New 6% promotion: FNBO Direct

**poundwise** · 05-01-2007, 06:48 PM

Originally posted by sweeps View Post

FNBO Direct is offering 6.0% on its online savings account until 9/28/07.

Nice. I haven't formed an opinion on FNBO Direct yet but perhaps this offer will entice some folks to give them a try and we'll learn more about them.

I'll add this info to the Savings thread.

**BTC** · 05-02-2007, 06:39 AM

I'm a rate chasing hoowah, so I'll probably be opening an account with them. Anyone know if they do a hard pull on your credit? I may be looking for a mortgage within the next 12 months. I really need to find out what my credit score is, but I really hate to pay. Does anyone provide a free credit score along with the free credit reports.

**poundwise** · 05-02-2007, 07:52 AM

Originally posted by BTC View Post

I'm a rate chasing hoowah, so I'll probably be opening an account with them. Anyone know if they do a hard pull on your credit? I may be looking for a mortgage within the next 12 months. I really need to find out what my credit score is, but I really hate to pay. Does anyone provide a free credit score along with the free credit reports.

The only 'real' free credit report is obtained via annualcreditreport.com and, no, they do not offer a free credit score.

All of the other 'free' credit report offers, whether they provide with a score or not, including freecreditreport.com, require you to sign up for services ($) in order to get their version of your free reports or combined report.

**anonymous_saver** · 05-02-2007, 07:53 AM

I actually got a free credit score from my credit union. When they switched my secured credit card 2 months ago to a regular credit card, the lady on the phone said, to me, "I was suprised about how high your credit score was with you not having a lot of history" (the only other history I have was a paid off student loan). When she said that I said, "what was it?". She said it was 731 with Experian. Plus, I don't think they reported the credit pull to the other 2 credit companies when they changed my card over. Woohoo.

My point in telling you that was that yes, you can get a free FICO score, but it may be difficult. I think the only way you really can get one is ask a company if they had to do a hard credit pull what your FICO score was when they looked at your information. It's worth a try at least.

**BTC** · 05-02-2007, 09:38 AM

I've used annualcreditreport.com in the past, but they don't provide a credit score. I was just curious if anyone had ever actually obtained a free score. Most of the "free" offers seem to come with strings attached.

**rooskers** · 05-02-2007, 01:52 PM

According to their website they do not hard pull your credit. I too am looking at maybe dumping my savings from HSBC over to this promo deal.

**kv968** · 05-02-2007, 03:55 PM

Although it's not free, if you use annualcreditreport.com, for an extra $6-$8, depending on the company, you can get a credit score.

**kv968** · 05-02-2007, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by anonymous_saver View Post

My point in telling you that was that yes, you can get a free FICO score, but it may be difficult. I think the only way you really can get one is ask a company if they had to do a hard credit pull what your FICO score was when they looked at your information. It's worth a try at least.

Most companies will only provide you with a credit report and not a score, but it's definitely worth asking if you've had a hard credit pull done.

**poundwise** · 05-02-2007, 04:16 PM

Originally posted by kv968 View Post

Although it's not free, if you use annualcreditreport.com, for an extra $6-$8, depending on the company, you can get a credit score.

That's true. (From the site):

How can I get my credit score?

You can purchase a credit score by contacting one of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies.

You can also purchase a credit score when you request your free annual credit report through this website.

Nice pointing kv968!

**kv968** · 05-02-2007, 04:24 PM

Originally posted by poundwise View Post

That's true. (From the site):

How can I get my credit score?

You can purchase a credit score by contacting one of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies.

You can also purchase a credit score when you request your free annual credit report through this website.

Nice pointing kv968!

Thank you, but one thing I would also like to point out that was brought to my attention by someone else on these forums. (I forget who it was so forgive me for not properly naming them). They said that not all the scores you get from there are "true" FICO scores, but "facko" scores. I checked the two reports I got and the one from Transunion said it was a "personal credit score"; whereas the one from Equifax said it was a FICO score with the registered trade mark of FICO. Does it make a difference? I don't know since both scores were practically the same. Just thought I'd let you guys know and make of it what you will. Regardless, I'm still going to get my scores that way because I don't want to sign up for a "credit monitoring service" in order to get them.

**BTC** · 05-07-2007, 06:23 AM

I just submitted my application. I'll let you know how it goes.

**BTC** · 05-08-2007, 04:11 AM

My trial deposits posted next business day.

**Aleta** · 05-08-2007, 10:16 AM

I also applied on May 7th. (Monday) and I received the Email to go in and set up the account today. That was pretty fast. When I went to the bank that I was taking the money out of, the balance was minus the withdrawal although the actual transaction doesn't show up. The new account doesn't show the deposit yet. I'll try back tomorrow. I can't believe how fast that was and I also like the fact that they said after the last savings rate they paid before the promotion was 5.25. You can also take the money out any time that you want to, other than the original hold on your money.

**BTC** · 05-08-2007, 02:47 PM

My account was also opened today. They allow you to link to three external accounts and it appears that I've successfully established a link with my HSBC Direct account. The setup process for linking external accounts seems to work pretty well, with the exception that I received no confirmation that the attempt to setup the link was successful. It took me back to the main page and I had to login again. But when I did, my HSBC account was listed as an external account.

You do need your account number, the routing number of the institution and all of the credentials you use to login to the account you're linking to in order to establish a link. You can enter the name of the bank and FNBO will provide a drop down list of routing numbers to choose from. I'm not sure how useful that would be if you don't know what it is to begin with. I called HSBC to get the routing number and the number they provided was in the drop down list generated by FNBO.

I don't think there should be any fees associated with a transfer from HSBC initiated by another institution going through an ACH. I'm going to try & confirm that and try transferring a small amount. If all goes well, I'm hoping this greatly reduces the float associated with HSBC's lengthy transfer times.

I'll provide updates.

So far, I'm giving two thumbs up.

New 6% promotion: FNBO Direct