ajulius said:ING is coming out with a 3.00% Checking account called Electric Orange from what I have heard according to a new article I read.

This deal will NOT be favorable to the other deals on the market but due to the popularity of ING I thought I needed to point this deal out.

I've never heard of this before, but it sounds like it'll be pretty convenient for people who have an Orange account already (like me).

Looking at the ING news section, though, it appears that this news has been out since May - but it's still news to me.
ING News and Press Releases

A debit card seems like a good idea, but I don't know whether or not people will like the idea of a checking account without paper checks ("You'll be able to write checks with your computer, but not with your pen." - from this article). The same article said that rollout was supposed to be this summer, but I guess they're behind schedule.

Edit: Sorry, Xeon, I didn't see your post (stayed in the reply window too long).

I would like the idea better if they did have paper checks. My apartment complex and the water/trash company only take checks.

I'd sign up for this in a second if it was available today. I already have an ING savings account and knowing ING I bet they would make the process really easy. My GMAC account is running up against the 6 transaction limit every month. If I could make all my bill payments through this I could draw down my 0% checking to almost nothing. I do not have direct deposit and I don't really want to consistently keep a thousand dollars or more in checking (Presidential).

too little too late

The offering is not good because you are best off with a legitimate bank OFFERING 5%+ and linking it to a checking account. You move funds into checking account right before the bill is due and off it goes.

Everbank is offering a higher rate for checking and is reputable FYI and so is Presidential Bank and a few others.

But with that being said, I think the best option is the 5%+ account linked to free checking and moving funds only when the bills need to be paid at least thats my thinking....

The ACH transfer means 3 days lost interest. So lets say I had a 5% savings and moved the funds to a high rate checking, I already lost 3 days worth of interest.

So Im wondering myself:

Which of these senarios is best:

5.05% Interest with local bank and 0.25% interest checking linked so you can transfer same day and then pay bills
5.05% Interest with local bank and 3.00% ING for sake of argument using an ACH transfer which means lost interest for 3 days.

Isnt the 1st senario better because you will get more interest at 5.05%?

ajulius said:Isnt the 1st senario better because you will get more interest at 5.05%?
As of right now, that makes more sense to me, but if ING's savings rates go up then it would be a more viable option.

Also, sometimes I like to leave money in checking even if I know no payments are comming up (I only have to pay landlord, Capital One, and my two MBNA cards out of checking), espically when I travel because sometimes foreign ATM's don't allow you to withdraw from savings accounts (although I've been using Paypal for this recently, only a $1 fee and thier MM yield has been 5+% lately, but those $1 fees can add up and are often more than my interest for the month).

Plus, like the poster above me, no local banks with HYMM, so I'm losing on the ACH transfer anyways for deposits.

Xeon852 said:ajulius said:Isnt the 1st senario better because you will get more interest at 5.05%?
As of right now, that makes more sense to me, but if ING's savings rates go up then it would be a more viable option.

Also, sometimes I like to leave money in checking even if I know no payments are comming up (I only have to pay landlord, Capital One, and my two MBNA cards out of checking), espically when I travel because sometimes foreign ATM's don't allow you to withdraw from savings accounts (although I've been using Paypal for this recently, only a $1 fee and thier MM yield has been 5+% lately, but those $1 fees can add up and are often more than my interest for the month).

Plus, like the poster above me, no local banks with HYMM, so I'm losing on the ACH transfer anyways for deposits.

HSBC lets you withdraw from foreign savings accounts with no problem from what I believe. I haven't yet tried it. There is no fees nor exchange rate conversions with them.

As for the local banks with high yield accounts you would be surprised. Most of the accounts you need to sign up with ONLINE HOWEVER they can be linked with checking accounts and you can use the atm machine with them and deposit funds. With HSBC since I have a checking linked I can use a teller with no problem as well, I can just transfer the funds over to checking account and withdraw them from the bank on the same day or make a teller deposit to checking and instantly transfer it over to the high rate account.

Check www.fdic.gov and find the banks in your area. Go to the websites, and it is possible one will have a 5%+ rate that you didn't know about before. WaMU and Citibank for instance have extensive reaches and there are other banks as well offering these rates.

In my area: HSBC is 5.05%, Citibank is 5%, WaMU is 5%. 3 other banks have 5%+ rates for online divisions and I dont know if they can be linked to checking or not. I had an HSBC account when they were the first local high rate bank.

bigboy1972 said:I'd sign up for this in a second if it was available today. I already have an ING savings account and knowing ING I bet they would make the process really easy. My GMAC account is running up against the 6 transaction limit every month. If I could make all my bill payments through this I could draw down my 0% checking to almost nothing. I do not have direct deposit and I don't really want to consistently keep a thousand dollars or more in checking (Presidential).

If you have an HSBC branch near you it's the best option, when you have a savings and checking, you can do unlimited transfers through the ATM without having to worry about the 6 transaction limit a month.

Yes, we have 3 HSBC's in my town. They are all over here in NYC Metro, can't miss them.

As for the ATM transfer option, you are right. Can make unlimited transfers to my checking account with them with no issues whatsoever. HSBC had the 1st local bank high rate savings here with ATM access. Then Citibank followed, and then after that WaMU came in, etc...

As for Citibank and WaMU over here, those are linkable to checking as well and I assume ATM transfers also apply to those as well.

It is easy to get addicted to Bank Of America because of their easy billpayment system which is top draw. But the thing Bank Of America doesn't show you is the BILL for all of it which is how Bank Of America makes so much money. You wind up with the bill of 4.65% on the funds you keep in there. So if its around 5000, that means your total BILL from Bank Of America was $232.50 for the year. That over a multiyear rolling basis with compounding adds up fast.

Remember, even at 5.05% APY, HSBC is making more money on your funds.