Argyll said: Yes, deposit Federal deposit insurance for both banks and credit unions has been raised to $250,000 per account. I have mixed feelings about this as it solves no underlying problem. In actual practice, so far the FDIC has in effect insured all deposits because it has been able to do so.
Increasing insurance also means the FDIC will raise premiums banks have to pay and banks may go ahead and make risky loans as deposits are covered by the government.
Well, making enough loans that the bank fails/goes under still has the effect of wiping out your stockholders' equity (making their investment worthless) and eliminating most of the top-level jobs. A fairly powerful incentive to perform as advertised.
I had the same problem happen again today. I scheduled a one-time transfer, but when I look it up on the scheduled transfers page, it says Monthly, and the transfer can't be edited or cancelled. I called again to complain, and spent an hour on the phone with them. They were all very nice, but I don't think that they have any interest in identifying or fixing the problem. I'd like to hear if this has happened to anybody besides me.
bluechalk said: If you are planning to do a transfer to Alliant this weekend, beware. I just had a strange problem on the website. I scheduled an external transfer for a single (one-time) transfer, to Alliant for 9/14/2008. But when I look at the scheduled transfer page, it says "Monthly 0000133636 left". This is clearly wrong. I tried to cancel via the "cancel" link. It doesn't complain, but the transaction won't go away. When I click on the institution name, which is supposed to let you edit the transaction, I get logged out. I tried using a different browser and got identical results.
I tried calling customer service. They were very nice, but clueless. They said that I have to call back on Monday to get this resolved.
Their ACH transfer system seems to be broken. At least its showing the correct dollar amount for the transfer, but at this point I don't have a lot of faith that its going to work as it says. I hope that I can get this fixed before a month goes by.
UPDATE: The transfer went through correctly on Monday and disappeared from the scheduled transfer list, just like it should have for a one time transfer. Strangely enough, the transaction number is 0000133636. I called again on Monday and they are going to report the problem to their IT people.
Is ACH still free? Maybe I'm reading this wrong but their fee schedule shows: Manually Paid Checks and ACH Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (effective 5/1/08) $29
The $29 fee is for ACH transactions initiated at other institutions that have an incorrect trans code. For instance, withdrawals from your share account must have a trans code of 37. A full list of codes is here. I had this problem with setting up an payment to my FIA credit card from the FIA website. They gave two choices: Checking Account and Money Market Account. I chose the latter, assuming that they would send a trans code of 37. But they sent the withdrawal to Alliant with a 27 trans code instead. Apparently the choice of Checking or Money Market has no effect. I called FIA, and they could not explain.
In any case, I got a letter from Alliant a few days later informing me of the problem. They processed the withdrawal manually but waived the $29 fee as a courtesy.
bluechalk said: The $29 fee is for ACH transactions initiated at other institutions that have an incorrect trans code. For instance, withdrawals from your share account must have a trans code of 37. A full list of codes is here. I had this problem with setting up an payment to my FIA credit card from the FIA website. They gave two choices: Checking Account and Money Market Account. I chose the latter, assuming that they would send a trans code of 37. But they sent the withdrawal to Alliant with a 27 trans code instead. Apparently the choice of Checking or Money Market has no effect. I called FIA, and they could not explain.
In any case, I got a letter from Alliant a few days later informing me of the problem. They processed the withdrawal manually but waived the $29 fee as a courtesy.
I had these same issues as well until an Alliant CSR pointed out an alternate account number to me. Log in, go to Additional Features and then Instructions for Initiating Electronic Transactions. Use the second, longer account number. No problems since I used that one.
I too used the long, 14 digit, number and linked my ACU savings to Wachovia, BofA, and Citi. No problems at all so far and I've moved money in and out of all three linked accounts.
If my average daily balance over the 31 day month of October is less than $100 (over $100 for most of the month but down to $5 for a few days) will I earn the 3.69%rate for October?
Anyone have any real life experience with this? I get conflicting answers from reps. Thx
zjts said: If my average daily balance over the 31 day month of October is less than $100 (over $100 for most of the month but down to $5 for a few days) will I earn the 3.69%rate for October?
Anyone have any real life experience with this? I get conflicting answers from reps. Thx
From Alliant Website Disclaimer.
The October Savings and IRA Dividend declared 09/18/08 provides a Dividend Rate of 3.69% - Compounded Annual Percentage Yield of 3.75% APY. Dividends are paid on the last day of the month to accountholders who have maintained an average daily balance of $100 or more in Savings or IRA.
I asked the banker at Citibank how average daily balance is calculated. He responded that the formula for determining how much interest would be paid at the end of the month if money is coming in and out of the account during the cycle would be too complex to figure out by using a calculator. I wish I knew how to determine average daily balance. I hate not even being able to even estimate my monthly interest. Does anyone know a simple way to calculate for example this senario: $9000 at start of cycle, withdraw $1800 to pay off a credit card, three days later add 800 to account ? Thanks for your attention.
A calculator would take too long but Excel should do the job!
Using your example, I assume 10/1/08 is start of your cycle and the month of October is your entire cycle. Assume, on 10/3/08, you took out $1,800 to pay off a credit card. Three days later (10/6/08), you added $800 to your account. Further assume there're no activities for the remainder of October.
Then, either using the AVERAGE function or the SUM function and divide the total by the number of days in the cycle (31 in this example), you should be able to get $7,987.10 (the Average Daily Balance for the month of October).
I use to have an account with Alliant...no, there is no restrictions on the number of transfers in, as far as being free....but it's six going out, just like any other Savings or Money Market Account (federal law)....
craig10x said: I use to have an account with Alliant...no, there is no restrictions on the number of transfers in, as far as being free....but it's six going out, just like any other Savings or Money Market Account (federal law)....
Argyll said: craig10x said: I use to have an account with Alliant...no, there is no restrictions on the number of transfers in, as far as being free....but it's six going out, just like any other Savings or Money Market Account (federal law)....
You love 'em and leave 'em, eh? Still love them...but as i previously mentioned...while others keep expanding the number of accounts they have, i decided to go the opposite route...trim to the bare bones...It's just CHASE (main day to day banking) CNB Bank Direct (High yield 4% apy account linked to Chase) and E Trade for Brokerage...and that is it!
However, that doesn't change my opinion of Alliant..excellent rate...excellent free atm coverage and excellent customer service.....highly recommend them!
Alliant has offered consistant rates now for several years. Sometimes they are not the highest, but they don't do teaser rates only to drop them to nothing when they've reached the amount of money to which they set their goal. Excellent service trumps a small percentage offered by others.
But, c'mon, you switched to CNB for the promo rate, If that ain't rate chasing, what is?
Honestly, watching you switch multiple accounts every month makes my head spin. LOL!
Here's what I have; Savings accounts with Alliant CU and Provident Direct, because they don't fluctuate a lot, and don't do promotions, or offer temporary teaser rates. They are also very easy to use with fast transfers and have reliable service. I use Ascencia and ING for CDs. I'm also a member of several other credit unions but I haven't parked any funds in them at the moment.
One reason for not switching accounts a lot is the hassle and you also usually lose interest days when transferring funds. Plus it's more work on your income taxes.
So, while "others" switch accounts every month and expand or diminish the number of accounts steadily, I stay steady by sticking with the old reliables with the least restrictions.
craig10x said: Argyll said: craig10x said: I use to have an account with Alliant...no, there is no restrictions on the number of transfers in, as far as being free....but it's six going out, just like any other Savings or Money Market Account (federal law)....
You love 'em and leave 'em, eh? Still love them...but as i previously mentioned...while others keep expanding the number of accounts they have, i decided to go the opposite route...trim to the bare bones...It's just CHASE (main day to day banking) CNB Bank Direct (High yield 4% apy account linked to Chase) and E Trade for Brokerage...and that is it!
However, that doesn't change my opinion of Alliant..excellent rate...excellent free atm coverage and excellent customer service.....highly recommend them!
Argyll..that is a very nice and basic set-up you have there...i tip my "hat" to you (lol)
I did just want to mention that the reason i went for the CNB account was: i liked the idea of the locked in 4% for 6 months...but also felt that there was a good chance they would tend to keep rates at or near the top because they are a small bank and it would be the best way to compete with the larger banks that offer these accounts....and since i like the idea of a high rate of course (who doesn't...lol) and i didn't want to have to keep moving around (now that i've gone to the basic "bare bones" type of set-up) that i thought they might be a good bet to go with for the long term...this was my reasoning behind selecting them in particular....
3.75 is pretty good rate. when most of the online banks are decreasing interest rates, Alliant is maintaining the rate consistently. Thats really wonderful!!!!
john98 said: whats the APR for December? Any one called them.
for December you would have to call them after the 25th of November..it is at the end of the month meeting that they decide the share rate for the next month...so it is muuuuch too early for them to know (lol)
Argyll, Thanks for posting the top 50 credit unions list. I found it very useful. It turns out I'm a member of two of the very strongest: Penfed and Alliant. What luck.
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