The Sun’s Financial Diary

Well, not exactly a virtual bank, but Virtual Bank, the bank that I used for about a year.
As part of the plan to simplify our finance, I called Virtual Bank yesterday to close my account (they are quite nice to call me back to confirm with me after I sent the request via bank [...]

I have noticed recently two “direct” online banks that offer competitive rates. Though both of them have decent introductory rates, the high minimum balance required to get rates make them less appealing if you have a small deposit.
One is WT Direct, a division of Wilmington Trust. For balance of $10,000 or more, the bank [...]

I have been using internet banks for more than eight years. The first internet bank that I remember I used was NetBank in 1999. At that time, there aren’t many banks that offered savings accounts with decent rates. My local bank, Summit Bank (then Fleet Bank, now Bank of America), had a rate that was [...]

On May 31, 2007, HSBC Direct, which offers the popular Online Savings Account with 5.05% APY, will unveil its latest product aimed to compete in the interest-bearing check account market. The HSBC Direct Online Payment Account is essentially a checking account that pays a moderate interest rate. According to the email I received yesterday, the [...]

FNBO Direct is the online division of First National Bank of Omaha. The bank currently offers 1.25% APY for its online savings account with no minimum and no monthly fee.
With five online bank accounts (not including the Bank of America checking account) already, am I supposed to simplify our finance instead of making it more [...]

HSBC is currently running a promotion for its Premium Money Market Account. If you open a new HSBC Premium Money Market Plus Savings Account with an initial deposit of $3,000 from till May 31, 2007, you can get a $50 bonus. Features of the money market account:

No monthly maintenance fee
No minimum balance
Tiered money market rate

And [...]

Again, I got this email from Citi this morning.
At first, I thought it was an offer similar to the one I got before for their e-Savings account, but with a lowered rate. Then I realized this actually is different, not just the name.
The main difference between the Ultimate Savings account and the existing e-Savings account [...]

Since I don’t use ING Electric Orange, I have no idea when exactly the change begins, but that’s what I found on an ING flyer in the mail yesterday. The main change is at the low balance range, which I think is appropriate as most people may not have over $50K in their checking account. [...]

HSBC is offering a $75 bonus for opening an interest checking account with them. With the checking account, customers also get “free Personal Internet Banking and Bill Pay and an HSBC Debit MasterCard with PayPass.” The Terms & Conditions for this offer says
HSBC reserves the right to charge your checking account an amount equal to [...]

E-Trade is offering a $25 bonus when opening a new Complete Savings Account with a minimum deposit of $1. Terms and conditions for the bonus money include:
$25 will be credited to your Complete Savings Account within 30 days of the account being funded with a minimum deposit of $1. Payments will be reported as interest [...]