ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

[Albies5]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

ok here is my question- a little math is prob. needed-and i know its prob been asked a zillion times. i have a direct deposit into my current savings acct at my local bank-- i barely get any interest on it- its a very low rate- im thinkiong of switching it to one of these online banks for SAVINGS ACCT. only--
I saw that ING=%4.4
and that HSBC= %5.05
and that ED =%5.15
MY QUESTION IS: which one is the best in terms of rate -IF YOU YOU ADD IN THE $25 YOU GET FOR JOINING ING(im sure that'll make it match up since how long will it take you to make 25 bucks with the other companies) overall ease,customer service ? which do you gusy recommend and why?

[sweeps]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

The financial answer depends on how much you have to deposit and how long you plan to leave it on deposit. If for example you have $5 to put into savings, the ING $25 bonus is a no-brainer. If on the other hand you have $50,000, you'll come out ahead with HSBC and ED in just one month's time.

Ease of use, customer service, etc. are more subjective. I've never used ING or ED, so I can't compare.

[disneysteve]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Of course, there is no reason you can't do both. Open an ING account with $250. Leave it for 30 days to collect the $25, then pull it out. Also open with HSBC or Emigrant or Amtrust (5.26%) and keep that as your ongoing account. Too much trouble in my opinion for $25 but certainly something one could consider.

[Albies5]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Thanks- i have about 500 bucks and on top of that i will be putting away into saving 400 bucks each month directly deposited to my savings-- so with that given information- any suggestions which is better to do? is it hard to switch from one acct service to the next? anyone know of good interest calculaotrs i can use for this type of question? also a higher interest rate although nice doesnt always excuse poor service and bad quality and the like. i just want to go with a good safe place.

[Albies5]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

one more thing........ are any other companies offering money to join? i think i just heard someplace else is offering $25...........

[joseblanco]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Amboydirect & Metlife bank both offer bonuses consistently. HSBC had one earlier this year but not sure if its still out there as they switched to a 25 USD gift card at bestbuy. This site offers a bonus for ED if you have unuse ING referrals. Bonuses are nice but you can't keep chasing them as you'll have way too many accounts after awhile. On the upside if you do chase bonuses then you'll get an idea of what you want/expect/like/dislike out of an internet bank and can consolidate from all of them into that one you select. That is basically what happened to me. Good luck. Joe

[safari]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

one more thing........ are any other companies offering money to join? i think i just heard someplace else is offering $25...........

NetBank is offering $75 bonus, check out this thread http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=21126

[Mathew Green]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Thanks- i have about 500 bucks and on top of that i will be putting away into saving 400 bucks each month directly deposited to my savings

Let's say you put the $500 in ING and leave it there a year. You get the $25 (5%) plus their regular interest rate (4.4%) for a total of 9.4%. Of course you only have to leave the money in the account for 30 days to get the bonus, but I'm with you in not wanting to shuffle money back and forth between accounts.

After the ING account is opened, you can use your next $400-$500 to open an account at a different bank that has a sign-up bonus or a higher interest rate.

You are now free to put additional money into either account or transfer money from one to the other based on interest rate or personal happiness factors.

Something else to consider when you get enough money set aside to do it is the "CD Ladder". It works like this: You buy a 90-day CD at the best interest rate available. 30 days later, you buy another at the new best interest rate. 30 days later you do it again. It has now been 60 days, and you'll have one CD coming due for renewal every 30 days forever!

If you like you can increase the amount of each CD as it comes due, or you can increase the timespan by 30-60 days and buy another CD to fill in the gap. The main point is if you run into financial trouble the CDs coming due every 30 days will provide a predictable stable source of income during the crisis.

[disneysteve]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Let's say you put the $500 in ING and leave it there a year. You get the $25 (5%) plus their regular interest rate (4.4%) for a total of 9.4%.

You actually only need to deposit $250 with ING to qualify for the bonus which makes the percentage earned even higher.

[Potato_Picker]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Just a general note from a newcomer to the site who has recently signed up with Emigrant Direct.

I wanted a high-yield internet savings account to build up my emergency savings (that 3 to 12 months of salary we're all supposed to have on hand ). My local credit union, which I'm happy with regarding its low fees and decent interest rates, had savings products that were only paying in the 2+% range, and CDs were in the 4% range. So a savings account in the 5% range where I could pull money out anytime was a no-brainer for me.

I did online research only (nobody I knew had even heard of Emigrant Direct; most knew ING only because of the Orange marketing campaign on the internet and TV). ING and ED stood out because they were known commodities and FDIC-registered. In the end, I simply picked the one that paid a higher interest. Since ED has typically paid higher interest over the last year or two, I'm hoping they continue to be at or near the top of the heap.

Registering at ED was quite easy. They do have more security questions than any other online bank account I've had, but it's not much of a hassle. Funding the account was easy. I could also find my ED account number through the website, so I'm not waiting for anything in the mail. I had no trouble, and I think as long as you follow the directions it goes smoothly. I've also transferred a few more deposits into the account with no problems. Note that they hold deposits for 5 days before they're available for withdrawal. I don't mind this because I plan on moving money into the account and not moving it out until absolutely necessary. If you want to switch money frequently among accounts, this might not work for you.

I also signed up for the ED credit card. A few years ago, my wife and I worked hard to wipe out our credit card debt. We've not had any since. We still use a credit card, but we pay it off every month. Right now, I use a card that accrues points towards Amazon.com gift certs. A few times a year a new one shows up in the mail. ED is working with a credit card company to offer a card that pays cash back twice a year. Right now, if you have a min. balance of 10K in an ED savings account, 1.4% of your credit card purchase amount will be deposited in your bank account twice a year. Note that the catch to this is that you need 10K average daily balance in your ED savings, and you need to pay off your credit card each month or else your 1.4% cash-back rebate will be wiped out by interest payments on your credit card balance.

So far I'm happy with ED. The web site seems to work fine.

I'd encourage anyone to at least look into these internet-only savings opportunities. The rates are far better than even CDs at most banks, and unlike CDs, you have far better access to your money.

[Mathew Green]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

You actually only need to deposit $250 with ING to qualify for the bonus which makes the percentage earned even higher.

True. But Albies5 was wondering where to put $500 and will have another $400 to invest next month, so my reply was based on those figures.

While we're at it, we should mention Jeffrey has posted links in the Everything Else forum http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7 for people who want to get the $25 ING bonus.

[sweeps]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

While we're at it, we should mention Jeffrey has posted links in the Everything Else forum http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7 for people who want to get the $25 ING bonus.

Brown noser.

[Albies5]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

I was just letting you guys know how much i plan to put away to see if it makes a difference- since someon had mentioned somthing to the effect that depending on how much you invest will tell you which way to go- so i just wanted to give you some backgroud info. I have 500 currently and then will have 400 each month so i guess a yearly total of 5,300. im thinking the 25 bucks bonus is a pretty good "added"rate/deal ontop of the rate offered -but i dont know if in the long run where its best to put my money.

[sweeps]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

i dont know if in the long run where its best to put my money.

The answer is: No one knows. Just look back through the history of this thread. At one time (a looonng time ago), ING was the best. Then ED came, and everyone jumped on that bandwagon. Then HSBC. Then GMAC. Now there are a dozen reasonable alternatives.

Very few people can give you a fair comparison of all the banks out there. Because in order for that to happen they must have an account at all the banks. Not very likely. From what I hear, ED is very good particularly after their recent enhancements. But like all these banks, that is subject to change.

Final note: Don't get paralysis by analysis. Pick a bank and get your money to work.

[disneysteve]

Re: ING Direct vs Emigrant Direct Bank

Final note: Don't get paralysis by analysis. Pick a bank and get your money to work.

This deserves repeating. It is better to open any high-yield account than to leave your money in a low-yield account. Agonizing over a few tenths of a percent is a waste of time unless you are talking about huge sums of money. On $5,000, 1/2% difference equates to just $25/year.