Share Plus Federal Bank Offering 2% APY 12-Month CD - Available Nationally

Sol,

According to pearlbrown, a member poster at depositaccounts.com

It looks like the bank is trying to cope with the unexpected volume while they reallocate other associates to help in this area. At this point they are asking for the caller's name and callback number, so someone can call them back. Since they are not even requesting address information in this initial call, I wouldn't expect the account will be opened anytime soon.

The bank will indeed mail a signature card to you, although it would be faster if someone visited a local branch. Aside from the branch in Plano, there is one at Frito-Lay HQ in Plano, and one in Dallas. There are also branches at certain locations in Irvine, CA and Louisville KY.

The account will not be opened until the signature card is received.

There is indeed a maximum of one CD and $25K for this CD - if you do not have an existing relationship with the bank. If, however, you open a checking account with direct deposit or maintain a minimum of $1K balance at all times in the checking account for the life of the CD, then you can fund the CD up to $50K.

There are a couple of checking account options: the free checking account pays no interest, the Power+ checking pays minimal interest. With the free checking account option, you must accept E-statements or you will be charged $3/month. You must have activity (deposit or withdrawal) in the checking account at least once every 6 months, or it becomes dormant.

The bank does a ChexSystems inquiry.

Thanks to pearlbrown for the above information.

Thanks for the extra info Shorebreak!

Sol,

Apparently this promotion is not available nationally.

Re: paoli2 - #5, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 - 1:12 PM

Posters: I just got off the phone with the Branch Manager of my local Share Plus who opened our CD today. She said the Special is only good where there are local Share Plus branches. They cannot be done in the mail for people in other states. They also do not have branches in most states at this time.

http://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/2013/05/cd-special-with-a-top-rate-at-shareplus-federal-bank.html

Okay. I guess they have changed their tune now that they have received a bunch of calls from out of area. I specifically asked them if they would open out-of-state accounts at the time and they said yes. I had a feeling that would change once the calls started coming in.

I called and spoke to a woman named Michelle at the bank to follow up. She told me that pandemonium hit the bank once we posted the news on BestCashCow and that they could not handle the volume of calls they received. It totally swamped their capability to keep up. I did call beforehand and received information that it was a national offer so I don't think they fully realized the ramifications of opening it up beyond their local area.

That's a good piece of advice to smaller banks. If you offer a very attractive rate, and open it up nationally, be prepared to be deluged. You will get deposit money.

I called Share Plus today about getting another 2% CD and they said the special ended today. I will call them tomorrow to see what their new rates are.

@Britelite - Any update?

I just got off of the phone with my local Share Plus. It's not good news, at least for my interests. She said the new Promo is basically the same as the other one except the rate is now 1.5% for 1 to 5 year CDs.

Guess I need to check further now.

People: Need to explain what is going on with Share Plus. Their webpage shows the 5 yr CD as 1.59/1.60% so I called the rep back. It seems she failed to mention that the 1.5% is for 1 - 4 year CDs and 5 yr CDs are as is on the webpage. Maybe they will update their website so we can all see the correct info.