The QNB Bank headquartered in Pennsylvania offers a great money in the bank deal through their eRewards Checking, their best checking account which gives the following interest rates if the monthly requirements are satisfied:

3.25% for balances through $25,000
Funds above the $25K line gets 1.01% APY
The base rate is at 0.15% APY given if the requirements are not met
Incurred ATM fees of as much $25 are refunded every cycle

Account holders can make most of the highest checking account rates if every month the following requirements are met:

Complete 12 transactions using the checking card
make a direct deposit or perform an ACH transaction
choose e-statements over printed statements

This checking account only needs $25 of initial deposit. According to the bank, they do not collect any service fees every month and they do not set a minimum for balance requirements.

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New credit card fees for hotel and frequent flyer cards

November 20th, 2009 Posted in Credit Cards

Well, yet another credit card fee is in the works for travel card consumers, this time effecting hotel rewards cards and frequent flyer credit cards. 

The goal of this fee is to get people to pay their credit card debt off in it’s entirety at the end of each month. If you don’t you will forfeit your miles or points earned for that period.

Here is a snippet from the news article we found highlighting this new fee:

“American Express Co. is sending notices to customers who hold its cobranded cards with Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, Hilton Hotels and Starwood Hotels, that beginning in January rewards won’t be transferred to loyalty accounts with those partners if you are late paying your bill.

You’ll be hit with a $29 reinstatement fee if you want the rewards back. That fee is

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Win up to $1,000 with your VISA Classic, Gold or Platinum card

Well once again we noted a high yield checking account and found that the Credit Union issuing the checking deal also had some noteworthy credit card promotions as well. Yesterday, we made note of United Federal Credit Union’s 6.0% checking account, and today BankVibe reader Stephan pointed out a great contest in which UFCU has going on until December 26. Here are the details… (please note this is only available to members with a VISA Gold, Classic or Platinum Credit Card issued by UFCU).

Use your United Federal Credit Union VISA Classic, Gold or Platinum credit card and have a chance to win $100 each week from October 19 through December 26. UFC

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If you are looking for the best checking account to get in Louisiana, you have the reward checking account from Landmark Bank that has a competitive interest rate:

Balances through $25,000 earn 5.01% APY
Portions above the $25K cap gets 1.01% APY
Base interest rate is at 0.25%
Nationwide fees of up to $25 can be refunded every cycle and about $5 for every ATM transaction

Account holders can enjoy the best interest rates for this checking account if they fulfill the following requirements:

Complete at least 10 purchases with the Visa Check Card
Set up at least 1 automatic payment or a direct deposit
Sign up for online banking and opt for electronic statements

This reward checking account can be opened with a minimum initial funding of $100. The bank does not set any balance requirements nor do they collect monthly service fees.

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It was only two years ago that many high-yield checking accounts were paying 5.5 percent or even 6 percent annual percentage yield. Now, those yields have dropped to a range in the high 2s to the low 4s, thanks to the stagnant low-yield interest rate environment, says Gabriel Krajicek, CEO at BancVue, the Austin, Texas, company that invented REWARDChecking, a high-yield product used by many community banks and credit unions.

Checking and savings toolbox

• Calculate compound interest
• Inflation calculator

Banks make money by turning deposits into loans and capturing the difference, or the spread, between the rates they pay for deposits versus the rates they charge on loans. Consumer demand for these checking accounts has boomed as deposit yields elsewhere have evaporated. Read more…

Current mortgage rates declined to a five week low for the week ending November 12, 2009 according to the most recent mortgage rate survey released by Freddie Mac. 30 year mortgage rates stayed below 5.00 percent for the fifth time in the past seven weeks.

In this week’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey conforming 30 year mortgage interest rates declined to 4.91 percent, down from the previous week’s average mortgage rate of 4.98 percent. Mortgage discount points stayed the same at 0.7 points. A year ago at this time 30 year mortgage interest rates were over 6.00 percent at 6.14 percent.

Looking for today’s mortgage interest rates? The best mortgage interest rates can be found in your state by using our mortgage rate tables: Best Mortgage Rates

15 year mortgage interest rates also declined in this week’s mortgage survey. The current 1

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Trying economic times have put the squeeze on millions of families and individuals in the past twelve to eighteen months. Mostly everyone you know is looking for some way to save a pinch here or there or make an extra buck or two. One simple but often overlooked way to both save a little and earn a little is where you choose to have your checking accounts. The two basic choices available to consumers are small local community banks and credit unions or monolith multinational financial institutions. Researching and investigating checking account fees and interest rates, at your locally owned bank or member owned credit unions before opening an account at one of the thousands of branches of your nearest super bank could save you all the associated banking fees and earn you upwards of five percent interest or more on the balance of your checking account.

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Bank of Internet is having has always had decent rates, and their 2.02% 12 month CD is still pretty competitive considering how much rates have fallen over the past couple of years. Their 12 month CD is actually higher than their 24 month CD which is currently at 2%.

A couple of items to note about the cd:
There is a minimum of $1000

There is a grace period of 10 days if you decide that you don’t want to renew it once the 12 months is up The early withdrawl penalty is 6 months, so since this being a year CD you would lose half of your interest so be sure you can tie up this money for 12 months You have the option to roll the interest back into the CD or have it sent via ACH to another account

I don’t currently have any accounts with Bank of Internet since I am still pretty happy with my high yield checking account, so I can’t comment on service or the opening process, but I have never heard of any major complaints from readers.

Bank of Internet is FDIC insured (FDIC Cert# 35546) and have a sound 4 star rating at Bankrate.com

NOTE: For posts that contain bonuses, be sure to read the post for bonus expiration dates. Links

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Verity Credit Union is offering a 6-month certificate special with a 2.00% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. It’s scheduled to end on November 13, 2009. This special is listed in this credit union page as of 11/10/2009.

Membership is open to anyone who lives, works or worships in Washington State. Please refer to their membership page for more details. Membership requires a $5 fee and a minimum deposit of $5 in the share savings account. However, the savings account requires a minimum balance of $200 to avoid a quarterly service fee.

Branches are located in Seattle, Auburn and Lynnwood.

The credit union’s ratings for safety and soundness are a little weak: 2 stars (below peer group) at Bankrate.com and 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial. Both ratings are based on 6/30/09 financial data. Read more…