Emigrant Direct savings now 5.05% APY

[Taggart]

5% :thumbsup:

 

[SoulAssassin]

Originally posted by: spyboy64
Dang!

I have $8,000 waiting to clear my Credit Union (3.25%) before I can transfer it to Emmigrant!

With the forthcoming increases from the Fed, I would expect to see Emmigrant at 5% by the end of the year, if not sooner.

Is today soon enough for you?

 

[cyberkost]

Well ... I like ED and that's where my money is right now. However, for the first time since many months ED is not in the lead with its rate. HSBC now has 5.05% while ED has 4.80%. HSBC has the most painful and non-straightforward interface of all (also their site is poorly designed such that various panels are drawn partially on top of each other making some info invisible and some links unclickable), so I would not switch to them for 0.25%/year... but the fact is that ED had seemed to make a point of offering the highest rate and they don't do this anymore ... I wonder why...

 

[Sparke]

Yummy 5.00% goodness. And the CD rates went up to 5.35%, but minimum length is back to 6 months (was 3 months).

 

[Sparke]

ED is launching their new website on July 24th. The website will be unavailable from July 21 (5 PM ET) until July 24 (9 AM ET) as a result of the switchover. Current customers will need a special log-in code for the new site which is being mailed out (snail mail).

Also, they have announced a rate increase effective July 28th that will take it to 5.15% APY.

 

[spyboy64]

ED going to 5.15% effective 7/28/06. And here I thought it might take till the end of the year for them to reach 5%!

 

[SirChadwick]

I tried signing up for emigrant w/ a joint acct for my fiancee and myself and after filling out all the online paperwork it said it couldn't approve my application at this time. I got a series of odd questions about my previous address, phone #, etc. in multiple choice format and they were all bogus looking so I selected NONE for all. Anyone else run into this?

 

[ramkumar]

It is 5.15% from July 28. I got a flyer today from them.

 

[MadScientist]

Savings Account Rates at Bankrate.com

 

[konichiwa]

Originally posted by: ramkumar
It is 5.15% from July 28. I got a flyer today from them.

And they're allegedly improving their website which is a big deal because the old one sucked HARD. It's supposed to be live the 24th. Unless the website is great I'm not switching my money from HSBC. .1% isn't worth it to switch to a crappy website!

 

[cyberkost]

It's 07/25 and web-site isn' loading ... (but all my money is there!)

 

[ECartman]

yeah they are really blowing this software change -- no excuse. This is a major f-up on ED's part.
I have money spread with ED, HSBC, and Presidential so thank baby jesus I am not hard up to get to my ED bucks right now, but some folks over at FW are screaming -- understandably -- about no access to their dough.

ED is gonna get killed for this foulup

 

[cyberkost]

Looks like their web-site is up now (8:29am ET 07/26)...

 

[brunswickite]

website is up now. Looks pretty good.

Has anyone done a transfer this week? Was it any faster than before?

 

[Xbladr]

Alright well I am new to online banking like this. I have a Bank of America account and they screw me but its local and I can go see them whenever I like. I am sick of it though and am leaning towards online banking for the rates.

What should I know about online banking. I have heard of ING for a while but I have never heard of Emigrant. Is it safe to use are they all safe what should I look for when chosing a bank?

 

[erector16]

I tried signing up for emigrant w/ a joint acct for my fiancee and myself and after filling out all the online paperwork it said it couldn't approve my application at this time. I got a series of odd questions about my previous address, phone #, etc. in multiple choice format and they were all bogus looking so I selected NONE for all. Anyone else run into this?

Yeah... that's how they verify you are who you say you are. Those addresses correspond to data that may be on your credit report.

For me, most of the questions had at least one correct answer. I think there was one that I picked "none".

 

[esquared]

Originally posted by: Xbladr
Alright well I am new to online banking like this. I have a Bank of America account and they screw me but its local and I can go see them whenever I like. I am sick of it though and am leaning towards online banking for the rates.

What should I know about online banking. I have heard of ING for a while but I have never heard of Emigrant. Is it safe to use are they all safe what should I look for when chosing a bank?

Yes, they are all safe. I've had an ING since they've opened up but I have moved most of it to HSBC because of their higher interest rates. They are at 5.05% vs 4.35% for ING. HSBC will give you an ATM card. I haven't used mine but you can find out about it at their website.

Read about it here at the HSBC link. HSBC internet banking

Here's a thread about HSBC.
HSBC Thread

 

[Xbladr]

The ATM card still charges you money in order to make a withdrawl at an ATM so that doesnt fully seem worth it. Although it is a good interest rate and if I link it to my current bank with free ATM then I can just do online transfers and everything and take out money from my current bank if need be? Do they charge you for transferring money from one bank to another?

Is it fairly easy to set up and get started?

 

[jbubrisk]

I think you can get a 6% CD at DCU, for 16 months, FYI

 

[zimu]

site is dead again btw. probably the bumpiest upgrade i've witnessed in my life!

 

[sinucus]

Dead? I'm using it right now. I have to say the login interface is a PITA!

 

[Sparke]

Rate raised to 5.15% as planned. Website seems to be more stable now.

 

[Extelleron]

With online savings like this, can you transfer between a brick and mortar checking account and this savings account as much as you want without any sort of fees?

 

[nikkai]

I believe ED has a max of 6 debits / month. Unlimited credits.

And they do ADH transfers... meaning you can pull from an external source.

Out of the three big players, I think they're the only ones that do that...

** My own question - is their APY rate variable, ie: if their rates go up, does my account reflect that?