Yeah the year only has three months left, but fuck it.

From the Wachovia/wells Fargo thread, I saw a lot of people looking to change, including myself...

I've heard good things about Charles Schwab's checking account. I see they do check depositing via smart phone, reimburse ATM fees (up to 6/month), and has negligible interest (kind of the norm I think)

I'm debating having direct deposit sent to my ally money market account, and pay bills out of a Charles Schwab account. When i need more money in the Charles Schwab, I can write checks out of the money market and add it that way....

I tend to carry too much in my checking account instead of putting it away regularly in savings... so i figure I should try it in reverse.

What does everyone else use? Anyone get interest rates over 1% apy?

9/11/2011 11:46:39 PM

I use the Schwab checking with ING Direct savings and I love both of them. Fantastic accounts with fantastic customer service. I highly recommend both.

9/12/2011 12:07:41 AM

Of all the checking accounts Schwab is the best as far as I know. ATMs all over the world are free and very good currency exchange rates when you use ATMs abroad.

9/12/2011 12:10:44 AM

Ally is also a great bank.

9/12/2011 7:46:29 AM

We use Suntrust for our regular banking (just for direct deposit, bill pay, and keeping a minimum amount in checking/savings) and then American Express for our money market. We had 1.2% with AmEx until recently they dropped it to 1%

[Edited on September 12, 2011 at 8:01 AM. Reason : ]

9/12/2011 8:00:45 AM

I have Schwab checking and brokerage account. You can transfer between the two for money market or fixed income fairly easily. The difference in interest is negligible imo.

9/12/2011 9:08:45 AM

another vote for schwab accounts.

it's the tits.

9/12/2011 9:23:50 AM

I have considered moving my ally account over to American express... I'm pretty happy with them as a card holder. Ally hasn't really done anything that makes me want to leave, though.

Edit:I remember why I didn't... I have to call to request a check to withdraw

[Edited on September 12, 2011 at 12:49 PM. Reason : .]

9/12/2011 12:44:29 PM

ABNB in Virginia... 3% APY and reimburse ATM fees up to like $30/month. All that is needed is direct deposit and 12 debit transactions per month.

9/12/2011 1:56:07 PM

its kind of a pain in the ass to set up a schwab account. i guess this is a good thing what with ID theft and all.

9/12/2011 3:11:44 PM

^You can thank the Patriot Act for that. It's the same everywhere.

9/12/2011 3:45:52 PM

yeah, getting the initial deposit is a pain too. i dont want to mail in a check... so i got paypal configured and did it that way.

9/13/2011 12:07:52 AM

i am looking for get a new account....any sugesstions?

3/15/2012 9:49:00 AM

im a SECU member. but i would like to have an account at a national bank as well. but dont feel like paying monthly fees.

i like wells fargo and they have ways to get around the fees (min. balance, or random deposits). or they have a free account, but its ebanking only. if you go in and a teller does a transaction, they'll charge you $7 for that month.

is BoA any good? suntrust? first citizens?

5/23/2012 8:25:30 PM

Quote :

"but i would like to have an account at a national bank as well"

why?

5/23/2012 8:28:24 PM

no big reason. im not sure if SECU is outside of NC. dont plan on moving anytime soon, but i guess for traveling purposes.

only thing holding me back is monthly fees.

SECU is $1 a month.

5/23/2012 8:56:47 PM

nvm

[Edited on May 23, 2012 at 9:15 PM. Reason : fads]

5/23/2012 9:15:13 PM

Quote :

"but i guess for traveling purposes"

their cards work worldwide

5/23/2012 9:51:31 PM

https://www.coastal24.com/checking/go-green-checking.htm

2.5% on a checking account with a cutoff of $50k. Requires 30 debit transactions per month. I use this more as a "savings" account than actual checking account. My primary checking account is elsewhere. The 30 debit transactions isn't so bad, sit in front of a self-checkout and purchase several packets of KoolAid one a time. Harris-Teeter self-checkouts are usually a good place to do this. Yes it looks weird, but you bank ~$100 in interest per month in 15 minutes while having an account without limitations on number of checks of you can write / cash is quickly available. I've been using this lately while building a porch around the house.

5/24/2012 6:46:50 AM

Oh, it's you.... Why do you have 50K liquid?

[Edited on May 24, 2012 at 10:16 AM. Reason : ]

5/24/2012 10:16:39 AM

^
Wrap-around porches are damn expensive. Wife and I decided NOT to do this as a DYI project. ($30k base cost, $3k gutters, $2k sidewalk, $10k vaneer + labor, $5k float - furniture, fans, overage on other items, etc.). Its liquid, but not for very long (3-4 months) and not a constant $50k. . See photo gallery for current progress.

Need an account which doesn't have restrictions on # of checks you can write in a given month, or # of transfers in/out, had a decent interest rate, and didn't have a balance requirement. Money market accounts / savings accounts did not meet 1 or more of those qualifications. Couldn't find a checking account with as good an interest rate with no balance requirement. I did this same trick previously as well when purchasing the house ... needed somewhere to hold the down payment. At that time, it was a 4% APY promotional rate, added up nicely. It something better exists for short-term high liquidity needs, I'd honestly like to hear about it.

Otherwise, please keep this thread alive. The credit card thread + this one is good read to see what has been successful for others.

[Edited on May 24, 2012 at 7:33 PM. Reason : .]

5/24/2012 7:30:35 PM

need to get rid of my BoA account....whats the best checking/savings account out there?

10/10/2012 10:24:31 AM

SECU
ING Direct

10/10/2012 10:39:09 AM

I received a 2 year ARM from SECU at 2.75%.

[Edited on October 11, 2012 at 1:48 AM. Reason : ]

10/11/2012 1:47:27 AM

^^^still Ally Bank



[Edited on October 11, 2012 at 9:15 AM. Reason : d]

10/11/2012 9:14:37 AM

^^ How?

24 Months - Fixed Rate $250.00 1.00% 1.00%

10/11/2012 9:57:37 AM

definitely looking into Ally and Barclays for savings and Schwab for checking.

10/11/2012 9:57:37 AM

Ally checking (refunds any and all ATM fees) > all

10/12/2012 8:59:14 AM

ended up getting the barclays online saving and schwab's checking account....i did look into ally. Fact that they changed the name from GMAC to ally bothers me

10/12/2012 10:19:54 AM

Coastal FCU. 2.5% on checking accounts (as long as you use their debit card). Pretty great auto & home rates too.

By getting a car loan from them, I am making money (instead of paying the car off, I get more interest back than I pay) Then I also will get a yearly bonus as well ($300) for having 2 loans.

10/12/2012 2:03:12 PM

^^ i looked into ally and found some pretty bad reviews of their customer service... I don't think I would use it all that much but decent CS is still important

I'm switching to SECU

10/12/2012 7:20:16 PM

^^ "Go Green Checking pays you more, simply for using your debit card. Earn 2.51% APY* each time 30 debit card transactions are posted to your account each month. "

Pass

10/13/2012 4:01:10 AM

^ Agreed. Who still uses a debit card?

10/13/2012 10:00:40 AM

Because using a debit card a few times a month on small purchases is hard to do?

Especially when they pay you a lot of interest to do so...




Enjoy your low interest accounts. LOL

10/13/2012 8:13:34 PM

few != 30
Besides, I made over a grand in cash last year on credit card rewards.

10/15/2012 4:15:13 PM

I wouldn't exactly call an extra 1.5% of interest 'a lot'.
As David points out, there are ways to get better returns by leveraging credit cards.

10/16/2012 9:17:19 AM

Well alot and few are relative terms, but who says you can't still use credit cards? Geez.

I also get plenty of credit card rewards. I just make some small purchases with a debit card to meet their minimum, so I get both CC rewards and much higher interest rate.

How many rewards are you really missing out on by 30 purchases of a few dollars each? Cause I seriously doubt it's really more than the extra interest I get.

10/16/2012 10:20:37 PM

relax guy, this is a discussion board.

I'm just saying it's not worth the extra hassle to make sure I reach 30 transactions monthly, etc.

To each his own!

10/17/2012 9:16:46 AM

Yeah, obv I could sit in the grocery store and make each item a separate transaction to hit my limit of 30 but def not worth my time for an extra $12 a month in interest.

10/17/2012 10:51:00 AM

doesn't seem worth the effort to me. Plus I'd have to keep lots of cash in my checking account and carry my debit card around some to make it all work which I prefer not to do.

I do some people that do something like this though and they like it, but the minuscule difference in interest just isn't worth it to me.

10/17/2012 11:04:15 AM

Is Ally still my best bet?

1/5/2013 7:20:26 PM

Ally or ingdirect

1/5/2013 10:23:25 PM

I have ally, they seem pretty cool. They always take and give me money when I was ask them to.

1/5/2013 10:43:45 PM