Everbank has 6-month bonus rates for their Yield Pledge Money Market and FreeNet Checking accounts. Both of these offers are targeted at new customers opening with at least $1,500, but in the end do offer some of the top rates available for an FDIC-insured bank account with these terms.
Yield Pledge Money Market
With a 6-month guaranteed introductory rate of 1.10% APY, this is higher than any available 6-month CD out there, which again is better than any 6-month CD offer out there.. After that, it is like other online savings accounts with a variable ongoing APY (currently 0.86%).
This online savings account “pledges” to keep the yield on your account in the top 5% of competitive accounts as tracked by Bankrate. (Everbank has indeed ended up on lists of best banks with consistently high rates.) Since it is a savings account, you are still limited to 6 withdrawals or outgoing transfers each month. There is a minimum average balance of $5,000 to avoid a $8.95 monthly fee.
FreeNet Checking
A checking account version, this also has a a 6-month guaranteed introductory rate of 1.10% APY, with a tiered interest rate afterward. (Current tiers and ongoing Annual Percentage Yields are: $100,000 at 0.86% APY, $50,000 – $99,999.99 at 0.83% APY, $25,000 – $49,999.99 at 0.78% APY, $10,000 – $24,999.99 at 0.76% APY and under $10,000 at 0.70% APY). There is no monthly fee.
Again, if you do the math this effectively extends the bonus rate of 1.10% out to between 5 and 6 months on a $10,000 balance, which is still better than any other CD offer of the same length. This account also pledges to keep the yield on your account in the top 5% of competitive accounts, but remember in this case that checking accounts in general have slightly lower rates.
If you are looking to get high FDIC-insured interest rates on a sizable balance for between a couple months to a year, without having to jump through any hoops like required monthly transfers or 15 debit card purchases a month, then this continues to be one of the best rates out there.
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I realize some don’t want to bother, but it’s NOT THAT HARD to do 12 debit transactions a month and have direct deposit. For those who think it’s not worth the trouble, I urge you to reconsider. You undoubtedly make 12 transactions a month anyways unless you are a hermit or something. I earn 4.5% up to 25,000 each month at my credit union in rewards checking account. I’m currently getting ~80.00 or so per month, approaching the cap. I don’t use it as a checking account, it’s my savings account. I would much rather go through the trouble to get the better rate. I think when I hit the cap, I’ll go for that 5 year ally CD to get close to 3%. I’m also going to pay off 4000 on an assessment for newly paved road curb/gutter, once I hit the cap. That currently is at 4.4% interest on a ten year repayment schedule. Also, the credit union makes it real easy to see where you are at. At any time you can log in and push the “rewards” button and it tells you if you’ve had a direct deposit and how many card transactions you still need to reach 12. I use a local credit union but there are many others out there with similar programs.
Smarty Pig has had an attractive 1% interest for the past few years, but surprisingly has just dropped it to .75% this month.