This week, we recognize Community First Bank of Butler, MO for their 2.78% APY 60-month CD.
I'm a day late getting the weekly rate deal up, thanks to a turkey coma. Hopefully everyone had a good Thanksgiving.
It's holiday season and cash will be pouring out of your wallet, so why not find a way to earn a bit more. This week, we recognize Community First Bank of Butler, MO for their 2.78% APY 60-month CD. The average 5-year CD rate according to BestCashCow is 1.57% APY. The minimum balance to receive this rate is $1,000. In addition, the bank also offers a 48-month CD that pays 2.25% APY, far above the national 5-year average.
Community First Bank is a small community bank with five branches south of Kansas City. The bank has a Texas Ratio of 28.62% versus the national average of 21.06%. Assets have grown from $108 million to $150 million in the last five years.
If you don't live near a Community First Bank branch, look for the highest CD rates from banks and credit unions in your local area. BestCashCow has the Internet's largest database of bank rate information.
Check back next Monday for a new bank deal. Email any deals you know about to ratedeal (at) bestcashcow.com. Feel free to also share them below. If you're a bank and have a great deal not listed on BestCashCow, register for access and add the deal to the site.
Cyber Monday is sure to bring some fantastic deals, but it can also bring out some cyber criminals as well. Here are some tips for safe shopping, so you can protect yourself, your bank account, and your credit while doing your holiday shopping.
There are sure to be fantastic deals all over the internet on Cyber Monday, and many people will be taking advantage of the opportunities to be had. USA Today reports that Black Friday 2011 broke sales records and gave a much-needed boost to the economy. Cyber Monday is anticipated to follow suit; last year, Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day of the year. This is great news for consumers and merchants, but don’t let it be great news for cyber criminals who want to take advantage of the surge in online buying. Here are some ways you can protect yourself online.
First and foremost, use a good credit card for online shopping so you can have peace of mind for fraud protection. Some debit cards have fraud protection as well—some even give a similar level of protection as credit cards—but consumer protection varies on debit cards since lawmakers categorize debit cards differently than credit cards. Additionally, when there’s fraud on your debit card, there’s essentially fraud on your checking account.
Ideally, you should only spend on a credit card what you can afford to pay off when the bill comes. Alternatively, if it may be a few months before you can pay off your holiday shopping bill, chose a card with the lowest APR possible. If you have excellent credit, the Capital One Platinum Prestige Credit Card may be a good choice for you since it has 0% APR until February 2013 and $0 Fraud Liability protection. There’s no annual fee for this card, but after February 2013, you will be charged a 10.9% - 18.9% variable APR.
After you’ve armed yourself with the protection of a good credit card, you should make sure you’re only shopping on a secured connection (like at home or at work). Open WiFi connections at your local coffee shop do not qualify, since anyone with a WiFi scanner could access all of the information you’re transmitting while shopping. You also should never email personal financial information, including credit card numbers, since email is an unsecured medium. Legitimate online retails should never ask you to email credit card or bank account information.
Additionally, you shouldn’t save credit card information on your mobile phone, tempting as it may be. Not only do you have to worry about your card information being compromised if you lose your phone or have it stolen, other mobile applications on your phone may be able to access the card information as well—even if you haven’t directly given them permission.
If you take the proper precautions, Cyber Monday (and online shopping in general) can safely provide shoppers with significant savings—which you can then use to boost your investment accounts.
ING Direct is back with their annual Black Friday sales event. As part of this event, ING offerering over $250 in bonuses to consumers who open certain accounts.
ING Direct is back with their annual Black Friday sales event. As part of this event, ING offerering over $250 in bonuses to consumers who open certain accounts. This year, the bonuses are as follows:
$107 Electric Orange account opening bonus
Open Electric Orange November 25th - 27th and make a total of 5 purchases (either signature or PIN-based) using your Electric Orange Card or Person2Person Payments (or any combination of the two) within 45 days.
Your $107 bonus will be automatically deposited into your account on day 50.
Bonus only available for new Electric Orange checking. Only one bonus will be provided per household.
$27 Kids Savings Account opening bonus
Open a Kids Savings Account November 25th - 27th and receive a $27 bonus into your new account. Only available when you open a new account with at least one new Customer (either you or the kiddo must be a new Customer to ING DIRECT).
$27 bonus starts earning interest upon account opening, and is available for withdrawal after 30 days.
There's no minimum deposit amount required. 0.90% Variable Annual Percentage Yield effective as of 10/21/2011.
$32 MONEY account opening bonus
Open MONEY November 25th - 27th and make 1 Card transaction (either signature, PIN-based or with PayPassTM) using your MONEY Card within 30 days and you'll receive a $32 bonus into your new account. (Keep in mind, the teen gets the Card.)
Your $32 bonus will be automatically deposited into your account on day 35.
There's no minimum deposit amount required. 0.25% Variable Annual Percentage Yield effective as of 7/13/2011.
$100 401K Roll Over
Roll over your 401K with a Sharebuilder IRA and get $100.
Roll over or transfer in a qualified retirement account of at least $5,000 before 12/31/11 and you’ll receive a $100 bonus by January 16, 2012. Transfers from ING DIRECT, fsb and affiliates do not qualify. The bonus will count towards your 2012 contribution limit and will be reported on your Form 5498.
These bonuses last 3 days from Friday , Nov 25, 12:01am ET - Sunday, Nov 27, 11:59pm ET.
