Some other bloggers (Summer and Stefan) were talking about not being able to get their mature CD money from Banco Popular. Our CD with Oriental was not tied to a mortgage or anything but I wondered how things would work when ours matured. Here's the scoop...
The CD matured on a Sunday of course and Monday was Memorial Day. I went on Thursday just to get a feel for what was required and to try to finagle a better CD rate than advertised to roll it in to. The original 6 month CD was 4% which I talked them up to (their rate was 3.65 or something close to that). I didn't know these things were negotiable! They were.
I had been looking at bankrate.com for current rates and it was extremely dismal for a 6 month or even a year - under 2%. I wanted a CD for at least 2% and they were going to talk to a manager about it (which means yes) but... that's when the Oriental Money account was brought to my attention.
Get this...The Oriental Money account is a "tiered fixed rate" account. The rate depends on your balance. if $500 - $10000 you get 1%. 10000 - 25000 you get 2%, 25000 - 99999 it is 3.25% and over 100000 it is 3.5%.
Interest is compounded monthly and credited monthly. There is a $14.99 fee if you drop below $5000. It is the daily balance method for interest calculation. There is a $10 fee if you pull it out before a year but not if you put it into a CD through them. If you want there is a mastercard or checks (no ATH card).
So - this works out great for us, far better than a CD. And yes - FDIC insured. So how can they do this? I don't know, but my important questions were answered the right way so I am a happy camper!
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