EricGo said:I checked, and you are right that the Money Market is FDIC insured. That certainly removes a lot of worry.

I don't understand *how* a MM can be FDIC insured (some are not, right ?), or why the MM rates would be so different than the same bank's saving's accounts, but those are not related questions.

So yes, other than it being a good idea to keep close tabs on the rates and the fate of GMAC, I could see using this bank if it offered service or rate superior enough.

Money market accounts are FDIC insured. Money market mutual funds are not.
Bankrate.com article

EricGo said:What twisted webs we weave ..

This is GMAC *bank* ..
owned by GMAC, the corporation, I believe ?
That is a 'B' investment grade.

Where does the bank invest MM money, that allows it to offer 4.6% returns ? I'd have to guess into GMAC, the corp. Which is currently tied to GM, the automaker currently in severe financial distress.

I'll find my 4.x% short term interst rates elsewhere, thanks all the same.

GMAC Bank is owned by GMAC Residential Holding Corp. GMAC Residential Holding Corp owns GMAC Mortgage Corporation, GMAC Home Services, Inc. and GMAC Bank.

As of 12/31/2005, GMAC Bank's total assets were $9.7 billion.
Of that, $9.3 billion consisted of mortgage loans. All except $150 million was in residential property.

It also had $38 million in consumer loans, almost all of which were education loans. Interestingly, it had no auto loans.

hellotheworld said:I think it will be helpful to forward a post from a recent ING thread. I asked a question about GMAC there and got informative answers. Credit to Thrilla.

hellotheworld said:
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I'm also thinking moving to GMAC, which has a better access to the funds and better rates, plus free ACH in/out is great.
How about the customer service of GMAC?
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Thrilla said:

Very friendly and knowledgeable. The drawback is that the customer service availability is somewhat limited.

ING Direct offers Customer Service 7 days a week from 7 AM to 9 PM (assuming eastern time)

GMAC offers Customer Service Monday - Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM (assuming eastern time as well)

I use GMAC much more than ING now for 1) higher rates 2) faster availability 3) free Visa Check card with 4 ATM fees up to $1.50 each refunded per statement cycle 4) one order of free checks 5) the ability to link multiple accounts and to be able to push/pull from them


Do they refund only fees up to $1.50 each ? The GMAC website seems to indicate they will refund ATM fees upto $6. From GMAC bank website:

"There is no charge for withdrawals at a GMAC Bank or NON-GMAC Bank ATM. A fee may be assessed by the ATM owner for use of a non-GMAC Bank ATM. The first four fees per statement cycle assessed by the ATM owner, up to a total of $6, will be refunded by GMAC Bank."


Has anybody got a refund on an ATM fee of $2 ? (some ATMs charge more than $1.50).

Has anybody got refunded on ATM fees charged at an ATM outside USA ? These can be substantially above $1.50 each. An ATM in Japan recently charged me a fee of about $5 on a withdrawal of JPY 10K (about USD 100).

Anakin Skywalker

opening a GMAC account will result in a hard inquiry on your credit report contrary to the discussion on page 2 about no inquiry or a soft inquiry

A group of investors recently bought large chunk of GMAC. Their credit rating is going to go up.. I believe that means they will not be as keen to keep their rates up, because they will be able to get cheap money outside with higher credit rating.

The APY is now 4.7%.

I need some advice. If you were starting today, would you choose HSBC or GMAC savings to put your money into ($100,000)? Thanks....

gracefulshan said:I need some advice. If you were starting today, would you choose HSBC or GMAC savings to put your money into ($100,000)? Thanks....

GMAC. HSBC's signup process is a B****. I have a lot of these accounts (HSBC, GMAC, ING, Emigrant) and I keep my money in GMAC.

It's the easiest to use IMO...they seem very active in raising rates...free ATM/Debit Card...Reimburse ATM Fees...Fast ACH Transfers...Fast Signup Process.

Only downsides are: not 24/7 customer service, no signup bonus (although you can always sign up for HSBC, take their signup bonus, and put it into GMAC...like I did), and minimum of $500 (won't be a problem for you).

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking about just signing up for both like you said but I'm concerned about all the talk regarding hard pulls on your credit. I'm avoiding CDs only because I may need to access the money within a couple months.

Scott, you have been so helpful. Now that I know HSBC does not pull credit, I feel better about starting with them and then making the decision to move elsewhere after the bonus period is over (if rates go down). Thanks for your help!