Over the past few weeks i had some time to look at the fatwallet discussions and move out of my aging ING savings account that i had opened in the past.
Due to some rate chasing, etc. i ended up opening an account in 3-4 online banks, here is my reviews and feedback on them.
ING Direct: Simple and easy web interface, has fallen way behind in interest rates
HSBC Internet: Rate is not the best in the market, but if you are dealing with large amounts of money, they are the only ones who have high ACH limits ($100k outgoing per day, $300k incoming per day). Their ACH transfers take 3-4 days but are free. Currently my best preference, except their interest rate is not as high as CountryWide or MBNA is giving.
Citibank eSavings: These guys are a joke. Its been 2 weeks and I still cannot view my accounts online. On top of that, they have a silly $50k monthly limit on ACH and charge $3 per outgoing ACH. Definitely needs their heads examined and my worst experience so far.
MBNA MoneyMarket: Giving the highest interest rates so far (5% APY), but ZERO online access. Have no idea which Internet world these guys are living in.
Bank of America: As a regular bank, these guys seem to have the best online banking interface (they acquired the one from Fleet when they acquired it). If only they would wake up and start being competitive in their interest rates...
During my research, i also looked at eTrade and CountryWide. They both are reputable and seem to have good web sites, but i have no idea about the nuances of their online banking (e.g. Citibank was quite a setback once you sign up and start seeing their nickel and diming on ACH transfers, etc.).
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Walletless said: Emigrant Direct: Not a very good online interface, but rates are more competetive than ING most times. No Check writing, no ATM card.
ING Direct: Worst of the lot. Requires you to memorize your customer#. Annoying login page. Too many commercials. Only 4.25% APR.
GMAC: Best of the lot - really friendly website, you can link a lot of accounts (including ING, Emigrant, HSBC, etc). Rates are almost always competetive. $500 minimum balance required to avoid fees. Check writing and ATM card is also provided. No ATM fees on their end, and they refund upto 3 withdrawals per month for ATM fees charged by the ATM provider.
Citibank - Opened my account online, instantly saw the balance - and have moved all my money from Emigrant and ING into Citi.
Citibank eSavings - hard pull
Message edited by: SweetCash on 2006-06-27 18:16:33 CDT
avikas said:MBNA MoneyMarket: Giving the highest interest rates so far (5% APY), but ZERO online access. Have no idea which Internet world these guys are living in.
They just haven't recovered from the horror of Y2k. Baby steps.
avikas said:Citibank eSavings: These guys are a joke. Its been 2 weeks and I still cannot view my accounts online. On top of that, they have a silly $50k monthly limit on ACH and charge $3 per outgoing ACH. Definitely needs their heads examined and my worst experience so far.Not sure how you could be two weeks in and not have online access ... I opened my EZ checking account online and was given immediate access, and then opened my eSavings from a link on the account summary page and thus had immediate access to the eSavings as well. Did you apply by phone?
Some of your complaints vis-a-vis the ACH system are valid, particularly if you're a big money player or are involved in the BT game. However, for a regular jack like me, the Citibank setup works great. I have direct deposit of my paycheck into the eSavings, and after it hits on payday, I distribute the total amount I need for current bills over to checking (thus reducing the likelihood of exceeding the six transfers per month limit). Once the checking account is funded, I can do instant payments to CitiMortgage and all of my CitiCards, and I can also do billpay for stuff like my Comcast bill. The leftover just stays in savings and earns a pretty decent 4.75%.
My experience with the eSavings account was similar to jackiechiles. I also had a Citi checking account and it took a few minutes to open the eSavings account. I think the rate is ok at 4.75%, considering it is very liquid for me (I use Citi for checking so I don't loose anything for ACH transfers) and I don't need to manage another relationship. It also helps that I have 2 branches near my home and one next to where I work. I can understand that if you are rate-chasing and/or have large balances, the 50k transfer constraint may be limiting.
I actually dislike HSBC greatly because of the long time it took to set up the account and the excessively slow transfers. Their implementation of ACH transfers with taking money out of your account and holding for a few days leaves a bad taste. Because of the hassle I moved most our money out of there after HSBCs last deal. I will only go back if there is a longer term value as I take the 6 lost days of interest on transfers in/out into account.
I agree that interface is not as good as BofA's, but it is not "bad". It is also better for banking than it is for credit cards, IMO. I actually prefer the Citicards.com interface for credit cards more.
avikas said: During my research, i also looked at eTrade and CountryWide. They both are reputable and seem to have good web sites, but i have no idea about the nuances of their online banking.
I've used ETrade online banking for years. ACH transfers & online bill pay has always been very reliable for me. Interest rates aren't the best. Customer service is crummy at ETrade, though.
I too have been trying to decide between these banks and have read several of these threads, only to be confused. GMAC seems to be popular, but does not support quicken.
Why not point out the positives rather than negatives?
ING - Easy to open CDs. Very quick and easy to open account.
HSBC - Very quick access to your money if you also use their checking account. Even more useful if you live near B&M because you can deposit money and transfer it instantly to online savings.
Citi - Same as HSBC, except also very quick and easy to open account.
mrng said:I too have been trying to decide between these banks and have read several of these threads, only to be confused. GMAC seems to be popular, but does not support quicken.
HSBC seems to be too slow
ING is not too competitive with thier rates.
Does anyone have recommendations.
I think that HSBC gets a bad rap. They use ACH, which by definition takes 3 business days. It's hard to blame them too for waiting for it to clear; why not just make a $300K transfer and withdraw it before they find out there's NSF?
I am very, very pleased with GMAC after my experience with HSBC. GMAC's sign up was fast, the Web site very friendly, and the CSR I spoke with after I made a mistake with account verification was friendly. I did get hit up with a signature card, but it was postage paid.
hoffjm00 said:mrng said:I too have been trying to decide between these banks and have read several of these threads, only to be confused. GMAC seems to be popular, but does not support quicken.
HSBC seems to be too slow
ING is not too competitive with thier rates.
Does anyone have recommendations.
I think that HSBC gets a bad rap. They use ACH, which by definition takes 3 business days. It's hard to blame them too for waiting for it to clear; why not just make a $300K transfer and withdraw it before they find out there's NSF?
I don't understand your argument. Why should there be an NSF issue here ? They don't have to make the money AVAILABLE for WITHDRAWAL till they verify there is no NSF issue.
All they are being asked to do is to start paying interest on the money as soon as the money has been deducted from (and stopped earning interest in) the other account.
They don't do that. Instead, you lose three days of interest earning period, as your money is in neither one account nor the other.
No other bank cheats the customer out of as much interest as HSBC does with its delayed ACH transfers.
I had ING and about 3 weeks ago applied for HSBC, I got my userid in postal mail a week ago, and I am still waiting for my password. It's been 3 weeks and I still can't login onto my account, I'm glad I put a very small initial deposit coz I wasn't sure how good they are. ING was way faster but their rate sucks (they just sent me an email with an increase 2 days ago, but even that one still sucks)... I am waiting for another winter-saving type promo at ING to transfer my money back into it. and hopefully I'll get access to my HSBC account soon so I can put the money that is now in my checking account (that used to be in ING) there...
tbuccelli said:My experience with the eSavings account was similar to jackiechiles. I also had a Citi checking account and it took a few minutes to open the eSavings account. I think the rate is ok at 4.75%, considering it is very liquid for me (I use Citi for checking so I don't loose anything for ACH transfers) and I don't need to manage another relationship. It also helps that I have 2 branches near my home and one next to where I work. I can understand that if you are rate-chasing and/or have large balances, the 50k transfer constraint may be limiting.
I have great experience with eSavings. I do have Citibank checking account to begin with. And opening eSavings only take couple minutes and I can access my eSavings online with Citibank account within hour. Now that Citibank has agreement with 7-eleven, you can access ATM in 7-Eleven without any fee. And you can access your money from any Citibank branches.
anakinskywalker said:hoffjm00 said:mrng said:I too have been trying to decide between these banks and have read several of these threads, only to be confused. GMAC seems to be popular, but does not support quicken.
HSBC seems to be too slow
ING is not too competitive with thier rates.
Does anyone have recommendations.
I think that HSBC gets a bad rap. They use ACH, which by definition takes 3 business days. It's hard to blame them too for waiting for it to clear; why not just make a $300K transfer and withdraw it before they find out there's NSF?
I don't understand your argument. Why should there be an NSF issue here ? They don't have to make the money AVAILABLE for WITHDRAWAL till they verify there is no NSF issue.
All they are being asked to do is to start paying interest on the money as soon as the money has been deducted from (and stopped earning interest in) the other account.
They don't do that. Instead, you lose three days of interest earning period, as your money is in neither one account nor the other.
No other bank cheats the customer out of as much interest as HSBC does with its delayed ACH transfers.
Anakin
I don't understand YOUR argument. You are still missing the point - until the funds clear, HSBC doesn't have the funds in their possession to pay interest on. Of course there is an insufficient funds issue. I could still make the same hypothetical $300K transfer and earn a few days interest on it even though I don't have $300 in the originating account. By the time they figure out, I've made a few dollars in the process. That type of fraud is what HSBC is trying to avoid.
There's no such thing as a delayed ACH. ACH takes three business days FOR EVERYONE USING THE SYSTEM, HSBC and others. To say they "cheat" their customers is libelous.
There's no such thing as a delayed ACH. ACH takes three business days FOR EVERYONE USING THE SYSTEM, HSBC and others. To say they "cheat" their customers is libelous. I understand that you must allow up to 3 days for ACH, But why is it some do quicker? I know when I transfer from Emigrant it goes thru the next day while ING and HSBC always takes the full 3 days.
jasonb885 said:I am very, very pleased with GMAC after my experience with HSBC. GMAC's sign up was fast, the Web site very friendly, and the CSR I spoke with after I made a mistake with account verification was friendly. I did get hit up with a signature card, but it was postage paid.
I have all of the above accounts and my money is with GMAC. So many great features that the others don't have...plus the high rate.
I write my rent check from my GMAC savings account each month, do ATM withdrawals and get my fees refunded, etc.
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