Online Savings Accounts & Current Rates

[poundwise]

Originally Posted by sweeps

New online savings account. FNBO, paying 5.25%. Discussed here.

Thanks Sweeps. I'll add them to the list.

[poundwise]

Observations:

19 Offerings at 5.00% APY or better

12 Offerings at 5.25% APY or better

5 Offerings at 5.30% APY or better

And, sorry to pick on ING, but they are still sitting at 4.50%, just ahead of Allstate at 4.25% and Stonebridge at 4.00% at the bottom of the list.

[gavinmccallister]

FNBO I don't think is really all that good, here is what I found out on their disclosure page:

FNBO Direct
Disclosures
Interest begins to accrue no later than the business day we receive credit for the deposit of non-cash items (for example, checks). In other words, interest is paid on collected balances.
We use the daily balance method to calculate the interest on your account. This method applies a daily periodic rate to the principal balance in the account each day.
Interest for your account will be compounded and credited monthly.
Your interest rate and annual percentage yield may change. At our discretion, we may change the interest rate on your account. Currently, the interest rate on your account is 5.13% with an annual percentage yield* of 5.25%.

I believe that you want a savings account to compound and credit daily not monthly.

[Ima saver]

Yes, I agree. I enjoy looking my account up to see how much interest is has earned on a daily basis.

[kv968]

Originally Posted by gavinmccallister

FNBO I don't think is really all that good, here is what I found out on their disclosure page:

FNBO Direct
Disclosures
Interest begins to accrue no later than the business day we receive credit for the deposit of non-cash items (for example, checks). In other words, interest is paid on collected balances.
We use the daily balance method to calculate the interest on your account. This method applies a daily periodic rate to the principal balance in the account each day.
Interest for your account will be compounded and credited monthly.
Your interest rate and annual percentage yield may change. At our discretion, we may change the interest rate on your account. Currently, the interest rate on your account is 5.13% with an annual percentage yield* of 5.25%.

I believe that you want a savings account to compound and credit daily not monthly.

It's all relevant to the APY. If it were compounded daily, they would most likely just drop the interest rate to 5.12% which would basically have an APY of 5.25% also.

[sweeps]

kv is right. Compounding is irrelevant when you're looking at APY's. The only important thing is when the interest is credited -- in this case monthly which is fine.

[RJB1180]

E-trade has a new $25 bonus for new accounts

https://us.etrade.com/e/t/jumppage/v...&WT.mc_id=3950

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES BELOW

1 Annual Percentage Yield is effective 2/18/2007 and is subject to change. A $1 minimum deposit is required to open a new account. Withdrawal limits apply. Online statements required.

2 $25 will be credited to your Complete Savings Account within 30 days of the account being funded with a minimum deposit of $1. Payments will be reported as interest income. Accounts must be opened by February 28, 2007 to quality for the $25 offer. Must be a new account opened with new funds. Offer applies to one new account per customer. Not good with any other offer. This offer is not valid for E*TRADE FINANCIAL employees.

3 For details and important information about Quick Transfer, please click here for a listing of the limitations, restrictions and time deadlines associated with this service.

4 The Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of the Complete Savings Account as of 12/20/06 is more than 6 times the national average APY for savings accounts with balances of $25,000. Source: Informa Research Services, Inc., Calabasas, CA. www.informars.com. Although the information has been obtained from the various institutions themselves, the accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

5 National average published on 12/20/06 by Informa Research Services, Inc., Calabasas, CA. Although the information has been obtained from the various institutions themselves, the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Competitive information obtained from www.ingdirect.com, www.bankofamerica.com and www.wellsfargo.com using New York savings account rates as of 12/20/06. Rates assume balance of $1000+.

stolen from another site- credit gipson

[krayziebone33]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

Yes, I agree. I enjoy looking my account up to see how much interest is has earned on a daily basis.

Same here.

[krayziebone33]

Originally Posted by poundwise

Update: Thursday, February 15th

AmTrust Bank up from 5.30% to 5.36% APY

No other rate changes as of this morning

This question is for Poundwise and anyone else who wants to chime in: Is it worth it to move my money from an account gaining 5.30% APY to one gaining 5.36% APY?

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by krayziebone33

This question is for Poundwise and anyone else who wants to chime in: Is it worth it to move my money from an account gaining 5.30% APY to one gaining 5.36% APY?

If you have a question just for Poundwise, you could send him a personal message. The answer is no, you should not move your money just for a 0.06% difference. It would take weeks if not months to recover the lost interest while your money is in transit from one account to the other.

[krayziebone33]

Originally Posted by sweeps

If you have a question just for Poundwise, you could send him a personal message. The answer is no, you should not move your money just for a 0.06% difference. It would take weeks if not months to recover the lost interest while your money is in transit from one account to the other.

Thanks, Sweeps. I guess it was a mistake to move some of my money from my savings gaining 5.30% to HSBC when they started the promotional 6% interest on all new money, huh?

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by krayziebone33

Thanks, Sweeps. I guess it was a mistake to move some of my money from my savings gaining 5.30% to HSBC when they started the promotional 6% interest on all new money, huh?

A .70% spread is a lot different than a .06% spread.

You can run the numbers here to find out when chasing rates is worth it or not: The Ultimate Interest Rate Chaser Calculator

[Duchesse]

Originally Posted by sweeps

A .70% spread is a lot different than a .06% spread.

You can run the numbers here to find out when chasing rates is worth it or not: The Ultimate Interest Rate Chaser Calculator

Thanks Sweeps! The value of this calculator is immeasurable.

[poundwise]

I apologize that I didn't respond sooner. Sweeps, of course, is right on re: chasing rates. Frankly, I don't think I'd bother to jump for less than .50% difference and, even then, it would need to be from a source that I believe will keep its rate consistently among the higher rates. I've seen too many offer good rates for a short while and then drop like lead.

If I didn't have an account anywhere, I might would have jumped for the HSBC deal. Get 6.0% now and 5.05% (presumably) when the promo is over. However, I felt no inclination to move my money from where it is now over to a new HSBC account.

I have found, after trying out a few, that a solid site and good customer services (at least, the ability to get some customer service) is worth something, especially when most of the time the quibble is over less than .50% difference; a difference that is likely to change in a little while anyway.

Ultimately, my policy is that I want to be within reasonable range of the top rate(s) but I don't chase the top.

[poundwise]

List reviewed today, February 21st. No changes in listed rates.

[krayziebone33]

Originally Posted by poundwise

I apologize that I didn't respond sooner. Sweeps, of course, is right on re: chasing rates. Frankly, I don't think I'd bother to jump for less than .50% difference and, even then, it would need to be from a source that I believe will keep its rate consistently among the higher rates. I've seen too many offer good rates for a short while and then drop like lead.

If I didn't have an account anywhere, I might would have jumped for the HSBC deal. Get 6.0% now and 5.05% (presumably) when the promo is over. However, I felt no inclination to move my money from where it is now over to a new HSBC account.

I have found, after trying out a few, that a solid site and good customer services (at least, the ability to get some customer service) is worth something, especially when most of the time the quibble is over less than .50% difference; a difference that is likely to change in a little while anyway.

Ultimately, my policy is that I want to be within reasonable range of the top rate(s) but I don't chase the top.

This makes perfect sense. Thank you for answering my question. I would also like to thank Sweeps again as well.

[BTC]

This is kind of veering off topic, but I'm probably going to earn an additional $100.00 by moving my money to take advantage of HSBC's promotional offer. That's not bad considering that it took only a few keystrokes. My decision would have certainly been different had the disparity in rates only been .06%.

[krayziebone33]

Does anyone use OneUnited.com? If so, is anyone else experiencing problems with their website loading?

[wyett3]

Originally Posted by poundwise

Observations:

19 Offerings at 5.00% APY or better

12 Offerings at 5.25% APY or better

5 Offerings at 5.30% APY or better

And, sorry to pick on ING, but they are still sitting at 4.50%, just ahead of Allstate at 4.25% and Stonebridge at 4.00% at the bottom of the list.

Originally Posted by RJB1180

E-trade has a new $25 bonus for new accounts

Is there an identity theft or other risk in having all these accounts open; leftovers from trying them out or rate and bonus chasing?

[wyett3]

Originally Posted by sweeps

A .70% spread is a lot different than a .06% spread.

You can run the numbers here to find out when chasing rates is worth it or not: The Ultimate Interest Rate Chaser Calculator

I find that ED posts deposits soonest (although held 5 days before funds are available), even having the funds appear in both banks at once, and holds withdrawals a little longer too. While HSBC's system doesn't credit deposits until they've cleared (in 3 days) and deducts withdrawals immediatly. Are they both using the ACH system, going through the Federal Reserve? Is ED on a different system as they only link to checking accounts? E-loan seemed to do instant transfers and could link to either checking or savings.