WaMu, FNBO and Other Savings Rates Roundup
WaMu’s (now JPMorgan Chase’s) online savings account is now at a measly 1.50% which I predicted after JPMorgan took them over. Let’s just hope the customer service doesn’t drop like their interest rates! On a positive note, their online-only 5-year certificate of deposit (CD) is earning 4%. Not bad, but I don’t want to lock [...]
Dollar Savings Direct Account Review
I recently opened up a Dollar Savings Direct account solely because of the 4.00% 2.65% 2.05% interest rate on it, which is the highest I’ve seen lately. This was created by the same guys that created Emigrant Direct (which I wrote a scathing post about why I was cancelling). However, I’m still willing to give [...]
Lower Online Savings Rates Roundup
Just got an email from FNBO Direct saying that their rate for their online savings account went down to 3.25% from 3.50%. WaMu (JPMorgan Chase) also quietly lowered the online savings rate to 3.00% from 4.00%. ING Direct is at 2.75% (instant $25 bonus for new accounts with at least $250). HSBC Direct is currently [...]
What Does the Bailout Mean for Me?
By now, most of us have heard about the news of the $700 billion bailout signed into law by President Bush on October 3rd, 2008. The bill is designed to bailout the numerous banks throughout the country that were making bad mortgage loans. The government (read: we, the taxpayers) are now going to own $700 [...]
Why Bank of America is Too Big
With all this consolidation and shrinking of competition in the banking industry comes huge corporations that are too big to provide any kind of customer service at all. You would think that a bank as big as Bank of America would make it easy to open an account online. After all, I am trying to [...]
ING Direct Integrates ShareBuilder
I wrote about the purchase and acquisition of ShareBuilder by ING Direct last year in December. I wondered back then how they would integrate together. Well, ING finally took a step in the right direction. You can now access your ShareBuilder account from your ING account. All you have to do is login your ING [...]
WaMu Taken Over by JP Morgan Chase
As many of you know, I bank at Washington Mutual (WaMu). As many of you also know, WaMu actually failed and the government sold it to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion on Friday. This was the largest bank failure ever in the United States. So what caused the downfall of the nation’s largest bank? The [...]
WaMu Extends 5% CD Deal
Looks like WaMu has extended their online 5.00% CD for both 12 and 13 month terms. They had briefly lowered rates to 4.50% but now they are back up to 5.00%. This is a great rate and the highest I know of for any FDIC insured CD. You can only open it online with a [...]
NEW 5.00% 12-Month CD from WaMu
Now through this Friday, August 29th, WaMu is offering a 13-month 5.00% APY CD available in the branches, online, or by phone. They are really pushing this hard and is a great rate. Penalty for early withdrawal is 90 days interest. They are also offering a 12-month 5.00% CD online which might be better for [...]
Kansas Bank Shut Down
The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.) shut down the Columbian Bank of Topeka in Kansas yesterday which had about $752 million in assets and $622 million in deposits. This is already the ninth bank failure this year. There were $46 million in uninsured deposits by 610 accounts at the bank that exceeded the $100,000 insurance [...]
More Bank Failures This Year
Since I blogged about the IndyMac Bank failure a little while ago, there have been several banks to go under with First Priority Bank in Bradenton, Florida being the latest casualty. It was closed last Friday, August 1, 2008 and is being taken over by SunTrust Bank. Two banks were also closed on July 25 [...]
WaMu Increases Savings Rate to 3.75%
Washington Mutual (WaMu) recently upped their online savings interest rate to 3.75% from 3.50%. It’s one of the highest rates going right now and a great place to park that emergency fund. I use WaMu as my main bank because of the numerous branches and ATMs in my area. Here’s my full review of the [...]
Pay Yourself First Video Contest ($45,000 in Cash & Prizes!)
FNBO Direct is putting on a Pay Yourself First online video contest with some nice cash prizes! I had heard about the contest a while back since I’m a customer of FNBO Direct and I wanted to put together a video. I kept putting it off until fellow blogger Jonathan at My Money Blog wrote [...]
Another Bank Bites the Dust (What Happens if a Bank Fails)
The latest bank to “bite the dust” is IndyMac Bank in Pasadena, California. Earlier today, the FDIC took over the failed IndyMac Bank. This is already the fifth bank to fail this year alone compared to “only” three in 2007 and none in 2006 or 2005. This is also the second largest bank failure in [...]
New Online Savings Rate Bumps!
HSBC Direct recently bumped up their online savings rate to 3.50% until August 15, 2008. FNBO Direct also announced today via email that they were bumping their online savings rate to 3.50%. They also increased some of their CD rates. These are great places to park that emergency fund. You can also earn 3.90% at [...]