Connecticut residents can take advantage of two long-term CD rates that pay well more than the best nationally available deals.

With a $500 minimum deposit, Eastern Federal Bank pays:

• 2.15% APY on 60-month CDs.
• 2.30% APY on 72-month CDs.

Click here to read more

We all know CD rates have been terrible, and getting worse, for years.

But now a former congressman suggests it could become a presidential campaign issue.

Writing this week on Politico, a political news website, Texas Democrat Martin Frost says senior citizens, President Obama’s “weakest demographic in 2008,” could skew even more Republican, in part, because of low interest rates.

“I recall how seniors would come to my congressional town hall meetings to complain about the decline in their standard of living the last time interest rates were low. I was surprised,” Frost wrote. “I had thought the public would be happy with lower interest rates, since it makes it easier to finance a house or a car. But seniors instead gave me an earful about how lower interest rates just aren’t good for everyone.

“Obama cannot ignore these concerns, and he must have some answers ready….”

Click here to read more

Barclays, the big British bank that began offering U.S. online deposit accounts this spring, has just boosted all of its CD rates.

The rate hikes make all of the terms it offers more competitive, and, in one case, gives Barclays a share of the lead on our CD Rates Leaderboard.

On 24-month CDs, it now offers 1.25% APY with no minimum deposit.

That’s good enough to tie the deal offered by CIT Bank, the online consumer bank of CIT Group Inc., which offers financing to small businesses and middle-market companies. Click here to read more

Texas’ Chocolate Bayou Federal Credit Union has sweet 60-month CD rates for its 17,500 members.

It pays 2.07% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit.

With our recent 60-month leader change, the Chocolate Bayou offer beats the top nationally available deal on our CD Rates Leaderboard by just over a quarter of a percentage point. Click here to read more

I’m always amazed how little Wall Street ever learns from the past.

That goes for its regulators and media followers, too.

Take JPMorgan Chase.

The bank lost $2 billion (and stands to lose more) on bad bets on “credit derivatives.”

You’d have thought that, after the Fed and Treasury had to rescue us from these toxic instruments in 2008, caution would be in order.

Apparently not for Chase. Click here to read more

A credit union that caters to the students and faculty of Stanford University also offers top 5-year CD rates to savers nationwide — if you open a checking account.

Stanford Federal Credit Union pays 2.05% APY on its 60-month CDs with a $1,000 minimum deposit.

That’s about a quarter of a percentage point better than the top-paying bank deal on our CD Rates Leaderboard. Click here to read more

Yesterday, we told you about Acacia Federal Savings Bank’s top 6-month CD rates. This online bank also has a competitive checking account that pays 1.00% APY to savers nationwide.

The Metro Checking account pays a bit less than top rewards checking accounts, but it doesn’t have nearly the restrictions or balance limitations that you’ll find at places like Consumers Credit Union, which pays 4.09% APY on balances up to $10,000 with requirements like a minimum of 12 monthly debit card transactions. Click here to read more

We haven’t seen nationally available 6-month CD rates this high in seven months.

For this bit of good news, we can thank Acacia Federal Savings Bank, which now owns the top 6-month deal on our CD Rates Leaderboard.

The online bank owned by Acacia Life Insurance Co. today increased its 6-month CD rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.00% APY.

That’s nearly two-tenths of a percentage point better than its closest competitor. Click here to read more

We’ve been writing all year about the top CD rates at Keysource Commercial Bank, but we’ve failed to mention the competitive savings rates this one-branch, North Carolina bank also offers.

It pays 1.00% APY on its Blue Savings Account, which is available to savers in all 50 states.

To open an account, you must deposit at least $100 in person or $5,000 online. You’ll pay no monthly fee if you keep your minimum daily balance above $300. Click here to read more