Highest Interest Rates

Eloan.com currently has high interest rates available on their savings and certificate of deposits. Their savings account yields 5.25% APY, and is a great way to maintain liquidity while earning a high yield on your money. They also have some of the highest CD rates available, with a 5.55% APY on their 3 month CD. Minimum deposit for all CDs is $10,000; there is no minimum for the savings account.

Eloan is FDIC insured.

Wells Fargo is currently offering a 4.90% APY CD rate on their 5 month certificates of deposit. As a whole, Wells Fargo CD rates are not really the highest rates available, as many other online banks offer higher rates. However, with the recent credit problems and many banks facing loan defaults, one might sleep better at night with a safe bank such as Wells Fargo or Bank of America. Minimum deposit required for this rate is $5,000. The CD rate table is available at the Wells Fargo website.

UmbrellaBank recently introduced the Green Day Savings account, which features a 5.83% 90-Day intro rate (which equals an annual percentage yield of 6%).

For those who are looking for a place for their funds after the FNBO Direct 6% offer ends, this may not be it. UmbrellaBank is listing this as a limited time offer and based on the last promotion they ran, it may not be offered for long. However, people who have not yet grabbed FNBO Direct’s promotion may want to take this offer to get a full 90 days of 6% apy.

After the promo rate ends, the yields sink to rather unimpressive levels when compared to other online savings accounts. Balances up to $25,000 earn 4.68% annual percentage yield (apy), $25,000 to $74,000 earn 4.87% apy, and $75,000 and over earn 5.06% apy.

If you plan on taking this promo offer now and jumping ship after it ends, beware of UmbrellaBank’s early closing fees which is $30 if closed within 90 days of opening.

Features on the Green Day Savings account include::

• $100 initial minimum deposit
• A service fee of $7.00 will be imposed if the balance in the account falls below the $100 minimum at any time during the monthly statement cycle.
• Online Statements
• Free Direct Deposit
• Free Recurring ACH transfers from your checking account
• ATM card issued upon request
• Limited to 6 non-ATM transactions per month.
• If the account exceeds six transfers in a statement cycle, a fee of $2.50 will be imposed per transfer
• Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly
• Account history can be downloaded into Quicken® or Microsoft® Money
• No hard credit pull when opening the account

Washington Mutual has one of the best bank deals available: a combination of their free checking and their new 3.30% APY savings account allows you to combine the convenience of local branches and ATMs with the high interest rate yield and online transfers of online banking.

WaMu Free Checking:

• No minimum balance or direct deposit requirements, open with $1
• Free basic checks for life
• No ATM fees on their end
• One free overdraft per year
• Free outgoing wire transfers.

The Statement Savings account has:

• A competitive 3.30% APY on all balances (rate only available online)
• No minimum balance requirements, open with $1
• Instant transfer to/from the Free Checking

If you already have a checking account with Washington Mutual, you will have to open a new checking account to take advantage of this bank deal. You can just go ahead and close your old one.

Overall, while this isn’t necessarily the highest interest rate available, the account’s lack of fees and relative convenience if you already bank with WaMu helps make this a great bank deal. You can deposit checks directly into the 3.30% APY savings account at an ATM, maximizing interest. From there you can move money into the checking account instantly online as you need it, with a limit of 6 transfers a month. In addition, you can access your account at any of Washington Mutual’s large network of ATMs.

In addition, Washington Mutual offers free online fund transfers that allows you to link your account to external accounts using a routing number and account number. A soft credit pull is done when you sign up for the account, allowing you to avoid the ding from a hard credit pull. For more information, visit Washington Mutual’s savings account signup page.

The new internet bank iGObanking.com recently launched a no-minimum 5.30% APY online savings account. It looks very similar to the typical no-minimum savings account that’s offered by EmigrantDirect, HSBC Direct and ING Direct. With an APY of 5.30%, it’s now the highest rate for a savings account that has neither a minimum for opening or a minimum balance.

iGobanking.com is a division of Flushing Savings Bank, FSB so deposits are FDIC insurd. Bankrate.com’s review gives it a 4/5 star rating.

Rate increases by multiple banks on Friday June 15 could signal the start of an upward trend as banks compete with higher Treasury note yields.

Savers who want to lock in high CD rates may get their chance. This past week, the 10-year Treasury note yield moved up over the 5% mark and banks have responded with rate increases of their own.

On Friday June 15, Countrywide Bank, EverBank, GMAC Bank, IndyMac Bank, and Intervest National Bank all raised rates on certificates of deposit. Earlier in the week, Advanta Bank, NetBank, and UFB Direct raised CD rates as well.

The highlight of all these rate increases is Countrywide Bank’s 5.50% annual percentage yield (apy) on the 18-Month CD. The 5.50% yield was just recently offered as a special at Countrywide’s Florida offices only. Now that it is a nationally available rate, other banks may feel the pressure to boost yields on their own CD accounts.

The 5.50% yield is in itself a newsworthy event. In 2006, we had a pick of CD yields available nationally that paid 5.75% apy and higher. But in 2007, 5.50% apy had been virtually a local-only deal. The top yields on nationally available certificates of deposit have been hovering between 5.20% apy and 5.45% apy for the last few months.

Those yields created little incentive for savers to choose CDs over savings accounts that paid anywhere between 5.05% apy and 6.00% apy and offered access to the cash at anytime. (HSBC Direct offered a promotion 6.00% apy on new money earlier this year and FNBO Direct is currently offering a 6.00% apy promotion.)

But the yield trend may be shifting – at least a little bit.

Right now there is no reason to expect to see certificates earning 5.75% or the big enchilada – 6.00% - but we are only a few basis point away from 5.50% apy on CD terms of 6 months to 5 years. That’s a completely realistic level to reach within the next few weeks.

How much higher rates will go may depend mainly on actions (or whispers) by the Federal Reserve. What can be predicted with some level of certainty is that big rate drops on CDs are unlikely to happen for the remainder of the year. The general consensus has changed from expecting a cut in the Fed Funds Rate this year to a possible cut next year.

That should be enough time to see rates float upwards to more enticing levels on certificates of deposit.