Banks for You!

The Waterbury Connecticut Teacher Federal Credit Union has a high interest checking account offering that gives as much as 5.01% APY for balances through $30,000. The special program called A+ Checking Account also gives 1.01% APY for portions of the deposits over $30K. The base rate for this best reward checking account is 0.05%. ATM fees are also refunded by as much $25 every cycle.

The best interest rate for the checking account can be enjoyed as long as the monthly requirements are met:

Checking account holder must make at least 10 purchases through the Visa Check Card
Set up an auto payment, direct deposit, or use the online system for paying bills
Choose to receive electronic statements

The credit union requires a minimum funding of $5 to open the account. They do not impose any balance requirements nor do they collect any monthly service fees.

The membership to the Waterbury Connecticut Teachers FCU is open for parochial school employees and to the locals of certain localities of Connecticut. You may want to check their membership page to see the details of how you can sign up.

The credit union has offices in Danbury and Middlebury in Connecticut.

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When it comes to Ally CD rates, there are no minimum deposits, no monthly fees, no minimum balances. Because Ally Bank is an online bank, it costs less for them to operate. Due to this, they are able to pass the savings on to their customers in the form of higher rates.

Ally Bank has the High Yield CD where you get maximum savings with their highest fixed CD rate. The 3 months CD has an interest rate of 1.09% with an APY of 1.10%. The 6 months CD and the 9 months CD both have an interest rate of 1.44% with an APY of 1.45%. The 12 months CD has an interest rate of 1.93% with an APY of 1.95%. The 18 months CD has an interest rate of 1.92% with an APY of 1.94%. The 2 years CD has an interest rate of 2.18% with an APY of 2.20%. The 3 years CD has an interest rate of 2.52% with an APY of 2.55%. The 4 years CD has an interest rate of 2.71% with an APY of 2.75%. The 5 years CD has an interest rate of 3.05% with an APY of 3.10%.

You can still benefit from a fixed CD rate with Ally’s No Penalty CD. This is another CD option that allows you to withdraw your entire balance including all interest earned without early withdrawal fees, in case you need your money before maturity. There is only one CD rate for this which is the 9 months CD. T

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Everbank is offering a 3 month promotional rate of 2.51% on their money market and checking accounts. The rate applies for up to $50,000 on their Yield Pledge Money Market Account and up to $100,000 on their FreeNet Checking Account. This promotion is only available to people who have never opened these accounts, and you are allowed to take advantage of both deals if you’ve never opened these accounts with Everbank.

The current ongoing rate after the promotional rate is 1.51% APY on the money market account. The checking account rates are tiered after the promo rate ends. You get 1.51% APY for balances over $100,000, 1.45% APY on balances from $50,000 to $100,000, and the rates below $50,000 are all under 1%.

The FreeNet Checking Account doesn’t come with monthly fees unless you activate online billpay and your balances falls below $5,000. The money market account does have a $8.95 fee if your balance falls below $5,000 so you want to make sure you have over $5,000 if you’re going to open the money market account with them.

The money market account comes with check writing abilities with a limit of 3 checks per month in accordance with federal regulations. The c

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Pinnacle Bank of Nebraska recently launched their online banking arm called BankOn . The new internet bank invites offers consumers a high interest savings account with an interest rate of 2.05% APY. This money in the bank deal does not impose any minimum deposit

The high yield savings account is not offered nationwide. When you access the online application, it states that BankOn accepts savings deposit from residents of Wyoming, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado.

To enjoy the high interest rate with this savings account, the bank also requires you to open a checking account and money market account with them. The $50 bonus will be paid within 10 days after opening the savings account. BankOn limits one account per household.

The promo page does not state any hard inquiry required for opening an account. When we called the bank the customer service representative is not sure if the bank will do a hard credit pull. There is also no mention about any ACH transfer capabilities.

The high interest earning savings account does not require any minimum balance after opening. There are no monthly fees collected. This account can be funded using a debit card, credit card, or your U.S. checking account.

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Now that we have validation that the economy is growing again — as evidenced by the first look at third quarter GDP — is it time for the Fed to start reeling in the lines of liquidity? Expect a whole lot more debate about that, inside and outside the halls of the Federal Reserve, surrounding the Nov. 3 to 4 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.

The Fed has begun to test the unwinding of some of its other liquidity programs already, but the real significance to consumers revolves around expectations for eventual rate hikes and the Fed’s support of the mortgage market.

The Fed’s mortgage purchases will taper off through the end of 2010′s first quarter after having extended the timeframe by an extra three months, but not increasing the amount of the buybacks. But the mortgage market remains almost entirely dependent upon government support of one form or another — the Fed buying mortgage-backed debt to keep rates low and government owned entities Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA guaranteeing mortgages against default.

With the Fed having purchased 80 percent of all mortgage debt issued this year, just how much will it be able to slow the pace in the next five months without a surge in mortgage rates resulting?

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