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Rate hike for No-Penalty CD. CIT Bank (not to be confused with Citi Bank) is an online-only bank that has a multi-year history of competitive rates, although they do like to start up new product lines while keeping low rates on their older product lines. Here are the current noteworthy accounts:

• 11-Month No-Penalty CD at 3.90% APY***. $1,000 minimum balance and no monthly fees.
• Platinum Savings Account at 3.75% APY* if you maintain a $5,000 daily balance or higher. 0.25% APY if your daily balance is under $5,000. No monthly fees. If you have any other savings accounts at CIT and can meet the minimum balance, you should consider moving funds over to this account. You can also open this new account without having to open another bank or credit union account.
• Savings Connect Account at 3.65% APY** if you open with $100. No minimum balance and no monthly fees.
• Member FDIC.

Check out my rate chaser calculator to see if it makes sense for you to move money over.

New customer? Opening process overview. Here’s my review of the opening process if you are a new customer.

• The application process was completely online. You provide the usual personal information.
• You must submit to a credit check, but in my experience it was a “soft” pull which did not harm my credit. None of my various credit monitoring services showed it was a hard pull.
• You may fund via (1) electronic ACH transfer, (2) wire transfer, (3) mobile check deposit via CIT Bank mobile app (iOS and Android), and (4) mailing in a paper check. There was no option for credit card funding. I picked online ACH funding and you need to provide routing and account numbers, followed by manual verification via micro-deposits after a day or two. There was no instant linking option via login information.

After deposit verification, then your funding will go through.

You have successfully verified your external account. Please allow up to 5 business days for your funds to appear in your CIT Bank account.
No further action is required for this account. Thank you!

Existing savings or money market customer? Check your rate. If you already have an existing High Yield Savings account, it may remain at a lower interest rate than the currently-promoted accounts. If so, take a minute and upgrade yourself to the better interest rate.

Bottom line. CIT Bank is a lean bank offering targeted products for folks looking to get higher interest rates on their cash balances. They don’t maintain physical bank branches or fancy apps. However, I have been pleasantly satisfied with their customer service on my accounts with them.

* Here are the disclosures for the Platinum Savings:

Platinum Savings is a tiered interest rate account. Interest is paid on the entire account balance based on the interest rate and APY in effect that day for the balance tier associated with the end-of day account balance. *APYs — Annual Percentage Yields are accurate as of January 9, 2026: 0.25% APY on balances of $0.01 to $4,999.99; 3.75% APY on balances of $5,000.00 or more. Interest Rates for the Platinum Savings account are variable and may change at any time without notice. The minimum to open a Platinum Savings account is $100.

** Here are the disclosures for the Savings Connect:

APY — Annual Percentage Yield is accurate as of January 9, 2026. Interest Rates for the Savings Connect Account are variable and may change at any time without notice. The minimum to open a Savings Connect account is $100. Fees could reduce earnings on the account.

For complete list of account details and fees, see the CIT Bank Personal Account disclosures.

*** Here is the fine print (disclosures) for the 11-month No-Penalty CD:

APY — Annual Percentage Yield is accurate as of January 9, 2026. $1,000 minimum to open the account.
With a No-Penalty CD, you may withdraw the total balance and interest earned, without penalty, beginning 7 days after funds have been received for your CD. No withdrawals are permitted during the first 6 days following the receipt of funds.

Updated offer. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card is one of the co-branded rewards card for Marriott hotels (which includes The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, JW Marriott, W Hotels, Sheraton, Westin, Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, and Fairfield brands). Right now, there is a special offer that is higher than the standard offer. Here are the highlights:

• 125,000 Bonus Points + 1 Free Night Award after spending $3,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of account opening Free Night award worth up to 50k points; you are also now allowed to top off the award nights with up to 25,000 of your own points, in order to reach a 75,000 point award night. Certain hotels have resort fees.
• Special Offer: Get up to $100 in statement credits after spending $500 on eligible airline purchases. The credit are split up semi-annually. Spend $250 between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2026 to earn a $50 statement credit. Earn another $50 statement credit after spending $250 or more between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2027.
• Earn 3X points per $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining.
• 1 Free Night Award (valued up to 35,000 points) every year after account anniversary.
• 1 Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 you spend.
• Earn up to 17X total points per $1 spent at over 7,000 hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy(R) with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless(R) Card.
• 2X points for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
• Automatic Silver Elite Status each account anniversary year. Gold Status when you spend $35,000 on purchases each account year.
• 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees.
• $95 annual fee.

Keep in mind the following:

This credit card is not available to you if (1) you currently have any of the following cards or (2) you received a new cardmember bonus for any of the following cards within the last 24 months: Marriott Bonvoy® Premier credit card, Marriott Rewards® Premier credit card, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card, Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus credit card, Marriott Bonvoy Bold® credit card.

The new cardmember bonus is not available to you if (1) you currently have or had any of the following cards within the last 30 days: Marriott Bonvoy® American Express® Card, The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express; or if (2) you applied and were approved for any of the following cards within the last 90 days or (3) received a new cardmember bonus or upgrade bonus for any of the following cards within the last 24 months: Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express® Card.

What is a reasonable estimate for the value of a Marriott Bonvoy point? Since 2022, Marriott no longer has a fixed hotel category chart for booking points. You can still use these points at either long-time Marriott brands (Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance Hotels, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites) or former Starwood brands (Westin, Sheraton, The Luxury Collection, Four Points by Sheraton, W Hotels, St. Regis, Le Méridien, Aloft), but now it is “dynamic” awards where the points required are more linked to the actual cash cost than before.

Based on multiple real-world searches of redeemable properties, I choose to use a conservative estimate of 0.70 cents per Bonvoy point. Other estimates that I’ve seen are 0.8 cents per point. That means 50,000 Bonvoy points = estimated $350 redeemable value. Remember to compare the full price of the hotel price with all taxes, as that is what you would have to pay instead of just points. With the flexibility of points, you could book a week stay at a modest hotel or a couple nights at a luxury resort.

You can use the Marriott free night search tool to price out some sample hotels for yourself.

NEW: Certificates can be combined with up to 25,000 points for nicer hotels. Marriott now allows you to supplement your free night certificates with up to 25,000 points of your own. In other words, if your certificate is worth 50,000 points, the maximum hotel value you can redeem for is 75,000 points after adding 25,000 points of your own. Here are details on the Free Night Award Top Off option.

Bonvoy Points can also be transferred to airline miles with a bonus. You can convert your Bonvoy points to miles at 39 participating airlines. The standard ratio with most programs is 3:1 (60,000 Bonvoy: 20,000 airlines) miles. Most programs will add on a bonus 5,000 miles for every 60,000 points you transfer to frequent flyer miles (does not apply to American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, Delta SkyMiles and Korean Air SKYPASS.) If you’re a United MileagePlus® member, you’ll get 10,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points you transfer. More information here.

Finally, Marriott points are also convertible to gift cards, but it takes 60,000 points to redeem for a $200 gift card for Marriott or retailers like Best Buy, Home Depot, or Nordstrom. That ratio isn’t all that great, so you’ll definitely get the most value via hotel night redemptions or airline miles transfer.

No annual fee alternative. Look at the Marriott Bonvoy Bold card, which also offers bonus points and some (lesser) perks, but with no annual fee.

Bottom line. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card is currently offering a special offer for new cardholders. As with all hotel cards, the value is dependent on your unique travel preferences. If you stay at Marriott properties regularly, the free night award every year should easily cover the annual fee.