When is Emigrant going to become the leader again???

[gavinmccallister]

I am curious as to when Emigrant-Direct will become the highest paying savings account again, or with all the other programs that they have in place do they want us to lock in our money with their new 5% CD it is over a year why are they giving us high rates in ways that we don't want???

[sweeps]

No one will match HSBC's rate.

[gavinmccallister]

I am wondering if I should close out my Emigrant account and put all of my money in my HSBC Account? Do you think rates will be going up soon I am anxiously waiting for 5%

[sweeps]

Don't close your ED account... leave it open just in case (or to spread your money across multiple accounts if you like).

The general consensus is that HSBC will range anywhere from 4.8% to 5.1% after the promotion ends at the end of the month.

[CJsoccerchic]

We shall see...

[JoyJoy]

Originally Posted by Sweepsplayer

Don't close your ED account... leave it open just in case (or to spread your money across multiple accounts if you like).

The general consensus is that HSBC will range anywhere from 4.8% to 5.1% after the promotion ends at the end of the month.

I agree! I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket...especially with the choice between these two banks! One is going to outdo the other and you want to be there when it happens. I would find it hard to choose which one to let go also as I am very pleased with them both.

Geri Detweiler (spelling unsure of at this moment), Money Magazine Advisor at CNN feels people should be investing in CDs right now while their returns are 5% and to limit opening new bank accounts. It's in her 5 Tips newsletter at CNN.com (Money) ....atleast it should be as she spoke about this recently.

[BTC]

When it's mentioned that the consensus is that HSBC's rate will be from 4.8 to 5.1 at the end of their promotional period who, exactly, is providing this consensus? If they do offer that type of rate, I would be surprised if Emigrant doesn't match it, but I guess we'll see. I really have nothing to base that opinion on. If HSBC's processing time didn't suck in comparison to ING & Emigrant, I guess there would really be nothing to consider.

[sweeps]

The consensus comes from postings on this site as well as other finance sites. My personal guess is that it will remain at 4.8%, but who knows.

Emigrant has lagged other online banks for a while now. It recently raised its rate to 4.5% but that still puts it behind 8 other banks (HSBC, American Partners, GMAC, UmbrellaBank, Corus, Presidential, Virtual Bank, and MyBankingDirect - source: Bank Deals).

I agree the transfer times are an issue if you're churning your account a lot. But if your balance tends to be pretty stable, there are better choices out there than ED and especially ING.

[mannda]

Emigrant is very reliable at 4.5%. Its a respected high-street bank and its rates are stable while most of the purely internet banks: Umbrella, Virtual etc. only have limited-term promotional rates which tank after a month or two. If you constantly chase an extra quarter point you'll end up losing when those promotional rates disappear.

Some of these mickey mouse banks also get annoyed when you pull your money out. I had to threaten Netbank with a lawsuit after finding out they put a negative entry in my Chex Systems credit record. I'd stick with Emigrant, HSBC and even ING. I'm not sure about GMAC - does anyone know how reliable they are?

[BTC]

I do my traditional banking with Netbank. It's disturbing to hear that information about them. I've actually had no issues with them, but I don't like that their overdraft protection doesn't apply to debit card purchases.