Want to get some change for saving

[vassock]

I want to earn a few dollars by putting most of my money into a good savings account. I have a bank of america checking and savings account, but their savings account gives a ridiculous 0.05% interest rate. I can try getting their growth money market account, but that would only give me .20%. Other savings companies give way more, like AMEX which gives 1% compounded daily (about as good as Smartypig's 1.1% compounded quarterly).

So I figured I'd go with AMEX, but how would I get the money to them? BoA charges a $15 fee for wire transfers. That's in AND out! it would cancel out most of the interest I would get. I can't use cash because the AMEX high yield savings bank is an internet entity. So how can I get a good interest rate without getting charged a fee more than the interest earnings? Preferably no fee at all.

Can I use BillPay to safely, reliably and at no cost to me transfer money from my B of A checking account to my AMEX savings account? If so, how would I go about doing that? Would it truly avoid all transfer fees from both AMEX and BoA?

Even more importantly, how do I get my money out of AMEX if I need to use it? They say they can send me a check. For free?

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Many of the internet banks will allow you to link to an existing account.

For instance, when we switched from Bank of America to ING Direct, I just transferred the money via ING's website: no fees whatsoever.

[vassock]

Many of the internet banks will allow you to link to an existing account.

For instance, when we switched from Bank of America to ING Direct, I just transferred the money via ING's website: no fees whatsoever.

They do have a linking option. They send 2 deposits under $1 and you have to record the amount and confirm it with them. Then they withdraw that money back and the accounts are linked. Would this be completely free?

[photo]

They do have a linking option. They send 2 deposits under $1 and you have to record the amount and confirm it with them. Then they withdraw that money back and the accounts are linked. Would this be completely free?

It's been several years since we set up that account, but at that time, there were no fees at all. If you want to double-check, just phone them on Monday.

The one negative aspect of ING Direct, however, is that depositing checks is not at all convenient. Direct deposit is no problem at all, nor is any transferring online (at least on ING's part). And, of course, you can withdraw cash at an ATM. But if someone gives you a paper check, it has to be mailed to Minnesota via the postal service. However, I have a local account at a credit union where I can deposit checks. It might be worth keeping a nominal amount in Bank of America for that purpose -- just be sure that the checking account is eBanking (free) and you only deposit checks via ATM; any teller transactions are subject to fees.

[vassock]

It's been several years since we set up that account, but at that time, there were no fees at all. If you want to double-check, just phone them on Monday.

The one negative aspect of ING Direct, however, is that depositing checks is not at all convenient. Direct deposit is no problem at all, nor is any transferring online (at least on ING's part). And, of course, you can withdraw cash at an ATM. But if someone gives you a paper check, it has to be mailed to Minnesota via the postal service. However, I have a local account at a credit union where I can deposit checks. It might be worth keeping a nominal amount in Bank of America for that purpose -- just be sure that the checking account is eBanking (free) and you only deposit checks via ATM; any teller transactions are subject to fees.

Here is what BoA says about transfers:

You can transfer money between Bank of America accounts in the following ways:

Transfers from your Bank of America deposit account to a deposit account owned by you or someone else at another financial institution within the United States using 3 delivery speeds:

* Same-business-day processing (wire transfer)
* Next-business-day processing
* 3-business-day processing

Transfers from your Bank of America deposit account to an account owned by you or someone else at a financial institutions located outside the United States. These transfers can either be sent in foreign currency or U.S. dollars.

Transfers to your Bank of America consumer deposit account from an account you own at another financial institution within the United States using 2 delivery speeds:

* Next-business-day processing
* 3-business-day processing

The following transfer fees may apply to some transfers.

Inbound Transfers: There is no fee for transferring funds into the bank, regardless of the delivery type you choose.

Outbound Transfers: If you transfer money to accounts you own at other financial institutions or to an account owned by someone else, the following transfer fees will apply for each transfer:

* 3-business-day processing is $3.00
* Next-business-day processing is $10.00
* Same-business-day processing (wire transfer) varies by region (The actual fee disclosure is on the Make Transfer page.)

Miscellaneous Fee: You will be charged $25 for each wire tracer that you ask us to execute for you.

You may move money without a transaction fee by using Bank of America's Online Bill Pay Service. Bill Pay allows you to pay large, well-established merchant billers electronically within 1 to 3 days without charge. You may also use Bill Pay to transfer money to individuals and smaller merchants when arrival by a specified date is not required. The Transfers Outside the Bank Service is an alternative that allows you to transfer funds to individuals or vendors when delivery of funds by a specific date is critical.


So it looks like I must use Bill Pay to send money to AMEX for free.

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You're talking about an official transfer. I hesitate to say that I still keep a Bank of America account (free checking) and will sometimes use it instead of the credit union to deposit checks into. Then, I log into ING Direct and from ING Direct, transfer the money from BofA to ING.

I just transferred some money from BofA to ING Direct last week. However, I did it from ING Direct, where it is free.

Again, the crucial part is initiating the transfer at ING Direct, not Bank of America.

[vassock]

I talked to BoA and they said they have no fees if I authorize AMEX to make a withdrawal. I guess they only apply fees if it's an ACH push from BoA. AMEX says they never have fees. Unless someone is lying, there should be no fees.

[Metapearl7]

You can easily opt the option of internet banking as they can very easily let you avail this facility.