Community Chat

[buffieg]

Does anyone have experience with on line savings accounts?  Every month my interest is less than the month before at my brick and mortar bank.    I know the on line banks pay higher interest and I would like to switch but need to know they are safe.  Any advice would be helpful.

[tototwo]

I hope they are safe!  I've had online savings accounts and investment accounts for several years.  Interest rates have been up and down recently, but the interest rates on my online accounts are always higher than our local institutions.  For me, it's always been easy to deposit, withdraw, and transfer money from account to account.  I haven't had any problems.

[SilleeMee]

Credit Karma keeps sending me messages about their new savings account. They say it has great high-yield rate. It's free to open and there's no fees or minimum to keep open. But I'm not sure about using online savings accounts. I never have. I just use my local credit union online services. I feel safe with that but I'm open to change.

[novamc1]

@buffieg 

I have a variety of online savings accounts with banks paying above-average interest rates,  and they work well.

  The online nature of them means you don't have to get in the car and go to your local bank branch. 

Usually, for me, it's better  when transferring money, opening a new account,  confirming what should happen to a matured CD, or whatever else, to both follow and manipulate the accounts online but also  talk to bank personnel at their headquarters' toll-free  phone numbers and get them to help me.

Like all banks everywhere right now, online banks have  been reducing interest rates paid on all types of savings accounts, including money market, certificates of deposit and  even checking accounts.

When the Federal Reserve thinks it's wise to  reduce the  overnight interest rate that banks use to transfer money among themselves. it's supposed (??) to signal a change in the economy for better or worse.

Don't try to  waste time to understand it.  The one understandable thing is..........  The days of chasing higher interest rates among banks is probably over for a while, but it will come back someday, just as it did several years ago after a long period of VERY low interest.

[novamc1]

@buffieg 

To find out whether any bank, brick/mortar or online, is "safe", go to bankrate.com and look up the bank or search for banks with the characteristics that you're seeking.

Banks that are federally insured by FDIC are safe, provided  that the account holder registration and amounts in the accounts meet FDIC qualifications. 

fdic.gov

is the website for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, where you can look up various banks, too.

[jellyBEAN]

I'm glad you asked this question because I am curious also.  I'd like to establish some type of money market account in order to both save and write a monthly check for a payment.

Is it too personal to ask what banks are most popular for this type of thing?  There seem to be banks on-line i've never heard of before and thus I'm leery.

[jellyBEAN]

@novamc1  Thanks.  We must have been posting at the same time. 

[CelticCrafter]

We don't have any on line accounts but what we have found is that the little community banks are giving a lot better interest rates than the big banks.

[geezerette]

And I've found that if you happen to carry a higher balance, much like many cable companies, if you go into your bank and tell them that you're going to take your money somewhere else that offers a better interest rate, they will magically find a way to raise theirs a bit.

[gidgetgh]

Ok, I'll name one we use. We've had an online money market account with American Express for years. Pays way better interest than we can get locally.  It's FDIC insured. 

We've never had an issue but everyone should do their own research and do what's best for them.