Sovereign Bank is offering a rich deal to those who are interested in opening their Premier Checking and Money Market Savings Accounts. They'll give you $150 and guarantee 1.5% APY for three months.

The deal is available to residents of the following states: ME, VT, NH, CT, RI, MA, NY, NJ, PA, MV, MD, DE, and District of Columbia.

In order to qualify for the $150 you must do the following:

• open a new Sovereign Premier Checking, Business Owner Premier Checking, Interest Checking, or Partnership Checking account by March 13, 2010, with a minimum opening deposit of $100;
• open a Premier Money Market Savings account or any Sovereign savings or money market savings account with a minimum opening deposit of $100 or already have a savings or money market savings account;
• enroll in Online Banking at account opening; (4) set up and receive one direct deposit within 60 days of opening your account;
• request a Sovereign Debit Card ("Debit Card") and make 5 Debit Card purchases within 60 days after you open your account.

In order to qualify for the 1.50% APY bonus rate, you must open a new Premier Checking account and open a new Premier Money Market Savings account by March 13, 2010. The bonus rate will apply for each day your balance is $10,000 to $499,999 and is guaranteed for 3 months from the date you open your account. If you have below $10,000 in the accounts, the rate goes down to .55% APY.

1.5% APY is competitive with some of the other best money market and savings account rates according to the BestCashCow rate tables.

Note that the Premier Checking/Money Market Savings has a combined minimum balance of $15,000 to avoid a $30 monthly fee. This is the Cadillac of Sovereign accounts and while the bonus is hefty, you'll need to keep a good amount of money in the account to make it worthwhile.

The cash if paid out within 75 days after opening the account, and it doesn't say that the account must stay open.

For more on this offer, click here.

Hyde Park Savings Bank, a local bank in and around Boston is offering a 16-month CD that pays 2.00% APY. That's competitive when compared to the best 1-year cd rates. The bank is also offering a 30-Month CD that pays 2.40% APY.

Rates and ratings current as of 2/10/2010.

There is a low $500 minimum deposit to open either CD. The offer is only available to Massachusetts residents and can be opened in the branch or via phone.

Hyde Park Savings Bank operates six branches. As of Sept 30, 2009 it had $900 million in assets. The bank has 5 out of 5 stars (Superior) for its safety and soundness according to Bauer Financial.

Hyde Park Savings Bank has FDIC insurance as well as coverage via the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF), something unique to Massachusetts. The DIF provides coverage and above the $250,000 in FDIC insurance currently available. DIF provides insurance on all deposits no matter what the limit on participating Massachusetts chartered savings banks. The fund currently has $300 million in reserve which should make you hesitate. There is surely more than $300 million in in deposits at Massachusetts chartered savings banks. Thus, while the DIF is a nice to have, it doesn't seem feasible that in the case of a banking meltdown it would be able to cover all funds in MA over and above the FDIC limits.

Still, with FDIC insurance, DIF coverage, and a superior bank rating, Hyde Park Savings Bank appears to be a pretty safe place to stash some cash.

Banks need deposits and in this environment often need them quickly.

So far, in 2009 alone, we have seen a couple of banks quickly raise large amounts of deposits with promotional savings rates. Cheasapeake Bank launched ClearSkies, an online banking arm, to offer depositors a 3 month lock on a 3.75% earlier this year. The promotion was so successful that the bank quickly lowered its rate because it got more deposits than it needed. East Boston Savings Bank recently followed suit with a 4 month lock on a 2.82% rate, which it recently lowered for the same reason. Currently, Acacia Federal Savings Bank is offering a 4 month lock on a 2.25% rate.

Promotional savings rates, especially those where the bank commits to locking a certain rate for a certain period - are a win-win situation. With the distribution on the internet, and site such as BestCashCow.com, the information on these rates gets out quickly and enables banks to quickly raise the funds that they need. Depositors wind up with a rate that is well in excess of comparable-length CDs. Additionally, depositors can rest assured that the banks usually will need to remain competitive after the guarantee date.