Online Savings Accounts & Current Rates

[sweeps]

GMAC bank up to 5.30%. Boomshakalaka.

[poundwise]

Originally Posted by sweeps

GMAC bank up to 5.30%. Boomshakalaka.

LOL

Now taking bets on how many days it will be before GMAC lowers this rate!

I'm going with 10. (Uh oh, there I go being cynical again.)


(For those with GMAC accounts, like Sweeps apparently, I hope I'm wrong.)

[kv968]

Originally Posted by poundwise

LOL

Now taking bets on how many days it will be before GMAC lowers this rate!

I'm going with 10. (Uh oh, there I go being cynical again.)


(For those with GMAC accounts, like Sweeps apparently, I hope I'm wrong.)

About as long as it takes to transfer money to and from a HSBC account

[poundwise]

Originally Posted by kv968

About as long as it takes to transfer money to and from a HSBC account

Hahaha, ok... I'll put you down for one week then.

Originally Posted by poundwise

LOL

Now taking bets on how many days it will be before GMAC lowers this rate!

I'm going with 10. (Uh oh, there I go being cynical again.)


(For those with GMAC accounts, like Sweeps apparently, I hope I'm wrong.)

nah, no worries, it's still the best long term deal out there as far as I'm concerned. I've yet to have a compelling reason to "bite" on any of the competitors.

recently I actually got a chance to test the ATM fee rebate and it worked like a charm.

but you're no doubt right on the fact that the rate will drop again soon.

[abbynormal]

A friend sent me this thread and it's extremely helpful. I've been with ING for a couple years now, but their savings rate is now pretty disappointing.

I chose to test out FNBO Direct's offering and I signed up for an account with them a week or so back. My plan is to see how I like them with a limited deposit before I completely jump ship on ING. So far, my experience with FNBO has been poor, but I'll withhold final judgment until I've had a few months of experience with them.

To begin with, I accidentally entered the wrong username for a bank account I wanted to fund my new account with. FNBO just told me it was wrong and thus couldn't use it for initial electronic funding. No opportunity to correct the mistake. Next, I found it tricky to figure out how to setup online account access. Finally, I was unable to log into my account this morning and the website kept giving me an error that it was unable to verify my credentials. I assumed that meant I misspelled something or typed an incorrect answer to a question, but I came back 15 minutes later and logged right in.

Alas, not all was working correctly. Upon logging in, I received a message basically saying that their system was down. To make it even more exciting, the error message popup was raw HTML!

Since this morning, the message I get has changed. Now a "Technical Difficulties" page appears with the text "We are unable to validate the information you entered...."

I'll see how FNBO pans out over some time, but I have a sizable amount of money I'd like to put in a higher interest savings account and I'd be afraid to do that here with what I've seen so far.

-an

[m3racer]

Originally Posted by abbynormal

A friend sent me this thread and it's extremely helpful. I've been with ING for a couple years now, but their savings rate is now pretty disappointing.

I chose to test out FNBO Direct's offering and I signed up for an account with them a week or so back. My plan is to see how I like them with a limited deposit before I completely jump ship on ING. So far, my experience with FNBO has been poor, but I'll withhold final judgment until I've had a few months of experience with them.

To begin with, I accidentally entered the wrong username for a bank account I wanted to fund my new account with. FNBO just told me it was wrong and thus couldn't use it for initial electronic funding. No opportunity to correct the mistake. Next, I found it tricky to figure out how to setup online account access. Finally, I was unable to log into my account this morning and the website kept giving me an error that it was unable to verify my credentials. I assumed that meant I misspelled something or typed an incorrect answer to a question, but I came back 15 minutes later and logged right in.

Alas, not all was working correctly. Upon logging in, I received a message basically saying that their system was down. To make it even more exciting, the error message popup was raw HTML!

Since this morning, the message I get has changed. Now a "Technical Difficulties" page appears with the text "We are unable to validate the information you entered...."

I'll see how FNBO pans out over some time, but I have a sizable amount of money I'd like to put in a higher interest savings account and I'd be afraid to do that here with what I've seen so far.

-an

Yikes!!! I have yet to experience such problems...knock on wood.

[abbynormal]

The saga continues for me with FNBO. I received the following email from them which indicates that they are unable to fund my new account with the account they successfully verified previously. They request that I mail them a check, but there's no address provided! Check it out. I made privacy modifications with brackets.:

==================
You recently initiated a request to fund your new account(s) with [amount] from [my account]. Unfortunately, we were unable to fund your new account(s) using your source account.

Please mail us a check for [the amount]. Mail check to: <<FI_REGULAR_MAIL_ADDRESS>>

If you wish to discuss this further with a Customer Service Representative, please send an email to service@myaccount.fnbodirect.com or call 1-877-370-3707. Please reference your applicant ID # when you contact us.

We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for choosing FNBO Direct for your Online Savings Account.

FNBO Direct Customer Service
==================

So I sent an email back explaining that this looked suspicious, and the email bounced back to me! If no one else reported using them, I would think it was a Nigerian scam (except I suspect scammers would be better at taking your money if you try to give it to them).

-an

[abbynormal]

Well, I called FNBO ready to cancel my account, but I spoke with a gentleman who was able to straighten everything out for me and fix the online problems I've had. Kudos to them for excellent customer service.

I should be off and running for now and will see how everything works out.

-an

[poundwise]

Originally Posted by abbynormal

Well, I called FNBO ready to cancel my account, but I spoke with a gentleman who was able to straighten everything out for me and fix the online problems I've had. Kudos to them for excellent customer service.

I should be off and running for now and will see how everything works out.

-an

Thank you for posting about your experience with FNBO. They are relatively new to the list and, until you, I did not know of anyone specifically who had opened an account with them.

[poundwise]

Update, May 1st

Amboy Direct Premium rate drop from 5.25% APY to 5.05% APY

Capital One rate drop from 5.00% APY to 4.75% APY

HSBC 6.00% APY promotion ended in April

New FNBO 6.00% APY promotion through September

E*TRADE $25 sign-up bonus ended in April

Well I suppose now we might find out how much the spin off isolates us from Dad's troubles.


GM's profit dented by GMAC's subprime exposure


article from MarketWatch


here's to hoping that 5.30% rate holds

[RJB1180]

from apple bank
"With a great rate and direct access to your savings account, Grand Yield Direct is the worry-free choice for savings. Just $1 to earn interest and $2500 to open. So relax… your banking is done for the day."

[poundwise]

Originally Posted by RJB1180

from apple bank
"With a great rate and direct access to your savings account, Grand Yield Direct is the worry-free choice for savings. Just $1 to earn interest and $2500 to open. So relax… your banking is done for the day."

Hm... that's new. Thanks for the heads-up.

[krayziebone33]

I'm not trying to sound crass or disrespectful, but why do some people on this board still have ING accounts? There are so many other banks that offer way better interest rates than ING. What is it about them that keeps people signing up/maintaining accounts with them? I just don't get it. Is their website that much better than some of the others? Are their transfer times instantaneous? Is their customer service far-and-away better than the other online banks? Can someone shed some light?

[kv968]

Originally Posted by krayziebone33

I'm not trying to sound crass or disrespectful, but why do some people on this board still have ING accounts? There are so many other banks that offer way better interest rates than ING. What is it about them that keeps people signing up/maintaining accounts with them? I just don't get it. Is their website that much better than some of the others? Are their transfer times instantaneous? Is their customer service far-and-away better than the other online banks? Can someone shed some light?

I think it's a combination of marketing, ease of use and complacency. ING is one of the oldest and best known online banking sites so people sign for up them without really knowing about the others out there. The $25 sign-up bonus probably plays a big part too. If someone is looking to get into high yield online savings accounts they're likely to ask a friend, who probably has an ING account, about them and when that friend says they can give them a $25 bonus for signing up, the deal's done. Once the account is set up, it's just a matter of complacency with not wanting, or knowing, to chase the best offers out there. Even if they do know about them, most don't feel it's worth their efforts for the extra 50 basis points difference in interest to open yet another account. That's my opinion anyway. And just as a disclaimer, that's somehow I got an account with them but have since switched to GMAC.

[safari]

Originally Posted by krayziebone33

I'm not trying to sound crass or disrespectful, but why do some people on this board still have ING accounts? There are so many other banks that offer way better interest rates than ING. What is it about them that keeps people signing up/maintaining accounts with them? I just don't get it. Is their website that much better than some of the others? Are their transfer times instantaneous? Is their customer service far-and-away better than the other online banks? Can someone shed some light?

For people with lower balances it makes sense to open an account with ING to get the $25 bonus. If you're depositing $1,000, the difference between ING's 4.5% and GMAC's 5.3% is only going to be $8 a year. Then after people get their $25 bonus from ING, they just leave the money there because they don't want the hassle of opening a new account and transferring the money there just to earn an extra $8 a year.

[m3racer]

Here'a an update on my experience with FNBO Direct. Setting up linked accounts was fairly easy. It's not lilke GMAC where you have to verify micro-deposits with the linked accounts. However, it did take 4 business days before the transferred amount was considered complete in my FNBO savings account. I'm not sure if this is considered a long time or not. Otherwise, everything appeared smooth.

[poundwise]

Updates: May 19th

Indy Mac rate drop from 5.00% APY to 4.75% APY

Zion's Bank rate drop from 5.30% APY to 5.18% APY

Umbrella Bank rate drop from 5.10% APY to 4.95% APY

Also, Umbrella Bank has reneged on their promo offer. They offered a higher rate through July 2007 and then discontinued that offer. They now employ a tiered system that requires a minimum balance of $1000 to earn the reasonable rate listed here.

[kv968]

Uh oh, how long until our beloved GMAC follows suit and drops their rate also?