ApyGuy: Maximize Your Savings & Earnings

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Affirm Savings Review – 1.00% APY!


A word from founder Max Levchin (former PayPal founder).

Affirm is another San Francisco-based, financial technology company that recently launched a high yield savings account in June of this year.

The company was founded by former PayPal founder Max Levchin and the savings account features one of the best APYs (annual percentage yields) on the market.

As Max states, “We’re here to improve lives. If that means more work for us, or that we make less money, we will always take the more difficult path in favor of treating people better.”

This sentiment shows in their high yield savings account. We’ll review this product, its interest rate, features and potential drawbacks below.

Affirm Savings Rate + Account Details

As mentioned, Affirm itself is a financial technology company. They have partnered with Cross River Bank to offer their high yield savings account; leveraging Cross River Bank’s FDIC insurance. All Affirm savings account deposits are federally insured by the FDIC up to $250,000 per depositor (joint accounts are not available at this time).

Affirm Savings Rate

Minimum BalanceAPY
$01.0%

To give the yield above some context, the national average for a savings account currently sits at just 0.07% APY. The top online savings account and money market account rates from FDIC-insured banks are ranging from 0.60% – 0.90% APY, currently.

Interest is compounded daily on all balances above $0.01.

The account is limited to six ACH transfers per month per Federal Regulation D.

Unfortunately there is no debit card at this time. The only way you can access your money is through bank transfers.

How to Open and Fund the Account

To get started, navigate to the high yield savings offer page on the Affirm website (located here). From this page you can either enter in your email, which will Affirm will then confirm and send you a link to download their app OR you can download the app directly from this page. You can find their Android app and IOS app at their respective stores or use our links.

Once you’ve downloaded the app on your phone or tablet, you may begin the process of opening and funding the account.

Information you’ll need to open the account:

  1. full name (driver’s license)
  2. current address
  3. phone number
  4. email
  5. social security number or valid Tax ID

To fund your savings account or add more money, do the following:

  1. Open the Affirm app.
  2. Under Savings on the Manage tab, tap “See account.”
  3. Tap “Add money.”
  4. Enter the amount you want to add.
  5. Under From, tap the bank account you want to transfer money from.
    • No linked accounts? Tap From, then tap New bank account and link a new bank account.
    • Only one linked account? From will be auto-filled with your linked bank account. To switch to a new bank account, tap From, then link a new bank account.
    • Multiple linked accounts? Tap From, then tap a linked bank or link a new bank account.
  6. Under Frequency, choose how often you want to add money.
    • To add money once, keep Frequency auto-filled with Once. Your transfer will start no later than the next business day.
    • To add money every week, tap Weekly, then choose the day. Depending on the day you pick, your transfer may start next week.
    • To add money every month, tap Monthly, then choose the date. Depending on the date you pick, your transfer may start next month.
  7. Review your transfer details and tap Confirm.

After you have funded your account you will begin earning the advertised rate on all balances above $0.01.

Reviews and Customer Sentiment

Manage your savings and watch your balance grow with Affirm’s highly rated mobile apps.

Given the fact that the Affirm savings account has only been on the market for a short period of time, there isn’t too much coverage on the product.

That said, their mobile app ranks quite high for both Apple and IOS, scoring 4.6 and 4.9 stars out of 5 on the Google Play store and Apple store, respectively.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a no-hassle, digital way to save your cash then you’ll likely want to consider this saving account by Affirm.

It comes with zero fees of any kind and an annual percentage yield that beats the current national average by almost 12x.

Just be sure you won’t need any checking account features such as a debit card, checks or easy access to cash as this account won’t be able to provide you with those.

Varo Review: A Checking / Savings Combo


image credit: Varomoney.com

Varo Money is a trendy digital bank based out of San Francisco that was founded in 2015 and offers all its products from its mobile apps on IOS and Android.

Varo Money’s two primary accounts are an online checking account that comes with a Varo Debit card, and an optional online savings account.

The checking account is about as hassle-free as they come. It comes with a highly attractive fee schedule (or lack thereof) that features:

  • no monthly maintenance fees of any kind,
  • no transfer fees or debit card replacement fees and
  • no foreign transaction fees.

There is also no minimum balance requirement to keep the account open and you can activate it with a minimum deposit of just $0.01.

With the optional savings account that can be opened along with the online checking account, you’ll earn one of the top APY (annual percentage yields) on the market at 0.81% APY.

Like the checking account, Varo Money’s savings account has no fees or minimum deposit requirements and you can start earning the exceptional APY once you place your first deposit into the account.

To learn more about Varo Money and their popular online checking and savings accounts, read our full review below.

Varo Money Online Checking Details

Getting your Varo Money online checking account set-up is a fairly quick and straightforward process that can be done online in minutes.

To get started, navigate to the Varo checking account page and either submit your email, or click on the black “Get Started” button in the upper right. If you choose to submit your email, they will email you a link to navigate to the same sign-up page, but your email field will be filled out already.

When filling out your basic information you will want to have the following pieces of information handy:

  • email address (if you haven’t submitted it already)
  • full name
  • date of birth
  • address
  • social security number

After you complete the application process, you will be directed to download the app from the Apple or Google Play store to begin funding and managing your account(s). Remember, the entirety of this digital bank’s products and services are accessed and managed solely through their native apps.

Once you’ve downloaded the app and opened the checking account, you’ll be ready for your first deposit. If you have any questions or get stuck during this process you can email – help@varomoney.com – and you should receive a prompt response.

Varo Money Checking Account Features

Three noteworthy features of Varo’s online checking account.

The Varo Money checking account has several noteworthy features and very little drawbacks.

For starters, the nature of Varo Bank and its digital product suite allow for Varo to save on costs and pass these savings along to consumers in the form of no-fee accounts and above average interest rates. Without an expensive branch network, staff, rent and utilities, Varo is Money able to simplify its product offerings and make them extremely low cost.

Second, Varo Checking account consumers are provided a debit card that can be used for free at 55,000+ AllPoint ATMs around the country. These ATMs are generally found in places like Walgreens, CVS, and target. If you have cash to deposit into the account, you can do this at any of the 90,000+ retail locations using Green Dot Reload.

On top of this, you can easily transfer money freely between Varo accounts and even connect a popular payment app like Apple Pay™, Google Pay™, PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo to pay for everyday purchases.

No credit checks of any kind will be run by Varo to open their checking account. In some instances they may request identity documentation, but your credit report, history, or FICO score will not be checked.

If you set up direct deposits with Varo checking, you’ll also be provided access to your funds up to two days in advance.

If you choose to open the savings account along with the checking account, Varo has some great tools available that allow for automatic transfer from your checking to savings to allow idle cash to grow with a lucrative APY.

ACH Transfers

As mentioned, Varo Money stands out from the pack with its lack of fees – especially when it comes to moving money around.

The average domestic wire charge in the US sits at a hefty $25. With Varo Money, you have the ability to move money around via ACH transfers for free.

There are two kinds of ACH transfers, both of which can be set up by Varo Money. These are:

  1. ACH debit transactions “pull” the money from your account, like for an automatic bill payment.
  2. ACH credit transactions “push” money into your account, like a direct deposit of your paycheck or tax refund.

To set up either of these kinds of ACH transfers, you will need your Varo Bank account number and the routing number of the other party’s financial institution.

The time frame in which the money is received is generally between 1 – 4 days. Here a more specific breakdown:

  • If you initiate the ACH transfer in your Varo app to or from an external bank account you own, it will take 2–4 business days.
  • If you initiate the ACH transfer from an external bank account to Varo, it will generally take 1–2 business days.

Varo Money Online Savings Account Rate + Details

Like other online banks, Varo Money is a member of the FDIC and all consumer deposits are federally insured up to $250,000 per depositor or $500,000 on joint accounts.

Although Varo used to offer a promotional APY on top of its already exceptional standard APY of 0.81%, we don’t see this promotion currently active. This promotion featured an APY of 2.80% on balances above $10,000 if certain direct deposit requirements were met. If/when this promotion is reactivated we will update this post.

Varo Money Online Savings Account Rate

Min BalanceAPY
$00.81%

To give this offer above some context, the current national average for a savings account sits at just 0.07% APY. That said, there are still a handful of online banks paying 0.70% – 1.00% APY on all balances.

Outside of the exceptional yield, Varo’s savings account has some helpful tools that allow you to automate your savings. Plus, package your savings and checking account together for better insights into your spending habits and how much you’re able to save each month.

Final Thoughts

The powerful checking/savings combo by Varo Money is hard to beat. On the checking side the lack of any and all fees make this product stand out from its peers.

On the savings side, Varo boasts one of the top APYs of any FDIC-insured institution, and also features no minimums or monthly fees of any kind.

That said, make sure you are perfectly comfortable going 100% digital as Varo Money provides no access to in-person banking or branches.

Ally Bank CD Rates – Still Up to 1.00% APY!


image credit: ally.com

Ally Bank is an acclaimed digital bank that offers a suite of competitive FDIC-insured online savings products including CDs, savings accounts, interest checking and money market accounts.

In this review we’ll focus on Ally Bank’s fixed-rate, certificates of deposit. They have seven standard term CDs ranging from 3 months to 5 years that can be opened as standard CDs or IRA CDs. They also have two promotional CDs – the “Raise Your Rate CD” and the “No Penalty CD.”

The Raise Your Rate CD is beneficial in an ascending interest rate environment. This product gives you the opportunity to increase your rate once over a 2-year term or twice over a 4-year term if their rate for your term and balance tier goes up while your CD is active.

The No Penalty CD, as the name implies, allows you to withdraw any amount at any time after the first six days of funding the account. You can keep the interest earned with no penalties.

For those that may not remember, Ally Bank is the rebrand of GMAC – the financial arm of General Motors. Following the financial collapse of 2008, GMAC fully rebranded to Ally Bank in 2009. Since then they’ve been recognized for numerous awards for online banking innovation, customer service, and their commitment to giving back to local communities.

Ally Bank CD Rates + Account Details

Ally Bank last lowered their CD rates on September 11, 2020. They lowered all terms except the 5 year, which remains at 1.00% APY.

As mentioned, Ally Bank has seven standard term certificates of deposit that come with no minimum opening deposit requirements. The terms range from 3 months to 5 years and come with annual percentage yields that beat the current national average by considerable margins and regularly place among the top rates for online banks nationwide.

Ally Bank CDs are FDIC insured up to $250,000 per depositor or $500,000 for joint accounts.

Ally Bank CD Rates

TermAPY
3 months0.20%
6 months0.40%
9 months0.50%
12 months0.65%
18 months0.70%
3 years0.75%
5 years1.00%

To give the yields above some context, the current national average for 12 month CDs and 5 year CDs sits at just 0.22% and 0.57% APY, respectively.

Ally Ten Day Best Rate Guarantee

All of Ally Bank’s CDs come with a “ten day best rate guarantee.” This means that if you fund your account within 10 days of opening it and rates go up during this time, you will get Ally’s best rate for that term and your balance tier during that time. This also applies with CD renewals.

Interest is compounded daily which gives your overall APY (annual percentage yield) a boost over bank deposits that compound less frequently like monthly or quarterly.

Tiered rates by deposit amount do exist in more favorable savings rate environments; however, Ally Bank CDs pay the same APY for each term regardless of your deposit amount currently.

Early Withdrawal Penalties

Early withdrawal penalties at Ally Bank vary by CD term. They are as follows:

  • CD terms of 24 months or less will incur an early withdrawal penalty of 60 days’ interest.
  • CD terms of 25 – 36 months will incur an early withdrawal penalty of 90 days’ interest.
  • CD terms of 37 – 48 months will incur an early withdrawal penalty of 120 days’ interest.
  • CD terms of 48 months or longer will incur an early withdrawal penalty of 150 days’ interest.

Grace Period

Ally Bank has a standard grace period of 10 days where you can withdraw, add or transfer funds without incurring a fee. If nothing is done during this period, the CD will renew under the same terms at the current APY.

Ally Bank Loyalty Rewards for CD Account Holders

Ally Bank has a little-known loyalty program for those that continue to open and/or renew certificates of deposit with them. Currently, they are giving a 0.05% APY bump when you renew any CD with them. Be sure to check back 30 days before your CD matures to see what the reward is at that time.

Ally Bank “Raise Your Rate CD” Rates + Details

The Raise Your Rate CD offered by Ally Bank is going to be best suited for a climbing interest rate environment. Given the fact that CD rates are generally fixed throughout their duration, an opportunity to give your CD rate a bump when interest rates are on the rise, can be a huge benefit. And one that many other banks do not offer.

Ally Raise Your Rate CDs

TermAPY
2 year0.70%
4 year0.70%

The 2 year Raise Your Rate CD will give you the opportunity to increase your rate once over the life of the deposit.

The 4 year Raise Your Rate CD will give you the opportunity to increase your rate twice over the life of the deposit.

Ally Bank “No Penalty CD” Rate + Details

Withdraw any amount fee-free after 6 days of funding the account.

The Ally Bank No Penalty CD comes with only one term at the moment. The term is 11 months. You can withdraw any or all of your money from this deposit at any time after six days from funding the account.

Ally Bank No Penalty CD Rate

TermAPY
11 months0.60%

As with Ally Bank’s other certificate of deposit products this APY is the same regardless of your deposit amount. In the past Ally Bank has rewarded larger deposits with higher yields; however, rates today are the same across the board for all amounts.

Final Thoughts

Ally Bank keeps their CDs simple and rewarding with no monthly maintenance fees, no opening deposit requirements and even the opportunity to open a “no penalty CD” with fee-free access to your deposited funds.

The APYs on their IRA CDs and regular CDs beat the current national average(s) handily, but pay the same yields on all terms regardless of deposit amount. There are also no differences in rates whether the CD is opened in an IRA or not.

Ally Bank’s digital interface – both online and through their IOS and android apps – are very intuitive and allow for easy deposits and account monitoring as well.

PNC Bank High Yield Savings + Virtual Wallet Checking Bonuses – $50, $200 and $300!


$50, $200 and $300 bonuses available by region through October 31, 2020!

PNC Bank is the 7th largest bank in the United States by assets with nearly $381 billion in total and the 5th largest bank in the US by branch network with 2,459 branches across 21 states and the District of Columbia.

They offer a full suite of banking services for personal, small business, corporate and institutional clients that cover everything from loans and borrowing to savings and wealth management.

For the purpose of this review we will focus on the personal High Yields Savings account and the Virtual Wallet Checking Pro with Spend account. These are PNC Bank’s online savings account and online checking account, respectively.

The Virtual Wallet Pro with Spend account, which functions as the online checking account, can also come packaged with the High Yield Savings, so that your reserve funds can grow with a solid APY. PNC Bank calls this packaged product the Virtual Wallet Pro with Spend, Reserve and Growth (a bit of a mouthful, we know).

If you open any of the Virtual Wallet accounts you can currently earn a bonus of $50, $200 or $300 depending on where you live and which account you open.

We ran several scenarios and detailed them below, but in general, the western states and cities are only eligible for the $200 bonus with the Virtual Wallet Pro with Spend account and the Midwest and Eastern states have that same $200 offer plus the option of either a $50 or $300 bonuses based on the type of account set up and the associated qualifying actions.

PNC Bank High Yield Savings Overview – 0.80% APY

PNC Bank is member FDIC and all deposits held at the institution are federally insured up to $250,000 per depositor or $500,000 on joint accounts.

PNC Bank High Yield Savings

AccountMin BalanceAPY
High Yield Savings$10.80%

To give this yield some context, the current national average for a savings account sits at just 0.07% APY and the top rates online are just touching 0.90% APY. That said, there are still a handful of specialty savings accounts like Sallie Mae’s SmartyPig or the Fitness Bank savings account that feature APYs at or above 1.00%.

Setting up, funding and managing your High Yield Saving account is fairly simple and straightforward.

To get started you will need the following:

  • Driver’s License or State ID
  • Social Security Number

On top of this, they will also request several pieces of information about yourself such as your full legal name, residing address, telephone number, e-mail address, etc.

Funding the account can be done in three ways:

  • Wire transfer from existing external bank account
  • Check deposit via the PNC mobile app. This can only be done after you’ve enrolled in PNC online banking or mobile banking.
  • A PNC checking account

The easiest and fastest way to get going is via a wire transfer. For this you will need the routing number and account number of your existing bank and bank account.

One your account is all set up, you can manage it from a mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer using PNC online banking or one of their native apps. You can download their IOS app or Android app using the links provided.

PNC Virtual Wallet Checking Pro with Spend

The Virtual Wallet Checking Pro with Spend account is an online checking account in your virtual wallet. Like the high yield saving account, this account has no minimum deposit requirements and no fees.

It comes with a debit card and access to over 18,000 ATMs nationwide (locate them here). It also comes with ATM reimbursements of up to $20 per statement cycle. This is a generous out of network ATM reimbursement amount per statement cycle – especially given the coverage of PNC Bank and its own ATM network.

Virtual Wallet Checking Pro with Spend Features

ItemFeature
Minimum deposit$0
Minimum balance$0
Monthly service fees$0
Debit CardFree
ChecksUnlimited
ATMs18,000 in network
ATM reimbursement$20 per statement cycle
Sign Up Bonus$200 – with qualifying direct deposit(s)

$50, $200 and $300 Bonus Details

As mentioned only the Midwest and Eastern states have the option for the $50 and $300 bonus. They also have the $200 bonus option that all the Western states have with the Virtual Wallet Checking Pro with Spend account mentioned above.

We ran this scenario in six major cities across the country:

  • Seattle 98109
  • San Francisco 94016
  • Dallas 75001
  • Chicago 60007
  • New York City 10001
  • Miami 33101

In Seattle, San Francisco and Dallas we found that only the $200 bonus offer was available.

In Chicago, New York, and Miami we found that same $200 offer available plus a $50 offer and a $300 offer. Details on each offer are listed below.

$50 Bonus for Virtual Wallet

Perhaps the easiest bonus to nab for those in eligible regions is PNC Bank’s $50 bonus is by opening the virtual wallet and establishing $500 in qualifying direct deposit(s) to the Spend account.

To qualify for this offer you must open the account between 10/1/20 to 10/29/20, and a qualifying Direct Deposit(s) must be received within the first 60 days. Your checking account must remain open in order for you to receive the reward, which will be credited to the eligible account within 60-90 days after all conditions have been met and will be identified as “Cash Trans Promo Reward” on your monthly statement.

$200 Bonus Offer

For the $200 bonus that is available everywhere. You will need to set up the Virtual Wallet Checking Pro with Spend account AND set up qualifying direct deposit(s) of $2,000 or more.

To qualify for this offer you must open the account between 10/1/20 to 10/29/20, and a qualifying Direct Deposit(s) must be received within the first 60 days. Your checking account must remain open in order for you to receive the reward, which will be credited to the eligible account within 60-90 days after all conditions have been met and will be identified as “Cash Trans Promo Reward” on your monthly statement.

$300 Bonus Offer

The $300 bonus that is available in Midwestern and Eastern States can be received by opening the Virtual Wallet with Performance Select account and

  1. setting up $5,000 or more in qualifying direct deposits OR
  2. $5,000 in average monthly balance in Spend and Reserve OR
  3. $25,000 in combined average monthly balance in PNC consumer deposits or investments.

To qualify for this offer you must open the account between 10/1/20 to 10/29/20, and a qualifying Direct Deposit(s) must be received within the first 60 days.

Final Thoughts

These are extremely noteworthy accounts and generous bonuses offered by PNC Bank.

The high yield savings account comes with an APY that is only beat by a handful of institutions and the Virtual Wallet with Spend account comes with a lucrative signing bonus of $200 plus the same ability to earn 0.80% APY on reserve cash.

For Midwestern and Eastern states only, we love the ability to earn $50 and $300 bonuses for the Virtual Wallet accounts, but the $300 bonus comes with much steeper direct deposit and/or average monthly balance requirements.

CIT Bank CD Rates


image credit: cit.com

Originally founded in Salt Lake City, Utah as an industrial loan corporation, CIT Bank has come a long way in a short period of time since their inception in 2000.

Today, with just two decades of growth, CIT bank controls roughly $45 billion in assets and offers a full array of banking products to individuals, small businesses and corporations.

For the purpose of this review, we will focus on the suite of certificates of deposit being sold at CIT Bank. For those that also happen to be a customer of OneWestBank, it should be noted that OneWestBank and CIT Bank are the same FDIC-insured institution. Therefore CDs and bank deposits held under each name are not separately insured, but are combined. So if you have a CD with OneWestBank that you purchased for $50,000, you will only have $200,000 of FDIC-coverage remaining for your CIT Bank CD.

CIT Bank currently offers the following types of CD accounts:

  • Standard term CDs with terms ranging from 6 months to 5 years.
  • Jumbo CDs with terms ranging from 2 – 5 years and requiring a minimum deposit of $100,000.
  • No Penalty CD with 11 month term. Allows for full access to your funds penalty-free prior to maturity.
  • Ramp-Up CDs. These are good during an increasing interest rate environment. They allow for a one-time interest rate bump during the life of the CD (if rates rise); however, you are not allowed to add funds to the deposit. Ramp-UP CDs by CIT Bank are not offered on new money at this time.

Below are the current rates and APYs offered on CIT Bank CDs as well as the fine print details you’ll want to know before proceeding with an account.

CIT Bank CD Rates + Account Details

CIT Bank is a member of the FDIC (FDIC# 58978) and all consumer deposits are federally insured up to $250,000 per depositor or $500,000 for joint accounts.

CIT Bank Standard Term CD Rates

TermMin. DepositAPY
6 months$1,0000.35%
12 months$1,0000.35%
13 months$1,0000.35%
18 months$1,0000.35%
2 year$1,0000.40%
3 year$1,0000.40%
4 year$1,0000.50%
5 year$1,0000.50%

To provide some context for CIT Bank’s yields (shown above), the current national average on a 12 month CD and a 60 month CD sit at just 0.22% APY and 0.46% APY, respectively.

All standard term CDs come with a minimum deposit requirement of $1,000 which is fairly standard for online bank deposits.

Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly. You can choose to have this interested deposited into another CIT Bank account, an external account or mailed to your home. This is a great feature for those living off of their deposit interest for income.

You will have a standard 10 day grace period in which you can withdraw funds or add funds to your deposit penalty-free. If nothing is done during this time, your CD will automatically renew with the same terms and present APY at that time, with exception to the 13 month CD and the 18 month CD. The 13 month CD will instead roll into a 12 month CD and the 18 month CD will instead roll into a 2 year CD.

CIT Bank 11 Month No-Penalty CD

Get penalty-free access to your funds!

As the name implies, the 11 month No-Penalty CD allows you full access to your funds after 7 days from opening the account without incurring a penalty. No withdrawals are permitted within the first 6 days.

This is a good alternative to a variable rate online savings account or money market account whose rate can change at any time without notice to the customer. That said, the rate currently offered on CIT Banks 11 month No-Penalty CD lags the top yields of online savings accounts by a sizable margin.

CIT Bank 11 Month No-Penalty CD

TermMin. DepositAPY
11 month$1,0000.35%

To put this in perspective, the top yields for 12 month CDs and online savings accounts still hover around 1.0% APY from a handful of banks and nationally available credit unions; however, as mentioned previously, the national average is still just 0.22% APY.

Interest is also compounded daily and credited monthly for the 11 month No-Penalty CD.

There is still a 10 day grace period for the 11 month No-Penalty CD even though your funds are accessible throughout its life. If nothing is done during this time, your CD will renew with the going interest rate and APY.

CIT Bank Ramp-UP CDs

Before we dive into the details and yields of these accounts, we should note that these are not currently offered to new money at this time. And for good reason. Given the current interest rate environment it is unlikely for rates to rise anytime soon, thus providing no “ramp-up” in rates for the foreseeable future.

CIT Bank Ramp-UP CD Rates

TermMin. DepositAPY
1 year Ramp-Up Plus$25,0000.25%
2 year Ramp-Up Plus$25,0000.25%
3 year Ramp-Up$25,0000.25%
4 year Ramp-Up$50,0000.25%

Again, for context, the national average on a 12 month CD is just 0.22% APY and a 60 month CD sits at roughly 0.47% APY.

When rates begin to rise again, check back on these products as they may be more competitive at that time. With these accounts you are entitled to one interest rate bump during the life of the deposit.

Opening and Funding a CIT Bank CD

To get started, navigate to CIT Bank’s CD account page to get a holistic view of their entire certificates of deposit offerings. From here you can use the green buttons which say either “Learn How,” “See More,” or “Get started” to navigate to the precise product page you intend to open.

Once at that page, you will have another chance to get more details about the product before clicking on the green “Get started” button to proceed with the application.

Once beginning the application process you will need the following pieces of information:

  • Full Name (have your driver’s license handy)
  • Address
  • Phone Number
  • Email
  • Social Security Number or other taxpayer ID

Once you’ve opened the account, you can fund it in several ways. These include:

  • electronic transfer
  • mail in check
  • mobile check deposit
  • wire transfer

If doing a wire transfer you will need both the routing number and account number of the bank in which you are transferring funds from. If you have a check from the account you will be transferring funds from that will suffice as well as all the required information is there.

If you need to contact CIT Bank at any time while applying for or funding your account, you can use the contact information below. We’ve also included the routing number.

  • Bank Address: P.O. Box 7056 Pasadena, CA 91109-9699
  • Telephone Number: 855-462-2652
  • CIT Bank Routing: 124084834

Managing Your CIT Bank CD and Using Mobile Banking

CIT bank’s aggregate app rating is higher than most bank apps.

You can manage your CIT Bank CD with online banking, mobile banking or through their native IOS and Android apps. CIT bank has a respectable 4.6 star rating out of 5 for their IOS app and a more modest 3.8 stars out of 5 for their android app. Both scores are above average as far as banking applications go.

Whether managing your accounts through desktop web, mobile web, or the aforementioned apps, customers will have the ability to do the following:

  • Check account balances, interest rate accumulation and transaction history
  • Transfer money between CIT Bank accounts and external linked accounts
  • Deposit checks (if you also have the CIT Bank online savings account)

Final Thoughts

While CIT Bank has consistently offered high yield certificates of deposit in the past, their current rates are lower than what can be found through other online banks or nationally available credit unions.

That said, many of their APYs still top the national average for their respective terms and some come with more flexibility (in the case of the 11 month No-Penalty CD) than standard bank CDs.

Flagstar Bank CD Rates – Promo Up to 1.00% APY!


image credit: flagstar.com

Flagstar Bank, headquartered in Troy, Michigan, is the 74th largest bank in the US by asset size, with just over $26 billion in total assets.

Within their suite of deposit products they offer both fixed-rate certificates of deposit and variable-rate accounts such as money market accounts, savings accounts and checking accounts.

While their variable rates accounts come with yields that are less competitive than the national average, they offer two promotional fixed-rate CDs with exceptional APYs.

In our review below, we will focus on the certificates of deposit offered by Flagstar Bank. They currently have eight standard term CDs with unattractive yields and two promotional CDs with attractive yields.

Flagstar Bank CD Rates + Account Details

Flagstar Bank is a member of the FDIC. Consumer deposits are federally insured up to $250,000 or $500,000 for joint accounts.

Flagstar Bank CDs come with a minimum deposit requirement of $500. If you plan on depositing more than $110,000 into a CD you will need to visit a local branch. You can locate one here.

Flagstar Bank Standard Term CD Rates

TermAPY
6 months0.05%
12 months0.10%
24 months0.10%
30 months0.10%
36 months0.10%
48 months0.10%
60 months0.10%

To put these offers in perspective, the current national average for a 12 month CD and a 60 month CD sit at 0.22% APY and 0.46% APY, respectively.

Flagstar Bank also has two certificate of deposit promotions available for new money coming into the bank. This can either be for individuals who have a Flagstar account but are using outside funds to open the promotional deposit OR new customers to the bank entirely. The annual percentage yields for these promotions are listed below.

Flagstar Bank Promotional CD Rates

TermAPY
13 month0.35%
49 month1.00%

When navigating Flagstar Bank’s CD page, you’ll immediately be requested for you zip code so that Flagstar can provide you with “accounts rates and special offers in your area;” however we ran the scenario for three separate locations (10001 New York City, 60007 Chicago, and 94016 San Francisco) and saw the same CD rates and promotional offers available in these regions.

It should also be noted that all of the variable rate accounts (savings, checking and money market) are not available in any of the three locations we sampled as well.

How Does Flagstar Bank Calculate Interest

Unlike most bank CDs which compound rates daily and credit them monthly, Flagstar bank both compounds rates and credits interest on a monthly basis. This means that the APY you receive will be closer to the actual interest rate and your savings will grow at a slower pace than it would with more frequent compounding schedules.

Grace Period

Flagstar Bank has a standard 10 day grace period in which you can add or withdraw funds from your certificate of deposit without penalty. If nothing is done during this time, the funds will automatically renew into the same deposit term with the current APY at that time. If you originally opened a 13 month promotional CD, your funds will renew into a 12 month standard deposit, and if you opened the 49 month promotional CD your funds will renew into a 48 month standard deposit.

Early Withdrawal Penalties

If you need access to your funds outside of the grace period, Flagstar Bank will impose an early withdrawal penalty.

Early withdrawal penalties are determined by the term length of your CD. Early withdrawal penalties are as follows:

TermPenalty
30 – 179 days30 days’ interest
180 – 364 days90 days’ interest
12 – 35 months180 days’ interest
36 – 120 months364 days’ interest

Be sure to set up your own reminders to alert you when your grace period starts. Flagstar Bank will also send out notifications to let you know your CD will be maturing soon.

Final Thoughts

Outside of Flagstar Bank’s two promotional CDs, their suite of certificates of deposit are fairly lackluster. Most terms come with the same APY of 0.10%, which does not keep up with the national average for any of the respective terms.

Before you commit to a CD at Flagstar Bank be sure to review the top yields from both online banks and nationally available credit unions.