Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Offering Some Competitive CD Rates

A quick glance at the CD rates offered by the big banks - Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, shows that the banks are somewhat competitive in some terms.

For example, Bank of America is offering a 3.01% APY 48-month CD. That would put it sixth on the BestCasCow 48-month CD rate table. Wells Fargo is offering a 1.95% APY 12-month CD that would also be a contender on the rate table, albeit lower down.

This is based on the rates listed on their websites for the Commonwealth of Massachussets. Rates do vary by state. Depistors who have premium relationships with the big banks can often get even better rates.

Some rates though make one wonder why they even bother to list them. Bank of America offers a 90 day CD with a .50% APY rate while Chase will take your money for 12-months for .25%. Both are horrible investments.

There are better alternatives. Instead of a 90 day CD, why not money into an EverBank account paying 3.01% APY guaranteed over 90 days? The money is totally liquid in this money market account. Of, to simply invest in any of the top savings accounts on the rate table. It's a pretty good bet all will be paying aboe .50% APY in 90 days.

There are also many banks that will pay well above 2% APY for a 12-month CD.

Bloomberg reports that Bank of America brought in $5 billion of deposits over the last month due to leads from Merrill Lynch brokers:

"Certificates of deposit sold by Merrill brokers jumped between May 5 and June 4 as Bank of America began providing thousands of leads each month, said Lyle LaMothe, head of U.S. wealth management, in an interview. That’s a sign the combined North Carolina-based company can push profit higher by selling more to each other’s clients, including mortgages and products tailored to affluent customers, LaMothe said."

Hopefully, these depositors did their homework to make sure they were getting the best rate possible so they are fattening their wallets and not the bank's.