A: It seems that there is a bit of chatter about the rate thread itself that doesn't fit into individual deal threads and doesn't seem to work with just PMing me. This thread is inspired by the usenet's .d groups which are about and for the non-.d thread but the non-.d thread is for data not discussion about that data. Since this thread is open to talking about deals that might not make the cut to the list but still might be deals I am putting this in the Finance Forum and not Deal discussion.
I think it is worthwile to have a data thread and this discussion thread so that the best current APRs thread will have less posts and still have this higher post discussion thread open for discussion that will hopefully make the other thread better. Hopefully this will make more people happier.
A:the rate thread replaces longwood8's original rate thread. My qualifications are similar except that I don't believe that rates lower than the fifth account with minimal requirements (with at least one providing ACH) should be considered. I am also interested in higher tiers and member organizations (like Costco and PenFed) that have fairly low membership requirements.
Like longwood8's, the purpose of the rate thread is very narrow: To keep an up to date listing of the best interest rates out there. I will keep the rate thread updated when someone adds a post to the rate thread with new information. The accounts are posted first in order of highest APY, then in what I think ease of meeting the requirements for that APY are.
A:Automated ClearingHouse. It is a way to electronically move money. Availability of ACH transferred funds vary so check the discussion for that account. To be listed as ACH in the list, the account must have the ability to both push money from and pull money to the listed account using ACH.
Q: What is the difference between Savings Accounts and Money Market Accounts?
A: Money Market Accounts tend to have higher interest rates and may offer checking. There is no real difference. You need to compare accounts and what each account is offering. Money Market Funds are a different matter (see below).
Q: How do I know if it is worth it to switch accounts?
A: You can go by gut or to see how different rates affect you, here is a tool found by gexi:Dinkytown Compare Savings Calculator. Many FWFers use the Chipotle rule.
Q: What is the Chipotle rule?
A: If you can't get enough to buy a burrito at Chipotle, it isn't worth your time.
Q: How do I know how much FDIC insurance I have for my accounts?
You can check the rates and post in the rate thread when they change. Better yet, find new deals by using the links below. Better than than that would be to find new sources and post them in this thread.
A: delirium4u has put together some graphs here, also see the next question.
Q: What have been the changes so far to the list?
A: These are the changes: 2005 Feb 13 - add GreenPoint Bank, removal of Access Money Market as it is now a local deal (see Fatwallet thread). 2005 Feb 15 - fix of Costco link 2005 Feb 18 - update of Union Federal Bank, add of Western Financial Bank, ebank, Ascencia, and Charter One (Circle and Gold) 2005 Feb 20 - updated National InterBank, with new MM account type, add of CountryWide Bank, Umbrella Bank, and Principal Bank 2005 Feb 21 - no new info, edits and commentary 2005 Feb 25 - ING to 2.60% with another thread, Capital One's accounts to 2.65% and 2.71%, and removal of ibervillebank.com based on no feedback on opening without going to B&M: Fatwallet discussion, WFB readded because of bad edit 2005 Feb 28 - added WFB discussion 2005 Mar 01 - WFB goes up to 3.25% 2005 Mar 02 - spell discussion correctly and format correction 2005 Mar 03 - Cap One goes to 2.75%, add of Discover Bank 2005 Mar 04 - Union Federal Bank, National InterBank, Zions Bank, Principal Bank, and CountryWide Bank rates go up, fix of SIMPLY SUPERIOR MONEY MARKET to APY 2005 Mar 07 - Capital One/Costco Money Market goes up 2005 Mar 09 - Both Capital One accounts, Zions Bank, GMAC Bank, and MetLife Bank go up 2005 Mar 14 - ED, National InterBank, and Union Federal Bank go up 2005 Mar 17 - Both Capital One accounts, MetLife Bank, and GMAC go up 2005 Mar 18 - Add of HSBC Bank OnlineSavings 2005 Mar 22 - Nexity Bank, GMAC Bank, Capital One High Yield Savings, ING and Virtual Bank go up, add of First Horizon, Salem Five, CalFirst, and discussions 2005 Mar 27 - Umbrella Bank, HSBC Bank, Capital One/Costco Money Market, Resource Bank, and CalFirst go up. 2005 Mar 29 - Western Financial Bank, National InterBank, MetLife Bank and Capital One High Yield Savings go up 2005 Mar 30 - Capital One/Costco Money Market, Resource Bank, and Ascencia go up plus discussion for Resource Bank 2005 Apr 01 - ebank, CountryWide Bank, Zions Bank, Principal Bank, Discover Bank, and City National Bank go up. New link and higher rate for First Horizon. 2005 Apr 05 - ING goes up with discussion and add of Union Federal Bank Direct 2005 Apr 06 - Zions Banks and MetLife Bank go up and correction of typos 2005 Apr 07 - Virtual Bank and Umbrella Bank go up 2005 Apr 12 - HSBC goes up 2005 Apr 14 - Add discussion for Union Federal Bank Direct 2005 Apr 23 - Add of City National Bank Reward Savings Account and ebank discussion, Ascencia, GMAC Bank, Discover Bank and CountryWide Bank go up 2005 Apr 30 - GMAC Bank goes up, add of giant Money Market Account, delete of Privilege Money Market Gold since it is the last on the list... 2005 May 04 - Presidential Bank, Principal Bank, Nexity Bank, and CountryWide Bank go up, new discussion 2005 May 05 - Add of State Farm Bank, Flagstar Bank, and Security State Savings Bank, delete of GreenPoint Bank, Discover Bank, and Principal Bank(last 3 on list). Didn't up the lower tier CountryWide Bank rate yesterday... 2005 May 10 - Giant Bank and Umbrella Bank go up 2005 May 13 - Add of Presidential Bank Premier Savings and discussion, Zions Internet Money Market goes up, Delete of Superior Savings SIMPLY SUPERIOR MONEY MARKET, now all accounts are sorted by rate without grouping by bank. 2005 May 16 - Ascencia drops, Charter One Circle Money Market goes up 2005 May 23 - Ascencia drops again, CountryWide Bank goes up, delete of First Horizon Relationship First Savings as the rate droped to an insulting level 2005 May 31 - Add of Imperial Capital Bank 2005 Jun 02 - Readd of Discover, delete of National InterBank Premier Money Market Account and Salem Five 2005 Jun 03 - Add of Hillcrest Bank, Stearns Bank, Corus Bank, and Earthstar Bank, CountryWide Bank goes up, and delete of National InterBank High Yield Money Market Savings, Nexity Bank, and MetLife Bank with its Fatwallet discussion 2005 Jun 08 - Stearns Bank, National InterBank Jumbo Money Market Account, Discover Bank and Hillcrest Bank go up, delete of Earthstar Bank Galaxy Money Market for droping to ING level 2005 Jun 13 - Add of Bank of Wausau 2005 Jun 21 - Virtual Bank and Resource Bank go up, Zions Bank drops 2005 Jun 23 - Add of Superior's Amazing Money Market 2005 Jun 25 - Western Financial Bank, Zions Bank, and State Farm Bank go up, Discover goes down .01% for non-top-tier 2005 Jul 5 - Presidential Premier Savings, Discover Bank, Security State Savings Bank, Presidential Bank Checking, Corus Bank, Umbrella Bank, Zions Bank, Giant Bank, and CalFirst go up, Virtual Bank expands tiers for highest rate, Imperial Capital Bank adds higher new rate for new tier, add of Union Federal Bank Direct Jumbo Money Market Account 2005 Jul 7 - Add of MyBankingDirect.com and discussion 2005 Jul 11 - Zions Bank and HSBC Bank go up. Delete of Flagstar Bank for falling below ING. Edit by Moderator, 7/11: Conducting a general clean-up of this thread, including removal of outdated and off-topic posts. Please don't be alarmed if many posts seem to poof. 2005 Jul 12 - Add of Wilmington Trust and discussion. Discover Bank, Stearns Bank and Hillcrest Bank go up. 2005 Jul 15 - CountryWide Bank and Capital One/Costco Money Market go up 2005 Jul 18 - Add of Sanford Institution for Savings and readd of MetLife Bank and discussion 2005 Jul 19 - Add of Lockheed Federal Credit Union and Citibank 2005 Jul 20 - Union Federal Bank Direct (2 accounts), Corus Bank, National InterBank, and Stearns Bank go up. Add of California Savings Bank and Stonebridge Bank and Lockheed Federal Credit Union discussion. 2005 Jul 21 - ING goes up. Add of Ultimate Money Market Account. 2005 Jul 22 - Emigrant Bank goes up. 2005 Jul 27 - Corus Bank, Stearns Bank, National InterBank's Jumbo Money Market Account, CountryWide Bank, Capital One/Costco Money Market, Zions Bank, California Savings Bank, Giant Bank, Imperial Capital Bank, Virtual Bank, Capital One High Yield Savings, and Union Federal Bank's Jumbo Money Market Account go up. Delete of GMAC Bank (with it's Fatwallet discussion), MetLife Bank (with it's Fatwallet discussion), Union Federal Bank's "Money Market Accounts", and Superior Savings's FReD (with it's Fatwallet discussion) for not matching ING. 2005 Jul 30 - Add of FBOP banks in Illinois and readd of GMAC Bank. 2005 Aug 01 - MyBankingDirect.com goes up. 2005 Aug 09 - Corus Bank (2 accounts), Union Federal Bank Direct (2 accounts), National InterBank, Hillcrest Bank, Zions Bank, Western Financial Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, Discover Bank, CountryWide Bank, California Savings Bank, Resource Bank, Capital One/Costco Money Market, ebank, Giant Bank, City National Bank, and Stearns Bank go up. Add of KeyDirect and Fidelity Bank. 2005 Aug 10 - Presidential Bank (2 accounts), Umbrella Bank, Stonebridge Bank, Capital One High Yield Savings, and Capital One/Costco Money Market go up. ebank goes down! Add of Capital One Money Market. 2005 Aug 15 - CountryWide Bank, Western Financial Bank, City National Bank, HSBC Bank, GMAC Bank, and MyBankingDirect.com go up. Add of St. Louis Bank. 2005 Aug 16 - ING goes up which drops CalFirst, Union Federal Bank's High Yield Money Market Savings, Ascencia, Citibank (Fatwallet discussion), Bank of Wausau, Imperial Capital Bank, and Charter One (Fatwallet discussion) from the list. Giant Bank also goes up. Western Financial Bank lowers minimum to open. 2005 Aug 18 - Corus Bank (2 accounts), Stearns Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, California Savings Bank, Zions Bank, and Union Federal Bank Direct (2 accounts) go up. Add of Union Federal Bank's Money Market Account and readd of Nexity Bank. 2005 Aug 21 - Union Federal Bank Direct (2 accounts) and CountryWide Bank (lower tier) go up. Add of Advanta Bank Corp and Transportation Alliance Bank. Readd of Imperial Capital Bank. 2005 Aug 23 - KeyDirect, Resource Bank, Capital One/Costco Money Market, Discover Bank, and Union Federal Bank Direct go up. Corus Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, and California Savings Bank go down .01%. Add of Centennial Bank. 2005 Aug 26 - Stonebridge Bank, KeyDirect, and Capital One/Costco Money Market go up. Add of Stonebridge Bank Money Market Account and Amboy Direct. 2005 Aug 30 - KeyDirect, Stearns Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, California Savings Bank, ebank, and Corus Bank (2 accounts) go up. 2005 Aug 31 - Capital One/Costco Money Market goes up. 2005 Sep 04 - HSBC Bank and Centennial Bank go up. 2005 Sep 10 - Capital One/Costco Money Market, National InterBank's Jumbo Money Market Account, and Union Federal Bank Direct's Jumbo Money Market Account go up. Corus Bank (2 accounts), 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, and California Savings Bank go down. Transportation Alliance Bank removed from list for dropping to ING level. MetLife Bank readded to the list for going over ING. 2005 Sep 24 - Emigrant Bank, Stearns Bank, Corus Bank (2 accounts), Umbrella Bank, ebank, CountryWide Bank, Superior Savings, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, California Savings Bank, Imperial Capital Bank, City National Bank's Reward Savings Account, and Hillcrest Bank go up. Lockheed Federal Credit Union goes down. ING also goes up which removes: Nexity Bank, Fidelity Bank, Virtual Bank (Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion), Wilmington Trust (Fatwallet discussion), and Security State Savings Bank. 2005 Sep 26 - Presidential Bank (2 accounts) goes up. 2005 Sep 28 - Readd of Virtual Bank and Nexity Bank. Union Federal Bank Direct (2 accounts), Advanta Bank Corp, Discover Bank, and Stearns Bank go up. Corus Bank (2 accounts), 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, and California Savings Bank go down. 2005 Oct 10 - Hillcrest Bank, Stearns Bank, CountryWide Bank, Umbrella Bank, MyBankingDirect.com, Discover Bank, Corus Bank (2 accounts), Zions Bank, California Savings Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, GMAC Bank, and KeyDirect go up. Capital One/Costco Money Market and Centennial Bank go down. Re-add of CalFirst. 2005 Oct 13 - Capital One/Costco Money Market and Capital One's other 2 accounts on this list go up. 2005 Oct 17 - Corus Bank (2 accounts), California Savings Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, and Discover Bank go up. 2005 Oct 22 - Corus Bank (2 accounts), Umbrella Bank, Stearns Bank, City National Bank's Reward Checking Account, Zions Bank, California Savings Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, Giant Bank, and CountryWide Bank go up. Superior Savings Amazing Money Market is no longer on their site, and seems to be replaced with Superior Money Market. Add of AmTrust. 2005 Oct 27 - Corus Bank (2 accounts), Stearns Bank, California Savings Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, Union Federal Bank Direct's Jumbo Money Market Account, Capital One/Costco Money Market, Advanta Bank Corp, Stonebridge Bank (2 accounts), Imperial Capital Bank, and Zions Bank go up. 2005 Oct 30 - Advanta Bank Corp goes up. 2005 Nov 04 - Corus Bank (2 accounts), Stearns Bank, California Savings Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, Capital One/Costco Money Market, Resource Bank, HSBC Bank, Centennial Bank, Discover Bank, Western Financial Bank, State Farm Bank, Amboy Direct, and Union Federal Bank Direct's Jumbo Money Market Account go up. ING also went up, which removed Nexity Bank, MetLife Bank (Fatwallet discussion), Lockheed Federal Credit Union (Fatwallet discussion), St. Louis Bank, and Union Federal Bank Direct's Money Market Account for not being better than ING. 2005 Nov 05 - GMAC Bank goes up. Add of Salem Five's Platinum Cash Account. 2005 Nov 08 - Corus Bank (2 accounts), California Savings Bank, and 5 FBOP banks in Illinois go down. Resource Bank, KeyDirect, Zions Bank, Discover Bank, Hillcrest Bank, Giant Bank, Western Financial Bank, and Capital One/Costco Money Market go up. Add of Assurance Partners Bank. 2005 Nov 11 - Umbrella Bank goes up. 2005 Nov 18 - Corus Bank (2 accounts), Western Financial Bank, KeyDirect, Giant Bank, California Savings Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, Discover Bank, ebank, Imperial Capital Bank, and Stearns Bank go up. Start of new rules knocks ING Direct (with Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, and Fatwallet discussion), Sanford Institution for Savings, CalFirst, Virtual Bank (with Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, and Fatwallet discussion), National InterBank, Stonebridge Bank's Money Market Account, Amboy Direct (with Fatwallet discussion), Imperial Capital Bank, State Farm Bank, and Capital One Money Market off the list. 2005 Nov 19 - GMAC Bank goes up. 2005 Nov 27 - Stearns Bank, Zions Bank, California Savings Bank, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, and Corus Bank (2 accounts) go up. Capital One High Yield Savings (with Fatwallet discussion and Fatwallet discussion), City National Bank, and Stonebridge Bank removed. 2005 Dec 04 - Centennial Bank, Capital One/Costco Money Market, KeyDirect, MyBankingDirect.com, and GMAC Bank go up. Corus Bank (2 accounts), California Savings Bank, and 5 FBOP banks in Illinois go down. 2005 Dec 13 - Hillcrest Bank, Resource Bank (adding new tier), GMAC Bank, Capital One/Costco Money Market, KeyDirect, Discover Bank, and Salem Five go up. Corus Bank (2 accounts), California Savings Bank, and 5 FBOP banks in Illinois go down. Re-add of Capital One High Yield Savings and Capital One Money Market. 2005 Dec 17 - Umbrella Bank, HSBC Bank, and CountryWide Bank go up. 2006 Jan 03 - Salem Five goes down. Stearns Bank, Union Federal Bank Direct's Jumbo Money Market Account, Capital One/Costco Money Market, Advanta Bank Corp, Corus Bank (2 accounts), Discover Bank, Union Federal Bank Direct's High Yield Interest, 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, California Savings Bank, and Assurance Partners Bank go up. Add of MBNA Money Market Deposit Account. 2006 Jan 04 - 5 FBOP banks in Illinois, Corus Bank (2 accounts), and California Savings Bank go up. Change list and some of the OP moved to the discussion thread. 2006 Jan 05 - Discover goes down. Zions Bank goes up with a change of tiers. Discover Bank, Capital One Money Market, Presidential Bank (with Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, and Fatwallet discussion), and Salem Five (with Fatwallet discussion) removed from the list. 2006 Jan 05 - Zions Bank goes back to old tiers and keeps increased rate. 2006 Jan 09 - MBNA Money Market Deposit Account drops from 4.23% to 4.19%. AmTrust says 4.00% which takes it off the list. Add of State Bank of India. 2006 Jan 09 - Add of Cosmopolitan Bank and Trust's The Cosmopolitan Checking Account 2006 Jan 10 - Hillcrest Bank (4.31% to 4.54%), Corus Bank (4.30% to 4.39% and 4.15% to 4.23%), Stearns Bank (4.26% to 4.31%), 5 FBOP banks in Illinois (4.15% to 4.23%), and California Savings Bank (4.15% to 4.23%) go up. Zions Bank gives a lower rate for their lowest tier. 2006 Jan 13 - Capital One/Costco Money Market goes up (4.26% to 4.27%). Readd of Imperial Capital Bank. 2006 Jan 19 - Corus Bank (4.39% to 4.51% and 4.23% to 4.35%), Stearns Bank (4.31% to 4.36%), 5 FBOP banks in Illinois and California Savings Bank (4.23% to 4.35%), MBNA Money Market Deposit Account (4.19% to 4.26%), and Zions Bank (4.18% to 4.29%) go up. 2006 Jan 25 - Corus Bank (4.51% to 4.53% and 4.35% to 4.38%), Stearns Bank (4.36% to 4.41%), Park National Bank (5 FBOP banks in Illinois have merged into Park National Bank) (4.35% to 4.38%), California Savings Bank (4.35% to 4.38%), Capital One/Costco Money Market (4.27% to 4.30%), MBNA Money Market Deposit Account (4.26% to 4.29%), and KeyDirect (4.11% to 4.56%) go up. Assurance Partners Bank goes down (4.25% to 4.10%). Zions Bank increases rate for lowest tier. CountryWide Bank increases rate for middle tier. Removal of The Cosmopolitan Checking Account as it is no longer on its site. Readd of Salem Five. 2006 Jan 26 - Emigrant Bank (4.00% to 4.25%) goes up. 2006 Feb 01 - Corus Bank (4.53% to 4.63% and 4.38% to 4.47%), Stearns Bank (4.41% to 4.45%), Park National Bank and California Savings Bank (4.38% to 4.46%), Union Federal Bank Direct's Jumbo Money Market Account (4.35% to 4.50%), State Bank of India (4.33% to 4.59%), Advanta Bank Corp (4.30% to 4.50%), MBNA Money Market Deposit Account (4.29% to 4.31%), Centennial Bank (4.24% to 4.73%), and Presidential Bank's Premier Savings (4.12% to 4.37%) go up. Readd of Presidential Bank Checking. 2006 Feb 07 - Hillcrest Bank (4.54% to 4.78%), Union Federal Bank's Jumbo Money Market Account (4.50% to 4.60%), Stearns Bank (4.45% to 4.51%), MBNA Money Market Deposit Account (4.31% to 4.39%), Resource Bank (4.30% to 4.50%), and HSBC Bank (4.25% to 4.80%) go up. 2006 Feb 15 - Corus Bank (4.63% to 4.69% and 4.47% to 4.53%), Stearns Bank (4.51% to 4.60%), Park National Bank and California Savings Bank (4.46% to 4.53%), Umbrella Bank (4.40% to 4.60%), MBNA Money Market Deposit Account (4.39% to 4.45%), ebank (4.15% to 4.75%), and Union Federal Bank Direct's High Yield Interest (4.00% to 4.30%) go up. Assurance Partners Bank drops to below requirements and is dropped from the list. Add of American Bank (pcbanker.com) and Affinity Bank. Readd of Virtual Bank. 2006 Mar 07 - Hillcrest Bank (4.78% to 4.91%), Centennial Bank (4.73% to 4.87%), Umbrella Bank (4.60% to 4.61%), Union Federal Bank Direct's Jumbo Money Market Account (4.60% to 4.73%), Stearns Bank (4.60% to 4.66%), KeyDirect (4.61% to 4.65%), Park National Bank (4.53% to 4.59%), California Savings Bank (4.53% to 4.60%), Resource Bank (4.50% to 4.70%), MBNA Money Market Deposit Account (4.45% to 4.55%), Union Federal Bank Direct's High Yield Interest (4.30% to 4.50%), GMAC Bank (4.30% to 4.60%), Capital One High Yield Savings (4.00% to 4.25%), and Giant Bank (4.10% to 4.26%) go up. Corus Bank changes accounts so they are the same rate (4.69% and 4.53% to 4.59%). Salem Five, CountryWide Bank, Imperial Capital Bank, Presidential Bank (with Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, and Fatwallet discussion), American Bank (pcbanker.com), City National Bank with (Fatwallet discussion) are removed from list for failing to beat the rate of the fifth account with minimal requirements. Add of National Bank Of Kansas City Money Market and nBank nPower XL. 2006 Mar 12 - Union Federal Bank Direct (4.73% to 4.50% and 4.50% to 3.75%) goes down. GMAC Bank (4.60% to 4.65%) goes up. 2006 Mar 19 - Stearns Bank (4.66% to 4.68%), Corus Bank (4.59% to 4.60%), Park National Bank (4.59% to 4.60%), Affinity Bank (4.59% to 4.73%), MyBankingDirect.com (4.30% to 4.55%), Giant Bank (4.26% to 4.41%), and Emigrant Bank (4.25% to 4.50%) go up. Hillcrest Bank no longer offers Index Money Market, so it is removed with addition of Performance Money Market. California Savings Bank doesn't seem to offer Platinum Money Market anymore so it is removed. Add of Superior Savings Incredible Money Market and Flushing Savings Bank Power Money Market account. 2006 Apr 02 - Centennial Bank Variable Rate Passbook Savings (4.87% to 4.86%), Corus Bank (4.60% to 4.59%), and Park National Bank Advantage Money Market (4.60% to 4.59%) go down. Stearns Bank (4.66% to 4.71%), KeyDirect Premier Money Market Savings Account (4.65% to 4.70%), Umbrella Bank Pot o' Gold (4.61% to 4.66%), MBNA Money Market Deposit Account (4.55% to 4.61%), and Advanta Bank Corp (4.50% to 4.75%) go up. Affinity Bank's T-Bill Indexed Money Market Checking and nBank nPower XL removed as they are no longer offered. Readd of Salem Five Star Money Market and Citibank e-Savings. Add of Heritage Bank Heritage Direct Savings, American Partners Bank Personal Money Market Savings, and Transportation Alliance Bank Premium Savings Account. Removal of Union Federal Bank Direct's High Yield Interest as it's rate no longer makes the list. 2006 Apr 18 - Stearns Bank (4.71% to 4.75%), KeyDirect Premier Money Market Savings Account (4.70% to 4.75%), Umbrella Bank Pot o' Gold (4.66% to 4.70%), GMAC Bank (4.65% to 4.70%), MBNA Money Market Deposit Account thru Motlely Fool (4.61% to 4.78%), Heritage Bank Heritage Direct Savings (4.60% to 4.72%), Corus Bank (3 accounts - 4.59% to 4.67%), Park National Bank Advantage Money Market (4.59% to 4.67%), American Partners Bank Personal Money Market Savings (4.55% to 4.71%), Union Federal Bank Direct Jumbo Money Market Account (4.50% to 4.80%), Presidential Bank Premier Savings (4.37% to 4.62%), Capital One/Costco Money Market (4.30% to 4.51%), Zions Bank (4.29% to 4.50%), Hillcrest Bank Performance Money Market (4.28% to 4.39%), Western Financial Bank ONLINE MONEY MARKET PLUS (4.25% to 4.60%) go up. Flushing Savings Bank Power Money Market account removed as it is reported to be a local deal. Add of IndyMac Bank Internet Money Market Savings and IndyMac Internet Top Tier Money Market. Readd of Union Federal Bank Direct High Yield Interest and Presidential Bank Internet Checking PLUS. 2006 Apr 21 - GMAC Bank Insured Savings/Money Market (4.70% to 4.75%) goes up. Add of OneUnited Bank UNITY Internet Savings Account. 2006 Apr 25 - Centennial Bank Variable Rate Passbook Savings (4.86% to 5.01%), MBNA Money Market Deposit Account thru Motlely Fool (4.78% to 4.82%), IndyMac Internet Top Tier Money Market (4.75% to 4.80%), Stearns Bank Stearns Money Market "Above the Norm" Account (4.75% to ), Corus Bank (3 accounts - 4.67% to 4.74%), and Park National Bank Advantage Money Market (4.67% to 4.73%) go up. Union Federal Bank Direct High Yield Interest and Capital One High Yield Savings (with Fatwallet discussion and Fatwallet discussion) are no longer one of the five minimal requirement accounts which means Presidential Bank Internet Checking PLUS (with Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion, Fatwallet discussion), Hillcrest Bank Performance Money Market (with Fatwallet discussion), Giant Bank, Salem Five Star Money Market, Citibank e-Savings (with Fatwallet discussion), Superior Savings (with Fatwallet discussion), IndyMac Bank Internet Money Market Savings, and Zions Bank no longer rate the list and are removed. Add of Countrywide Bank SavingsLink. Readd of Amboy Direct Money Market Maximizer. 2006 Apr 28 - HSBC Bank (4.80% to 4.50%) goes down. 2006 Apr 29 - Add of Amboy Direct Premium Online Savings. Presidential Bank Premier Savings (4.62% to 4.75%) goes up. 2006 May 13 - MBNA Money Market Deposit Account thru Motlely Fool (4.82% to 4.85%), Union Federal Bank Direct Jumbo Money Market Account (4.80% to 4.85%), Stearns Bank Stearns Money Market "Above the Norm" Account (4.80% to 4.87%), Advanta Bank Corp Money Market Account (4.75% to 4.90%), Corus Bank (3 accounts, 4.74% to 4.84%), Park National Bank Advantage Money Market (4.73% to 4.84%), Umbrella Bank Pot o' Gold (4.70% to 4.75%), Resource Bank eMoney Market Account (4.70% to 5.01%), Countrywide Bank SavingsLink (4.60% to 4.85%), and Capital One/Costco Money Market (4.51% to 4.72%) go up. Readd of Zions Bank Internet Money Market and Capital One High Yield Savings (now Money Market?). 2006 May 17 - Readd of Citibank e-Savings. Union Federal Bank Direct Jumbo Money Market Account (4.85% to 4.88%) and Presidential Bank Premier Savings (4.75% to 4.87%) go up. 2006 May 18 - HSBC Bank OnlineSavings Account (4.50% to 4.65%) goes up. 2006 Jun 10 - Centennial Bank Variable Rate Passbook Savings (5.01% to 5.08%), Union Federal Bank Direct Jumbo Money Market Account (4.88% to 5.00%), Stearns Bank Stearns Money Market "Above the Norm" Account (4.87% to 4.90%), MBNA accounts (4.85% to 5.02%), Countrywide Bank SavingsLink (4.85% to 5.00%), GMAC Bank Insured Savings/Money Market (4.75% to 4.80%), KeyDirect Premier Money Market Savings Account (4.75% to 4.85%), Zions Bank Internet Money Market (4.71% to 4.76%), and Emigrant Bank (4.50% to 4.65%) go up. Corus Bank (4.84% to 4.81%) and Park National Bank Advantage Money Market (4.84% to 4.81%) go down. Add of MBNA Money Market Deposit Account thru chemistry.org, MBNA Money Market Deposit Account thru AOPA, MBNA Money Market Deposit Account thru NEA, and MBNA Money Market Deposit Account thru Defenders of Wildlife. Transportation Alliance Bank Premium Savings Account and OneUnited Bank UNITY Internet Savings Account (with Fatwallet discussion) are no longer tied for last of the five minimal requirement accounts which means they are removed with Amboy Direct Money Market Maximizer (with Fatwallet discussion), and MyBankingDirect.com (with Fatwallet discussion). 2006 Jun 12 - MBNA accounts (5.02% to 5.04%) go up. Add of BankUnited Savings Account. 2006 Jun 19 - Capital One/Costco Money Market (4.72% to 4.77%), Corus Bank accounts (4.81% to 4.91%), and Park National Bank Advantage Money Market (4.81% to 4.91%) go up. Readd of OneUnited Bank UNITY Internet Savings Account. 2006 Jun 22 - Emigrant Bank American Dream Savings Account (4.65% to 4.80%), HSBC Bank OnlineSavings Account (4.65% to 4.80%), MBNA accounts (5.04% to 5.06%), BankUnited Savings Account (5.00% to 5.25%), Union Federal Bank Direct Jumbo Money Market Account (5.00% to 5.01%), Corus Bank accounts (4.91% to 4.94%), and Park National Bank Advantage Money Market (4.91% to 4.94%) go up. 2006 Jun 27 - Countrywide Bank SavingsLink (5.00% to 5.25%), Citibank e-Savings (4.75% to 5.00%), Umbrella Bank Pot o' Gold (4.75% to 4.85%), Corus Bank accounts (4.94% to 5.02%), and Park National Bank Advantage Money Market (4.94% to 5.02%) go up. 2006 Jun 30 - Centennial Bank Variable Rate Passbook Savings (5.08% to 5.30%), MBNA accounts (5.06% to 5.07%), Stearns Bank Stearns Money Market "Above the Norm" Account (4.90% to 5.06%), Presidential Bank Premier Savings (4.87% to 5.12%), HSBC Bank OnlineSavings Account (4.80% to 5.05%), Capital One/Costco Money Market (4.77% to 4.80%), Zions Bank Internet Money Market (4.76% to 4.81%), Amboy Direct Premium Online Savings (4.75% to 5.05%), Heritage Bank Heritage Direct Savings (4.72% to 4.88%), Virtual Bank eMoney Market (4.60% to 5.13%), Capital One High Yield Money Market and Money Market (4.55% to 4.75%). Delete of KeyDirect Premier Money Market Savings Account (with Fatwallet discussion) as it seems to no longer be offered. ebank (with Fatwallet discussion), American Partners Bank Personal Money Market Savings, National Bank Of Kansas City Money Market, Western Financial Bank ONLINE MONEY MARKET PLUS, and State Bank of India no longer meet the requirements of the list and are removed. Add of Domestic Bank High Rate Internet Money Market Account. 2006 Jul 18 - MBNA accounts (5.07% to 5.26%), Stearns Bank Stearns Money Market "Above the Norm" Account (5.06% to 5.16%), Domestic Bank High Rate Internet Money Market Account (5.05% to 5.16%), Corus Bank accounts (5.02% to 5.08%), Park National Bank Advantage Money Market (5.02% to 5.08%), Union Federal Bank Direct Jumbo Money Market Account (5.01% to 5.16%), OneUnited Bank UNITY Internet Savings Account (5.00% to 5.25%), Heritage Bank Heritage Direct Savings (4.88% to 5.06%), Umbrella Bank Pot o' Gold (4.85% to 5.10%), Zions Bank Internet Money Market (4.81% to 5.07%), Emigrant Bank American Dream Savings Account (4.80% to 5.00%), GMAC Bank Insured Savings/Money Market (4.80% to 5.05%), Capital One/Costco Money Market (4.80% to 5.08%), and Capital One High Yield Money Market and Money Market (4.75% to 5.00%) go up. IndyMac Internet Top Tier Money Market removed as it doesn't look to be for all states. Superior Savings Incredible Money Market (with Fatwallet discussion and Fatwallet discussion), Citibank e-Savings (with Fatwallet discussion), and Advanta Bank Corp Money Market Account (with Fatwallet discussion) no longer meet the requirements of the list and are removed.
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posted: Nov. 11, 2005 @ 3:34p
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 11, 2005 @ 3:42p
The issue of cutting down the list seems to be the most talked about.
ING has upped itself to be 1.0% behind our leader.
I think that the following will make everyone that PMed me so far about the change happy:
The list will include 5 accounts will no minimum and at least one account that allows ACH in/out.
This would cause the last entry in the list to be the 3.80% Union Federal Bank Direct High Yield Interest.
The accounts meeting the requirements would be: Emigrant Bank (ACH in/out) HSBC Bank (ACH in/out) Western Financial Bank Corus Bank Ultimate Money Market Account Union Federal Bank Direct High Yield Interest
This solution insures that the list will be shorter, those will lower ballances will have choices in the list, and there will be at least one ING-like account to chose from.
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 11, 2005 @ 3:50p
Another problem in the list is that as scott1961 pointed out, rule #2 is wrong.
I was going by the joint account information in the FDIC link. But looking at the POD accounts, there can be any effective amount of FDIC insurance (assuming that you had many children, grandchildren, parents, andsiblings). Since I skimmed this section before, I just thought of joint accounts and thought that $200,000 was a good limit. However not everybody has unlimited relatives to add so I am not ready to have no limit. I also don't hold DIF to be as high as FDIC and still only want to consider true risk free investments and DIF has risks.
The question remains, what is a fair limit?
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 11, 2005 @ 4:01p
iLoveTahoe misposted: [Q= said: scott1961]Here is a link to The Platinum Cash Account. I am thinking of closing my ING and opening one. Is kind of the ultimate account. No limits on check writing or withdraws, Free ATM Worldwide and other perks like free traveler checks, bill pay. Right now it's paying 4.17% and will change to the 1-Month Libor rate listed on the first of every month. Historically that rate follows our FED pretty closely so with every FED hike you should see an increase and will simplify chasing rates. Have not figured out how to put in a link here so you will need to copy and paste http://www.salemfive.com/promotion/html/platinumCashAccount.htmlAre you serious? As Grifman pointed out, this account has a 200K minimum. If your balance goes down to 199K you earn a ridiculous 0.10% interest... link. And $200,000 is within rule #2, and your post violates rule #1.
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 11, 2005 @ 4:04p
scott1961 misposted: iLoveTahoe said: Are you serious? As Grifman pointed out, this account has a 200K minimum. If your balance goes down to 199K you earn a ridiculous 0.10% interest... link. Ok, Maybe not the "Ultimate" account for everyone but could be for some. Yes, rate would suck if you went below that 200K, so if you go into this account you do so knowing you will not. Am tired of chasing rates on MM's and really don't want to lock in too much in CD's right now and this account should move up every month with more FED hikes predicted. If CD's started to look more attractive would be very simple to just close this account with no penalties. I like the fact this a local bank for me and did a couple of their 4.25% no penalty CD's, Which by the way they are now offering them at only 3.75%. Also since they have DIF you insured to full account totals. So even though it may not be the right account for you, It might be for some and that is why I posted it DIF is outside the rules for this list and your post violates rule #2.
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 11, 2005 @ 4:08p
goldsheet said: Cheap said: Rules: 2) It is for accounts insured by an agency of the Federal government (FDIC/NCUA) only. This means Patelco is out even though it is fairly safe. But since American Share Insurance can't print money, they aren't purely safe. This rule implies that the account shouldn't have a minimum higher than $200,000 as there is no way for that account to be fully insured.
Sorry to be a bother, but Salem Five does not seem to meet your second rule ? 100K is FDIC (government), but anything over is DIF (private, like ASI)
DIF is a private insurer covering over $7 billion of depositors' funds in excess of the FDIC limit, in over 100 Massachusetts chartered savings banks. More DIF Information It is possible to have a $200,000 account that would be fully FDIC insured without having to rely on DIF. This account is within rule #2. See the FDIC link next to rule #2 for more info.
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 11, 2005 @ 4:10p
scott1961 said: goldsheet said: Cheap said: Rules: 2) It is for accounts insured by an agency of the Federal government (FDIC/NCUA) only. This means Patelco is out even though it is fairly safe. But since American Share Insurance can't print money, they aren't purely safe. This rule implies that the account shouldn't have a minimum higher than $200,000 as there is no way for that account to be fully insured.
Sorry to be a bother, but Salem Five does not seem to meet your second rule ? 100K is FDIC (government), but anything over is DIF (private, like ASI)
DIF is a private insurer covering over $7 billion of depositors' funds in excess of the FDIC limit, in over 100 Massachusetts chartered savings banks. More DIF Information Well rule #2 is wrong. You could set up a single ownership account, throw 3 qualified POD's on and you would be insured for $300,000 put 4 and get $400,000. Learn how to use FDIC. Rule #2 is based on my misunderstanding but it is still the rule for now. How many qualified people do you have to add? FDIC insurance is not unlimited. What do you think the limit should be?
RS4Rings
Back in Rehab
posted: Nov. 11, 2005 @ 5:31p
Cheap said: Rule #2 is based on my misunderstanding but it is still the rule for now. How many qualified people do you have to add? FDIC insurance is not unlimited. What do you think the limit should be? Cheap good job in clearing this up and I understand your trying to keep some order in your thread. I say a $300,000 limit would be reasonable.(I think the max you can insure with FDIC is $800k at one bank) Figure between Wife, Parents, Brothers or Sisters, Kids, and even Grandkids most should be able to come up with 4 POD'S. The one thing to be careful of is if any of those people have accounts at same Bank, as FDIC goes by Social Security number of those POD's.So any other accounts they have will affect your coverage I opened this account and find it great, I can use it as a place to put CD's in as they mature while I look for deals. Am also using it as my Primary Checking account including Bill Pay, all while getting a great MM rate but is really just a regular checking account with unlimited transactions.
didYOUsearch
Cranky Member
posted: Nov. 11, 2005 @ 9:27p
thanks OP for your efforts to keep your threads and info concise
goldsheet said: Cheap said: It is possible to have a $200,000 account that would be fully FDIC insured without having to rely on DIF. This account is within rule #2. See the FDIC link next to rule #2 for more info.
I have no parents, no children, no siblings, or anyone who I would JTWROS or POD, so apparently I'm just not bright enough to figure out how to get beyond 100K FDIC. (other than opening two World Savings accounts, one in CA and one in TX, since they have two FDIC certificates which gets an individual up to 200K)
Besides, for me it is a moot point, since I think diversifying deposits among insitutions is wise, regardless of insurance limits.
My sincere apologies for violating rule #1 in your other thread. I'll just stick to facts, posting only rate data on the .data thread Again, thanks for all the effort you put into this.
You could get married
Yes, there are some that are going to be trapped at $100,000, just as there will be those that don't have more than a few hundred to deposit. I find it easy to have a few active accounts and when a nice new one shows up, close the lagger and use that to fund the new account. That is high or low maintenance, depending on the type of person that you are. The more things that the thread covers, the more people it can serve. That leads me to have a higher limit. I am thinking $500,000, without much justification and with that being beyond my personal number of possible PODs. I also don't think that it would add more than a couple accounts. Those adding the accounts would have to show that you could add multiple PODs to get to that limit, etc.
It doesn't bother me that there is some clutter, hopefully it can be minimized over time.
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 19, 2005 @ 12:02a
Without complaints about my proposed change, I implemented it. I am denoting each minimal account with its numerical rating to ease checking the list and understanding the new rule as it is complicated, even as it makes the rule independent of specific banks. I am also noting which ones have full ACH ability. Hopefully this doesn't confuse more than it helps.
cak144 said: National City has a 4.50% APR guaranteed for 180 days. $10,000 minimum
http://www.nationalcity.com/personal/promotions/PMMS.asp and through that link I get (after I enter my zip code): Unfortunately, National City does not offer this particular product in your state. Please contact your local financial institution for assistance.
ONLINE MONEY MARKET PLUS Competitively priced interest rates Free ATM transactions at any ATM* Free online banking Quarterly statements Check access Limited to six account transfers per statement cycle, three of which may be made by check. Minimum to open: $5,000 Free of monthly service charge Fee for in-branch transactions: $1.50 per item Excess withdrawal fee: $15
Link If you follow the link in the OP (that you quoted), scroll down, and it says (for me) $1 to open online. I am leaving 6 minimal requirement accounts for this pass in case this is misinformation. brentpresley said: aprapy said: Re: WFB
I just went throught the opening process today with WFB, I believe it was a mimimum of $100 if you open via an ACH (which is what I did), and I think they said $1 if you do it by check.
Once established you can use ING / Emigrant / Capital One (any bank that has the ACH functionality) to transfer money in and out (although I haven't physically done it since my account is not fully established yet).
Also, so as to adhere to the rules:
Rate posting: Corus bank at 4.14% on the jumbo accounts.
Can you PULL money out of WFB using ED? From the previous thread I'm guessing you have to pay for the WFB checks, and then send a voided one of those to ED. Anyone have any personal experience with this? Why not ask this in the thread dedicated to this account? scott1961 said: WFB seems very aggressive. On 10/30 they went to 3.75%, 11/08 4%, now 11/18 4.25% Yes, they do. But you aren't following rule #1 of the rate thread yet again...
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 27, 2005 @ 6:27p
WFB seems to be $1. So #6 gets chopped of the list...
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 14, 2005 @ 12:15a
New Century Bank looks to be promo. We shall see what the new year brings.
I will not post new rates until I see them myself.
SFBuddha said: FDIC is just insurance. It is federally chartered, but the government is under no obligation to cover losses should banks fail. FDIC currently has $1.25 in reserves for each $100 insured. Just one big FDIC insured institution (a big national bank) could bring the FDIC down. The FDIC was created during the depression to prevent future bank runs. It was not designed to be able to cover a mass bailout.
Eric Tyson, author of "Personal Finance for Dummies." says there is little room for worry since "consumers have never lost money invested in a money market fund."
If you really want to get the best return, you should modify rule #2, especially for a company like Vanguard who started the low cost mutual fund industry and has almost 1 trillion dollars under management!
FDIC insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. I take that to mean that the US government will print money to bail out the FDIC if need be. That means more to me than any author writing anything in any book. I only care about insurance by an agency with the full faith and credit of the government who's money I spend.
matt1
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 14, 2005 @ 11:53a
It's a very hard thread to read. Many different types of accounts are all lumped in together - savings, money markets, no fees, fees, no minimums, minimums...
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 14, 2005 @ 3:54p
matt1 said: It's a very hard thread to read. Many different types of accounts are all lumped in together - savings, money markets, no fees, fees, no minimums, minimums...
Sorry that you find the list hard to understand. Maybe I can understand where you are coming from if you answer some questions: Why seperate savings and money market? What account has fees that are not mentioned or expected? Are the minimums hard to read?
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 17, 2005 @ 12:53p
MrFrugality sais: CORRECTED: on Quick Summary (entry as listed was inaccurate) >>>KeyDirect 4.11% Premier Money Market Savings Account $0+ $25,000 to open, $25,000 to avoid $15/month fee I think this is more of a matter of debate. While this statement is true, I don't think that helps. If you are planning to have less than $25,000 in this account then you should chose another. Do you see my point?
So, I am open on this one and have left it both ways in the quick summary.
http://www.firstfeddirect.com/ said: Error Occurred While Processing Request Variable MAIN is undefined.
The error occurred in D:\\sites\\advantage\\index.cfm: line 5
Confusing as it is, my take on the FirstFedDirect Internet Advantage Savings Accountsituation is that the expansion of their services is via internet to residents OUTSIDE of California and they are assuming CA residents will simply use the B&M locations.
From Goldsheets link to their press release: "....depositors in states outside of First Federal Bank of California's current market niche, can now enjoy the competitive interest rates the Bank's California clients enjoy as well as have access to an account that has no fees or minimum opening deposit requirement."
And from the FAQ's associated with the online account opening application: "FirstFedDirect Sm is a division of First Federal Bank of California established solely to service Internet banking client relationships from all states other than California." Curiously, I noticed CA state is available in the address drop down list for account applications.
The link was working right before I originally posted, however it does not seem to be working at the moment.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Confusing as it is, my take on the FirstFedDirect Internet Advantage Savings Account situation is that the expansion of their services is via internet to residents OUTSIDE of California and they are assuming CA residents will simply use the B&M locations. ."
Problem is if you goto into there branches the best rates they have is 2.94% tier which requires $49999 and that is on there Client Money Market Advantage account. There normal MM account pays a only 1.5% and a min balance requirement of $5K to avoid the $15 monthly service fee. There is a branch down the street from my office. I walked in there and asked. I figured if I could walk into a local branch and get 4.03% I would prefer it over an online savings account. They told me even if you lived outside of CA and come here on vacation they cant service thoses accounts from inside the branch nor can they open a comperable account inside the branch.
So this bank sucks if you live in California. There rate of 4.03% is not the highest rate either as HSBC rate is now 4.25% and GMAC bank is 4.30% and umbrellabank.com is 4.40% so not sure why you would open an account with them now anyways. Also they cant even seem to keep there web page up and working which is not a good sign of an online only bank account.
Regarding the KeyDirect Premier Money Market Account, my correction was simply to show that the account does pay the 4.11% from $0 (as is stated on thier website), rather than the $25,000 + as was originally stated in the Quick Summary. Thus, the corrected figure would accurately reflect the Amount/APY they are offering.
I agree that it wouldn't necessarily be the best choice if one's balance consistently fell below the 25K level but thought that debate would be best left to another thread.
"...nor can they open a comperable account inside the branch."
Glad you posted your personal experience with First Federal Direct. So much for my clarification theoryconcerning the CA/non-CA debate. Not surprising, however, that they wouldn't service an online account at the B&M; that isn't that unusual for the internet/B&M to be separate entities.
Yet to be cleared up is if the Internet Advantage Savings Account is or is not actually available online for CA residents. It does actually state (as Cheap said) on the CD page "California residents excluded from this offer." but until the link returns for the Savings Account we don't really know for sure about the savings account. Does look iffy for CA people, though.
May consider nominating First Federal of California for the "Cumbersome introduction to online banking award 2005"...
Since there is no discussion thread on CountryWide bank thought I would put this here. I am thinking of opening an account with them for their MM which is now paying 4.25% for over $100k, just downloaded an application and they have a form that allows you to put on POD's and it was discussed here recently that many banks do not allow POD's anymore. So depending on the number of qualifying family members you have you could get a number of times the $100k FDIC limit
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 20, 2005 @ 2:58p
goldsheet said: MrFrugality said: May consider nominating First Federal of California for the "Cumbersome introduction to online banking award 2005"...
I second the nomination
I just sent them an email, let's see if they get site fixed on Monday.
Still doesn't work for me. I think this is really bad. This is just what we see, who knows how disorganized they are behind the scenes...
MrFrugality said: "...nor can they open a comperable account inside the branch."
Glad you posted your personal experience with First Federal Direct. So much for my clarification theoryconcerning the CA/non-CA debate. Not surprising, however, that they wouldn't service an online account at the B&M; that isn't that unusual for the internet/B&M to be separate entities.
Yet to be cleared up is if the Internet Advantage Savings Account is or is not actually available online for CA residents. It does actually state (as Cheap said) on the CD page "California residents excluded from this offer." but until the link returns for the Savings Account we don't really know for sure about the savings account. Does look iffy for CA people, though. People will want to go into a branch for this and not understand the difference since they aren't rebranding their online entity. I know I would be in line at their branch to close the account if the site was showing an error for a long time. In a world of 99+% uptime, not even changing to a static "Back in 5 minutes" html page is quite lame IMHO.
edit: spelling
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 22, 2005 @ 11:52a
http://www.firstfeddirect.com/ is up but says: California residents excluded from this offer. So no savings account either. I kinda want to start a thread about this product so non-California people can know about it but I also don't want to help these people who can't keep a webpage up and exclude me from their offer.
bill777
Happy Member
posted: Dec. 22, 2005 @ 1:33p
Cheap said: http://www.firstfeddirect.com/ is up but says: California residents excluded from this offer. So no savings account either. I kinda want to start a thread about this product so non-California people can know about it but I also don't want to help these people who can't keep a webpage up and exclude me from their offer.
Regarding the KeyDirect Premier Money Market Account, my correction was simply to show that the account does pay the 4.11% from $0 (as is stated on thier website), rather than the $25,000 + as was originally stated in the Quick Summary. Thus, the corrected figure would accurately reflect the Amount/APY they are offering.
I agree that it wouldn't necessarily be the best choice if one's balance consistently fell below the 25K level but thought that debate would be best left to another thread.
I hope that my last update of the summary is good for you. Maybe the best of both worlds...
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 3, 2006 @ 3:48p
Updated the list.
One World Bank looks like a promo. FirstFedDirect excludes California. Amboydirect doesn't make the list currently.
MrFrugality, I didn't mean to get rid of the additional eBank info but I don't think it added to the summary since those tiers are below the minimum for the list so I didn't put them back.
Hope that was everything, it has been a while...
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 4, 2006 @ 5:29p
Updated the list, made the OP into a FAQ and moved some rate thread stuff into this thread's OP.
I couldn't find a way online to open an account at First National Bank of Giddings so they are not added until there is verification that there is a way to open an account without going to a branch.
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 9, 2006 @ 3:54p
Updated the rate thread.
Still waiting on verification that banking at First National Bank of Giddings works without going to a branch.
rateedge.com violates rule #6 for not being good for the general public.
Need to verify TCF (Twin Cities Federal) is okay for rule #6 and verify rate.
Added to the FAQ. Any suggestions are welcome.
LH2004
Frivolous Member
posted: Jan. 9, 2006 @ 5:01p
If you are including 5 with ACH, I would like to see a guarantee of at least a couple of checking accounts.
At the moment, Presidential, which is a very real, usable checking account, at 4%, is off. CNBT is the only checking account included, at 4.03%, but its obnoxious requirement of 10 debit card uses per month makes the account useless for me at least.
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 9, 2006 @ 6:01p
The rule should be that there are 5 minimal requirement accounts, at least one of which must have ACH.
Checking? I thought everybody was using MBNA billpay as their checking account
Ultimate Interest Checking is also on the list but the high limit will not please most. I hadn't noticed the checking accounts lacking but I guess their rates have not kept pace. There is already a 0.5% spread between the top and bottom rates. Looking around I don't see any checking that would come close to what the list has no other than re-adding Presidential (which has its own limitations - direct deposit and lowish balance).
We are at 2 checking accounts now and it feels artificial to make a rule to make it 3 for Presidential. Maybe maintain a separate list?
edit: looking at Markber's BankBestRates.com I see that I overlooked Cosmopolitan Bank and Trust's The Cosmopolitan Checking Account because I thought all 5 FBOP banks in Illinois were the same so I didn't look at each one with any detail. So now there are 3 checking accounts on the list.
LH2004
Frivolous Member
posted: Jan. 9, 2006 @ 9:55p
Cheap, I see your point. Maybe the best solution is a separate list for checking accounts; but I'm not volunteering to put in the massive effort you clearly have on the overall list.
It's just that I wonder how much value anyone is getting out of the many accounts on the list that aren't the highest interest, and don't offer any other useful feature. Keydirect is paying 4.11%, but with a $25,000 minimum, money market transaction limits and no other redeeming features I know of. Yes, that's useful for anyone who already is at the FDIC limit at, by my count, 27 banks currently paying higher rates, which is $2.7 million if you don't have any ability to use either joint or trust accounts; I would hope anyone with that much to spread around could do better, though.
If it were up to me, I'd like it to be easy to see, say, the highest account with free ACH and a minimum no higher than $2000, or the highest at a checking account with ATM rebates.
But I thank you for all the hard work you continue to put into this.
happyyuppie
Member
posted: Jan. 11, 2006 @ 4:52p
I'm with LH2004
Cheap
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 11, 2006 @ 5:46p
LH2004 said: It's just that I wonder how much value anyone is getting out of the many accounts on the list that aren't the highest interest, and don't offer any other useful feature. Keydirect is paying 4.11%, but with a $25,000 minimum, money market transaction limits and no other redeeming features I know of. Yes, that's useful for anyone who already is at the FDIC limit at, by my count, 27 banks currently paying higher rates, which is $2.7 million if you don't have any ability to use either joint or trust accounts; I would hope anyone with that much to spread around could do better, though.
If it were up to me, I'd like it to be easy to see, say, the highest account with free ACH and a minimum no higher than $2000, or the highest at a checking account with ATM rebates. I find this highly subjective. $2000. ACH (in, out, both?). ATM rebates. All of these are highly subjective. That is without going into the speed of the ACH or rebating. I don't want to say that these are meaningless in anyway because they aren't. The key is that they matter to different people differently. I'm not going to say that the account in the top of the list is any better for you than the one on the bottom. In fact, they might all be lame in your shoes. The goal of the list is simply that, to have a list with the highest, risk free APYs out there that anybody can apply for (being US-centric, of course). I don't want to get into giving each account's features because they can be quibbled with, be misleading, and can change without warning (I can either copy the info on the linked page or get information offline, either of which can be out of date, it is a task just getting the rates updated). We got into this a little already, but I think the less, the better as there are still at least 2 accounts that are pending because of lack of the information that is already required.
In what I believe is the FWF spirit, the list is a starting place to do your own investigation. I don't want to guess what the best account is for everyone because I think I will be wrong most of the time.
That is why the list is fairly long; to include features that some find important. If to do that and remain fairly impartial to what goes on the list we have extra accounts, I say I can deal with the extras. But if there is a way to shorten the list impartially do that without killing off accounts that others feel are desirable, I am all ears.
iLoveTahoe
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 11, 2006 @ 10:26p
I find this highly subjective. $2000. ACH (in, out, both?). ATM rebates. All of these are highly subjective. Agreed. I don't care if the minimum is 2K or 20K and have no interest whatsoever in ATM or ACH capabilities. For me, I'm interested in <100K min. with checkwriting capabilities. Lots of different people with lots of different priorities. Personally, I would prefer a MM account at 4.25% over a savings (no checks) at 4.35%. If Cheap limited the list to only the top 5 highest yields, the account I would be most interested in might not make the list at all. As long as Cheap is willing to do the work involved in keeping the list longer (thanks Cheap!!!), I don't see what the problem is. For those only interested in the top few highest yields... just look at the top few highest yields and move on.
delirium4u
Member
posted: Jan. 11, 2006 @ 10:58p
Someone on another forum had asked about historical rate trends, so I put together some graphs I thought people might find interesting. I got a lot of the data by reading through old pages of the Best Current APRs thread, its predecessor, and a bunch of the linked threads, cross-referenced with some threads on other forums, and consulted archive.org and old press releases for confirmation and to get some of the pre-2004 data. I'm personally only interested in no-minimum, no-fee, ACH-having banks, so I limited myself to the six of those I know about (ING, VirtualBank, HSBC, CapitalOne, Emigrant, FirstFed). Anyway, it was kind of a pain to piece all that information together, so hopefully someone other than me is enough of a data geek to find it interesting.
The stickied thread titled "Best Nationally Available High APR Liquid Accounts" is suddenly getting a lot of mentions of local accounts. The Granddaughter thread for local liquid accounts has been archived* -- should we start a Locally Available High APR Liquid Accounts thread or just let the Nationally Available thread remain mixed (and renamed)?
*if you're in Modern view, look for "archived" in the fine print at the bottom left of the page
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