1.25%
1.17%
1.16%HSBC Direct has top C.D. rates for 18 month CD’s at 2.75% APY. They call this a special interest rate but really no rate is guaranteed until you open the certificate of deposit. HSBCdirect can change their CD rates on a daily basis if they choose to do so.
The minimum opening deposit for a C.D. account at HSBC Direct Bank is only $10. Online checking accounts and savings accounts can be accessed through a network of ATMs. These rates apply to online accounts only and do not apply at local HSBC banks.
24 hour customer service for HSBC Direct: 1-800-975-4722
Here is an email that I received today that got through yahoo’s spam blocker, looks legitimate, and appears to come from Bank of America but it is totally a scam. Important things to note:
- Bank of America would NEVER have a contact email address at GMAIL
- The “contact” at Bank of America would provide their FULL NAME
- Of course google maps can’t even map the fake branch address provided
Please do not believe for a second that you will actually get a single penny from this scammer. Idiots that send out garbage like this deserve jail time for preying on hard working Americans especially in such tough economic times. I forwarded these emails to abuse [at] bankofamerica [dotcom] and abuse [at] gmail [dotcom].
I also have heard about this same type of scam targeting older folks (senior citizens) but coming through normal US mail. They ask for some money as a fee in return for some large sum of money. While I believe that most people are not gullible enough to believe this I do want to put this out there so people are aware of these horrible scams.
***************** WARNING SCAM EMAIL BELOW *****************
(apparently) FROM: customerservice@bankofamerica.com SUBJECT: Bank of America Alerts: Confirmation of Telegraphic Wire Transfer This email was sent to you by Bank of America. To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add customerservice@bankofamerica.com to your address book or safe sender list.
Bank of America
Corporate Headquarters
100 North Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28255
BANK OF AMERICA ONLINE NOTIFICATION This message is to officially inform you that on Friday, February 6, 2009, we received a Telegraphic Wire Transfer of $450,090.00 from the United States Government as your compensatory grant for the current economic hardship.
Please be aware that this compensatory grant has been deposited into an escrow account at Bank of America/Alabama branch office and is available for remittance immediately.
The standard payment procedure is as follows:- The funds will be wired into any bank account of your choice by Bank of America and the time frame for delivery is 24-48 hrs.
It is mandatory that you activate the escrow account by making a one-time payment of $500.00 via the western union money transfer or money gram to enable the wire transfer function of the escrow account.
Please Note: The Escrow Account Activation Fee could not be deducted from your funds as your funds are protected by a Federal Government Premium Hardcover Insurance Policy installed to prevent any deductions from your funds.
The fee must be paid by you via the western union money transfer network or money gram to the payment secretary at branch office in Alabama. CONTACT BANK OF AMERICA PAYMENT SECRETARY IN ALABAMA TO RETRIEVE THE INFORMATION ON HOW TO PAY THE ESCROW ACCOUNT ACTIVATION FEE IMMEDIATELY: PAYMENT SECRETARY: Ms. Pell BRANCH OFFICE: 77 Crow Drive, Birmingham, AL 35201 CONTACT E-MAIL: paysecretary@gmail.com UPON CONFIRMATION OF PAYMENT OF THE ESCROW ACCOUNT ACTIVATION FEE, YOUR FUNDS WILL BE WIRED DIRECTLY INTO ANY BANK ACCOUNT OF YOUR CHOICE AND THE TIME FRAME FOR DELIVERY IS 24-48 HRS. The remittance procedure can only be completed through the payment secretary. This notification is for information purposes only.
Please do not reply to this message.
Sincerely,
Bank of America Contact us about this email
Please do not reply to this email. If you have any questions, please contact the official in charge.
Privacy and Security
Keeping your financial information secure is one of our most important responsibilities. For an explanation of how we manage customer information, please read our Privacy Policy. You can also learn how Bank of America keeps your personal information secure and how you can help protect yourself.
Bank of America Email, 8th Floor, 101 South Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28255. Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender
© 2009 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.
***************** END SCAM EMAIL *****************
Electric Orange Checking from ING Direct is a high interest bearing free online checking account that includes the Electric Orange MasterCard Debit Card for instant access to your investment funds. INGDirect pays high interest rates on your checking account balance. The rates vary depending on how much money is in the account and the annual percentage yield goes up as your balance increases. Here are ing’s checking rates:
- 2.50% APY electric orange checking account balances over $100,000
- 2.30% APY electric orange checking account balances between $50,000 and $99,999
- 0.50% APY electric orange checking account balances up to $49,999
Sign up for ING Electric Orange Checking now and get $25 for free! Here’s how the ING Direct $25 bonus promotion works:
- go to: http://www.ingdirect.com/electric/
- sign up for ING Direct Electric Orange Checking
- activate the free debit card from INGDirect (Electric Orange Mastercard)
- use the Electric Orange MasterCard to make a minimum of three purchases with a signature (pin transactions do not count) within 45 days from the opening of your ing Electric Orange Checking account
The free $25 is deposited automatically into your new Ing checking account on day 50.
$25 for free with interest bearing checking and great interest rates. If you’re looking for an online checking account that will earn some interest then look no further.
Reference Code EM245 shouldn’t be needed but you can punch it in to ensure the $25 dollar bonus coupon kicks in.
We the Savers
Gas is very expensive now a days so the best way to save money on gas is to use a gas credit card that gives you the maximum cash back for your gasoline purchases. You are going to buy gas regardless of the price so having a credit card that pays you back is the best way you can fight the prices at the pump.
I suggest getting a gasoline credit card that can be used at most gas stations such as this Discover card. The drawback to other gas cards such as Chevron gas cards or Shell gas cards is that you’re restricted to receiving the maximum rebate at those gas stations only. With the Discover Gas Credit Card you can go anywhere it’s accepted and get the full 5% rebate for buying gas (Discover is accepted at most places such as Chevron, 76, Mobil, Shell, Vallero, BP etc.).
With gas fast approaching 5 dollars a gallon this card is a very smart move. I’ve received over 100 dollars in cash back in less than 1 year (took me about 9 months) since you get 5% cash back on all gasoline purchases. This card has no annual fee.
New credit card promotions coming soon.
Smart Financial Credit Union has the best CD rates for 60 month certificates of deposit at 3.5% APR (3.56% APY). Smart Financial CU has a minimum deposit requirement of $10,000 for new CD accounts to receive this high interest rate.
5 year jumbo CD rates are extremely high at 3.7% APR (3.76% APY). Calculate CD interest to estimate the potential net profit gained from a CD investment account from a this reputable NCUA insured financial institution. The NCUA is similar to the FDIC since they are both government institutions that essentially insure deposit accounts up to a certain limit (currently $250,000 per account owner).
smartcu.org reserves the right to charge a penalty for early withdrawal of funds from a CD before maturity however it’s not clearly stated how much this penalty could be on the website.
Many online banks have not been offering higher interest rates for jumbo CDs with the exception of Capital One Direct Banking (Capital 1’s online bank). Here are the current jumbo CD rates from the Capital One website:
Jumbo Certificates of Deposit for Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.
Jumbo CD Rates (minimum deposit of $100,000)
| CD Term | Interest Rate | Annual Percentage Yield |
|---|---|---|
| 6 month CD | 1.49% | 1.50% |
| 1 year CD | 1.49% | 1.50% |
| 18 months CD | 2.47% | 2.50% |
| 2 years CD | 3.05% | 3.10% |
| 30 months CD | 3.05% | 3.10% |
| 3 years CD | 3.34% | 3.40% |
| 4 years CD | 3.54% | 3.60% |
| 5 years CD | 3.78% | 3.85% |
| 7 years CD | 3.92% | 4.00% |
| 10 years CD | 4.16% | 4.25% |
Citigroup ordered a brand spankin new $50 million dollar corporate jet 4 years ago and was scheduled to take possession of it this year. However there was pressure from President Barack Obama dissuaded the deal. Citigroup already received $50 billion dollars in federal bailout money. Even though they claimed that the bailout money would not be used for the corporate jet purchase the deal was in fact cancelled.
Had Citigroup bought the new airplane they would have added to their existing collection of 5 jets. Investment banks shouldn’t even be considering spending money like this amidst our current economic crisis.
Citibank actually has 5 year top jumbo bank CD rates at 3.5% APY.
source: sfgate-citigroup jet
2009 is the year of the Earth Ox.
Earth Ox
Those that are fortunate enough to receive red envelopes for Chinese New Year should consider investing their money this year. If you like to have 24×7 account access then electronic banking is the way to go. Lower overhead equates to higher interest rates for consumers. Traditional banks offer similar investments but the return on investment is lower since interest rates are usually lower.
Make the Most out of your Investment
Current online savings account interest rates are very high right now compared to short term certificates of deposit. Both online savings accounts and online CDs are very safe, near zero risk investments (as long as you’re banking with an FDIC insured financial institution).
DollarSavingsDirect.com claims that their Online Savings Account has the highest savings interest rate in America. This is actually not hard to believe since they’re giving away such a great interest rate of 4.00% APY! This beats most certificates of deposit (even jumbo CD rates).
DollarSavingsDirect.com is actually the online branch of Emigrant Bank (Emigrant Bank has been around since 1850). Here are some brief details:
- No minimums beyond the initial $1000 dollar deposit.
- There’s 24 hour access to your account since this is an online bank.
- Dollar Savings Direct Bank is FDIC insured up to $250000 per depositor.
- Electronic transfers to and from external account can take 2 to 4 business days to complete.
- Check deposits are held for 10 business days initially with the possibility of 5 day holds later.
This is a great opportunity to earn a high return on your investment while retaining liquidity of your funds. Open up an online savings account today by going to their website or calling DollarSavingsDirect.com at 1-866-395-8693.
iGObanking.com
has one of the highest current online savings interest rates at 3.08% APY. This is a great place to invest if you want to make some money in interest while still having relatively instant access to your funds. It’s very easy to open an account online and there is no minimum deposit required to open a new savings account (okay I lied, it’s a $1 minimum).
iGObanking.com is a member of the FDIC. Toll Free number: 1-888-432-5890
I’ve created a little Flex app that calculates the amount of interest you can make given a certain certificate of deposit term length in months, APR or APY, and amount of initial deposit. Check it out: CD Calculator
Many banks have opted to have your certificate of deposit renew automatically upon maturity. Some banks, such as ING Direct, will even send you a notice in the mail to give you fair warning that your C.D. is maturing and that it is set to auto renew into the same term deposit. If you don’t want to reinvest your money in the same length certificate of deposit then make sure to log in to your online account and take the necessary steps to stop it.
Some banks may have a grace period (it can be a few days to as many as 10 days) to get your cash out of the new certificate of deposit. Make sure you check with your financial investment institution.
CDARS, the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service, is a product that may be offered at a local bank. It is one way to reap the benefits of FDIC insurance with a large deposit. A bank that offers CDARS will give you one interest rate while they spread your money across many other financial institutions to give you full FDIC coverage on your investment. For more information and for a list of participating banks go to the CDARS website.
If you need instant access to your money then a certificate of deposit or online savings account may not be right for you. However you can still earn interest on money that is sitting in your checking account by considering one of the following bank investment products.
Electric Orange (from INGDirect) and Thunderbolt Checking (from UmbrellaBank) are high yield interest bearing checking accounts. Both banks are online banks (Umbrella bank is actually the online division of New South Federal Savings Bank) so electronic transactions are utilized.
Here’s a quick comparison:
| Electric Orange from ING Direct | Thunderbolt Checking Basic Interest Checking from UmbrellaBank | notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Minimum Deposit | $1 | $500 | |
| Paper Checks | no | yes | unlimited check writing from UmbrellaBank |
| Send Paper Checks | yes | no | ING Direct lets you send paper checks to people/businesses online |
| Send Electronic Checks | yes | yes | online payment to businesses/online bill pay |
| ATM/Debit Card | yes | yes | instant access to your money through ATMs |
| Monthly Fees | no | maybe | $4.50 monthly fee is waived if you have 1 of the following:
|
Electric Orange users can send a paper check overnight to arrive by the next business day for a fee of $15 but you must get your request in by 11AM Eastern Time.
Interest Rates
Here’s where the two online checking accounts are very different.
| Electric Orange from ING Direct | |
|---|---|
| Account Balance | APY Annual Percentage Yield |
| $0 – $49,999.99 | 0.50% |
| $50,000.00 – $99,999.99 | 2.60% |
| $100,000.00 or more | 2.80% |
| Thunderbolt Checking Basic Interest Checking from UmbrellaBank | |
|---|---|
| Account Balance | APY Annual Percentage Yield |
| $0-$499.99 | 0.15% |
| $500-$1,999.99 | 2.00% |
| $2,000.00 or over | 2.00% |
Based on today’s online checking account rates it makes sense to go with UmbrellaBank’s basic interest checking Thunderbolt Checking Account only if you have less than $2000 AND meet the requirements of getting the monthly fee waived. It’s better to go with Electric Orange from ING Direct if you have $50000+ to invest OR if you would have to pay the $4.50 monthly fee by going with Umbrella Bank.