Update: Rate has increased to 2.47% with a 2.50% APY for balances up to $250,000.00. Account not available to new customers, this rate upgrade is for existing account holders only.
Rate is no longer available sadly. View the best current rates here.
Update: They won’t be accepting new applications after 9AM EST June 20th (today). Few hours left to get the account if you’re interested. Hat tip to reader Ty
The Offer
- Northern Bank Direct is offering a 2.26% APY interest rate on their money market account. Rate is guaranteed through June 30, 2019.
You do need $5,000 to open this account, however, there’s no need to have $5,000 in the account to earn the rate, just to open the account, as per the fine print.
Northern Bank Direct is the online arm of Northern Bank (a Massachusetts based bank) – accounts are available to anyone nationwide. The bank is FDIC insured. No monthly fees.
The Fine Print
- Annual Percentage Yield (APY) effective as of 6/8/18.
- Minimum deposit of $5,000 to open the account.
- Maximum opening deposit of $250,000.00.
- Money Market average daily balances from $.01 to $250,000.00 earn the advertised 2.24% interest rate with an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 2.26%.
- Money Market average daily balances between $250,000.01 and $1,000,000.00 earn an interest rate of 0.75% resulting in a blended APY between 2.26% and 1.13%.
- Money Market average daily balances greater than $1,000,000.00 earn an interest rate of 0.01%, resulting in a blended APY between 1.13% (for average daily balances just over $1,000,000.00) and 0.23% (for an average daily deposit balance of $5,000,000.00).
- Your interest rate and APY are accurate as of June 8, 2018 and guaranteed through June 30, 2019.
- After June 30, 2019, your interest rate and APY may change and at our discretion we may change the interest rate on your account daily. The interest rate will be determined by us based on current market conditions.
- You can make up to 6 transfers per month to another account with us or to a third party.
Our Verdict
Rate is a good bit above the next-best available rates of around 2% APY (check updated rates in our dedicated post), and rate is guaranteed for a year.
The fed recently raised interest rates by .25%, and signaled that two more raises are on their way this year. So the main thing is really to find a bank who will KEEP UP their rates as rates overall go up.
That said, it’s likely this will still be a good or very good rate for the next 12 months. If you have a lot of cash on hand, and don’t mind jumping banks, this could make sense. For example, if you have $100k cash, you’ll net an extra $260 using this account over an account which earns 2%.
We’ll add this to our list of Best High Yield/Interest Savings Accounts – Up To 5% APY.
Hat tip to reader Eduardo Baez
