Online savings accounts, like those offered by HSBC, Emigrant Direct, or ING Direct, usually led the world as far as offering the best rates. Recently, however, online checking accounts have been featuring increased rates to attract new money.
Premier Valley Bank Online offers 6.01% APY on balances up to $25,000, if you have at least 10 debit transactions on their debit card, have a direct deposit, and sign up for Internet banking and electronic-only statements. EverBank FreeNet Checking Account offers 6.01% APY on any account for 3 months of its introductory promotion. The best one of them, however, is First National Bank of Omaha Direct offering 6.00% APY on any balances with no particular restrictions.
I noticed your recent post about FNBO Direct and thought you might be interested in BusinessWeek’s interview with the President of First National Bank about Online Saving Accounts. It might be worth sharing with your readers who would like to know more about FNBO Direct.
See the full interview here:
http://feedroom.businessweek.com/index.jsp?fr_story=a9d5a01ef10b656824790dbaa998828bedc49008
BusinessWeek’s Banking Editor, Mara Der Hovanesian, interviewed President of First National Bank of Omaha, Rajive Johri. They discuss how First National Bank of Omaha aims to grab the market share with competitive rates.
Note: You’ll need to cut and paste the entire link. Sometimes the link truncates. So, if the website link doesn’t work, check to make sure the entire link is pasted. You may have to re-paste the second half of the link. I apologize for this inconvenience.
Citybank here in Lubbock has really good checking rates too, but you have to do so many ATM/debit transactions that it would be easy to lose track — did I do enough debits this month or not? And, systems that take PIN numbers are famously insecure since sometimes they (illegally) store the PIN instead of deleting them — and hackers can get that info.
Coulee Bank ( http://www.couleebank.net ) offers an incredible 6.01% APY with their Rewards Checking account. The rate is easy to earn. All you have to do is make 10 check card transactions a month, use e-statements, and do 1 automatic payment a month (they call it ACH). Coulee Bank pays 6.01% on the first $25,000 and 1.01% on anything above that. The best thing about this account besides the rate is it is FREE, you can apply online, and it is from a great bank with real people that answer the phone. And as they like to say, Banking Green has its Rewards. The Rewards Checking account saves paper and preserves our natural resources. No wonder I feel good about recommending this to everyone I know. Check it out. I guarantee you will love it.