ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

[poundwise]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank


That sounds nice, but the fact is 'viability' is not an issue. They are an FDIC insured bank and have been for some years. Marketing? They offered 5.25% when no one else offered more than 5.00%. What sort of 'ad' besides that fact would be needed to make that buzzworthy? 0.25% APY is a well-stated 'case' of advantage in my view. Sorry friend, I'd 'like to believe' as you have stated, I simply don't think that highly of my fellow citizens, in general.

Note, I am not necessarily saying that people aren't interested because they are racist, only that they are not comfortable with a bank who is out-front and 'marketing' the idea of being "Black owned."

I, for one, couldn't care less. I will also note that I am white and I have an online savings and it is not with OneUnited. The latter is because I already had my account with another company before I knew of OneUnited and I don't yet have enough reason to hassle with changing.

My point was based on the fact that on this forum we have many 'rate shoppers' who jump from one account to another or who like to talk about what the best place is (even still including ING who has lagged behind for a long time now) to open an online savings. When I posted the summary of online MMA accounts thread, OneUnited was added at the top. HSBC goes to 5.05% and people are talking about it and asking dozens of questions about whether or not they should move their money there, etc. ED announces that they are going to 5.15% and people 'talk' on the forum about that for a couple of weeks. All the while, OneUnited sits there at 5.25% which was the APY on their offering prior to ED's or HSBC's last moves and bascially I saw less than an handful of questions and, of that smattering, most were about it being a "Black owned" bank.

You decide what that means. It means to me, that OneUnited hurts themselves by promoting that they are "Black owned." If they, instead, invested their efforts in making an orange web site or a red piggy bank, they'd be among the most talked about offerings on this forum and elsewhere IMO.

[wyett3]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

I use Presidential's internet checking (pays more interest than ING) and savings to take the bank-to-bank transfer thing out of the picture. Does OneUnited have an internet checking?

[sweeps]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

On OneUnited I would like to think that in this modern age sophisticated internet savers would not let the skin color of ownership cause them to pass on a better deal.

I don't think Poundwise was being racist in any way -- if anything just the opposite. Why is it at all important that OneUnited is Black-owned? It seems the only thing they're offering customers is a high APY and involvement in urban communities. That's great, but what about other relevant features such as financial stability, customer service, fast ACH transfers, etc.?

[joseblanco]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

I never said poundwise was being racist. He made the assertion that other's maybe turned off by OneUnited advertising that they are "Black owned" and from the plain meaning of my words that you quoted I do not see a single indication that I am leveling such an allegation toward poundwise.

[BTC]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

I checked into Bank United. Their customer service and conflicting account details scared me away. I haven't checked into One United yet. Can a black man get some deposits?

[sweeps]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Apologies, jose. I guess I misread your intentions. Withdrawn.

My point still remains though -- maybe people are avoiding OneUnited not because the owners are of a certain demographic, but because that demographic is the only thing they're offering customers.

[joseblanco]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Apology accepted Sweepsplayer and thank you. I better appreciate your point also now that you've restated it. I understand where OneUnited's marketing is coming from but I agree if they want to expand their horizon/presence then merit of their operations should at least have equal billing.

[JPWRana]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Wow! This is one of the few forums where ppl resolve their conflicts REAL FAST, and not start a flame war.

Kudos to both of you guys!

[poundwise]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank


Please note, I did not say that people should open an account with OneUnited or that I personally considered them to be a wise choice. I recognize, and know first-hand, that there are other factors to consider besides the currently offered rate, especially when considering a new online account.

What I did suggest is that I was somewhat surprised that during the two months that OneUnited offered 5.25% APY while no one else offered more than 5.00% APY, there was not more disussion, buzz, or questioning concerning them. Even after others made the move to 5.05% and 5.15%, OneUnited still had them beat in terms of rate. Usually the MMA rates are topics of much discussion.

This forum is full of questions, comparisons, etc. regarding the online MMA account offerings. I simply was suggesting that a possible reason for OneUnited's offering not generating any more interest that it did/has is that some/many people may be 'turned off' by the promotion of the bank as "Black owned."

Perhaps that is a wrong assumption, but I never said it was a statement of fact, but an opinion formed from personal observation. The fact remains, if (insert bank here) started to offer that rate right now, it would be the subject of at least three new threads tomorrow morning.

[fratkid21]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Just this last week when I logged into check my account I had an e-mail saying HSBC was working on enhancing the site.

I used the start code for the online savings. I got a mailing a few months later with another code and the offer of free checks and an ATM card. Called the smart package (requires 3k in aggregate account funds) Now I am getting an offer to upgrade to the smart plus package and I will get a free night at a marriott. (requires 15k in aggregate account funds).

Good luck.

jose -- i saw that marriott thing too... i looked at thier products and it appeared to me that their checking accts had a monthly fee, unless you had $500,000 with them???

[krayziebone33]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

If anyone does decide to go with OneUnited, please fill the rest of us in on what type of organization they are. I am kind of upset with Emigrant and might seriously consider OneUnited if I can get some more information about them. It'll be two weeks on Sunday since I opened my account with Emigrant and I have not received ANYTHING from them. That is kind of frustrating. As far as HSBC goes, they will always get a piece of my pie because they are a good organization.

[joseblanco]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

jose -- i saw that marriott thing too... i looked at thier products and it appeared to me that their checking accts had a monthly fee, unless you had $500,000 with them???

HSBC uses their online account like a loss leader to get you in the door. They have three levels of checking, Smart package, Smart package plus and Premier. They all have fees associated with them unless you meet certain aggregate account balances. I have the basic smart package which requires 3k aggregate balance. The smart package plus requires an aggregate of 15k. The premier package requires a 100k aggregate. The all have different levels of service. The premier package has free wire transfers, a 1k emergency loan service, free brokerage etc. The smart package is just a regular checking account w/ ATM access. Smart package plus is somewhere in between the other two. I did not see a 500k minimum account. If you have a branch in the area check go in and sit down with the account manager they can give you hard copy literature of everything. Good luck.

[joseblanco]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

This forum is full of questions, comparisons, etc. regarding the online MMA account offerings. I simply was suggesting that a possible reason for OneUnited's offering not generating any more interest that it did/has is that some/many people may be 'turned off' by the promotion of the bank as "Black owned."

Perhaps that is a wrong assumption, but I never said it was a statement of fact, but an opinion formed from personal observation. The fact remains, if (insert bank here) started to offer that rate right now, it would be the subject of at least three new threads tomorrow morning.

I understood you poundwise and just wanted to say I hoped your assumption was in error and point out that practicalities often offset a 10-20 basis point difference. I held onto ING even though they were falling behind until the basis point delta hit 50+ then the practicalities balance shifted toward moving funds verses keeping them put.

[joseblanco]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

One last post before I move on with my day. I think everyone will get a chuckle out of this one. I was walking home from work here in Wilmington DE where ING has its HQ. They were having an employee party and everyone was of course wearing orange T-shirts. On the back of the shirts it said "ING Yields to no One" Nice play on words to bad it not true. As we all knwo by participating in this forum there are at least a dozen banks that beat ING when it come to APY. Enjoy Ciao Jose

[wyett3]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

... I simply was suggesting that a possible reason for OneUnited's offering not generating any more interest that it did/has is that some/many people may be 'turned off' by the promotion of the bank as "Black owned." ...

Yes, they seem to playing the race card. It exudes an atmosphere of "sister-Bertha-better-than-you"