One Georgia Bank, located in Atlanta GA is offering a 7-Month CD at 3% APY to customers who deposit a minimum of $5,000 in the CD and who also have a personal interest checking account. The account must also be opened in the branch and is available to depositors who live in the metro-Atlanta market.

For those that live in Atlanta, the CD is very competitive. The top nationally offered online 6-month CD rate is 2.50% APY and the best online 12-month CD rate is 2.95% APY according to the BestCashCow rate tables. You may find better rates in your market by checking banks here or credit unions here.

One Georgia Bank is a relatively new bank, having been established on May 5, 2006. The bank operates one branch in the heart of downtown Atlanta. It is FDIC insured. It's Bauer Rating for safety and soundness is 3 out of 5 stars (Good).

Bank of America is offering a competitive 48-Month CD paying 3.01% APY. That's a top 48-month CD rate according to the BestCashCow rate tables. Unfortunately, Bank of America does not offer one rate for the entire country. I checked a few states and the rate was available in MA, TX, FL but not in NY and CA. The minimum balance to get this rate is $10,000.

Bank of America is offering a 2.5% APY 12-Month High Yield CD special in select states. That's also a competitive 2 year CD rate. The minimum balance to get this rate is $5,000.

BankDeals also reported today that Bank of America is offering a 9 Month Risk Free CD paying 2.5% APY. The base rate is 2.25% APY and the bank gives you an extra .25% return if you fund the CD with new money. As a comparison, the top 6 month CD rate is 2.60% APY and the top 12 month CD rate is 2.95% APY. The minimum balance to get this rate is $5,000.

The risk free CD allows you to withdraw the money penalty free any time you want, as many times as you want as long as the balance does not go below $1,000. It's actually a pretty compelling offer because it allows you to lock in a competitive rate and then withdraw most of the funds if rates go up or you need the cash.

As the big bank CD comparison rate chart shows, Bank of America is currently the most rate aggressive of the big three banks (Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America).

• View Bank of America CD rates.

Regal Financial, a community bank based in Seattle, WA, is offering a 12 month CD for 4% APY. Details about the CD are scarce. I tried to get through to someone on the phone but was dumped into a voicemail system and asked to leave a message. As a practice, I don't leave a message for a bank since I think answering the phone is rather expected of financial institutions.

Still, for those willing to jump through hoops to get the best rate, this looks like it for the moment. The best 12-month CD rate according to the BestCashCow rate table is Corus Bank at 2.94% APY. Regal Financial Bank's 12-month CD is a full percentage point higher.

Here are some key points about the offer:

• New money only
• For balances between $2,500 - $250,000

• Offer expires March 15, 2009
• Customer must open two other products with Regal Bank in order to quality for the rate. Presumably the two ther products would be something like a checking account and a credit card.

Judging by the website, I'd say the account can only be opened via phone or a branch visit. I didn't see any mechanism for opening it online.

Regal Financial Bank is rated 3 1/2 Stars out of 5 by Baeur Financial (Good) for its safety and soundness. The bank was founded and has been FDIC insured since 2002 (certificate #57236). I tried to examine their annual report but it was password protected online.