Online Savings Accounts & Current Rates

[poundwise]

Updates | September 13th

Added to list:

• Venture Bank Direct @ 3.75% APY
• Heartland Bank Direct @ 3.55% APY

[poundwise]

Here's a credit union offering 3.75% savings accounts. They're in San Francisco.

Alliant Credit Union

Alliant membership is an exclusive benefit available to individuals who meet one of the following eligibility requirements:

• Any employee or member of any Qualifying Organization
• Any person who lives or works in the following Chicagoland communities: Arlington Heights, Bensenville, Des Plaines, Elk Grove, Elmhurst, Franklin Park, Harwood Heights, Itasca, Mount Prospect, Northlake, Niles, Norridge, Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, River Grove, Rolling Meadows, Rosemont, Schiller Park, Wood Dale and Chicago O'Hare Airport property
• Any person related by blood or law to an existing member
• Domestic partners of unmarried members

[saverbootay]

HSBC lowered to 3.25%. Maybe they know the Fed is going to lower today?

[weissheit]

HSBC lowered to 3.25%. Maybe they know the Fed is going to lower today?

Or because of all their own massive sub-prime losses they can no longer afford to be competitive because they are being forced to mark-to-market their RE related securities (MBS, CDO etc.) holdings and not mark-to-fantasy after Lehman pulled back the curtain on valuation of this toxic waste in their bankruptcy filing.

[saverbootay]

Well Fed left their rates unchanged. So, makes HSBC lowering their rates even more eye-catching.

[sweeps]

they can no longer afford to be competitive

Or can they no longer afford NOT to be competitive? Banks are hording cash right now. I don't think HSBC would want to lose its depositors at this point in time.

[weissheit]

Or can they no longer afford NOT to be competitive? Banks are hording cash right now. I don't think HSBC would want to lose its depositors at this point in time.

Basically HSBC is in the proverbial situation of being caught between a Rock and Hard place and for that reason alone I would not want to have my money with them. I prefer to have it at my CU and military bank (USAA) whose first loyalty and priority is its members.

[Aleta]

I had read or heard something about HSBC having trouble because of the subprime mess. I'm glad the Fed left the rates alone. I think that depositors become leary to deposit when the rates keep going down. It may be one way for banks to gain new depositors.

[saverbootay]

wamu sale

www .forbes.com/markets/2008/09/17/washington-mutual-sale-markets-equity-cx_lal_0917markets35.html

According to this report, wamu has hired Goldman to broker a sale. Lot of names mentioned: hsbc, chase, citi, wells.

I think wells is the only one of those 4 that doesn't have a strict online bank.

[darthrader]

So what about everbank.com and smallenoughtocare.com? Those are the ones I am looking at right now. Maybe a MMA from everbank and checking from SCBT..

[noppenbd]

Just got an account with smallenoughtocare.com (Southern Community Bank & Trust). The rate is 5.0% as long as you do 10 debit card transactions a month. I'll post a review in a few weeks. So far so good.

[saverbootay]

Nationwide Bank also has a savings bank division. They're offering 3.5% apy.

I was checking out their site.

Money Market Accounts Online | Higher Yield Savings Accounts Online from Nationwide Bank® | Nationwide.com

Looks like a $1000 min. I was curious, is anyone using them?

[saverbootay]

wamu.com

Wamu's online savings rate is at 4% now.

Should probably get it while you can, since after they're bought out, Citi or WF or Chase or whoever will probably lower the rate.

[saverbootay]

Well, Chase bought Wamu. Might want to get their 5% 12 month CD while it's still available. Chase will probably remove it pretty soon.

money.cnn.com/2008/09/25/news/companies/JPM_WaMu/index.htm?postversion=2008092521

PMorgan Chase acquired the troubled thrift Washington Mutual Inc., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced late Thursday.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) will also make a payment of $1.9 billion. Separately, JPMorgan announced it was planning to raise $8 billion in additional capital through the sale of stock as part of the deal.

"For bank customers, it will be a seamless transition," said FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair. "There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual come Friday morning,"

"WaMu's balance sheet and the payment paid by JPMorgan Chase allowed a transaction in which neither the uninsured depositors nor the insurance fund absorbed any losses," Bair said.

[Aleta]

I went to my closest Wamu and asked the branch manager (with whom I've known for a while about getting CD's or online CD's now. She said to be careful and read the fine print. She said all deposits that were there when the takeover took place are covered. She said that anything up to a year can be changed. I looked at her in shock. But, she has been through a few bank conversions already including that her bank was Great Western and then Wamu took it over. So be careful and read the fine print. She's mostly talking about any 12 month CD rate.