CD Discussion Thread

Bread financial (formerly Comenity Direct) Savings CD rates increased again: 1-year CD at 3.00% APY; 2-year CD at 3.50% APY; 3-year CD at 3.55% APY – $1.5k min/$1m max deposit per account.

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Posted with a nod of thanks, and a tip of my cap, to Ken Tumin.

Personally I want nothing whatsoever to do with Fintechs. But, as is always the case on this thread, you may decide the matter for yourselves and reach a different conclusion:

From Ken himself:

It is important to be aware that non-bank companies are never FDIC insured. Even if they partner with insured banks, money you send to a non-bank company is not FDIC insured unless, and until, the company deposits it in an insured bank.

FDIC insurance protects you only in the unlikely event the insured bank fails, and does not protect you against losses due to the non-bank company’s bankruptcy or failure to meet its obligations to its customers. A non-bank’s company failure or bankruptcy may result in delays in accessing your money, even when your money was deposited in a bank for your benefit.

At the very least, it’s probably a good idea to avoid depositing money at a non-bank company that you may need immediate access to. That’s especially the case if you can’t access the account via a routing and account number.

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Word on the street is the EFCU Financial five year jumbo CD rate will be 4% APY starting tomorrow. You can check their CD interest rates here, both now and tomorrow as well:

EFCU CD rates

Note anyone may join this Louisiana credit union. If the jumbo CD rate pops to 4% tomorrow I doubt the deal will last very long.

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Apologize couple of errors in my earlier post regarding EFCU, just above:

First, here is the correct link to their rate sheet, effective now:

Corrected link to EFCU rate sheet

Second:

As you can see there, the deal is better than I had reported in advance yesterday.

You can get a 4% APY five year CD with just $500.

If you have jumbo CD money, they will pay you 4.1% APY for the five years.

IRA CD rates are even higher.

Big shock: they are swamped. Good luck if you try for this deal.

ETA

As a convenience for participants on this thread, here is a link to the EFCU Share Certificate page:

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Are you going for this deal?

Hi, goldendog

I am not in at this time . . . for the best of reasons:

I have no money to invest right now without paying an EWP that I’m unwilling to shell out.

If I had money I probably would try to invest at least some of it. A 4% APY interest rate is something of a trigger point for me, with 4.1% APY being even better.

I am not recommending the EFCU CD, but neither am I saying “nay”. This is because I’m unable to predict interest rates going forward. This is a matter, as always, which each participant here must decide for herself or for himself.

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Thanks shinobi for the information about this new account. I decided to fill out the online application.

I’m expecting some new funds any day and 4% sounds pretty fair. Don’t know when or if approval will occur. Opening ACH of $50. They stated a 5 day hold of anything over $50.

We will see if this one will be worthwhile. :blush:

CIT Bank is offering an 11 month NPCD paying 2% APY.

These are liquid funds in CD form. The 2% APY is locked in for 11 months, a feature you might not find on other liquid accounts these days.

You need $1000 to get this NPCD going:

Link to deal

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Bank5Connect is offering a 24 month add on CD paying 3.20%. Funds can continue to be added anytime during the 24 months. Minimum opening balance is $500. May be worthwhile to some as an insurance policy if something significant changes and rates start to go down instead of up. Another nice feature is the funds are insured beyond FDIC limits since the bank is located in Massachusetts and has DIF insurance.

Link for details on 24 month CD: Bank5 Connect - Add-On CD | 3.30% APY on a 24-Month Add-On CD | Bank5 Connect

Link for more info on DIF insurance: Bank5 Connect - 100% Deposit Insurance | Beyond FDIC Coverage | Bank5 Connect

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Thanks, zzz. You are the man!

Heckuva deal

Unlike inferior NFCU add on CD, your Bank5Connect deal has no cap!

Cheap insurance for a cost of just $500.

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A two year treasury bill is 3.25%. It is State and local tax free. You can buy as little as $1000 and it can be sold if needed on the extremely efficient treasury bond market.

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The attractive part is that it is an add-on CD.

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Can you have more than 1 of the Bank24 CDs? I’d like to keep my option to get one later open.

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FYI only - If you apply and want to use the $500 max of credit card funding, do not attempt to open another account at that time. I tried to open a savings at the same time with $10 minimum and the CD with a $500 minimum, so I abandoned the first application and applied again only opening the CD for the $500 CC funding. Successful that way; not sure if there is another opportunity to fund other accounts using a credit card once you are already a customer, but would love to learn that there is a way. The minimum spend on my Alaska Biz CC would be oh so appreciative. :wink:

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Helpful post. Thanks

My own thought was to open the add-on CD via CC for the allowed $500. When/if that goes through, snail mail them a $10 (or whatever) check to open the savings.

I fully agree one must have the savings account.

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That is an attractive interest rate and the state and local tax avoidance are good things. But the key to zzz’s deal is

Treasury bills offer no such add-on feature at a guaranteed interest rate.

zzz’s deal is an inexpensive insurance policy. If at the end of the two years you never have used the policy, they return your $500 premium money along with 3.2% APY interest on that money. Such a deal!

Could zzz’s deal be better?

Sure, if the term of the add-on CD were longer.

But it’s still a great deal for only $500.

ETA

Comparing zzz’s Bank5Connect add-on CD deal with the benchmark current NFCU add-on CD deal:

NFCU caps their deal at $100,000. Admittedly the NFCU deal is a bit longer at 33 months vs. 24 months at Bank5Connect. And longer is better.

But the low cap at NFCU will sour their deal for some participants here. Also the $1000 cost of entry at NFCU is double that same cost at Bank5Connect.

While I have a preference for zzz’s deal, the NFCU deal is attractive, too. For those able to join NFCU, or if you’re already a member, there is no reason not to bite on BOTH deals!!

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Applying a second time didn’t work for me. I’m ashamed I didn’t follow your instructions, as online application refused saying “too many tries”.

So application 3rd try allowed ACH transfer. Haven’t received a response, just an e-mail acceptance of application.

I may not get into Bank5Connect.

Sorry to hear it; I had some trepidation when I followed my own path. For the CD, I received member # and account numbers, but not online access so far. It may have helped that I applied during business hours, and I may try that for the savings account.

if you add on money, do they extend the term? If not it would have some interesting characteristics of a savings account as you get closer to the end of the term.

Coincidentally, my GTE 3.3% 5yr add-on CD has exactly two years remaining… :wink:

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