fw201 said:Its probably yet another loss leader.

After they get our $$, they can cut the rate after a few months.

Still, might be worth a shot.

I'm not sure if it is a loss leader or if it is Northfork bank trying to drum up some deposits. I believe it is guaranteed until January and will then be reset for another 6 months. If they drop it to 1% I'm sure we'll all be pulling out our money.

greg987 said:Note that the 3% offer is on their "Specials" page. This is a limited time special, as their "Best Rate" savings has an interest rate of 0.85%. Since you need to keep this account for 6 months, this averages to 2.2% per month. You can get this rate at ING, but you're not stuck with a 0.85% savings account after month 6.

Yea -- I have no idea why so many people seem so excited about this? You get 3%APR for 4 months as a promotional teaser, big whoop.

I guess 3%APR is the best you can get for that short a time period, and you can easily move the money out when that rate goes down, but its really not all that hot for most people. If you are planning to keep the money in "cash" for a year, you can get a 3.39% rate which is also FDIC insured (see the CD thread).

prozario said:MarketVViz - where do you see 3.39% for 1 year ... don't see anything that high for 1 year CD - are you referring to 2 year CD rates?

I got it from the CD Thread

Look for the PSECU CD. The effective rate is 3.39% for one year (365-90=275, 275/365 x 4.5 = 3.39%). This involves buying a 5 year CD which yields 4.5% and paying a penalty of 3 months interest for breaking it. I'm sure many local credit unions offer similar deals, so look around.

greg987 said:Note that the 3% offer is on their "Specials" page. This is a limited time special, as their "Best Rate" savings has an interest rate of 0.85%. Since you need to keep this account for 6 months, this averages to 2.2% per month. You can get this rate at ING, but you're not stuck with a 0.85% savings account after month 6.

Or you could just pay the $15 closing fee and pull the money out after they lower the rate. If you put in $100,000, the effective rate (after the fee) would be something like 2.94% (=(100000*.03/4-15)*4/100000, assuming the rate stays for 3 months, or a quarter).

Weird...looking at the Disclosure Statement, it indicates that:

"Withdrawals from this account must be made in person and only by the depositor(s) who signs the signature card on this account. No third party withdrawals will be paid out by the Bank. There is no limit on the number or amount of withdrawals that can be made from this account."

I assume this was the reason for the checking account and telebanking discussion in the previous page. I'll call on Monday to confirm, but can anyone comment as to whether this is their plan for withdrawals -- to tele-transfer from Savings to a linked Checking and then EFT out to their awaiting accounts when necessary?

... I wanted to confirm whether "withdrawals from this account must be made in person" <snipped>

Just got their package; Called and got verbal assurances that the "in person" provision
does not apply to TeleBanking accounts. Logical. However, the paperwork was done well
by their lawyers - FReD ACCOUNT Disclosure Statement & Agreement refers to another
Disclosure Agreement, and cross-links the two Agreements by saying
"....and agree to be bound by the terms and conditons contained herein and therein."
Potential Mouse-trap.

In any event, am waiting for a callback, will insist on having a written statement from
them saying that the "in person" portion of the FReD Agreement does not apply to FReD
accounts opened by their TeleBanking operation. We'll see what happens.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- endit
edit: 9/15/04 --- No callback; Perhaps they called YOU?
I think I'll just have to pass on this deal. -- 30

WARNING! DO NOT APPLY ONLINE!

I thought I might just point out that they allow you to open an account online, but you would have to be an absolute idiot to do so --- their website is NOT secure. So you're transmitting your Social Security, name, DOB, driver's license and EVERYTHING an identity thief would need to steal your identity UNENCRYPTED. Which makes it **extremely** easy to steal the info.

You should call and ask to apply by mail, over the phone, or go directly to their office (if you live locally).

The site IS secured...I dont' know what you're smoking to say that it's not. Anyhow, even if it is - this is too much of a hassle compare to ING accounts. Just my 2 cents on this bank.

EugeneV said:so you still need to pay for printing your own if you want to link this account to Virtual Bank or ING DirectDont need to pay anymore than 0.52 if you use qchex.com to print out 1 check.

Has anyone opened the accounts yet? How long did it take? They haven't deposited my check so far (almost two weeks).