BECKLEY - Banks bid nearly twice the allotted $25 million Tuesday in a certificate of deposit auction, conducted on-line by State Treasurer John Perdue and the affiliated Board of Treasury Investments.

Interested parties were invited to watch as bids came in on a video screen erected at Tamarack Conference Center.

"We clearly saw today that banks with a state presence have a keen interest in bidding for funds that can be invested and in turn extended as loans to state residents," Perdue said. "We couldn't be happier or more thrilled with the results."

Fifteen bids, most received relatively late in the half-hour auction, finished "out of the money." This means the interest rates offered were either slightly lower than those bid for the same amount of money or they came in later during the 30-minute session.

"While we regret that not everyone could finish 'in the money,' " Perdue said, "we are certainly encouraged by the high participation. This makes us consider possibly adding more funds for bids in later auctions."

The highest rate received, 5.425 percent, was submitted by Pendleton Community Bank of Franklin for $500,000. That bank also successfully bid on two other $500,000 packages.

"Once again, as we saw during our first on-line auction in May, smaller banks were able to get in on the action," Perdue said.

The largest sum bid upon, in fact, was $3 million. That successful bid went to First State Bank of Barboursville.

BB&T of Charleston put forth three successful bids for $1 million each, about two minutes before the auction closed.