SIGN UP TO RECEIVE THE LATEST POSTS VIA EMAIL!Ally Bank – Best Savings Account
June 1, 2009
In my quest to find the best savings account, I think I can finally give the crown to Ally Bank’s High Yield Savings. For those of you that haven’t heard, Ally Bank is the new name for GMAC Bank. GMAC Bank always had competitive rates on its savings account, but now that all other banks have lowered their rates, Ally Bank is one of the highest out there.
Ally Bank’s High Yield Savings currently offers 2.00% APY for any balance in the account. There is no minimum balance or any fees associated with this account. Ally Bank has a very fast ACH transfer system which allows you to link your checking account to your Ally savings account to move money in and out quickly and easily. You can link multiple accounts. I am not sure if there is a max, but I have 5 different bank accounts linked at the moment. The transfer feature also allows you to set up automated withdrawals to your account which makes saving over time easy. You can also open multiple savings account so that you can keep your savings separate. I currently have 3 open. One holds my savings, one holds the savings for my property taxes and the third holds my vacation fund. I have all three accounts automatically deduct money from my checking account each month.
One thing to note that since the High Yield Savings is a savings account, you are limited to 6 withdrawls per month which is based on a federal law governing savings accounts. Deposits are unlimited.
You can compare Ally bank to the likes of ING Direct. It has all the same features but compared to the 1.5% rate they ING is offering, Ally Bank is definitely the clear winner. Ally Bank deposits are FDIC insured up to $250,000 per account, so you can feel safe in the fact that your money is protected.
Ally Bank also has other high yield products. They have a money market product which allows check writing and has a debit card with ATM rebates. The current rate on this account is 1.85% APY. This account is great if you want access to your savings via writing a check or going to an ATM. The money market account has no fees as well, you just need to make sure you stay under the 6 withdrawals per month.
They also offer an extremely high one year CD Rate of 2.30%. Again, no fees and no cost to open.
So you can see with banks dropping interest rates everyday, Ally Bank has an impressive suite of products that can help your savings grow. Definitely take a look if you are earning a mediocre rate at your current bank!
Free $75 Checking Bonus at PNC National City Bank
April 28, 2009
PNC, who recently acquired National City, is having a promo where you can get $75 when opening a new checking account. You must open a new checking account by May 9th, 2009, which can be opened online. Their free checking accounts qualify for this promotion, but be sure to establish direct deposit to be eligible for the $75 bonus,
Their site defines a “direct deposit” as a direct deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security or other regular monthly income electronically deposited into checking account. Minimum amount of any single Direct Deposit must be at least $500. The Direct Deposits must be made by an employer or an outside agency.
The direct deposit must be at least $500. The payout of $75 will be credited to the eligible account within 7 days of the first Direct Deposit, which must occur before 6/30/2009
PNC Checking Account Features:
- Free transactions at any PNC Bank ATM.
- Non-PNC ATM fees reimbursed with a $2,000 average monthly balance²
- No minimum balance requirement and no monthly service charge
- Earn rewards with your enrolled PNC Bank Visa Check Card when you make a qualifying purchase
- Free Online Banking and Bill Pay
Check out the promo page for more details.
$50 Bank of America Promo For New Checking Account
March 26, 2009
Bank of America has a new promo going where you can get $50 for signing up for a new My Access Checking Account.
To get the bonus do the following:
- follow this link and open an MyAccess Checking Account
- enter the bonus code GROUP
- deposit at least $25 into the account within 30 days of account opening
You will receive your $50 credit to your new account within 90 days of opening your new personal checking account online. Note that there is a limit on one $50 incentive per household every 6 months. This offer only applies for new MyAccess Checking accounts. This offer expires on 12/31/2009
5.25% Reward Checking Available to All
February 24, 2009
Keeping most of your money in cash these days? Yeah, so is everyone else. The only problem is that savings rates are pretty low. One thing you might look into is a Reward, or High Yield Checking account. Check out this post for a quick description on how they work. Most of these checking accounts are offered only to local residents of the bank, but every now and then one comes around where you can do everything by mail.
One of these Reward Checking Accounts just popped up that is offering 5.25% APY on balances up to $25,000. Ok, now for the name ….
Redneck Bank, yes this is not a joke, is really just the Internet Banking Division of Bank of the Wichitas, a well-respected “country” bank established in 1913, and is insured by the FDIC, so it is as safe as the big guys. I would assume that the name is just a marketing ploy, but it is a good one if you ask me.
Esentially this account acts just like a regular checking account. You will receive 5.25% APY on balances up to $25000 and reimbursement on all ATM fees if you do the following every month:
- Make 10 Redneck Bank® VISA® CheckCard sales transactions
- All statements are received electronically
Since you have no control over how you receive your statements you really need to concern yourself with using your debit card 10 times a month which isn’t that difficult to do.
Some other features of the account are:
- FREE Online Banking
- FREE Checking
- FREE Redneck Bank® VISA® CheckCard
- FREE Customer Service
- FREE Daily Email Notification if Overdrawn
- FREE ATM Transactions Worldwide
- Overdraft Privilege Available
- NO MINIMUM BALANCE
Everything can be done via mail and ACH which makes this bank attractive for those of you that don’t live anywhere near Redneck Bank.
Since my reward checking account dropped from 5% to 4% last month, I am going to give these guys a try. I just completed the sign up process this morning and am waiting for my trial deposits to be deposited into my current bank account so that I can fund it. So far so good. They have a bank transfer feature where you can transfer money in and out of banks from this account.
One thing to note is that their terms state that each person can have up to 2 reward checking accounts through them. So if you can do 20 atm transactions per month (10 for each account), you could get 5.25% on up to $50,000. So that is an option for those of you that want a higher rate on more thank $25,000.
If you are looking for a good rate to save your cash, you might look into
