Best Bank Rates

Temecula Valley Bank is having a New Year CD Special with a 5.00% APY CD. Terms are 6 and 12 months. Minimum deposit is $10,000. Funds must be new to the bank. The offer is available until 1/31/2008.

Branches are located in the California cities of Temecula, Murrieta, Corona, Carlsbad, El Cajon, Escondido, Fallbrook, Rancho Bernardo, San Marcos, Solana Beach and Ontario. Bankrate.com’s review gives this bank a 4/5 star rating.

WTDirect is now offering a highly competitive 4.90% APY on their high yield online savings account. The minimum balance required for this rate is $10,000; any balances from $1-$10,000 will earn 4.90% APY for the first 60 days. If your balance is lower than $10,000 after the first 60 days, the interest rate drops to a low 0.60% APY. The high yield savings account includes:

• No minimum balance fees or online transfer fees
• No hard credit pull when opening your account
• 6 free transfers are available per month
• Allowed an unlimited amount of linked external accounts

If you’re worried about how safe your money is, Bankrate.com has given WT Direct a review of 4/5, which is a safe and sound rating. For more information, call their customer service hotline at 1-800-WTDIRECT or visit their savings account website here.

Bank of America currently has a a special 4 month CD with a 4.85% APY rate. Minimum deposit on this CD is $5,000, maximum is $500,000. This isn’t the best certificate of deposit rate available, but if you already have a bank account with BofA it might make sense to keep your money in this CD for convenience.

Washington Mutual has a great deal on their high yield 5.0% APY savings account/checking combo.  Here are some of the features:

The WaMu Free Checking account has:

• 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.
• 3 ¢ cash back on debit card purchases, up to $250 per year
• Free ID Theft Service
• Option of free check return or free check safekeeping
• Free account access at more than 3,750 Washington Mutual ATMs nationwide
• Free 24/7 Telephone Banking
• Free Account Alerts keep you up to date on the status of your account (when registered for Online Banking)
• Free enrollment in the WaMoola for Schools® program—an easy way to benefit your favorite school with your debit card purchases (customers may choose between the Gold Debit MasterCard® with Rewards program or the WaMoola for Schools® program but cannot enroll in both)

The Statement Savings account (exclusive to the Online Free Checking!) has:

• A competitive 5.00% APY on all balances (rate only available online and with the online checking account only; .25% APY otherwise)
• No minimum balance requirements, open with $1
• Instant transfer to/from the Free Checking

Visit Washington Mutual’s signup page for more information.

Umbrellabank.com has adjusted it’s 90 day intro promotional rate from 5.83% APY to 5.35% APY. However, this rate only applies for the first 2 months, and after 2 months your rate will drop to anywhere from 4.16% to 4.64% depending on your balance.

• Low minimum malance of $1001Online Statements
• Check your balance or review your account activity 24 hours a day (up to 12 months of history)
• 2 FREE Direct Deposit
• FREE Recurring ACH transfers from your Checking Account
• ATM Card Issued upon request
• Limited to 6 Non-ATM transactions per month3
• Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly

Umbrella Bank is FDIC insured.

In the world of low risk investing, money market accounts are a great way for you to earn more than your average savings account while at the same time maintaining more liquidity than certificate of deposits. Here are some of the benefits of money market accounts (MMAs):

• MMAs are liquid
• Check writing and money transfer privileges (often have minimum requirements, limitations and fees)
• MMAs are available at most banks or credit unions
• Deposits may be insured up to $100,000 by the FDIC for non-retirement accounts
• Minimum balance required, may be higher than a savings account requires
• MMAs will earn about twice the interest of a savings account
• Some online banks institutions ofter high-yield MMAs which offer better rates higher risk

Many money market accounts can be linked directly to your other accounts, allowing for easy transfer in and out.

Lehman Brothers Bank FSB currently has some competitive CD rates available. The best CD yield currently available is 5.50% APY for a 60 month term. The minimum deposit on all certificates is $1,000. Lehman Brothers Bank also has IRA CDs available.

Here are some of the terms and conditions:

• Interest will be credited to the account or paid out quarterly
• Early withdrawal penalty is 180 days of interest on the amount withdrawn for terms of over one year
• Grace period when you can make penalty free withdrawal after maturity is 7 calendar days

Lehman Brothers Bank is FDIC insured. Bankrate.com’s review gives it a 3/5 star rating.

Indymac bank currently has some of the best certificate of deposit rates available on 5 and 6 month certificates. Indymac also has a 5.45% APY rate on their 1 year maturity term certificate. Here are some of the features and requirements:

• Minimum to open is $5,000 (Internet Only).
• Terms are from 90 days to 5 years.
• For customized terms, other than those listed above, please call our Customer Contact Center.
• Interest is compounded daily and paid or reinvested into the account monthly or at maturity. The interest rate depends on the term of the CD.
• A penalty will be assessed for early withdrawal.
• For your convenience, your CD renews automatically for the same term at the current rate at that time.