ajulius said:Can the WaMU account be linked to free checking for instant transfers?

The best banks to use are the ones with the highest interest rates which have instant linkages to checking accounts I believe.

I think the best banks are the ones with high interest rates with check writing capabilities on the account itself. I don't like check kiting and I don't like guessing when a check is going to be cashed. My rent check varies from the 5th to the 15th (when they decide to actually cash it). Using an interest check writing account is awesome for this.

but here's the fine prints

The Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is effective as of 08/30/2006. Rates and APYs are variable and may change at Bank’s discretion at anytime without notice. Minimum balance to open checking and savings account is $1 for each account; minimum balance to earn APY on savings is $1. Fees may reduce earnings. The above APY and monthly service fee waiver apply to Statement Savings only when opened online with WaMu Free Checking™. If your checking account is closed for any reason (by you or us), or transferred to another kind of account, standard APYs/rates and standard monthly fee described in the Account Disclosures (including Statement of Fees and Rate Information) applicable to Statement Savings will apply.

Now I'm getting an error that tells me to try again in 7 days. I'm wondering if its because of my previous two failed attempts. If anyone is successful at this today, let us know.

EDIT: Bah! Called them and they said I'm basically locked out for seven days. The errors last night messed me up. Should work fine though for anyone else that tries today.

Just opened mine without a glitch. Anyone know if you can deposit a check directly into this new high-yield savings account at a branch? If so, that would be an advantage over the online accounts that I am familiar with (HSBC, ED, ING) which require you to first deposit the check into a checking account before transferring.

Will try to open one later! Thanks!

bksavings said:Yes, Citibank lets you make teller deposits to e-Savings.

Citibank lets you make teller deposits and withdrawlers and transfers without any problem. Tellers treat the account same as any other Money Market account.

What will be interesting is how the rate compares with HSBCDirect as WaMU is 5% now while HSBC is 5.05%

I chose HSBC over WaMU only because I had an hsbcdirect account opened for a long time. HSBC was the first local bank with ATM card access and high interest rates. WaMU has since came out with the free checking account with $1 minimum AND 5% statement savings account.

HSBC has very old hat ATM infrastructure and the online banking is not the greatest. I asked about Quicken DirectConnect but they do not offer it anymore and don't know when/if it will be available again.

If WaMU's yield curve comes out to on par with HSBCDirect over the course of the year, it could turn out to be a good bank to use.

HSBC has a yield curve on the top of the pack so far and is still .05% higher than WaMU.

There are other banks with 5.10-5.25% and higher but I do not know if any of those allow direct ATM access like HSBC does.

I assume the statement savings account can have funds withdrawn from a WaMU atm like you can with HSBCDirect.

I recently opened/funded my account (and even have checks in hand), but a week later wamu sent me a reminder email stating the initial deposit had not been retrived and the account might be closed.

I tried to contact wamu via their message center (twice), and via phone to confirm the message was in error (and if not find out what action I still need to take). Both experiences were very disappointing, and I'm quite certain were handled by people in India. The message center just did a copy/paste of text that didn't apply to my situation, or even accounts opened on-line. The phone agent would only confirm the current non-zero balance, which I already knew.

The one saving grace is being able to deal with people at a local branch. I can understand how companies use incompetent tech support because it takes time and money to train/hire people with a technical background, but I can't fathom how a financial company can manage to find people who apparently lack enough basic intelligence to answer simple questions with relevant answers.

I don't mean for this to sound like a complete rant (after all, the account is free and I get what I pay for), but I did have accounts with wamu in the 90s (back when they were only located in the Pacific Northwest) and I'm disappointed to see how the company has declined.

i just opened it, thanks op, now i have 4 accounts with them, messy...

I just opened up these accounts (Wamu free checking and the online 5% savings account)...seems like a great deal, and although i've been using Amboy for 5% interest, i did need a small checking account for local deposits, so i figured this would be ideal...get a 5% savings and local deposit and banking access (I also use TD Banknorth for the unlimited atm rebates benefit, but their branches aren't so close to me)...So this should all make a nice package!

It was very quick to set-up, and i will be funding the accounts with my TD Checking....but i had a few questions:

1) using WAMU's bill pay....how long does it take for electronic payees to go through....let's say i pay a bill on Monday, for example...what day should it arrive at the payee?

2) With this new WAMU online savings, can you originate an ach transfer, at WAMU's website, from WAMU to an external bank? from an external bank to WAMU?

3) With WAMU Free Checking...i know they don't rebate the other bank's fees, but from what i understand, they no longer charge a fee on their side for a non-WAMU withdrawal? How about if you do a Balance Inquiry or transfer funds to your linked account at a non-WAMU atm...does WAMU charge a fee? Also, with the Online Savings Account....any fees from WAMU when using non-WAMU atms? (for withdrawal...transfer....balance inquiry)...? Thanks...