Best savings account rate? (financial, company, interest, accounts)

[tabbcat]

My husband and I are looking for a better savings account rate than Suntrust offers... any recommendations for a high rate with a trusted bank?

[Snafu]

Have you looked at ING (online)? Those accounts can link to your regular checking or savings account and move money in and out. Right now their interest is 2.5%, and you can "move" your money back out to your linked account to access it...

There are several other internet banks available, too, that have very good rates and customer service. I keep minimal money in a bank that has branch offices and a safe deposit box ... but the interest is so pitiful, there is no reason to keep any significant amount in there.

[tabbcat]

I have looked at ING... the 2.5% is better than we get right now, but I feel like I can probably do better... but I'm not sure how safe some of those online banks are that offer higher rates than ING, even though they're FDIC insured. I'd love a recommendation though if you know of any that are decent!

[PurpleLove08]

I'm considering ING as well.
I put some money with HSBC or something along those lines but felt uneasy about an online bank.
I think once I'm done paying for my textbooks, I'll move my savings account money (what's left of it...) to ING. I like the Keep The Change feature of Bank of America so I'll keep the minimum balance or whatnot in that account to avoid fees. I hate having to have a minimum balance or make a minimum contribution every month to avoid fees but alas...I love my Hello Kitty debit card too much to switch banks. Sad but true.

[macroy]

ING is a huge financial service company that's based out of the Netherlands. They operate in over 50 countries. While it may be hard to "guarantee" a financial institution's stability in light of recent events - I'd say they're pretty stable. As for their service, I've had an account there for over 5 years.. and never had an issue. But it is Internet banking...so you will lose some capabilities (i.e. if you write a lot of checks... this may not be for you).

You'd also want to look at the fee's in addition to the rate (not saying you're not considering this too). Having a slightly higher rate isn't gonna help if you are hit with different fees every time you want to do something.

But a good site to compare rates is bankrate.com. You can also look at rates for other financial vehicles.

[tabbcat]

Actually, I want to keep my Suntrust account for chequing, and just transfer excess funds into an account for savings that I rarely ever touch, so I might not need much as far as capabilities.

Thanks! Will definitely check out bankrate and I'm thinking ING might be a good fit since they do seem relatively stable and everyone recommends them. We also qualify for USAA.com but I'm not really sure how good they are and their rates seem pretty low (1.2% or something).

[acegolfer]

Dollar Savings Direct (online division of Emigrant bank) is offering 4% APY. I'm a happy customer.

[TeamExit]

Originally Posted by acegolfer

Dollar Savings Direct (online division of Emigrant bank) is offering 4% APY. I'm a happy customer.

wow thats great. i was getting like 5%, a year or so ago, from WAMU, but its been slowly shrinking, to now 1.15%..

[Flamingo13]

Sadly, they've all shrunk, when I first opened ING it was, as I recall, about 4 1/2 or 5% it is down now, not nearly as much as the BB&T though (might as well keep that under the mattress!)

That said, I'm very happy w/ING - if I've ever needed to make a transfer it doesn't take long - you can set up an auto deposit with them so that helps you save.

[taurus430]

Originally Posted by acegolfer

Dollar Savings Direct (online division of Emigrant bank) is offering 4% APY. I'm a happy customer.

This is a great rate but......check the rating of this bank at Bankrate.com!!!