I am sure that provident-direct will not be able to hold out forever and relent sooner or later as the FED continues its rate cuts. If you reside in the MD, DC or VA then by all means open an account and when they drop to an anemic rate you can easily move your funds. Everyone not in the geographic area for provident bank should weigh the hassle of setting up, transferring and withdrawing funds when they inevitably drop their current intro rates.
I actually assumed they would drop them after this last rate drop and already opened an everbank account to get at least 3 more months of 4.5% while staying liquid. Instead it was everbank that dropped their intro rates. 4.5% after inflation and taxes is more or less a break even rate, anything less and you're losing money. I will likely shift to muni bond funds except for my emergency cash reserves.
Credit Unions and their CD rates will likely be the last holdouts against current downward savings rate pressures.
Good Luck
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