Federal Trust Bank is offering a competitive CD rate of 4.50% APY on terms from 36 to 60 months. The minimum deposit is $500, and the early withdrawal penalty is 6 months of interest. Please see their rate table for more details.

It appears a branch visit is required to open the CD. Branches are located in several Central Florida cities including Winter Park, Sanford, New Smyrna Beach, Palm Coast and Eustis.

The bank isn’t in good financial shape. BauerFinancial gives it 0 stars based on 3/31/08 data. There’s an Orlando Sentinel article on its parent, Federal Trust Corp. According to the article, Federal Trust has been hit hard in the mortgage mess. It’s currently trying to raise $35 million in stock offering. Make sure you stay below the the FDIC insured limit.