Banking — Page 20 — Better Finance Info

Plaid Data Privacy $58M Class Action Settlement (Venmo, Robinhood, Chime, SoFi, Coinbase, Etc)

Posted on March 9, 2022 // 2 Comments

Many online banking, stock trading, crypto, and fintech apps use the Plaid service to provide easy funding via your existing bank accounts. The price of this convenience is that you are providing some very sensitive data to a small, private company. They have your bank login information and can see all your transaction data. (Visa was in an agreement to acquire Plaid for over $5 billion, but it was cancelled to due antitrust concerns.) A recent Plaid class action lawsuit alleges the following improper actions:

The allegations include that Plaid: (1) obtained more financial data than was needed by a user’s app, and (2) obtained log-in credentials (username and password) through its user interface, known as “Plaid Link,” which had the look and feel of the user’s own bank account login screen, when users were actually providing their login credentials directly to Plaid. Plaid denies these allegations and any wrongdoing and maintains that it adequately disclosed and maintained transparency about its practices to consumers.

(You may have gotten an e-mail about this as early as mid-January. Thanks to those who sent it in as well. I still managed to forget about it until writing a post about firewall bank accounts to avoid such data privacy concerns.)

If you connected your financial account(s) to a mobile or web-based app that has used Plaid between January 1, 2013 and November 19, 2021 in the United States, you may be eligible for a payment from this class action Settlement. This might include Venmo, Robinhood, Chime, SoFi, Coinbase, OnJuno, Lili, M1 Finance, or Blockfi just off the top of my head. I don’t have any special insights about the merits of this lawsuit, but the proposed settlement amount is for $58 million with the payout per claim being unknown. The settlement also requires Plaid to:

Delete certain data from Plaid systems;
Inform Class Members of their ability to use Plaid Portal to manage the connections made between their financial accounts and chosen applications using Plaid and delete data stored in Plaid’s systems;
Continue to include certain disclosures and features in Plaid’s standard Link flow;
Enhance disclosures about Plaid’s data collection practices, how Plaid uses data, and privacy controls Plaid has made available to uses in Plaid’s End User Privacy Policy;
Minimize the data that Plaid stores; and
Continue to host a dedicated webpage with detailed information about Plaid’s security practices.

The deadline to submit a claim is April 28, 2022.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – March 2022 Update

Posted on March 7, 2022 // 4 Comments

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of March 2022, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. I look for lesser-known opportunities available to individuals while still keeping your principal FDIC-insured or equivalent. I use this information for both my cash reserves and as possible bond substitutes. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you’d earn by moving money between accounts. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 3/7/2022.

Significant changes since last month: Pretty quiet. 7.12% Savings I Bonds still available if you haven’t done it yet. Treasury rates around the 1 and 2 year terms are rising, as with CD rates overall. In general, there still doesn’t seem to be much upside to locking in any length of CD at somewhere around 1% APY when there are so many short-term options nearly as good (or better). I like keeping my options open while waiting to see how much rates rise in 2022.

4% APY on $2,000/$6,000. Current offers 4% APY on up to $2,000 on each of their “savings pods”. Free users get 1 savings pod, while premium users get 3 savings pods. Potential promos include $50 bonus and “Premium free for life”. Please see my Current app review for details.
3% APY on up to $100,000, but requires direct deposit and credit card spend. HM Bradley pay 3% APY if you open both a checking and credit card with them, and maintain $1,500 in total direct deposit each month and make $100 in credit card purchases each month. Please see my updated HM Bradley review for details.
3% APY on 10% of direct deposits + 1% APY on $25,000. One Finance lets you earn 3% APY on “auto-save” deposits (up to 10% of your direct deposit, up to $1,000 per month). Separately, they also pay 1% APY on up to another $25,000 with direct deposit. New customer $50 bonus via referral. See my One Finance review.
3% APY on up to $15,000, requires direct deposit and credit card transactions. Porte requires a one-time direct deposit of $1,000+ to open a savings account. Porte then requires $3,000 in direct deposits and 15 debit card purchases per quarter (average $1,000 direct deposit and 5 debit purchases per month) to receive 3% APY on up to $15,000. New customer bonus via referral. See my Porte review.
1.20% APY on up to $50,000. You must maintain a $500 direct deposit each month for this balance cap, otherwise you’ll still earn 1.20% on up to $5,000. They also pay 4% on USDC stablecoin, but I avoid this as it is not FDIC-insured (and you can get higher rates elsewhere if you did want to hold USDC.) New customer $50 bonus via referral. See my OnJuno review.
1.00% APY on up to $50,000 per account. SoFi is now offering 1% APY on the first $50k each of their checking, savings, and Vault accounts ($150k total possible). You must maintain a direct deposit each month of any amount. Convenient if you already have a relationship with them. $25 new Sofi Money account bonus. See my roundup of current SoFi bonuses.

High-yield savings accounts
Since the huge megabanks pay essentially no interest, I think every should have a separate, no-fee online savings account to accompany your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

T-Mobile Money is still at 1.00% APY with no minimum balance requirements. The main focus is on the 4% APY on your first $3,000 of balances as a qualifying T-mobile customer plus other hoops, but the lesser-known fact is that the 1% APY is available for everyone. Thanks to the readers who helped me understand this. Unfortunately, some readers have reported their applications being denied.
AdelFi (formerly ECCU) is offering new members 1.01% APY on up to $25,000 when you bundle a High-Yield Money Market Account & Basic Checking. (Existing members can get 0.75% APY.) To join this credit union, you must attest to their statement of faith.
There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY. Marcus by Goldman Sachs is on that list, and if you open a new account with a Marcus referral link (that’s mine), they will give you and the referrer a 1.00% APY for your first 3 months (a 0.50% boost). You can then extend this by referring others.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (plan to buy a house soon, just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. CFG Bank has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 0.70% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.50% APY for all balance tiers. Marcus has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 0.65% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
Comenity Direct has a 1-year CD at 1.00% APY ($1,500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 180 days of interest.

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs
Many brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). Unfortunately, money market fund rates are very low across the board right now. Ultra-short bond funds are another possible alternative, but they are NOT FDIC-insured and may experience short-term losses at times. These numbers are just for reference, not a recommendation.

The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.01%.
Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 0.97% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 1.07% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so your principal may vary a little bit.
The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 0.85% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 0.86% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes. Right now, this section isn’t very interesting as T-Bills are yielding close to zero!

You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 3/7/2022, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.17% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 1.05% annualized interest.
The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a 0.05% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a -0.05% (!) SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit for electronic I bonds is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov. You can also buy an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds using your tax refund with IRS Form 8888.

“I Bonds” bought between November 2021 and April 2022 will earn a 7.12% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
In mid-April 2022, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Prepaid Cards with Attached Savings Accounts
A small subset of prepaid debit cards have an “attached” FDIC-insured savings account with exceptionally high interest rates. The negatives are that balances are severely capped, and there are many fees that you must be careful to avoid (lest they eat up your interest). There is a long list of previous offers that have already disappeared with little notice. I don’t personally recommend nor use any of these anymore, as I feel the work required and risk of messing up exceeds any small potential benefit.

Mango Money pays 6% APY on up to $2,500, if you manage to jump through several hoops. Requirements include $1,500+ in “signature” purchases and a minimum balance of $25.00 at the end of the month.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, a certain number of ACH/direct deposits, and/or a certain number of logins per month. If you make a mistake (or they judge that you did) you risk earning zero interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

Lafayette Federal Credit Union is offering 2.02% APY on balances up to $25,000 with a $500 minimum monthly direct deposit to their checking account. No debit transaction requirement. They are also offering new members a $100 bonus with certain requirements. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
Quontic Bank is offering 1.01% APY on balances up to $150,000. May be useful for those with high balances. You need to make 10 debit card point of sale transactions of $10 or more per statement cycle required to earn this rate.
The Bank of Denver pays 2.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each, receive only online statements, and make at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. If you meet those qualifications, you can also link a Kasasa savings account that pays 1.00% APY on up to $25k. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
Presidential Bank pays 2.25% APY on balances between $500 and up to $25,000, if you maintain a $500+ direct deposit and at least 7 electronic withdrawals per month (ATM, POS, ACH and Billpay counts).
Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union pays 3.30% APY on up to $20,000. You’ll need at least 15 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Lake Michigan Credit Union pays 3.00% APY on up to $15,000. You’ll need at least 10 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

NASA Federal Credit Union has a special 49-month Share Certificate at 1.70% APY ($10,000 min of new funds). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. They also have a 15-month special at 1.05% APY and 9-month at 0.80% APY.
Anyone can join this credit union by joining the National Space Society (free). However, NASA FCU will perform a hard credit check as part of new member application.
KS StateBank has a 5-year CD at 1.90% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 18 months of interest.
You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year CD at 2.00% APY. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CD at 2.40% APY vs. 1.77% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity.
How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently 0.10%). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. But if holding for 20 years isn’t an issue, it can also serve as a hedge against prolonged deflation during that time. Purchase limit is $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number. As of 3/7/2022, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 2.29%.

All rates were checked as of 3/7/2022.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – February 2022 Update

Posted on February 6, 2022 // 5 Comments

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of January 2022, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. I look for lesser-known opportunities earning more than most “high-yield” savings accounts and money market funds while still keeping your principal FDIC-insured or equivalent. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you’d earn by moving money between accounts. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 2/6/2022.

Significant changes since last month: 7.12% Savings I Bonds still a good idea if you haven’t done it yet, $100 Marcus new deposit bonus is a good deal (details), HM Bradley 3% APY requirements relaxed a bit, new LFCU 2% APY account opening review. In general, there doesn’t seem to be much upside to locking in a 5-year CD at 1.50% when there are so many short-term options nearly as good (or better) while waiting to see how much rates rise in 2022.

4% APY on $2,000/$6,000. Current offers 4% APY on up to $2,000 on each of their “savings pods”. Free users get 1 savings pod, while premium users get 3 savings pods. Potential promos include $50 bonus and “Premium free for life”. Please see my Current app review for details.
3% APY on up to $100,000, but requires direct deposit and credit card spend. HM Bradley pay 3% APY if you open both a checking and credit card with them, and maintain $1,500 in total direct deposit each month and $100 in credit card purchases each month. Please see my updated HM Bradley review for details.
3% APY on 10% of direct deposits + 1% APY on $25,000. One Finance lets you earn 3% APY on “auto-save” deposits (up to 10% of your direct deposit, up to $1,000 per month). Separately, they also pay 1% APY on up to another $25,000 with direct deposit. New customer $50 bonus via referral. See my One Finance review.
3% APY on up to $15,000, requires direct deposit and credit card transactions. Porte requires a one-time direct deposit of $1,000+ to open a savings account. Porte then requires $3,000 in direct deposits and 15 debit card purchases per quarter (average $1,000 direct deposit and 5 debit purchases per month) to receive 3% APY on up to $15,000. New customer bonus via referral. See my Porte review.
1.20% APY on up to $50,000. You must maintain a $500 direct deposit each month for this balance cap, otherwise you’ll still earn 1.20% on up to $5,000. They also pay 4% on USDC stablecoin, but I avoid this as it is not FDIC-insured (and you can get higher rates elsewhere if you did want to hold USDC.) New customer $50 bonus via referral. See my OnJuno review.

T-Mobile Money is still at 1.00% APY with no minimum balance requirements. The main focus is on the 4% APY on your first $3,000 of balances as a qualifying T-mobile customer plus other hoops, but the lesser-known fact is that the 1% APY is available for everyone. Thanks to the readers who helped me understand this. Unfortunately, some readers have reported their applications being denied.
Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) is offering new members 1.01% APY on up to $25,000 when you bundle a High-Yield Money Market Account & Basic Checking. (Existing members can get 0.75% APY.) To join this credit union, you must attest to their statement of faith.
There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY. Marcus by Goldman Sachs is on that list, and if you open a new account with a Marcus referral link (that’s mine), they will give you and the referrer a 1.00% APY for your first 3 months (a 0.50% boost). You can then extend this by referring others to the same offer. They are also offering a $100 new deposit bonus if you move over $10,000 in new money.

No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. CFG Bank has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 0.62% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.50% APY for all balance tiers. Marcus has a 7-month No Penalty CD at 0.45% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
Poppy Bank has a 1-year CD at 1.00% APY ($1,000 min). According to DepositAccounts, early withdrawal penalty is 90 days of interest.

The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.01%.
Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 0.68% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 0.78% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so your principal may vary a little bit.
The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 0.60% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 0.64% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 2/4/2022, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.05% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.88% annualized interest.
The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a -0.02% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a -0.09% (!) SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

“I Bonds” bought between November 2021 and April 2022 will earn a 7.12% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
In mid-April 2022, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Mango Money pays 6% APY on up to $2,500, if you manage to jump through several hoops. Requirements include $1,500+ in “signature” purchases and a minimum balance of $25.00 at the end of the month.

Lafayette Federal Credit Union is offering 2.02% APY on balances up to $25,000 with a $500 minimum monthly direct deposit to their checking account. No debit transaction requirement. They are also offering new members a $100 bonus with certain requirements. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
Quontic Bank is offering 1.01% APY on balances up to $150,000. May be useful for those with high balances. You need to make 10 debit card point of sale transactions of $10 or more per statement cycle required to earn this rate.
The Bank of Denver pays 2.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each, receive only online statements, and make at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. If you meet those qualifications, you can also link a Kasasa savings account that pays 1.00% APY on up to $25k. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
Presidential Bank pays 2.25% APY on balances between $500 and up to $25,000, if you maintain a $500+ direct deposit and at least 7 electronic withdrawals per month (ATM, POS, ACH and Billpay counts).
Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union pays 3.30% APY on up to $20,000. You’ll need at least 15 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Lake Michigan Credit Union pays 3.00% APY on up to $15,000. You’ll need at least 10 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

NASA Federal Credit Union has a special 49-month Share Certificate at 1.70% APY ($10,000 min of new funds). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. They also have a 15-month special at 1.05% APY and 9-month at 0.80% APY.
Anyone can join this credit union by joining the National Space Society (free). However, NASA FCU will perform a hard credit check as part of new member application.
American Heritage Credit Union has a 5-year CD at 1.50% APY ($1,000 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 12 months of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization (free).
You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year CD at 1.70% APY. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CD at 2.10% APY vs. 1.87% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity.
How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently 0.10%). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. But if holding for 20 years isn’t an issue, it can also serve as a hedge against prolonged deflation during that time. Purchase limit is $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number. As of 2/4/2022, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 2.29%.

All rates were checked as of 2/6/2022.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

Lafayette Federal Credit Union Review: 2.02% APY on $25,000, $100 Bonus

Posted on February 1, 2022 // 48 Comments

Update: $100 bonus is expired. Wanted to report that I am had a bad experience with LFCU after being locked out of my account for over a week. Phone hold times were very long, I got routed to a service that promised to call me back, and then never called me back. E-mails also went unreturned. Maybe it’s just me.

Original post, may be outdated:

Lafayette Federal Credit Union (LFCU) has a respectable history of offering competitively-priced banking products. I recently joined and here is a quick review of their current promotions and the application process. Highlights:

2.02% APY Checking account on up to $25,000 balance (details below).
$100 bonus for new members (details below)
Competitive CD rates: 7-month at 0.70% APY, 3-year at 1.01% APY, 5-year at 1.26% APY

Membership eligibility. You can view your membership eligibility options here, including working/living in the Washington, DC area. Anyone nationwide can join LFCU by joining the Home Ownership Financial Literacy Council (HOFLC) for a one-time $10 fee.

Account opening process. I went to the HOFLC.org website and paid my $10 to join. (I hope to spend more time exploring their resources later.) I had to attach a screenshot of my membership approval e-mail as part of my LFCU application. The LFCU application was finished completely online. I also had to upload a photo scan of my drivers license. My application was approved after a couple of days.

During the application, I was able to charge my initial opening deposit up to $750. This was classified as a purchase on my credit card (worth $15 at 2% cash back). Note that you must keep $50 that is “untouchable” in your Share Savings account as long as you are a member, which is a bit higher than that of other credit unions (usually around $10 to $25).

I applied through this $100 bonus page which includes promo code DD2022. (Update: I honestly can’t remember where I entered the code. You can however secure online message them directly through the membership application portal and confirm that you are signed up for this promotion. I received such a confirmation message promptly.) I must open a checking account and set up a $500+ direct deposit, and I can’t close the account within the first 6 months. Details:

Members who open a checking account and initiate a qualified direct deposit to Lafayette Federal Credit Union will receive a $50 deposit to their savings account. An additional $50 will be awarded after first direct deposit which must be deposited no later than 45 days after account opening. Cannot be combined with any other new member offers. Qualified direct deposit is a recurring direct deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security or other periodic payment of at least $500 into a checking account on a month-to-month basis made by an outside organization or agency. Must be eligible for membership. If account is closed within first 6 months, initial $50 promotional deposit will be deducted from account.

The first $50 showed up quickly:

Checking account 2.02% APY details. With the Checking account, they have “2% for ’22” promotion which pays 2.02% APY with a qualified monthly direct deposit of $500 or more on balances up to $25,000. The checking account otherwise has no minimum balance requirements or monthly maintenance fees.

To earn the 2.02% APY3 bonus rate, member must maintain at least one (1) qualified direct deposit of at least $500 per month. 2Qualified direct deposit is a recurring direct deposit of a paycheck, pension, or Social Security periodic payment of at least $500 into a checking account on a month-to-month basis made by an outside organization or agency.

If I keep $25,000 in there at 2% APY, that’s $500 of interest over a year. That’s also $275 more than it would earn in a 0.5% APY savings account. You can use that metric to judge if it is worth your additional efforts. That rough calculation also assumes both those rates stay constant over the next year.

So far, LFCU has been pleasant to work with and my questions were answered quickly and courteously. I hope that they continue to be aggressive in their banking products.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – January 2022 Update

Posted on January 9, 2022 // 5 Comments

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of January 2022, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Significant changes since last month: 7.12% Savings I Bonds annual purchase limit reset for 2022, new 2% APY LFCU checking, few other minor rate changes. I plan on buying I Bonds in late January. You could choose to wait until mid-April to see the next rate, but you’d likely be earning less interest in the meantime.

I look for lesser-known opportunities earning more than most “high-yield” savings accounts and money market funds while still keeping your principal FDIC-insured or equivalent. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you’d earn by moving money between accounts. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 1/9/2022.

3% APY on up to $100,000, but more hoops coming next month. The top rate will be 3% APY for January 2022 (source), but 1% APY starting February 2022 unless you have their credit card and satisfy both a spending and direct deposit requirement. Please see my updated HM Bradley review for details. I’m sticking with them as already have the credit card, but the only real upside for new customers is that they will remove the waitlist in February 2022.
3% APY on 10% of direct deposits + 1% APY on $25,000. One Finance lets you earn 3% APY on “auto-save” deposits (up to 10% of your direct deposit, up to $1,000 per month). Separately, they also pay 1% APY on up to another $25,000 with direct deposit. New customer $50 bonus via referral. See my One Finance review.
3% APY on up to $15,000. Porte requires a one-time direct deposit of $1,000+ to open a savings account. Starting January 2022, Porte requires $3,000 in direct deposits and 15 debit card purchases per quarter (average $1,000 direct deposit and 5 debit purchases per month) to receive 3% APY on up to $15,000. New customer $100 bonus via referral. See my Porte review.
1.20% APY on up to $50,000. You must maintain a $500 direct deposit each month for this balance cap, otherwise you’ll still earn 1.20% on up to $5,000. New customer $50 bonus via referral. See my OnJuno review.

T-Mobile Money is still at 1.00% APY with no minimum balance requirements. The main focus is on the 4% APY on your first $3,000 of balances as a qualifying T-mobile customer plus other hoops, but the lesser-known fact is that the 1% APY is available for everyone. Thanks to the readers who helped me understand this. Unfortunately, some readers have reported their applications being denied.
Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) is offering new members 1.01% APY on up to $25,000 when you bundle a High-Yield Money Market Account & Basic Checking. (Existing members can get 0.75% APY.) To join this credit union, you must attest to their statement of faith.
There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY. Marcus by Goldman Sachs is on that list, and if you open a new account with a Marcus referral link (that’s mine), they will give you and the referrer a 1.00% APY for your first 3 months (a 0.50% boost). You can then extend this by referring others to the same offer.

No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. CFG Bank has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 0.62% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.50% APY for all balance tiers. Marcus has a 7-month No Penalty CD at 0.45% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
Poppy Bank has a 1-year CD at 1.00% APY ($1,000 min). According to DepositAccounts, early withdrawal penalty is 90 days of interest.

The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.01%.
Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 0.55% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 0.65% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so your principal may vary a little bit.
The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 0.44% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 0.56% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 1/7/2022, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.05% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.42% annualized interest.
The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a -0.06% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a -0.09% (!) SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

“I Bonds” bought between November 2021 and April 2022 will earn a 7.12% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
In mid-April 2022, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Mango Money pays 6% APY on up to $2,500, if you manage to jump through several hoops. Requirements include $1,500+ in “signature” purchases and a minimum balance of $25.00 at the end of the month.

Lafayette Federal Credit Union is offering 2.02% APY on balances up to $25,000 with a $500 minimum monthly direct deposit to their checking account. They are also offering new members a $100 bonus with certain requirements. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
Quontic Bank is offering 1.01% APY on balances up to $150,000. This is best for people who have high balances, as the rate is not as high as other rewards checking accounts. You need to make 10 debit card point of sale transactions of $10 or more per statement cycle required to earn this rate.
The Bank of Denver pays 2.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each, receive only online statements, and make at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. If you meet those qualifications, you can also link a Kasasa savings account that pays 1.00% APY on up to $25k. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
Presidential Bank pays 2.25% APY on balances between $500 and up to $25,000, if you maintain a $500+ direct deposit and at least 7 electronic withdrawals per month (ATM, POS, ACH and Billpay counts).
Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union pays 3.30% APY on up to $20,000. You’ll need at least 15 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Lake Michigan Credit Union pays 3.00% APY on up to $15,000. You’ll need at least 10 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

NASA Federal Credit Union has a special 49-month Share Certificate at 1.70% APY ($10,000 min of new funds). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. They also have a 15-month special at 1.05% APY and 9-month at 0.80% APY.
Anyone can join this credit union by joining the National Space Society (free). However, NASA FCU will perform a hard credit check as part of new member application.
Lafayette Federal Credit Union has a 5-year CD at 1.26% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 6 months of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year CD at 1.60% APY. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CD at 2.00% APY vs. 1.69% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity.
How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently 0.10%). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. But if holding for 20 years isn’t an issue, it can also serve as a hedge against prolonged deflation during that time. Purchase limit is $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number. As of 1/7/2022, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 2.15%.

All rates were checked as of 1/9/2022.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

$6,000 IRA Contribution Goal 2021 Final Results:: $5,592 in Bonuses, $2500+ in Extra Interest

Posted on December 30, 2021 // 14 Comments

2021 end-of-year update. I have an informal goal each year of earning the equivalent of the maximum annual IRA contribution limit of $6,000 using the profits from various promotions alone. If you had put $6,000 into your IRA every year for the last 10 years (2011-2020) and invested in a simple Target Date retirement fund, you would have turned small deals into a $100,000+ nest egg.

Example. I was recently approved for the new Capital One Venture X card, and I was hoping the $1,000+ value would put me over the $6,000 threshold. I’m very confident that I’ll get at least $1,000 out of this card, as (1) we have multiple upcoming trips planned, (2) are renewing Global Entry for $100, and (2) this is the rare card that lets us gain lounge access for a family of 5. Each cardholder is free plus 2 guests, but additional cardholders are free 😉. I will offset $1,000 in travel expenses I would have incurred anyway, and invest it instead.

The ground rules: Real-world results for one person only. As following with Better Finance Info tradition, this will track my personal, real-world results. It would be quite easy to list a bunch of random promotions that add up to $6,000, but these will be promotions that I personally sign up for and complete the requirements (even though I’ve already opened so many bank accounts, credit cards, and brokerage accounts over the years). I will track my individual results only, although my partner does also participate on a more selective basis. I quickly ran through all posts in the Deals and Offers category, Top 10 credit cards list, and brokerage bonus list:

2021 bonuses and promotions

Marcus $100 bonus (expired)
Buy $100 Apple GC, get $10 Target GC (expired)
Bank of America Business Customized Cash Rewards $500 (live)
Slide App $20 (live)
PFS US Mint March $300 (expired)
Sam Adams Beer $7 (expired)
PFS US Mint May $290 (expired)
All of US Brokerage $25 (expired)
TradeUp 5 Free Stocks $15 (live)
AmEx Shop Small $10 (expired)
PFS US Mint July $300 (expired)
PFS US Mint August #1 $155 (expired)
PFS US Mint August #2 $150 (expired)
PFS US Mint August #3 $60 (expired)
PFS US Mint September $100 (expired)
AmEx Everyday Credit Card $300 value 40,000 MR points to upgrade from Everyday (no annual fee) to Preferred ($95 annual fee). No new account or credit check.
Monifi banking app $250 (live)
Albert banking app $75 Bonus (live)
Chase Sapphire Preferred card 100k ($1,250 value) (currently 60k/$750)
Buy $100 Apple GC, Get $10 Amazon credit (expired)
Lili Bank App $100 + $90 Drop (partially live)
Amazon Pay with Points Promos $50 (Chase, Citi, AmEx, Discover) (live)
Spiral Banking App $250 (live)
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card $1000+ value (live)
Target: 10% Off Gift Cards ($50 off $500) (expired)
Fidelity Investments $100 Bonus, both new and existing (expired)
Till Financial Kid Banking app $25 bonus (live)

Total from one-time bonuses: $5,592

For 2021, I made it 93% of the way to $6,000 annual IRA contribution limit from one-time bonuses alone. Not bad. In general, this is based on the human tendency to not like change. Most people open a bank account at age 18 and never switch again. Companies have to offer you money to incentivize you to switch your bank or credit cards.

This ignores higher bank interest or ongoing credit card purchase rewards like 2% back on all credit purchases and 5% cash back on specific categories. I did multiple US Mint coin deals this year, but also much fewer credit card applications than in a normal year. My wife and I were thinking of trying to get dual Southwest Companion passes, but we decided not to go for it yet.

Bank interest accounts. With a simple direct deposit change, I earned between 3% and 3.5% APY on $100,000 at HM Bradley for all of 2021, FDIC-insured and with no interest rate risk. (I have the HM Bradley credit card as well.) This is money that could have sat 0.01% at BofA/Chase/Wells Fargo or in a Fidelity/Vanguard/Schwab cash sweep account, or 0.50% at a “high yield” savings account. Deals will come and deals will go, that’s just part of the game, but the fact is that it helped me earn an extra $2,500 this year.

If you follow my monthly best interest rate updates, you know that US Savings bonds are paying 7.12% interest currently. If you maxed out in 2021, you can buy more in January 2022. I view this is a legitimate form of “profit”, but the value is dependent on the size your cash/bond holdings. Thus, I’ve kept it separate.

Total from higher bank interest: $2,500

I don’t like to waste my time either, so I attempt to curate and include the ones that offer a good return based on the time commitment required. I avoid things that involve driving to store where things may or may not be “in stock”. The deals that I post usually last at least a few days, but it’s a bit like value investing where you have to be ready to take advantage of an opening when it shows up, because they won’t last forever. I’m sure that 2022 will offer its own share of opportunities.

Total for 2021: $8,092

Filed Under: Banking, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – December 2021 Update

Posted on December 5, 2021 // 4 Comments

via GIPHY

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of December 2021, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Significant changes since last month: Not much… NASA FCU has updated their CD specials, and I finished buying up to the individual limits on the 7% Savings I Bonds for both of us. T-Bills, money market funds, and ETFs are still a pass.

Fintech accounts
Available only to individual investors, fintech companies often pay higher-than-market rates in order to achieve fast short-term growth (often using venture capital). “Fintech” is usually a software layer on top of a partner bank’s FDIC insurance. Read about the types of due diligences you should do whenever opening a new bank account.

3% APY on up to $100,000. The top rate is still 3% APY for October through December 2021 (can be 3.5% APY with their credit card), and they have not indicated any upcoming rate drop. HM Bradley requires a recurring direct deposit every month and a savings rate of at least 20%. Due to high demand, you must currently use a referral link to join. If you have any available to share (you only get 3), thanks to those who have dropped theirs in the comments of my HM Bradley review.
3% APY on 10% of direct deposits + 1% APY on $25,000. One Finance lets you earn 3% APY on “auto-save” deposits (up to 10% of your direct deposit, up to $1,000 per month). Separately, they also pay 1% APY on up to another $25,000 with direct deposit. New customer $50 bonus via referral. See my One Finance review.
3% APY on up to $15,000. Porte requires a one-time direct deposit of $1,000+ to open a savings account. New customer $50 bonus via referral. Important note: Porte is adding additional restrictions including minimum monthly transactions in January 2022. See my Porte review.
1.20% APY on up to $50,000. You must maintain a $500 direct deposit each month for this balance cap, otherwise you’ll still earn 1.20% on up to $5,000. See my OnJuno review.

T-Mobile Money is still at 1.00% APY with no minimum balance requirements. The main focus is on the 4% APY on your first $3,000 of balances as a qualifying T-mobile customer plus other hoops, but the lesser-known fact is that the 1% APY is available for everyone. Thanks to the readers who helped me understand this. Unfortunately, some readers have reported their applications being denied.
Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) is offering new members 1.01% APY on up to $25,000 when you bundle a High-Yield Money Market Account & Basic Checking. (Existing members can get 0.75% APY.) To join this credit union, you must attest to their statement of faith.
There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY. Marcus by Goldman Sachs is on that list, and if you open a new account with a Marcus referral link (that’s mine), they will give you and the referrer a 1.00% APY for your first 3 months (a 0.50% boost). You can then extend this by referring others to the same offer.

No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. CFG Bank has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 0.62% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.50% APY for all balance tiers. Marcus has a 7-month No Penalty CD at 0.45% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
Lafayette Federal Credit Union has a 1-year CD at 0.80% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 6 months of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).

The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.01%.
Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 0.45% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 0.55% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so your principal may vary a little bit.
The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 0.35% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 0.44% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 12/3/2021, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.04% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.25% annualized interest.
The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a -0.07% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a -0.09% (!) SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

“I Bonds” bought between November 2021 and April 2022 will earn a 7.12% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. We have both bought up to the individual limits for 2021. Details here.
In mid-April 2022, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Mango Money pays 6% APY on up to $2,500, if you manage to jump through several hoops. Requirements include $1,500+ in “signature” purchases and a minimum balance of $25.00 at the end of the month.

Quontic Bank is offering 1.01% APY on balances up to $150,000. This is best for people who have high balances, as the rate is not as high as other rewards checking accounts. You need to make 10 debit card point of sale transactions of $10 or more per statement cycle required to earn this rate.
The Bank of Denver pays 2.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each, receive only online statements, and make at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. The rate recently dropped. If you meet those qualifications, you can also link a Kasasa savings account that pays 1.00% APY on up to $25k. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
Presidential Bank pays 2.25% APY on balances between $500 and up to $25,000, if you maintain a $500+ direct deposit and at least 7 electronic withdrawals per month (ATM, POS, ACH and Billpay counts).
Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union pays 3.30% APY on up to $20,000. You’ll need at least 15 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Lake Michigan Credit Union pays 3.00% APY on up to $15,000. You’ll need at least 10 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

NASA Federal Credit Union has a special 49-month Share Certificate at 1.70% APY ($10,000 min of new funds). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. They also have a 15-month special at 1.05% APY and 8-month at 0.80% APY.
Anyone can join this credit union by joining the National Space Society (free). However, NASA FCU will perform a hard credit check as part of new member application.
Lafayette Federal Credit Union has a 5-year CD at 1.26% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 6 months of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee). PenFed and other credit unions now offer rates close to 1.25% on a 5-year CD.
You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year CD at 1.25% APY. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CD at 1.80% APY vs. 1.29% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity.
How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently 0.10%). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. But if holding for 20 years isn’t an issue, it can also serve as a hedge against prolonged deflation during that time. Purchase limit is $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number. As of 12/3/2021, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 1.77%.

All rates were checked as of 12/5/2021.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

Bank of America Preferred Rewards: New Tiers for $1M+ Assets

Posted on November 16, 2021 // 8 Comments

If you like maximizing your credit card rewards, you probably know that you can earn a base rewards rate of 2.6% cash back on ALL your credit card purchases and up to 5.2% cash back on the first $2,500 in combined grocery/wholesale club/gas purchases each quarter by combined the right Bank of America credit card with their Preferred Rewards program. The catch is that you have to park at least $100,000 in assets inside qualifying Bank of America deposit and/or Merrill investment accounts. You can avoid any lost interest or management fees by transferring over some existing IRA or brokerage assets to a self-directed Merrill Edge account.

Bank of America recently updated the tiers for their Preferred Rewards program, and thankfully the benefits for the three existing tiers did not change. You can still earn the 75% bonus with $100,000 (Platinum Honors) in qualifying assets and 50% bonus with $50,000 (Platinum) in qualifying assets. Specifically, they track your average daily balance for the trailing three calendar months for qualifying accounts:

Bank of America deposit accounts (including checking, savings, certificate of deposit)
Merrill investment accounts (including brokerage “Cash Management Accounts”, IRAs, 529 Plans)

BofA added two brand-new tiers for those with $1 million+ (Diamond) and $10 million+ (Diamond) in qualifying assets. Here is an edited comparison table that includes the new Diamond and Diamond Honors benefits with the most potential value (mortgage and HELOC interest rate deductions). Of course, I would compare rates to make sure that BofA’s loan rates are initially competitive. Click to enlarge:

In addition, they added new lifestyle benefits to the Diamond and Diamond Honors tiers. These include “access” and “discounts” to travel experiences, luxury merchandise, special events, and concierge-type services. You can also gain Avis Preferred Plus status (Diamond) or Avis President’s Club (Diamond Honors).

My take. I personally don’t see anything special that would encourage me to aspire to Diamond or Diamond Honors status, but you may feel differently. I’m glad that they are keeping the 75% boost for $100,000 in assets, and it has worked as I would not otherwise have much of a “relationship” with BofA. I would not have an active Merrill Edge account, and I wouldn’t have any active BofA credit cards without the boosts.

This “2.6% back on everything” has been my catch-all system for a long time, used whenever I couldn’t earn more while trying out a new credit card promo or 5% bonus category.

(hat tip Doctor of Credit)

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – November 2021 Update

Posted on November 3, 2021 // 3 Comments

via GIPHY

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of November 2021, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. I look for lesser-known opportunities earning more than most “high-yield” savings accounts and money market funds while still keeping your principal FDIC-insured or equivalent. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you’d earn by moving money between accounts. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 11/3/2021.

Fintech accounts
Available only to individual investors, fintech companies often pay higher-than-market rates in order to achieve fast short-term growth (often using venture capital). “Fintech” is usually a software layer using a different bank’s FDIC insurance. These do NOT require a certain number debit card purchases per month. Read about the types of due diligences you should do whenever opening a new bank account.

3% APY on up to $100,000. The top rate is still 3% APY for October through December 2021 (can be 3.5% APY with their credit card), and they have not indicated any upcoming rate drop. HM Bradley requires a recurring direct deposit every month and a savings rate of at least 20%. Due to high demand, you must currently use a referral link to join. If you have any available to share (you get 3), please drop it in the comments of my HM Bradley review.
3% APY on 10% of direct deposits + 1% APY on $25,000. One Finance lets you earn 3% APY on “auto-save” deposits (up to 10% of your direct deposit, up to $1,000 per month). Separately, they also pay 1% APY on up to another $25,000 with direct deposit. New customer $50 bonus via referral. See my One Finance review.
3% APY on up to $15,000. Porte requires a one-time direct deposit of $1,000+ to open a savings account. New customer $50 bonus via referral. Important note: Porte is adding additional restrictions in January 2022. See my Porte review.
1.20% APY on up to $50,000. You must maintain a $500 direct deposit each month for this balance cap, otherwise you’ll still earn 1.20% on up to $5,000. See my OnJuno review.

High-yield savings accounts
While the huge megabanks pay essentially no interest, I think every should have a separate, no-fee online savings account to accompany your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

T-Mobile Money is still at 1.00% APY with no minimum balance requirements. The main focus is on the 4% APY on your first $3,000 of balances as a qualifying T-mobile customer plus other hoops, but the lesser-known fact is that the 1% APY is available for everyone. Thanks to the readers who helped me understand this. Unfortunately, some readers have reported their applications being denied.
Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) is offering new members 1.01% APY on up to $25,000 when you bundle a High-Yield Money Market Account & Basic Checking. (Existing members can get 0.75% APY.) To join this credit union, you must attest to their statement of faith.
There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY. Marcus by Goldman Sachs is on that list, and if you open a new account with a Marcus referral link (that’s mine), they will give you and the referrer a 0.50% boost on top of the current interest rate for 3 months. You can then extend this by referring others to the same offer. Right now, Marcus is paying 0.50% APY, so with the offer you’d get 1.00% APY currently for your first 3 months.

No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. CFG Bank has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 0.62% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.50% APY for all balance tiers. Marcus has a 7-month No Penalty CD at 0.45% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
USALLIANCE Financial Credit Union has a 12-month CD at 0.85% APY ($500 minimum new money) with an early withdrawal penalty of 6 months interest. You must join the credit union first, but anyone can join via American Consumer Council (ACC).

The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.01%. Vanguard Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Fund (formerly Prime Money Market) currently pays 0.01% SEC yield.
Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 0.33% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 0.43% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so your principal may vary a little bit.
The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 0.26% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 0.40% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 11/3/2021, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.05% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.17% annualized interest.
The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a -0.07% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a -0.09% (!) SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

“I Bonds” bought between November 2021 and April 2022 will earn a 7.12% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. Details here.
In mid-April 2022, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Mango Money pays 6% APY on up to $2,500, if you manage to jump through several hoops. Requirements include $1,500+ in “signature” purchases and a minimum balance of $25.00 at the end of the month.

Quontic Bank is offering 1.01% APY on balances up to $150,000. This is best for people who have high balances, as the rate is not as high as other rewards checking accounts. You need to make 10 debit card point of sale transactions of $10 or more per statement cycle required to earn this rate.
(Balance caps will drop as of 11/17/2021) The Bank of Denver pays 2.00% APY on up to $10,000 (down from $25,000 as of 11/17/21) if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each, receive only online statements, and make at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. The rate recently dropped. If you meet those qualifications, you can also link a Kasasa savings account that pays 1.00% APY on up to $25k (down from $50k as of 11/17/21). Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
Presidential Bank pays 2.25% APY on balances up to $25,000, if you maintain a $500+ direct deposit and at least 7 electronic withdrawals per month (ATM, POS, ACH and Billpay counts).
Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union pays 3.30% APY on up to $20,000. You’ll need at least 15 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Lake Michigan Credit Union pays 3.00% APY on up to $15,000. You’ll need at least 10 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Abound Credit Union has a 59-month Share Certificate at 1.35% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest (and only with the consent of the credit union, so be aware). Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
NASA Federal Credit Union has a special 49-month Share Certificate at 1.60% APY ($10,000 min of new funds). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. Anyone can join this credit union by joining the National Space Society (free). However, NASA FCU will perform a hard credit check as part of new member application.
Lafayette Federal Credit Union has a 5-year CD at 1.26% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 6 months of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year CD at 1.15% APY. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CD at 2.00% APY vs. 1.53% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity.
How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently 0.10%). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. But if holding for 20 years isn’t an issue, it can also serve as a hedge against prolonged deflation during that time. Purchase limit is $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number. As of 11/3/2021, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 2.01%.

All rates were checked as of 11/3/2021.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

Savings I Bonds November 2021 Interest Rate: 7.12% Inflation Rate

Posted on November 1, 2021 // 71 Comments

November 2021 rate confirmed at 7.12%. The variable inflation-indexed rate for I bonds bought from November 1, 2021 through April 30th, 2022 will indeed be 7.12% as predicted. Every single I bond will earn this rate eventually for 6 months, depending on the initial purchase month.

The fixed rate (real yield) is also 0% as predicted, but realize that the real yield on a 5-year TIPS right now is about negative 1.7%. There is significant demand for inflation protection right now. See you again in mid-April for the next early prediction for May 2022. Don’t forget that the purchase limits are based on calendar year, if you still wish to max out for 2021.

Original post 10/13/2021:

Savings I Bonds are a unique, low-risk investment backed by the US Treasury that pay out a variable interest rate linked to inflation. With a holding period from 12 months to 30 years, you could own them as an alternative to bank certificates of deposit (they are liquid after 12 months) or bonds in your portfolio.

New inflation numbers were just announced at BLS.gov, which allows us to make an early prediction of the November 2021 savings bond rates a couple of weeks before the official announcement on the 1st. This also allows the opportunity to know exactly what a October 2021 savings bond purchase will yield over the next 12 months, instead of just 6 months. You can then compare this against a November 2021 purchase.

New inflation rate prediction. March 2021 CPI-U was 264.877. September 2021 CPI-U was 274.310, for a semi-annual increase of 3.56%. Using the official formula, the variable component of interest rate for the next 6 month cycle will be 7.12%. You add the fixed and variable rates to get the total interest rate. If you have an older savings bond, your fixed rate may be up to 3.60%.

Tips on purchase and redemption. You can’t redeem until after 12 months of ownership, and any redemptions within 5 years incur an interest penalty of the last 3 months of interest. A simple “trick” with I-Bonds is that if you buy at the end of the month, you’ll still get all the interest for the entire month – same as if you bought it in the beginning of the month. It’s best to give yourself a few business days of buffer time. If you miss the cutoff, your effective purchase date will be bumped into the next month.

Buying in October 2021. If you buy before the end of October, the fixed rate portion of I-Bonds will be 0%. You will be guaranteed a total interest rate of 0.00 + 3.54 = 3.54% for the next 6 months. For the 6 months after that, the total rate will be 0.00 + 7.12 = 7.12%.

Let’s look at a worst-case scenario, where you hold for the minimum of one year and pay the 3-month interest penalty. If you theoretically buy on October 31st, 2021 and sell on October 1st, 2022, you’ll earn a ~3.87% annualized return for an 11-month holding period, for which the interest is also exempt from state income taxes. If you theoretically buy on October 31st, 2021 and sell on January 1, 2023, you’ll earn a ~4.57% annualized return for an 14-month holding period. Comparing with the best interest rates as of October 2021, you can see that this is much higher than a current top savings account rate or 12-month CD.

Buying in November 2021. If you buy in November 2021, you will get 7.12% plus a newly-set fixed rate for the first 6 months. The new fixed rate is officially unknown, but is loosely linked to the real yield of short-term TIPS, and is thus very, very, very likely to be 0%. Every six months after your purchase, your rate will adjust to your fixed rate (set at purchase) plus a variable rate based on inflation.

If you have an existing I-Bond, the rates reset every 6 months depending on your purchase month. Your bond rate = your specific fixed rate (set at purchase) + variable rate (total bond rate has a minimum floor of 0%). So if your fixed rate was 1%, you’ll be earning a 1.00 + 7.12 = 8.12% rate for six months.

Buy now or wait? Given that the current I bond rate is already much higher than the equivalent alternatives, I would personally buy in October to lock in the high rate for the longest possible time. Who knows what will happen on the next reset? Either way, it seems worthwhile to use up the purchase limit for 2021 either in October or November. You are also getting a much better “deal” than with TIPS, as the fixed rate is currently negative with short-term TIPS.

Unique features. I have a separate post on reasons to own Series I Savings Bonds, including inflation protection, tax deferral, exemption from state income taxes, and educational tax benefits.

Over the years, I have accumulated a nice pile of I-Bonds and consider it part of the inflation-linked bond allocation inside my long-term investment portfolio.

Annual purchase limits. The annual purchase limit is now $10,000 in online I-bonds per Social Security Number. For a couple, that’s $20,000 per year. You can only buy online at TreasuryDirect.gov, after making sure you’re okay with their security protocols and user-friendliness. You can also buy an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds using your tax refund with IRS Form 8888. If you have children, you may be able to buy additional savings bonds by using a minor’s Social Security Number.

Note: Opening a TreasuryDirect account can sometimes be a hassle as they may ask for a medallion signature guarantee which requires a visit to a physical bank or credit union and snail mail. Don’t expect to be able to open an account in 5 minutes on your phone.

Bottom line. Savings I bonds are a unique, low-risk investment that are linked to inflation and only available to individual investors. Right now, they promise to pay out a higher fixed rate above inflation than TIPS. You can only purchase them online at TreasuryDirect.gov, with the exception of paper bonds via tax refund. For more background, see the rest of my posts on savings bonds.

[Image: 1950 Savings Bond poster from US Treasury – source]

Filed Under: Banking, Investing, Retirement, Savings Bonds //

BlockFi Promos: 8.75% APY Interest on Stablecoins, BTC Bonus, Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card

Posted on October 27, 2021 // 55 Comments

(Update February 2022: BlockFi now pays 8.75% APY on stablecoin balances up to $20,000 (USDC, GUSD, USDT) and 4.5% APY on up to 0.10 BTC.)

BlockFi is a cryptocurrency platform that both pays high interest on crypto deposits (including stablecoins) and lets you gain liquidity by borrowing cash backed by your cryptocurrency. They also a have a new credit card that pays Bitcoin rewards.

BlockFi Interest Account bonus. Receive up to $250 in bonus Bitcoin for new clients that sign up and fund a new BlockFi Interest Account. Here are the updated bonus tiers:

Deposit $25 to $1,499 Get $15 in BTC.
Deposit $1,500 to $19,999, Get $20 in BTC.
Deposit $20,000 to $39,999, Get $40 in BTC.
Deposit $40,000 to $74,999, Get $75 in BTC.
Deposit $75,000 to $99,999, Get $150 in BTC.
Deposit $100,000+, Get $250 in BTC.

This must be your first deposit, and you must make the qualifying deposits within 30 days of account opening. The required holding period is roughly 3 months. This one is an affiliate offer and you should see the promo code partner250 auto-filled on your application.

BlockFi now supports instant ACH transfers from your bank account. You can start earning interest on your funds or start trading immediately. Note that BlockFi may requires your deposits to stay there for at least 60 days:

BlockFi credits this bank transfer instantly (so you have the ability to trade and earn interest on those funds), however it generally takes 2-3 business days for the funds to be removed from your bank account. We require that you keep enough funds in your bank account to cover any bank transfers we have credited in our platform.

While we do not have a policy to hold these funds for 60 days, if we see certain behaviors such as attempting to withdraw all funds from the platform including value added via bank transfer we may put a hold on the value of the bank transferred funds for up to 60 days.

BIA interest rates. As of 2/2022, the BlockFi Interest Account (BIA) currently pays 4.5% APY on up to 0.1 Bitcoin (BTC) and 8.75% APY on up to $20,000 of USDC/GUSD stablecoins (subject to change on a monthly basis). There are no trade requirements, but when you deposit USD it will be converted to the GUSD (Gemini stablecoin) by default. (You can then use it to buy USDC or something else if you wish.)

Their overall business model is to earn a spread on the difference between lending out money and paying interest.

To earn interest on crypto, we lend assets to highly vetted and audited institutional counterparties. The interest we are able to pay is based on the yield that we are able to generate from lending, which directly correlates to the market demand in the space (I.e. what rate institutions are willing to pay to borrow specific crypto assets, as it varies from asset to asset).

One free crypto withdrawal per calendar month and one free stablecoin withdrawal per month. After that, additional stablecoin withdrawals are $0.25 each.

Earn 0.5% back on recurring crypto purchases. Another current promo is that if you set up recurring purchases of crypto, they will give you 0.5% back in stablecoin. Note that you can’t buy stablecoins, but you can buy other crypto like BTC and ETH.

*Clients who set up qualifying repeat trades during the promotion period (09/30/21 00:00:00 – 10/31/21 23:59:59 UTC) are eligible to get 0.50% back in stablecoin on all qualified trades. Note: stablecoin to stablecoin trades do not qualify.

Qualified repeat trades must be established within the promotion period, and be maintained without cancelling or changing until 11/30/21. Traded value will be tracked as the sum of all qualifying trades executed during the promotion period (09/30/21 00:00:00 – 11/30/21 23:59:59 UTC). Bonuses will be credited on or before the second Friday of the month in December, 12/10/21. This offer cannot be combined with other trading offers. Any recurring trades changed or cancelled by BlockFi on behalf of the client may still be eligible to receive 0.50% back in stablecoin for the time the trade was active at the discretion of BlockFi. Trading qualifications are dependent upon geographical or regulatory restrictions. Terms subject to change.

Blockfi credit card. The new Blockfi Rewards Visa Signature card has is a new rewards credit card that earns BTC instead of cash back. They’ve been adding a few new perks and removed the annual fee, so that altogether it can be a good compliment for BlockFi users. Here are the highlights:

Earn 3.5% back in bitcoin on all purchases in the first 90 days of card ownership after activation, up to $100 in bitcoin.
Earn 0.25% back on all eligible trades, up to $500 in BTC each month.
Earn 1.5% back in bitcoin on every purchase.
Earn 2% back in bitcoin on every purchase over $50,000 of annual spend.
No annual fee.

BlockFi is definitely one of the more well-established crypto sites, but you should do your own due diligence as it is not an FDIC-insured bank account nor a SIPC-insured brokerage account. I found that they were backed by some reputable firms including Fidelity Investments and Coinbase, with over $500 million raised so far. They use Gemini as their primary custodian, which is a licensed custodian and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. As such, they will still require your name, address, and Social Security Number to verify the identity of all accountholders.

I hold some GUSD/USDC stablecoins and some crypto, but I consider them both forms of speculative investments. I’ve written about stablecoins in the past, but I like the analogy from Matt Levine of Bloomberg that stablecoins are like the casino chips of the crypto world since traditional banks won’t interact with them. Stablecoins are like casino chips. They said $1 on them, but you have to trust the casino to convert them back to cash. Thus, I would only hold casino chips from a stable casino where I am confident that I can cash them out again for US dollars. I find it both intriguing and wary that my cash is earning 9% APY here, but I also know I would much prefer holding them at BlockFi which has been valued as a $3 billion company than a DeFi-style app where millions can be lost with a typo. I also am of the opinion that GUSD and USDC are safer stablecoins than USDT. I don’t own any USDT (aka Tether).

Bottom line. BlockFi is offering a sign-up deposit bonus, over 8% APY on stablecoin deposits, also offer credit card that earns Bitcoin rewards along with a rebate on crypto trades.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Spiral Banking App Review: $50 + $200 Bonus Details, Donations Required, iOS Only

Posted on October 27, 2021 // 8 Comments

Spiral is a new fintech banking app (iOS only currently) with a unique mandate on social responsibility through charitable giving. If you maintain an account with them, you must agree to set aside some portion of every deposit towards a charitable donation (Giving Account). The minimum amount is 0.25% ($2.50 for every $1,000 deposited). In turn, Spiral will match your donations up to $150 per year. Spiral is a fintech, with banking services provided by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. Hat tip to DoC.

Sign-up bonuses. Spiral is also offering some good sign-up bonuses to encourage you to try them out. There are currently two separate bonuses:

$50 bonus when you fund your new Spiral checking account with at least $200 by November 30, 2021.
$200 bonus after recurring direct deposits of at least $1000 each month for two consecutive months.

Inactivity fee warning. They promise the usual no minimum balance and no monthly fees, but there is an inactivity fee that is relatively punitive:

Spiral will charge your account $7 per month (up to 6 months) if you do not make a deposit or withdrawal for 90 days. Interest posting is not considered a deposit for purposes of this fee.

Giving Account details. Here’s an excerpt from the terms of their Giving Account:

As a condition to opening and maintaining a Spiral Account and receiving the Spiral Services, you must open an account designated as your donation or giving account (the “Giving Account”). Upon establishing your Spiral Account, you must deposit an amount equal to no less than 0.25% of your initial and future deposits to your Checking or Savings Accounts in the Giving Account. You may select (and periodically adjust on the Spiral App and Spiral Website) by indicating the percentage (between 0.25% and 20%) of each deposit (rounded down to the nearest penny). You agree to direct the distribution of funds in the Giving Account to a charitable organization of your choice that is an organization that qualifies as an exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, through the Spiral App and Spiral Website.

They have a very large directory of millions of eligible nonprofits.

Application details. I found this app interesting and decided to try it out. The application was straightforward, 100% online, and took a few minutes. My free credit monitoring suite detected no hard credit checks. I connected an external checking account via Plaid, made a $250 deposit, and quickly received in-app confirmation that I qualified for the $50 bonus.

My $250 deposit is pending, but I was reminded that $0.62 will be set aside for my giving account (see screenshots below). It appears that Spiral also seeded my giving account with a $5 “Giving Cash Bonus” as well. I discovered that the savings account only pays 0.07% APY, so I did not open one. I intend to go for the direct deposit bonus as well.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

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Spiral Banking App Review: $50 + $200 Bonus Details, Donations Required, iOS Only

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