Savings Account Interest Rates

[Guest ryan2552]

I maintain a bank savings account where the interest rate has now reduced to 1.49%. Needless to say this is a pitiful return on my money.

 

Therefore, I have begun looking online for alternatives that offer a higher rate. I have found two banks that I'm comfortable with. One is Etrade Bank currently at 3.01% the other Ing Direct Orange account currently offering 3.00%.

 

Due to Etrades own financial problems I'm leaning toward Ing Direct.

 

Does anybody have any experience with either of these firms? Keeping in mind that I want to maintain a savings account do you have other bank suggestions?

[JamesK840]

I've also been looking into this, I've been saving up money in what used to be a high-interest account at Citibank but that rate has dropped steadily from the 5%+ I opened it at.

 

But I've been otherwise very happy with Citibank and like that I can go into a branch and directly make a withdrawl or draw up a check.

 

For those reasons I'd advise you to look at the Washington Mutual offering:

http://www.wamu.com/personal/savings_account/online_savings_account/default.asp

 

Better interest rate too!

[twinkboylover28]

http://www.bankaholic.com/money-market/

 

There are plenty of bonds which virtually gaurantee 8% too

[lookin4hotties]

There are a few money market accounts that aren't too bad.

 

GMAC Bank has one with an ATM card and free checks and it

can link to your local savings account. They refund

some of your ATM fees. It's at about 3% APY and they

have a 3.9% 1 yr CD. The ING Orange savings account

isn't bad either.

 

To read discussion info on these and other banks just

go to Fatwallet.com and find the finance forum.

For the latest list of interest rates,

check out bankrate.com.

 

Good luck,

 

Lookin4hotties

[kjun]

I have had an account with ING for about 7 years and have had no problems with them. For that reason, I recommend them.

 

the Cajun

[+ glutes]

And make sure that your account is properly insured:

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/22/BU3610982R.DTL

[edjames]

I've had an ING account for several years and have had no problems with it.

 

If you're looking for higher interst rates at this point in the American economy, forget it. Your local branch bank is not going to offer you any more than 3% and even then you might have to make a minimum deposit of 25K or more. If growth is your objective, I'd suggest looking elsewhere for better returns on your money. Check out the flex CD's which allow you to withdraw money, if needed, without penalties.

 

If you had some extra cash available for investment, JPMorgan Chase just did a preferred stock offering at a 7.9% interest rate return for the next 10 years.

 

ED

[+ deej]

I'm with both Citi and ING.

 

ING's rates have dropped from 4% to 3% in the last ~6 months, but it's still consistently higher than most banks and has been historically.

 

Citi has an online-only offering currently at 2.7%. (Open it online, but then you can do business at any branch.) If there are Citi branches near you, this can be handy. It's a big if. I was surprised recently that there aren't Citi branches in Denver.

 

I keep Citi because (like mentioned elsewhere) of the convenience of walking into any branch. I also like having the savings "chained" with checking as automatic overdraft protection.

 

My biggest gripe with Citi right now is they've done away with deposit slips. LOL You walk in, swipe a card, and hand them checks to deposit. No more deposits by mail! (Suspect if I called I could get some but JEEZ!)

 

NOTE: If you're opening an ING account, get a referral from a current ING account holder. (Seems there are several on this thread.) You get a $25 immediate cash bonus when you open the account, and the referrer gets a $10 bonus. It's free money!

[OneFinger]

I'm another satisfied ING account holder. Really love that account.

 

It's electronically "linked" to my local credit union. I get on line and can transfer money to and from my ING account and the credit union.

 

But, be aware that it's NOT instant access. It takes a day or two for the money to transfer from ING to my credit union. However, I've not found that to be a problem.

 

I'm getting ready for a trip to Europe. I used ING to save up for the trip and bought 3 different CDs from them. Interest rates were better than I could get locally. In fact, my accountant was rather surprised with the earnings on my ING accounts when he prepared my taxes. He later told me that he opened an account with ING after talking to me.

 

ING has also started adding more products. They now have checking accounts and investments (IRA, etc). I have direct deposit for my paycheck and my employer has not problems depositing directly into my ING account.

 

Rates for savings account will fluctuate. But ING rates have consistently been higher than most.

[edjames]

All interest rates on savings accounts are variable and go up, or down, as the case may be, based on the federal funds rate. Right now everytime the fed lowers the rate, banks adjust their savings and CD rates. You have to check to see if your account will pay a "fixed" rate or not. As you mentioned, ING is slightly ahead of it's interest rate than other institutions.

 

While you may like the advantage of walking into your local Citibank branch, the author, Ryan, might not have the same opportunity, shopping around for an internet-based banking opportunity might suit his needs better.

 

BTW, don't get too attached to your local branch. With Citibank's recent woes of sub-prime loansa and other problems they are probably planning on closing some ocal branch offices, or worse, selling some of them off to another bank.. They did this a few years ago and two of the branches closest to me closed. Also, banks underwent a boom of opening branches on almost every corner in the past few years. Given their recent financial problems, a lot of these branches will close as soon as the banks can get out of the leases. There is a current glut of bank branch offices here in Manhattan, and the banks were willing to pay premium rental space rates to open these branches. If the space isn't occupied by a Starbucks or a nail salon, there's a bank branch! Check out these local branches, they're empty! The tellers and other branch personnel are sitting around with little to do.

 

ED

[+ deej]

> BTW, don't get too attached to your local branch.

 

I don't disagree with any of what you've posted. In fact, Citi *could* close 3-4 local branches and still leave several open within a 10-mile radius. <shrug> One could actually argue that perhaps they *should* close a few.

 

Through acquisition of local banks (and their branches), we're awash with them. I do 90% or more of my banking electronically anyway, but once in a while someone writes me a check and I need to deposit it.

 

Another trend these days is "mini-branch" locations inside grocery stores. If I banked at Wells-Fargo, I could do my banking during a visit to my local Albertson's.

[Guest ryan2552]

Guys thanks for all the advice and information. There really is a wealth of knowledge within this community that goes beyond who gives the best head :7

 

At the moment I'm leaning toward WAMU's combo savings checking account. Not that I really need another checking account however it offers the best APY for my current needs.

 

I am aware of the CD option however I like to keep a certain amount of cash available without strings. Thats why I was seeking savings account information.

 

If for some reason I don't go in that direction then I will open a ING savings account.

[Luv2play]

These days you can't be too careful knowing exactly what kind of institution you are parking your money in and what kind of protection they offer on their accounts and products. I personally have accounts at WAMU and ING Canada as well as at a traditional Canadian bank. WAMU is a savings and loan, not a bank, in fact the largest savings and loan in the USA. They offer some very competitive accounts which are federally insured against loss (up to certain limits). You can bank on-line with them and in the states in which they operate (for example Florida) their branches are conveniently located.

 

ING is a virtual bank in North America, not a bricks and mortar bank, and that means you have to have an account at a bricks and mortar bank or savings and loan to transfer sums of money back and forth conveniently. As someone else noted you need to allow a couple of banking days to effect transfers. But ING offers consistently higher rates on savings accounts and lower rates on mortgages than most other banks.

 

BTW, Anton said that ING (headquartered in Holland) had bought and sold Barclays Bank after the Nick Leeson disaster but I believe that was Barings Bank, not Barclays. Barings was a much smaller bank but with the best of credentials, it was the Queen of England's bank! Leeson was a rogue trader based in Singapore and he busted the bank on bad bets in the market, sort of like the guy who recently did the same to the Societe Generale in France. Some banks never learn, which is why it's important to know your bank!