Comments on: Considering Open Another Savings Account: GMAC or UFB

By: More on UFB, GMAC, AmTrust, and IGoBanking | The Sun’s Financial Diary | A Personal Finance Blog on Saving and Investing

Fri, 04 May 2007 04:56:32 +0000

[...] or get daily update via email delivery. Thanks for visiting and enjoy your stay! 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 [...]

By: More on UFB, GMAC, AmTrust, and IGoBanking - The Sun’s Financial Diary - Accumulating wealth is like building The Great Wall, one brick at a time

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:19:23 +0000

[...] 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. [...]

By: 2006 Year-End Review I: Financial Moves - The Sun’s Financial Diary - Accumulating wealth is like building The Great Wall, one brick at a time

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 05:41:50 +0000

[...] I opened a Virtual Bank savings account back in March when they offered a better rate. But that was then. Now almost all our savings are with EmigrantDirect and HSBC. I am considering open another account which gives me a higher rate, however, haven't decided which one yet. [...]

By: The Sun

The Sun — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:41:24 +0000

BD: If they also reimburse ATM fees, then that’s better than UFB as UFB only reimburse about $4.5 every month. Regarding the checking writing, I don’t think I will write a lot of checks.

Bob: Thanks for the information. I heard about the hard credit check by GMAC, but what I read from Fatwallet.com is that the hard check was at the early stage of the bank. Now it seems only soft pull is conducted recently. But I definitely want to find more about this. If they are still doing the hard pull, then I will go with UFB.

Golbguru: I am not so sure how the insurance will change anything. If you don’t use it (which I definitely don’t want to), you never know the real difference.

By: Golbguru

Golbguru — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 03:40:15 +0000

Sun, just a flying remark. You mentioned you have all joint accounts. ING says on it’s website that joint accounts and individual accounts are insured separately (each for $100,000)…I am not sure if this information will be helpful to you.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 17:53:10 +0000

I believe GMAC does a hard check for new accounts.Read this link at here.

By: Binary Dollar

Binary Dollar — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 17:07:07 +0000

I use GMAC so here are some fun facts:

-They have check writing and debit card associated with their account. With free checks.

-You are limited to 6 free outgoing transfers per month. This includes transfers to other bank accounts or paying bills from the account. This also includes your check writing and debit card transactions. This does NOT include ATM transactions. If you surpass this 6, they hit you with a 10 dollar fee per violation.

-They reimburse you ALL ATM fees. I think it’s unlimited withdrawals without incurring charges. So I try to use cash most of the time to avoid the “6 limit” from above.

-It’s my main bank account. I’m pretty happy with it.