Kiplinger’s Personal Finance — September 2017

MONEYMONEY

Annual

yield as of

June 30

Min.

amount

Website

Savings (www.)

BankPurely ( N .Y.)* 1.30% none bankpurely.com

Dollar Savings Direct ( N .Y.)* 1.30 none dollarsavingsdirect.com

Live Oak Bank (N.C.)* 1.25 none liveoakbank.com

Salem Five Direct (Mass.)* 1.25 none salemfivedirect.com

NATIONAL AVERAGE 0.19%

Annual

yield as of

June 30

No-Fee Interest Checking

Minimum balance may be required

Website

(www.)

America’s Credit Union (Wash.)# 5.00% $0–$1,000 youracu.org

First Financial Credit Union (Ill.)# 5.00 0–2,500 firstfcu.org

Northpointe Bank (Mich.) 5.00 0–10,000 northpointe.com

Consumers Credit Union (Ill.)# 4.59 0–20,000 myconsumers.org

NATIONAL AVERAGE 1.83%

Annual

yield as of

June 30

Balance

range†

High-Yield Checking

Must meet activity requirements‡

Website

(www.)

Rates are adjustable. *If you do not qualify for this interest rate, the issuer will offer a higher-

rate card. (P) Platinum. †$37 if late more than once in 6 months. #Must be a member of the

credit union; to become a member, see website. §Waived the first year. ‡$400 value. &$500

value if you book through Chase Ultimate Rewards. SOURCE: Bankrate.

Balance

range†

Langley Federal Credit Union (Va.)#1.61% $0-$1,000 langleyfcu.org

MemoryBank (Ky.)* 1.50 0-250,000 mymemorybank.com

Nationwide Bank (O h i o)* 1.15 10,000+ nationwidebank.com

EverBank (Fla.)* 1.11 0-250,000 everbank.com

NATIONAL AVERAGE 0.13%

TOP-YIELDING DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS

Popular Direct (Fla.)* 1.55% $10,000 populardirect.com

First Internet Bank of Indiana (Ind.)* 1.52 1,000 firstib.com

BankDirect (Tex.)* 1.50 10,000 bankdirect.com

Connexus Credit Union (Wis.)# 1.50 5,000 connexuscu.org

NATIONAL AVERAGE 0.57%

Annual

yield as of

1-Year June 30

Min.

amount

Website

(www.)

#Must be a member; to become a member, see website. *Internet only. SOURCES: Bankrate,

DepositAccounts.

Popular Direct (Fla.)# 2.35% $10,000 populardirect.com

Synchrony Bank (Utah)* 2.35 25,000 synchronybank.com

First Internet Bank of Indiana (Ind.)* 2.30 1,000 firstib.com

EverBank (Fla.)* 2.30 5,000 everbank.com

NATIONAL AVERAGE 1.50%

5-Year

Min.

amount

Website

(www.)

Annual

yield as of

June 30

TOP-YIELDING CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT

Lake Mich Credit Union Prime (P)# 7. 0 0 % n o n e $ 2 7† lmcu.org

Simmons Bank Visa (P) 8.25 none 27 † simmonsbank.com

First Command Bank Visa (P) 8.75 none 27 †firstcommandbank.com

Issuer

Rate

as of

June 30*

Annual

fee

Late

fee

Website

(www.)

LOW-RATE CREDIT CARDS

BankAmericard Travel Rewards15.74% none 40,000‡ bankofamerica.com

Barclaycard Arrival Plus 16.74 $89§ 40,000‡barclaycardarrival.com

Chase Sapphire Preferred 16.74 95 § 40,000& chase.com

Issuer

Rate

as of

June 30*

Annual

fee

Miles

needed

for ticket

Web site

(www.)

AIR MILES CREDIT CARDS

#Must be a member; to become a member, see website. *Internet only. ‡To earn the maximum

rate, you must meet requirements such as using your debit card several times monthly and

receiving electronic statements. †Portion of the balance higher than the listed range earns a

lower rate or no interest. SOURCES: Bankrate, DepositAccounts.

before increasing the rate

to 1.25% in April, now offers

a 1.3% rate. To search for

the best savings account

rates available to you, see

the tables at right or visit

http://www.depositaccounts.com.

Rather than raise rates

on current accounts, some

banks are creating new ac-

counts with higher yields,

hoping they’ll attract new

customers—and that cur-

rent customers either won’t

notice or won’t take the

time to move their money,

says Ken Tumin, of Deposit

Accounts.com. For example,

New York’s Flushing Bank

recently opened a new in-

ternet division, BANKPURELY.

BankPurely’s no-fee savings

account yields 1.3%. But

Flushing Bank also owns

internet bank iGoBanking,

with a no-fee savings ac-

count that yields 1%.

Don’t expect the rates

on savings accounts at big

brick-and-mortar institutions

to budge much, if at all, the

rest of the year. “Most banks

will likely wait for loan

growth to pick up before

making any meaningful

change to offered rates,”

Fitch Ratings noted in a

recent report. LISA GERSTNER

AFTER YEARS OF SUFFERING

rock-bottom interest rates,

savers are starting to see a

glimmer of upward move-

ment. The reason? The

Federal Reserve has orches-

trated three hikes of the

federal funds rate in the

past year of one-fourth

percentage point each.

(Kiplinger expects the

Fed to lift its benchmark

rate once more in 2017.)

Internet banks are lead-

ing the way on boosting

rates. GS BANK and SYNCHRONY

BANK had offered an interest

rate of 1.05% for more than

two years on their no-fee

savings accounts. Synchrony

has bumped up the yield to

1.15%; GS Bank raised it to

1.2%. ALLY BANK has lifted

the rate on its no-fee sav-

ings account from a long-

standing 1% to a current

1.15%. DOLLAR SAVINGS DIRECT,

which had yielded 0.55% on

its no-fee savings account

(Slightly) Better

Yields for Savers

RATE UPDATES

For the latest savings yields

and loan rates, visit kiplinger

.com/fi nances/yields.

Kiplinger.com

CREDIT

As of June 30, 2017.

● (^) EE savings bonds purchased
after May 1, 2005, have a
fi xed rate of interest.
● (^) Bonds bought between
May 1, 1995, and May 1, 2005,
earn a market-based rate
from date of purchase.
● (^) Bonds purchased before
May 1, 1995, earn a minimum
of 4% or a market-based rate
from date of purchase.
YIELD BENCHMARKS Yield
Month-
ago
Ye a r -
ago
U.S. Series EE savings bonds 0.10% 0.10% 0.10%
U.S. Series I savings bonds 1.96 1.96 0.26
Six-month Treasury bills 1.13 1.08 0.36
Five-year Treasury notes 1.89 1.75 1.01
Ten-year Treasury notes 2.30 2.21 1.49
SOURCES FOR TREASURIES: Bloomberg, U.S. Treasury.