City but primarily operate out of New Jersey.
• Hudson City Savings Bank has a 24 month CD yielding 2.50% APY with a minimum deposit of $500. They have locations in the city as well as Cliffside Park, NJ.

Highest yielding money market account rates in New York

Below are the best money market account rates we have found serving residents in the state of New York. After digging through a number of rate pages of local banks and credit unions we have found that national banks are able to provide more competitive interest rates the local New York banks.

We had a pretty substantial debate on BankVibe last month on whether or not local banks and credit unions offered better products than the large national banks and concluded that it varied from state to state. Many states with high population density such as New York tended to lean towards the national banks for more competitive rates, while states such as Kansas, Nebraska and Idaho tended to lean towards local institutions for the highest yielding interest rates.

Best Money Market Account Rates in New York:

(click on the institution for more info)

• Hudson City Savings Bank: New York City, NY. High interest money market account yielding 1.75% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $2,500. This account takes about 10 minutes to sign up for. You will need a drivers license, a previous home address if you haven’t lived at your current residence for more than 2 years, social security number, checking account in which you are transferring the funds from, proof of being a legal US citizen. Hudson City Savings Bank claims to be the most efficient bank in North America. Forbes named it the “best managed bank” for both 2007and 2008. They attempt to eliminate overhead by providing the majority of their products online. They then return these savings to the customer in the form of lower fees and higher savings rates.
• First Heritage Federal Credit Union: Painted Post, NY. Money market account yielding up to 2.02% APY depending on the minimum balance you maintain. If you have a balance of between $2,500 and $49,999 you will earn an APY of 1.51%, if you maintain a balance of atl east $50,000 you will earn the advertised 2.02% APY. Like most credit unions, this one is a little tricky to join. First Heritage serves the following community field of membership: Persons who live, work, worship or attend school in the three county community, comprised of Steuben and Chemung Counties, New York and Tioga County, Pennsylvania, as well as their immediate family members, and also including businesses and other legal entities located in the proposed community.

Both of the above institutions are federally insured by either the FDIC or NCUA. If you live in New York and know of a better money market account rate, please share by leaving a comment.

Legacy Bank’s 40 month CD rate: 3.50% APY

We just got tipped off on a sweet bank CD (certificate of deposit) rate offered through Legacy Bank, which serves the state of New York and Massachusetts. This promotional product comes in the form of a 40 month deposit and is yielding 3.50% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $1,000. To put this offer in perspective, the national average for 5 year CD’s sits at roughly 2.80% APY.

Thanks to BankVibe reader Bonnie for tipping us off!

After digging through Legacy Bank’s CD rate page we found a few noteworthy offers. They have a 4 month CD yielding 1.50% APY, a 36 month CD yielding 3.0% APY and a 60 month CD yielding 3.75% APY. All of these CDs come with a minimum deposit of only $1,000.

Because Legacy Bank is a community bank (serving Massachusetts and New York for roughly 120 years) you will most likely need to reside near a physical branch, or atleast be able to stop into one, to open this account.

Branch Locations:

New York: Albany, Greenville, Oak Hill, Latham, Middleburgh, Windham and Whitehall

Massachusetts: Pittsville, Haydenville, Lenox, Lee, Great Barrington and Otis

Contact them at: (800) 292-6634

You may also want to compare this rate with other CD rates in New York and CD rates in Massachusetts.

Best 6 month CD rate found at a New York credit union

Thanks to BankVibe reader Stephanie for submitting what seems to be the highest yielding 6 month CD rate around. Unfortunately only a lucky few can actually take advantage of this product.

SeaComm Federal Credit Union out of New York is the one offering the lucrative rate. And as of today, their six month CD yields an interest rate of 2.82% APY. This currently smashes the national average by more than twice the rate (national average hovers around 1.30% APY).

They also have a number of other noteworthy savings products. They have a 1 year CD which is yielding almost the same (2.85% APY) and a two year CD which is yielding 3.03% APY. Both of those rates significantly beat the current national average.

Who can Join? (The Lucky Few!)

You are eligible to join SeaComm if you live, work, worship or attend school anywhere in St. Lawrence County or in the following municipalities of Franklin County: Bangor, Bellmont, Bombay, Brandon, Burke, Chateaugay, Constable, Dickinson, Duane, Fort Covington, Malone, Moira, St. Regis Reservation, Waverly and Westville. If you have extended family which meat this criteria you may be able to sneak in as well. I would contact a rep directly though for specifics on family member eligibility.

Residents in the state of New York have a decent list of high yielding CD rates to choose from. A few weeks back we mentioned the top 3 CD rates in New York and found that there are several local institutions offering very competitive rates.

Best certificate of deposit rates in New York

Below are the top 3 CD rates available to residents in New York (including all of New York City). The highest yielding certificate of deposit rates come in the form of 24 month CD’s, 36 month CD’s, and 60 month CD’s. As you are probably already aware of, the highest rates generally come from the longer maturities (ie a 12 month CD is going to yield a lower rate than a 5 year CD). Therefor, the rates I listed are those that beat the national average by the highest margin for their given duration.

As I mentioned with New Hampshire’s CD rates and Connecticut’s CD rates, it seems that rates offered by local institutions in the northeast are less competitive than those offered by large national banks. However, some of the local banking institutions serving the residents of New York are offering some phenomenal rates. If you reside in the northeast and know of a competitive rate offered by your local bank or credit union please share by leaving a comment!

Top 3 CD Rates (New York)

(clicking on the institution name will bring you to their rates page)

SeaComm Federal Credit Union: 24 month CD yielding 3.03% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. You may want to take a look at the article titled, SeaComm’s CD rates, in which I discussed the possibility that the rates listed on their website may be inaccurate. They were last updated in January of 2008 and are pretty lucrative when compared to the national average. SeaComm Federal CU has 15 branches throughout New York. Their products may be available nationwide if you are willing to stop by a local branch to fill out an application.

Massena Savings and Loan: 36 month CD yielding 3.18% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. On March, 24th, 1924, an organization certificate of the Massena Savings & Loan Association was submitted to the New York State Banking Department. The application was signed by twenty-eight business men with a total subscription value of $47,400. On May 21, 1924 the State of New York Banking Department approved the Certificate of Organization of the Massena Savings & Loan Association. Messena Savings and Loan is a member of the FDIC, the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, America’s Community Bankers, and The Community Bankers Association of New York.

Hudson River Community Credit Union: 60 month CD yielding 3.75% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $500. Hudson River Community Credit Union (HRCCU) was founded in 1954 by the employees of International Paper Company in Corinth, New York as IPCO Federal Credit Union. Today, Hudson River Community Credit Union is a state-chartered community credit union. That is, anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or a business or legal entity, such as churches, associations, etc., located within Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Rensselaer counties or the Towns of Cohoes, Watervliet or Green Island are eligible to join.

SeaComm Federal Credit Union’s certificate of deposit rates

Well I’m not sure what to make of SeaComm Federal Credit Union’s CD rates. (Thanks to BankVibe reader Sean for forwarding me their rates page, but I am a bit skeptical)

First, the rates advertised on their website are phenomenal. However, I am not sure how much stock I would hold in these being accurate. Why? Apparently they haven’t updated their savings rates page in over a year and a half (since January of 2008 to be exact) and anyone who is in or has been in the market for bank deposits knows that rates vary on a very regular basis.

Here are some of the best CD rates SeaComm Federal CU has listed…

• A 12 month CD yielding 2.85% APY
• A 2 year CD yielding 3.03% APY
• A 3 year CD yielding 3.13% APY
• A 5 year CD yielding 3.49% APY

All of these products are available with a $1000 minimum deposit.

How to Join SeaComm? (as seen on their website)

On February 4, 2000, The National Credit Union Administration granted SeaComm Federal Credit Union approval to provide financial services to all of St. Lawrence County and fifteen municipalities in northern Franklin County. Now all residents and businesses in these areas will have access to membership benefits such as competitive savings rates, low-interest loans and a diverse package of affordable financial services.

They go on to state that all you need to do is drop by one of their 15 locations, fill out an application, and deposit $5 into a “Regular Share Savings Account,” then you may take advantage of all their bank has to offer.

…So you may not need to reside in the counties listed above so long as you are able to stop by to open an account.

If you have any experience with this credit union or can attest to their advertised rates being accurate please share by leaving a comment.

Melrose Credit Union’s CD rates

Thanks to BankVibe reader FarmerFrank for revisiting the phenomenal CD rates still being offered through Melrose Credit Union out of New York. Although this credit union is headquartered in the Bronx, it still offers it’s superb CD (certificate of deposit) products to customers nationwide.

Last month we looked at Melrose Credit Unions 12 month CD rate (3.03% APY!). This month I wanted to post all of their available CD rates since they are considerably higher than the current national average.

Melrose Credit Unions Current CD Rates

(as seen on their rates page)