BBVA is a bank which offer many banking solutions from personal to business and corporate. They offer many different services, including checking accounts, check cards, savings and Ira’s, home equity loans, auto loans and house and auto insurance.

BBVA are now offering new customers a signing up bonus of up to $150 to open a new checking account with online bill pay and direct deposit features. Check out their website for the promotional offer. To quality for the full $150, you must first use the online bill paying function. This qualifies you for the first $75.

To receive the second $75, you must use the direct deposit function. After completing these two steps the money will then be credited to your account. There are some fine details for each section, and these are listed below in bullet point form.

The first stage, the online bill paying function requires the following.

• You must open a brand new Compass checking account and sign yourself up for Online Billing Payments by the 2/28/10

• You need to pay at least 5 bills online every 30 days for the first 90 days your account is open to qualify for the bonus money. Each month that you successfully complete the bill paying, you will receive $25, totaling up to the final amount of $75

The second stage, the Direct deposit function requires you to make direct deposits, with the requirements listed below.

• You need to open a new checking account online by 2/28/2010 and sign up for the payroll Direct Deposit system.

• Get your first payroll Direct Deposit within 30 days that your account is open to qualify for the offer.

• Your $75 bonus will be deposited, within 120 days of first recurring payroll direct deposit, providing you have filled all the requirements that need to be done.

• You must deposit a minimum of $25 to open the account and qualify for the money

• The offer is available to new checking households only, so if you already have a checking account with BBVA, or someone else in your household does unfortunately you are not eligible for the offer.

• The bonus may be affected by income tax reporting, depending on individual circumstances.

• There is a limit of one $150 bonus per household regardless of how many people live there.

• You will receive your bonus on the last business day of the month. To be eligible for the bonuses there are two main requirements you must fill.

• You must be a US citizen with valid citizenship.

• You must be a resident of one of the following states. Unfortunately at this time people from outside these states can not participate. Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, or Texas.

If you are interested in the offer, visit the BBVA website for more details. This offer is good as of  1/09/10.

It has been a while since we have covered a bank as large as Chase, so lets take a look and see what deals they have and how Chase CD rates compare to the national average right now. As of right now, Chase has 6-Month CD’s at 0.25% which is not too great, but that is a minimum deposit of $1000 dollars. Moving on to the odd month term of 7 months at $10,000 minimum investment, the rate is 0.75% which is above the national average.

Currently in the US as of October 17 2009, the national rates on Bank CD’s are as follows. CD (Certificates of Deposit) rates – 3 Month with a minimum investment of $1000-$10,000 is 0.595%. For 60 month CD rates the average is 2.4%.

These rates are worse than the previous week, and large banks are usually the last to give the best CD rates. If you are looking for a bank that can beat the national average then finding a small local bank is going to be your best bet. They will many times run specials in specific regions for locals only. If you bank with Chase, and the rate you see above isn’t tempting enough for you at this point, then you may want to wait until they have some special rates which will most likely occur after the new year.

If there are any Bank specials from Chase we will keep you posted and post them here.

As we near the end of 2009, many people are wondering what the outlook for 2010 will be. At one point CD rates got as high as almost 7%, but now in 2009 we haven’t seen anything good for a while. This past week cd rates were at an all time low. Will CD rates go down even lower in 2010? Probably not, as they can’t go much lower now.

A lot of what will depend on whether CD rates rise in 2010 will have to do with the economy. If the Fed keeps their funds rate as low as they have for next year which as of right now stands between 0 and 1/4 percent, then we aren’t going to see much action for Bank CD’s. On the other hand if the economy starts turning around, you can bet that the Feds will probably see a need to increase rates with inflation which will in turn cause banks to do the same.

For those that are savvy investors this can be a very good thing. But you can also bet that mortgage rates will probably go up to so that banks can even the score. If you have invested money in a long term CD that is yielding higher than 2 1/2 to 3% you are doing alright. There are still a few banks that show a little juice once in a while with an unexpected special rate for a short term CD, but for the most part, short term cd rates are pretty dead.

Progressive Bank offers credit cards that are flexible and easy to use. These bank issued credit cards can be either chosen in Visa or Mastercard. Just as any other credit card the ease of purchases without handling cash is the most obvious perk.

Some of the other features of a Progressive bank credit card include having no annual fees, the SCORECARD rewards program which is automatically associated with each card issued.

SCORECARD points can be used to redeem gifts and services related to traveling. Each dollar purchased with the credit card earns a customer 1 point towards their SCORECARD. Another great thing is that the amount of points accumulated is show on the statement for each period.

All credit card balance info can be accessed online for convenience. Additional credit cards can be obtained for other family members who are allowed to be on the account.

For a monthly fee CAP protection also known as Credit Account Protection can be purchased for an account with a credit card.

If you live nearby a Progressive Bank location, you may want to go in to apply for a credit card, or go online. This information was obtained via the Progressive bank website and is good as of 11/09/09.

Landmark bank is offering a special reward checking account for those that are interested in getting in on the deal. The following terms and conditions apply.

• 5.01% APY on balances up to $25,000
• 0.25% on all balances if the requirements are not met
• 1.01% APY on part of balance over $25,000
• Refunds on ATMS nationwide of  up to $25 per cycle as well as $5 per ATM transaction

In order to receive this deal you must do the following. Have at least 10 Visa check card purchases each month. Get automatic payment and have direct deposit on the account from at least one location. Also you must get enrolled in online banking and receive e-statements.

In order to complete the application process, a bank visit is required, and other requirements also include a $100 minimum deposit. There is no minimum balance requirement from month to month, and there are no monthly service charges.

Landmark bank has some excellent ratings for stability, and is a solidly performing bank currently. if you are interested in any of the other banks services such as savings accounts or certificate of deposits, then you will need to speak with a banker about those current rates.

Uniti Bank has a great special on a 6 month bank CD in California. This special Flex CD has a rate of 3.53% APY. The great part of this CD is that you are allowed multiple deposits into the account during the term. It also have 2 penalty free withdrawals that you can make should you need the cash back.

You will be required to visit a branch to open one of these accounts. They are located in the following cities in California. Los Angeles, Buena Park and Garden Grove. Uniti Bank has been around for a good long while and has some solid ratings with bankrate.
Feel free to check with the on further deals should you want to open a Bank CD for a longer term or a checking or high yield savings account.

We have other articles for those living in various regions of California looking for a good bank deal on Certificates of deposits. Check our related articles section.