Comments on: BS teaser rates: More typical bank behavior

By: TC

TC — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:01:57 +0000

I’m currently a member of a credit union in Seattle, WA area and joined because of it’s close proximity to my work. I have been a member for over 8 years and while their customer service is great when I go to the CU in person, I rarely need to go in and usually it’s to do things like (1) Change my ATM debit card PIN or (2) get a money order.

My CU’s website is anemic at best — their UI is hard to navigate, bill pay system is a joke and ACH transfer system is slow and hard to use.

I would love to move to a bank that has lower fees, excellent phone+email customer service, better UI + billpay system and has features that eliminate my need to talk to someone in person.

A few friends have recommended to go with Fidelity checking since I alreayd have an investment account with them, but in my investigation of it, it’s definitely a second rate option.

I considered going to HSBC due to their great policy of reimbursing all ATM fees, but with the other comments on this post, looks like HSBC is taking on $3 fees just to xfer money?!

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:46:19 +0000

My Financial Planner has scammed me numerous times with teaser rate investments. I lock up my money for years for a decent rate of return then the M-F ers cut the rate of return and they say I am still locked in for the full time of the investment.
If they cut the rates I should be able to take out my money and leave. They broke the contract so I should be able to get my money and go elsewhere

By: Terri

Terri — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:48:01 +0000

I had a 6% account with FNBO Direct and all was well until today- I had the account for over 3 months and suddenly I received an e-mail today saying my account was being frozen because they did not receive information about my employer when I signed up. I was livid as I gave them all the information they asked for, or I assume they never would have accepted my account. I thought maybe it was one of those fraud e-mails, but it sure looked legitimate, although the address was slightly different than what they claim are their legitimate ones. I tried phoning customer service I was so upset and after waiting one solid hour to get through, I was told that the e-mail was sent out in error to many customers by somewhere in the company and to ignore it. I told her that was a severe error for a bank to make- Let me tell you that I immediately transferred all of my money out of there. What other errors might they make????

By: FNBODirect Savings Account Offering 6% Interest Rate: How Long Will It Last? - savingwithme.com

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 01:09:04 +0000

[...] was reading through my Google Reader this morning and came across Ramit’s post entitled BS teaser rates: More typical bank behavior. I thought it was interesting he felt so strongly as to not include the name of the bank in the [...]

By: saver

saver — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:31:41 +0000

I haven’t seen anyone mention Schwab Bank’s Investor Checking Account. Free checking, free debit card. It’s free if you have a Schwab One brokerage account with $2500 in it. Check to see if the balances can be combined to cover the minimum. Schwab Bank is FDIC Insured (although their brokerage isn’t, but it has some sort of insurance with limits way higher than FDIC’s $100,000).

Interest rate is 4.25%, better than Everbank’s checking. I looked into this and Everbank was my number 2 choice. Schwab sees this as a huge growth area. All the checking accounts that are getting next to zero interest. And they always do things right. 24 hour customer service via phone is one big plus, unlike GMAC.

By: I Will Teach You To Be Rich » Help me give away $2,000 in scholarships using P2P lending — by this Monday, 6/11

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:15:04 +0000

[...] I’ve written about teaser bank rates before. To be really clear, LendingClub is not a bank and they don’t offer FDIC insurance. If you [...]

By: The Landlord

The Landlord — Tue, 29 May 2007 16:45:01 +0000

Most of these rates aren’t guarenteed anyways Ramit. I joined HSBC’s internet savings account over a year ago, and watched as they increased my savings interest rate along with the nation rates.

When I joined they were offering 4.25% (one of the best offers, which is why I took it). They then proceeded to raise the rates every 3-4 months as the fed’s rates rose, so I now earn 5.05%.

If the feds drop the rates again (as some economists predict), I expect that my savings account’s rate will drop as well.

so the moral of the story is that none of these high rates are guarenteed for the long run, so 6% until fall may be a teaser, but it’s not a bad one. the real question is what rate they offered before the teaser kicked in, and how did it compare?

By: Anastasia

Anastasia — Fri, 25 May 2007 12:05:19 +0000

Recent grad, just took up a job at a credit union. Barely knew what one was before I got there. In a few short weeks I’ve learned to stick with CUs and some of the more transparent options discussed–would’ve definitely helped me out during school.

Please post your tips for CUs.

By: JW

JW — Fri, 25 May 2007 06:46:50 +0000

I’ve used only credit unions and ING for over a decade now, and I am finally moving to a small town which has really limited banking options, so I had to break down and get an account with BofA. Sure enough, there were hidden fees (not very well hidden, either) everywhere, the guy selling me the account was shady, and they kept trying to sell me random products I had no use for.

I feel your rage.

By: mk

mk — Thu, 24 May 2007 19:48:34 +0000

Teaser rates aren’t evil if they give you enough of an incentive to convince you to open an account *today* instead of, um, when you get around to it….

If you already have a high interest online savings account, then it isn’t really worth it to chase a teaser rate. If, however, you’re thinking about opening an account like this, there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of a little promotion (as long as you read the fine print, take a look at a bank’s rate history and do some basic research to make sure they’re legit, fdic insured and all of that).