If you’re a current NetBank customer, log on to your account and then click on Your special offers link on the back. Currently NetBank offers a $50 gift card on 12-month 5.01% certificate of deposit. I e-mailed them asking whether the promotion was limited to typical 1 per household, and got a response that it’s not true – you will get a $50 Visa gift card for every CD at $2,000 or above.
There’s little incentive then to go above the $2,000 minimum, and if you lock two grands in a NetBank FDIC-insured certificate of deposit, you get 5.01% rate and $50 in 4-6 weeks from opening the account. $50 return on a $2,000 investment amounts to 2.50% APY, so effectively NetBank is running a 7.51% APY promotion.
It doesn’t get better than this. Government I-Bonds are currently yielding 6.73%, and that could change in May, so there might be a better rate to hold out for, but that’s depending on the inflation curve and government decision on I-Bonds.
My offer is “only” 4.75% APY
Hmm, how long have you been with them? I am a NetBank customer since October-November last year, so it’s not like it’s loyalty based.
I opened a NetBank money market savings account because they were offering a $75 bonus. I accidentally bounced a check to make a second deposit with Netbank (honestly, my first ever) and now my account has been placed on “hold” for over a month. I have submitted an Affidavit of Identity as they requested, but they keep providing excuses to release the hold, and now claim I need to re-submit the information that the Affidavit of Identity requested. I don’t understand. It was signed by a notary public. I discovered on Wikipedia, that Netbank has a history of placing holds on accounts, and a number of other “CRITICISMS”, so BUYER BE WARE! I don’t know if or when they might release the hold on my account.
I’d advise going with the government bonds. Homeland security might be easier to deal with.