More on UFB, GMAC, AmTrust, and IGoBanking
By Sun on Jan 5, 2007 in Banking, Personal finance
Post viewed 1362 times, 2 so far today
Recently, I am considering open another online savings account to park our cash. I have been using EmigrantDirect and HSBC for quite a long time and feel that I need to make a move to get a higher rate. My initial targets are UFB Direct and GMAC as they are both popular among rate chasers (though I know little about UFB Direct) and their rates are very competitive. However, as I was researching on high-yield savings accounts, another two caught my attention: AmTrust and IGoBanking (which was recently mentioned by The Money Tortoise and Broke-Ass Student). After some searching and comparison, I gave up the idea of getting an account from GMAC as it offers the lowest rate of 5.20% among the four. Since I am going to open only one account, it doesn’t make too much sense to go for a lower rate without any incentives.
What I am mainly looking for is an account that offers higher rate with low or no minimum, short hold period, and free ACH transfer in and out, and if they don’t do hard credit inquiry, it will be a plus. I don’t need the check writing capability as I don’t think I will abandon my Band of America checking account and free ATM access (or fee reimbursement) is nice to have, but not necessary. The following are what I collected about the three banks from places like Fatwallet.com and BestCashCow.com.
AmTrust
- Rate: 5.25% for up to $19,999
- Minimum: $1,000 to open account, $1 to earn interests
- ACH: Yes
- Credit Inquiry: Hard
- Transfer Limit: 6 withdrawals, $100,000 per day and $2,500,000 per month
- Hold Period: 7 business days for initial deposit, 3 days afterwards, no hold for ACH transfers
- ATM/Debit Card: No
- ATM Fees: N/A
- Check Writing: No
- No. of Transfers: 6 per month
- Bonus: No
- Early Close Penalty: N/A
- Billpay: 6 per month
- External Link: Up to 6
- Routing Number: 122187212
- B&M Bank: Ohio Savings Bank
UFB Direct
- Rate: 5.32%
- Minimum: $1
- ACH: No, but can be done via other banks
- Credit Inquiry: Hard
- Transfer Limit: No
- Hold Period: 5 business days for mail-in check deposit, no hold for ACH
- ATM/Debit Card: Yes
- ATM Fees: $4.50 reimbursement per month
- Check Writing: No
- No. of Transfers: 6 pre-authorized transfers per cycle period
- Bonus: No
- Early Close Penalty: $30 for less than 180 days
- Billpay: Free
- External Link: No
- Routing Number: 274070484
- B&M Bank: Sky Bank
IGoBanking
- Rate: 5.30%
- Minimum: $1
- ACH: Yes
- Credit Inquiry: Soft
- Transfer Limit: $100,000 per day on 3-day transfer, up to $2,000 per day ($5,000 max per month) on 1-day transfer
- Hold Period: 3 business days for 3-day transfer
- ATM/Debit Card: No
- ATM Fees: N/A
- Check Writing: No
- No. of Transfers: See Transfer Limit
- Bonus: No
- Early Close Penalty: $10 for less than 180 days
- Billpay: N/A
- External Link: 20
- Routing Number: 083914265
- B&M Bank: Flashing Savings Bank
Since IGoBanking is the newest player in this online banking business, the information about their offering is still sketchy and there isn’t lot of information in their FAQ either. For example, I wasn’t able to find whether they offer bilpay or not, though I don’t really need this feature. And from what people have mentioned, it could take quite a long time before receiving password and PIN in the mail to gain online access of the account, though the online application seems to be very simple. And their soft credit inquiry is definitely better than the other two, which conduct hard pull.
Now I am leaning toward getting an account with IGoBanking, but would like to get more information about it. Anybody else is using them?
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Wiley One | May 21, 2007 | Reply
Apparently, you do not use Quicken (or MS Money) because you failed to mention whether any of these online banks supports the ability to download transactions into your financial software. GMACbank recently added this feature to their website, IGOBanking is committed to doing it but just hasn’t quite figured out how yet. The other two, as far as I can tell, are clueless. You see, Quicken downloads cost money to implement and most high-rate online savings banks are reluctant to spend.
Sun | May 22, 2007 | Reply
Wiley: It’s true that the issue whether the bank supports Quicken never occurred to me during my evaluation of the bank. And even if it did come up, I doubt it will make any difference. I know people have different priorities when evaluating a bank, supporting Quicken or not didn’t make to my list, though I do use Quicken. In fact, the only reason I use an online bank is to get a better interest rate. If the bank pays good rate and is FDIC insured and allows faster fund transfer, I usually don’t look too much else because my use of the bank is very simple: earn interests. There are many features, such as support Quicken download, are nice to have, but not necessary.
Which bank are you using?
Garth | Oct 11, 2007 | Reply
Well obviously the whole landscape has changed now. The Quicken crap you can just throw out the window. The most important it to find a bank with a wide investment portfolio. NOT heavily invested in mortgages, such as Countrywide, IndyMAC and others. Do your research, dallars aren’t as safe as they used to be.