Online savings account

[Terran]

I just got my bank account statements and I realized I only get a 0.25% APY on my savings. I really don`t need access to it all that often, so I figured I`d look into an online savings and just keep the checking at my brick & morter bank. So, any recommendations?



It has to be low initial deposit (under $1K), low or no minimum balance, no fees, FDIC insured and as high an interest rate as possible. The only other concern`s I have are the time it takes to do transfer`s between the two banks and any other experience you might have dealing with the bank.



www.bankrate.com lists Emigrant direct and HSBC direct as the highest rates. Anybody have experience with either of them?



Thanks!!!

[Shelbrain]

I just saw this when I opened my Yahoo search engine, hope it helps:

http://direct.citibank.com/CBOL/06/esavings/default.htm?Promo_ID=CSAL&BTData=402117E786F61775D574D46BEBEB2A6AC9D948490FA FDF0EAEAC5C2D6F00B513&BT_TRF=399562&BT_CON=106&ProspectID=237243D9E041433E9B6FA650DC7A52F0

[ntoddalbert]

ING direct or emigrant direct. Both similar, Emmigrant is a higher rate but I find the web interface kind of poor and they are somewhat slower at least for me, others say the opposite.



You can get 4.5% on the float from your paycheck while you wait to pay bills. I`m buying a house and my downpayment money makes my car payments each month while we look.



If you want a referral let me know, you get 25 bucks I think I get ten?



But even without that its a great deal, ING is very user friendly, just got a mortgage for ZERO closing costs. No fees at all, saved me over 6K. Plus the rate cant be beat even by a good friend who is a mortgage broker. There has been no downside for me



Good site to learn.....



http://ibankdesign.com/index.php

[Terran]

I just saw this when I opened my Yahoo search engine, hope it helps:

http://direct.citibank.com/CBOL/06/esavings/default.htm?Promo_ID=CSAL&BTData=402117E786F61775D574D46BEBEB2A6AC9D948490FA FDF0EAEAC5C2D6F00B513&BT_TRF=399562&BT_CON=106&ProspectID=237243D9E041433E9B6FA650DC7A52F0



Yeah, I have a yahoo email account so I was looking at that. It seems to have a monthly fee if you don`t keep at least $1500 in it.




If you want a referral let me know, you get 25 bucks I think I get ten?





Sure. That would end up being more than the difference in interest rates for quite awhile anyway.



What kind of time lag does there tend to be in transferring between the savings and your checking account in each direction?

[ntoddalbert]

24 hours max, but you cant remove it for 4 or 5 biz days like a check clearing in a wat, it gets interest the day you send it though.

[Terran]

Cool. That`s faster than the emigrant direct FAQs were saying (10day clearing period and 3-4 day transfer). How does this referal work?

[ntoddalbert]

send me an email or PM and I will send you the referral link.



I am really happy with ING, they have good service and the website is so easy to use, my dad could use it and he calls me once a month because the TV is talking spanish again. Dad thats the SAP button, remember?



Repeats often.......

[Terran]

Excellent! Sounds good. Sent you a PM.

[medic159]

I`m getting 4.73% presently on my PayPal account.

[ntoddalbert]

That`s a good rate, If I didnt hate Pay Pal so much..... I might consider it. I had a pay pal account for 7 years, they screwed me over and lost my business for a few bucks. I found the customer service horrible. Is the bank just using their name or is it the same people? So many horror stories about pay pal, I was their biggest fan till I got screwed. I just use my credit card online now for the protection that I always thought pay pal offered. In a dispute the credit card will always be on your side, pay pal is set up for seller`s IMO.



I could do better than ING I know, I tried a few others but I like the customer service at ING.



Last month I got a mortgage through ING, great rate and they paid all closing costs, title insurance alone was $2800 plus appraisal, all courier fees etc. I really like ING, but I always keep my eyes open. Last month I opened an emigrant account, got a sign up bonus but hated the website and service, waiting the required 6 months and taking my money out.



Whenever someone raises their rate you can bet that ING will follow, just lately they seem content to be number 2 or 3 where they used to strive to be #1 for the highest interest rate.



I read an article about them where they (ING) Fire 20-25% of their customers, people who keep calling and are considered "High Maintenance" odd, I never heard of a bank doing that.

[Chan]

I had experience with 3 of the online banks, ING, Emigrant, and HSBC. I really, really, really hate dealing with Emigrant. If you got some kind of issue, they`re really poor at handling it. CSR for Emigrant were extremely rude.



ING was a breeze to deal with when I lost my customer ID. I like them overall, I really just signed up for the $50 bonus, after than I switched over to HSBC.



HSBC is slower than the other two above. Some features I like about their is their bank transfers, you can transfer funds from ANY bank. For example you can use their app to transfer funds from your Washington Mutual account to Wellsfargo or whatever. They also give you an ATM card which is good for $300 at the ATM. So that gives you some flexibility if you really need some cash.



My vote goes to HSBC.

[Chan]

I`m getting 4.73% presently on my PayPal account.



This might not really be an issue but you know that the PayPal account isn`t FDIC insured right? I mean sure they`re backed by a huge company but knowing that my funds are FDIC insured is a little peace of mind I need.

[ntoddalbert]

I would bet that Pay Pal is FDIC, to use the name Bank I believe you have to?

[Terran]

This might not really be an issue but you know that the PayPal account isn`t FDIC insured right? I mean sure they`re backed by a huge company but knowing that my funds are FDIC insured is a little peace of mind I need.



That`s what I was going to say. I`m pretty sure Paypal`s not FDIC.



Sent you my name and email Falcon. Sorry about misunderstanding that.

[-Lebowski-]

What about a high yield CD?



http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/high_ratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=15