Small-Town Interest

Wall Street Journal

Savers who want to squeeze out a littlebit extra on their interest rates maywant to look into a financial phenomenoncalled "the rural premium." In arecent article thatcompared interest rates between bigcity banks and their small town cousins,many of the rural banks came outahead. In Georgia, for example, a saverwho purchases a 2-year CD fromOconee State Bank in Watkinsville willearn almost a full percentage pointmore in interest than a saver who buysa CD from Bank of America in Atlanta(2.10% vs 1.15%). CD buyers at FriendshipState Bank in Friendship, Ind, earn2.01% on their money; those who gettheir CDs from nearby Wells Fargo inbustling Indianapolis get just 0.80%.Bankrate.com can help you find the bestinterest rates in your area.