Savings Account & MMA Rates
CD (Certificate of Deposit) RatesFlushing Savings Bank in New York has caught our eye with oldest gimmick in the book — free gifts for opening an account.
To qualify, you must buy a certificate of deposit from its iGObanking online bank, through a special GiftsforBanking.com Web site.
The best choices are 24-month CD at 1.90% APY or a 60-month CD at 3.15% APY, which are close enough to the best nationally available rates to be worth considering.
You then get to select your gift based on the size and term of your deposit.
It’s the best giveaway we’ve seen since Irwin National Bank gave away HDTVs last summer.
For a 24-month CD and the minimum $5,000 deposit, you can choose a cordless phone system, George Foreman Jumbo indoor grill or 38 other items worth something less than $100.
Commit $10,000 and the 37 choices include stuff like a Nikon CoolPix digital camera that retails for close to $200.
Use that same $10,000 to buy a 60-month CD and you can get an Oreck XL Tower Air Purifier that goes for about $650.
For $50,000 you can choose a Superb by Broilmaster grill that retails for about $1,100.
With a $100,000 deposit some of the gifts you can get include a Bowflex Home Gym that retails for about $2,200, a Baume & Mercier woman’s Riviera watch, priced at $1,700, a Human Touch Robotic Massage chair that goes for $1,900, or a choice of three cruises.
You can preview all the gifts available at all levels.
Here’s the most generous way to think about this.
If you add the value of the gift to the interest you’d earn with the 24-month CD at the $5,000 level, the effective interest rate would be something like 3% — which is more than the best 2-year CDs are paying right now.
Just be aware that bailing early on these CDs will cost you six months worth of interest and the price of the gift.
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