glxpass said:If I maintain a Premier Banking relationship with BoA, I doubt that it will be due to competitive savings products rates. Being Premier might get you an extra .25% in APY (if even that), but with the Federal Funds rate probably going to be cut at least .75% (if not more) this week, what exactly is that going to do for us?

I don't think BoA is going to be able to compete with smaller financial institutions who have the occasional (but increasingly rarer) CD specials that will defy the Federal Funds rate because they desperately want to increase their deposit levels for some reason or another. I don't think BoA will have any such motivation, but I could be wrong.

The main thing I will be asking myself is: Is the lower rate I'm getting at BoA worth the perks of being a Premier Banking client of theirs? And if I want to maintain the enhanced benefits of the BoA Accolades AMEX card, such as airport lounge access, then I need to either spend 30K for the year with the card (not going to happen) or have 200K in deposit accounts with BoA -- at least at the end of year.

I may very well just keep at least 10K but not much more at BoA for the Prima benefits (in CA), which include a free safe deposit box. I don't want to lose all the benefits of banking at BoA -- convenience being one of them -- but I don't want a substantially lesser amount of interest income by staying with them, either. We shall see what the spread is between BoA and other financial institutions.

I live in WA and have a "First Choice Gold" account (Thirty years ago it was Seattle First National,
so this name is probably one of the last vestiges of the old bank.) Ten K gets you a Gold
account with the same kind of freebies.

After reading this thread and others, I went to the local branch with a Premier Banking Center,
to see if there were any benefits to be had by upgrading my account.
(I had to: that branch doesn't asnwer the phone, a request for a Premier Banker to call me
from my local branch didn't work, and after 5 tries with the CS line I was out of options.)

It turns out that I need a new bank. The Premier Banker was willing to help me plan
my financial future, set up meetings with various advisors, but offered me nothing.

I asked if I could get a better rate on my CDs. She said "That depends" and didn't elaborate.

I asked if I could do better on my checking than the .1% I get now. She said if I put
$100K in a money market fund I could get 1%. I asked her if I could set up a sweep into
my checking, and she said no. If I lived in Cali, I could, but the computer set up in WA
doesn't allow sweeps. She said I could just call whenever I needed to move funds.

She said that "technically" my balances with the bank qualify me to set up a Premier Bank
account, but that the "typical" client had a half a million with them--counting their
mortage of course. I always think of my best lines the next day, but I wish I would
have asked her if the "typical" client has stupid stamped on his forhead.

Inertia has kept me with BoA, but as my CD's mature, they will be moved. Any resident
of WA can open an account at the Boeing Employees Credit Union, and that is the best
option I have found so far.

1.How do I get PB status with BoA ? Do I need to visit a PB branch or can I do it over the phone?

2.I currently have an AAA savings account with BOA, do they make you change your account type/open a new one upon becoming PB client or everything can stay the same if I wish so ?

3.What happens if my balance goes below 100k, do they drop PB status immediately ? Impose monthly fees ? Does it affect my accolade/PP/Credit monitoring account before an annual fee is due?

Moosy said:1) Usually your new rep will want to talk to you in person and only he/she can establish your status - so count on having to go the branch once - you need to set up an appointmentJust as an fyi, in most cases it is not necessary to go to a branch to do this. The reps can easily get everything done over the phone and/or they can come to you.

I am really liking having a rep and willing to get slightly lower rates to stick with BoA. I got my trust done the other day and an now in the process of dealing with multiple banks to get tittling change, What a complete pain in the ass it has been. I have 11 different accounts at BoA between savings, checking, Cds, IRA's and investment account. I knew it was going to be a bunch of paperwork to change them all. So yesterday I went in and rep said just give him a copy of the trust and he will take care of it. He just came by my office for me to sign them, Whole process was very easy and quick thanks to him

geo123 said: when my 5th NEA bonus rate runs out in about 5 weeks.
5? I thought my 3 was pushing it. While not the best rates my Rep has got me some CD rates that are decent. Willing to take the lower rates for the convenience of a branch right next to me and not dealing with mailing or transferring money all over the country. Plus throw in some free shirts and getting to go to Red Sox games in their Luxury box has kept me happy. And getting a $200k Credit Card was pretty neat

geo123 said:EugeneV said:So what's the latest on unlocking extra benefits with 200K on deposit? Will they take away these benefits or charge a fee once the deposit drops below 200K? How often is this status reviewed?Once you qualify for the enhanced benefits with your $200K on deposit, the qualification is good for the entire year, so that once qualified, if you are so inclined you are free to transfer out the money and still keep the enhanced benefits. It takes them a little while, however, to qualify you for the enhanced benefits, which their system does automatically. This "little while" can range anywhere from a week to three weeks, depending on the exact alignment of the stars.

1.What do you mean qualification takes some time ? How do I know when I am qualified ? I am at the moment in process of putting 200k into my account, once I have that I will apply for the accolades card and when I get it I will apply for the Priority Pass. At what poing qualification for unlocking extra benefits comes into play ?

2.What is a year ? If I qualify now will my PP be good for 12 months or till the end of 2008 ?

3.Also, whats the best way to get the same for my wife ? Wait till I get it myself than open an account for her and transfer money or is there a better way ?

Had my card for about 3 months now...did a cli last week online from accolades page. CL was 25k, entered in 35k and now see new CL of 35K. I'll try it every 3-4 months and see what happens!
Also, does anyone pay their accolades bill directly from their bofa online? Although it appears as a straight money transfer, it seems to take 3 bus days to credit. Online bofa money transfers occur immediately. Anyone else have this issue?

geo123 said:scott1961 said:geo123 said: when my 5th NEA bonus rate runs out in about 5 weeks.
5? I thought my 3 was pushing it. While not the best rates my Rep has got me some CD rates that are decent. Willing to take the lower rates for the convenience of a branch right next to me and not dealing with mailing or transferring money all over the country. Plus throw in some free shirts and getting to go to Red Sox games in their Luxury box has kept me happy. And getting a $200k Credit Card was pretty neat haha, yep, I am at #5 at this point. What are you planning on doing after we run out of the NEA bonuses if the spread between MFR + 50bps and the rates found at other banks continues to be over 1%?Just as an fyi, I just established a "new" NEA account #6 without any problems. Since I establish it as a BOA customer (meaning that I enter my login id and password during the online account activation process) there is no hard pull.

In case people are wondering why I am still with BOA when even with the bonus the NEA account is only paying 3.57%APY, it's a legitimate question. At the same time, I am already slightly over the FDIC limits at Countrywide (yes, I know, I know), have an AARP account that is for now grandfathered in at 4.00APY (I also had to manually opt it out of Countrywide, so I wouldn't be too exposed), etc... So, there are not that many other banks out there with consistently competitive rates, great security (I'm never worried about exceeding FDIC limits at BOA) and excellent service... Besides, I use BOA as my primary depository bank, so it'd be a hassle to change all that and I'd lose a portion of the yield transferring money back and forth.

geo123 said: Just as an fyi, I just established a "new" NEA account #6 without any problems. Since I establish it as a BOA customer (meaning that I enter my login id and password during the online account activation process) there is no hard pull.

I'm catching up, Did #3 a couple weeks ago, Day after I closed #2. No problems and got my first statement and received bonus rate. Kind of funny that the closed NEA was on the statement also

Is there confirmation that the complimentary Priority Pass only lasts until the end of 2008? I would've thought you would keep the PP privilege for as long as you have $200K or more with BoA?