FNBO Direct (First National Bank of Omaha) online savings account 4.30% as of January 25, 2008!!

tooshy said: I know you've got your mils at stake so you're being very defensive So nellie won't say anymore to rock your boat

Seriously, I know FNBO is trying to do the right things by freezing accounts they are unsure of. However, for matters such as missing employment data??? Come on, freezing one's account when the only access is via online is tantamount to a freeze at your local B&M which is near sacrilege. They could easily get this data by courtesy mail if they were unable to contact via email. But they are shaving costs, so that's why they did it this way...
I know you’re kidding around, but truth be told, I did put my money where my mouth is.

FNBO was wrong in freezing the two posters’ accounts if the posters’ versions of events are accurate. However, their accounts were not frozen because of missing employment data per se. The accounts were frozen because they supposedly didn’t respond to an email requesting the additional information. Right or wrong, FNBO considers this to be a security risk for which they restrict transactions to an account. FNBO screwed up by not actually sending the due diligence emails in the first place but I really don’t see how this has to do with shaving costs. Unless you mean they hired sub par/incompetent employees.

To me ‘shaving costs’ has negative connotations, as in cutting corners. Is that how you mean it? Why is FNBO’s use of electronic contacts, electronic delivery of documents, a cheap ACH service, or any other means of economizing so odious to you? I don’t understand why you would begrudge FNBO for trying to contain costs if doing so would allow them to offer a high rate on the savings account. Aren’t high rates what we all want even if it means a Spartan, no frills account?

dolmar said: FNBO Direct Web Page said: IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SECURITY FOR DEPOSITS AND TRANSFERS: The security of your FNBO Direct Online Savings Account and any External Account is important to us. We have various policies and procedures that are designed with security in mind. As a result, we may at any time: (1) change the ways in which you are permitted to make deposits to your account or transfers from your account; (2) temporarily restrict any or all deposits to your account and any or all transfers from your account, if we determine a security risk exists; (3) refuse to enroll any External Account and suspend or terminate the enrollment of any previously approved External Account; and (4) refuse to complete any transfer or withdrawal initiated from external source. When you request to enroll any External Account, we may temporarily restrict all deposits to and/or transfers from your FNBO Direct Online Savings Account while we verify your ownership of all External Accounts. Except for notices required by applicable law, we may do these things without further notice. In some cases, our security policies may delay transactions that you wish to complete. If any Additional Verification (as referenced above) has not been completed to our satisfaction, we may consider a security risk to exist.

That is from the terms of service that you agree to when open your FNBO Direct account you need to check off the box stateing "I have read and agree to the above terms". Note (4) refuse to complete any transfer or withdrawal initiated from external source this is no different that ING/HSBC/ED TOS which they randomly enforced on people. I dont understand people on this board. They sign up for a service. They use the service and break or ingore the TOS and then complain when things blow up on them. Savings accounts are not ment to be transaction accounts and dont allow checks to be drawn against them and ACH are electronic checks. As opposed to Money Market Accounts which allow 3 checks to written or bill payments to drawn against the account. The fact many people on here are going to argue with me over the fact ACH payment vs transfers are the same is irrelevent because you agreed to TOS when you signed up for the account.

So Tooshy personally I dont see FNBO accepting responsibilty for rejecting your ACH debit as you broke the TOS by making a withdrawl from an external source.
Where did you get #4 from? The #4 from that passage in my FNBO T&C says "(4) refuse to complete any transfer or withdrawal based on the existence of a security risk." Which is very different from what you're saying.

Dolmar, FNBO can unilaterally change the Terms & Conditions at any time, that much is true.

However, there are several references in the T&C that would lead one to believe that third party ACH pulls are permitted. So for clarification, I emailed FNBO in May about this and they confirmed that it is allowed. Not that it should make any difference, but my question to them wasn’t about CC payments. I asked if I could pay my quarterly estimated tax payments from my FNBO account via a pull from EFTPS. This was their reply:

Dear xxxxx:

Thank you for your recent inquiry concerning your FNBO Direct account. Please be advised that ACH withdrawals are allowed out of your Online Savings account. Our bank's ABA/routing number is 104000016 and the account is classified as a savings account.

If you have any additional questions, please review FNBO Direct’s ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ at https://www.fnbodirect.com/01d/html/en/personal/faqs/index.html.

Sincerely,

Laura Pollard
FNBO Direct Representative

BTW, I never did use FNBO for my payments so I don’t know if they would have gone through.

Here's the complete passage from the T&C I just downloaded from FNBO:

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SECURITY FOR DEPOSITS AND TRANSFERS: The security of your FNBO Direct Online Savings Account and any External Account is important to us. We have various policies and procedures that are designed with security in mind. As a result, we may at any time: (1) change the ways in which you are permitted to make deposits to your account or transfers from your account; (2) temporarily restrict any or all deposits to your account and any or all transfers from your account, if we determine a security risk exists; (3) refuse to enroll any External Account and suspend or terminate the enrollment of any previously approved External Account; and (4) refuse to complete any transfer or withdrawal based on the existence of a security risk. When you request to enroll any External Account, we may temporarily restrict all deposits to and/or transfers from your FNBO Direct Online Savings Account while we verify your ownership of all External Accounts. Except for notices required by applicable law, we may do these things without further notice. In some cases, our security policies may delay transactions that you wish to complete. If any Additional Verification (as referenced above) has not been completed to our satisfaction, we may consider a security risk to exist.

I acknowledged that they can change the policy at anytime. That's why I just downloaded the T&C and Disclosures again. As of what's in the T&C presently, third party transfers should still be permitted. The changes they've made since the introduction of the account mainly had to do with verification of ownership of linked external accounts and reiteration of the 250K maximum daily deposit limit.

Even Dolmar's T&C doesn't say they will refuse transfers initiated from an external source - it says they *may* do so.

dolmar said: Even by Tooshy own admission BOA web page ask for a checking account to pull from. The rejection could have also happend on BOA side for pulling from a savings account. Remember AMEX was black listing people pulling from savings account also back last year?That's why initially I thought that if BofA presented a demand on checking, FNBO could technically hold back funds (I don't know bank policies enough except to think these things logically). They could be tightening their security criterias and of course that is left completely to their discretion per their T&C.

However, from a customer standpoint, this is pretty low...when they have once previously accepted a similar transaction as Jairocon mentioned he was able to make the same type transaction to the same payee last month, and mh83 in her emails with them not only did they specifically allow third party payment, they even gave the routing number to use.

mh83, thanks for your advice and information. I will probably get up around 6am tomorrow morning, read what the reps told Jairocon, then make a decision whether to ask FNBO to assist One of the privileges being in a remote time zone

dolmar, BofA rep told me that it doesn't matter whether "payment by phone" (myeasypayment) was from a savings or checking account, as long as it had a routing number. BofA credited the payment next day on 7/24 then returned payment on 7/27. I really doubt the problem is with BofA despite my earlier suspicions (yes it may not be worth trying to squeeze a few extra days interest). Besides its already been confirmed that the kink was FNBO's HOLD.

mh83 said: Tooshy, if you had coded the FNBO account as a checking account, it would be the ACH service that bounces the transaction back, not FNBO per se. The ACH rejection notice has a code in it that identifies the exact reason for the rejection. You can get this information from BOA.

In any event, you really should talk to FNBO anyway regarding any concerns you have about your account.

Good luck. Thanks for your valuable advice....BofA said it was a HOLD ON ACCOUNT verbatim, which doesn't sound at all like a ACH rejection notice.

I would gladly discuss concerns with any bank except FNBO. Seems there are too many FWers who got their accounts frozen for security risk reasons, and my concern is what in the heck would FNBO consider security risk...ack!! The good news is with many bailing out, this improves the odds a better rate may be offered for those tough enough to withstand FNBO's whims.

dolmar said: Even by Tooshy own admission BOA web page ask for a checking account to pull from. The rejection could have also happend on BOA side for pulling from a savings account. Remember AMEX was black listing people pulling from savings account also back last year? Tooshy was using an alternate service (myeasypayment.com) to pay BOA from FNBO, and I think said they ask for only a checking account. Other problems seemed to also involve myeasypayment + FNBO. Now that BOA billpay gives a choice of checking or money market as payment accounts, using the money market option may be coded acceptably to FNBO. And yeah Dolmar, I know money market can mean money market checking which is a more 'transactional' account but whatever. I have another BOA cc payment that should be debited from FNBO today, making 3 this month, so will see.
edit-Sorry, didn't initially understand myeasypayment was BOA.

gpagerry said: Is the Myeasypayment route identical to the Boa/mbna system where you add the routing number account number?Yes

tooshy - my MBNA shows the $39 fee was credited back on Saturday, just as the CSR promised. She also mentioned something about FNBO having a "hold on account" and couldn't explain what it meant. I'm going to call FNBO now and see what's up.

jairocon said: tooshy - my MBNA shows the $39 fee was credited back on Saturday, just as the CSR promised. She also mentioned something about FNBO having a "hold on account" and couldn't explain what it meant. I'm going to call FNBO now and see what's up.That's right you already got your fee credited back...what's interesting is we both have had the same treatment...hope this doesn't stir the FNBO nazi squad j/k lol

jairocon said: tooshy said: jairocon said: tooshy - my MBNA shows the $39 fee was credited back on Saturday, just as the CSR promised. She also mentioned something about FNBO having a "hold on account" and couldn't explain what it meant. I'm going to call FNBO now and see what's up.That's right you already got your fee credited back...what's interesting is we both have had the same treatment...hope this doesn't stir the FNBO nazi squad j/k lolFNBO claims that they did not even receive a request for payment last week. They confirmed there was plenty of funds available and that there were no holds on my account whatsoever. FNBO CSR gave me a $39 to cover the returned payment fee at BofA - the credit showed up instantly on my FNBO account.

Called MBNA (BofA) again - they claim that they received a non-sufficient funds notice from FNBO for the payment. In any case, there's no way to find out what went wrong as both places claim that they're right. Luckily I got a really nice CSR at MBNA - she told me to go ahead and make a payment on the account and she'll call me back on Thursday to make sure everything is straightened out. She said if there's any over-the-limit fee, she'll remove it and she'll also double check on the impact to my 0% balances, which are on another BofA card, but in the meantime she says there should not be any impact.

And just to make a point - it makes no difference whether you use a savings or checking account on myeasypayment website. I've made countless payments using savings accounts on both my and my fiancee's accounts and never ever had a problem. I've made a payment using FNBO on two BofA accounts in the past and have not had a problem. It might be just a one time glitch they had last week, who knows.Earlier BofA said the reason was a hold, now it is a not sufficient funds notice?? Excuse me, but do the reps make things up just to have an answer? You know that's a lie because you have more than sufficient funds.

Good for you that you got FNBO to refund the fee, I still don't see the $39 credit back on my BofA account. In the past, it takes a few days, so I'm watching.

In the meantime I moved funds from FNBO to GMAC, and will pay my cc bill via mbna billpay. I don't want to chance resubmitting the payment request to FNBO and see it fail again. I am cutting so close to the due date I hope I make it. Just to be on the safe side, I will pay the minimum now and the rest when the funds become available.

Even if it is a computer glitch, I do not like dealing with such uncertainties to squeeze a few pennies out (a tweaker's hazard) I'm not going to pay by phone (nor attempt to billpay) from this account anymore. Just because myeasypayment accepted payment from savings in the past does not mean the same will continue in the future. Awful that rules of the game change without notice. However, we're the ones tempting fate

On the bright side, it's pay day time...7/31!!

Also, don't know if this is just my imagination, but BofA reps seem overly courteous and generous these days.

edited to fix grammar

It's a shame they've been giving people trouble and a shame that they seem to see security risks where others do not. What is not a shame is that you can schedule pulls from GMAC on Thursday and earn double interest on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I've now emptied my account of everything except $5000, earned my double interest and have pushed most of it to my State Bank of Toledo Rewards Checking account at 6.01%, where it will stay happily ever after. Although, that bank's $200 per day ATM limit is a little chafing, so I will keep some money at GMAC as well for those days when I may need a little more cash than can be squeezed out of Toledo.

mysteryAgain said: Hey Guys, is interest posted once or twice a month? I had an account for almost a month now, and the amount is still the same. thxAsked and answered.

What banks pay interest twice a month?

I’m testing my exit strategy for if/when FNBO makes their rate non-competitive. I’ve linked my FNBO account to my GMAC account. Trial deposits show in FNBO and were verified. I was also able to push a large amount into FNBO from GMAC. But when I tried to pull $100 from FNBO, the transaction went through and was then reversed. GMAC sent me a letter saying it was reversed because “we have received notification that there was an error with your request for a financial transaction.” When I call GMAC for more details they can provide none. I am wondering if FNBO pulled the money back because the GMAC account is a joint account with my wife whereas the FNBO account is in my name only. Any thoughts before I call FNBO?

amgarb -- I also have my FNBO and GMAC accounts linked, through GMAC. I have not had any problems PULLING funds from FNBO, using the GMAC external transfer system. Both accounts are titled in my name. Suggest you create link from the GMAC side and try pulling, rather than pushing from FNBO. Interested in how this turns out.

tuphat said: amgarb -- I also have my FNBO and GMAC accounts linked, through GMAC. I have not had any problems PULLING funds from FNBO, using the GMAC external transfer system. Both accounts are titled in my name. Suggest you create link from the GMAC side and try pulling, rather than pushing from FNBO. Interested in how this turns out.

Just to clarify: the pull was via GMAC's transfer system.

Here are my experiences so far with FNBO:

They will NOT wire money out to an account that is not one of your linked accounts. They charge $15 for outgoing wire and $10 for incoming.

The wire transfer can be done online. It's under Contact Us, General Inquiry and then you choose Wire transfer as the subject. It's weird because when you speak to a CSR, they tell you that online request must have 8 lines of specific information. But you would never know that from the form they have you fill out, I only knew because I spoke to a CSR beforehand.

If your wire transfer IS to a linked account, they do it within an hour (probably less, I wasn't counting).

I have pushed and pulled from my linked WAMU accounts, both of which are joint accounts, while my FNBO is individual. So far no problems.

I was credited my first month of interest today, very nice chunk of change!

I have to say, I don't mind the security issues, although I am opening up a Salem Five checking account for when the rate expires at the end of September. I will earn 5.3% at SF, and based on historic rates, I don't think FNBO will be much more than that. And I am tired of transferring monies back and forth from savings to checking to pay bills, in an attempt to minimize money held in checking. So I am hopeful SF will solve those issues and allow me to consolidate. YAY!

Moonsea said: Here are my experiences so far with FNBO:

They will NOT wire money out to an account that is not one of your linked accounts. They charge $15 for outgoing wire and $10 for incoming.

<snip>

I have pushed and pulled from my linked WAMU accounts, both of which are joint accounts, while my FNBO is individual. So far no problems.


Interesting. I'll try linking them from the FNBO side and see what happens. Good to know you've been able to transfer to a joint account from your individual FNBO account.

edit: Hmmm, FNBO doesn't seem to allow this. They want me to agree that linked accounts are in the same names.

Guys, I am transferring money out of citi to fnbo. When is the best day of the week to initiate an online transfer to avoid many days of lost interest - 3 days ? Or perhaps, it is better to send a check? I feel that sending check also contributes to a lost interest since money sitting in checking account with accruing interest rate. Thanks

Just opened my FNBO account

Pros over ELOAN MMSA:

three external accounts + brokerage link (nice)
ability to cancel transactions
overall better UI

Cons:

wait for account rep that can actually answer things is loooong. ELOAN has usually had little to no wait time in my exp.
three days hold time --AFTER-- money has been pulled CSR just told me. FNBO pull from scottrade and woodforest 31st, pulled 1st, rep is saying % should accrue monday.



Can anyone tell me if I may link credit card bill payment through citi/chase/AMEX directly to this account? I see some sketchy stuff going on w/ someone here and BoA though BoA is one of the most scrupulous companies I've ever witnessed 1st hand so...

THANKS!