Bank websites!
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Bank websites have their own special flavor of WTFs. In particular, they have a tendency to contract services out to some other company for certain services, resulting in a number of odd effects - at Wachovia's bank, in particular, a number of silly "SeamlessRouter" pages asking me to Please Wait as they transfer me. They also contract their credit cards (with FIA Services), which results in some mixed messages on their credit card page:
The real WTF? A pathetic 0.15% interest rate on a savings account. Sometimes I think I could get better rates just stuffing wads of cash in my mattress...
(shameless plug, but topical. ING direct, online bank, offers a 4.5% APY on savings, $25 account signup bonus if you deposit $250+. Uses electronic funds transfer from existing checking accounts, or you can mail checks in. They also offer 4.0% on a checking account! Send me a private message or something if you're interested. Disclosure: I get $10 for referring you. Need email address.)
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@fennec said:
The real WTF? A pathetic 0.15% interest rate on a savings account. Sometimes I think I could get better rates just stuffing wads of cash in my mattress... )Mhmmm... traditional brick and mortar bank interest rates suuuuck. It's not even worth using them. Better to use interweb banks a la ING Direct.
ETA: No, I didn't read the fine print in your post until after I mentioned ING.
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If you're concerned about the interest rate, there's a variety of other things you can do that aren't savings accts.
If you don't mind a little risk, and want to keep the liquidity of your savings acct, try a money market acct.
If you're pretty risk averse, and don't need as much liquidity, look into something like a CD. Those offer rates of ~4% right now.
Speak to a bank employee about your options. Every bank I've been to usually offers walk-in consults for customers with a loan officer or some such, who will be able to suggest a few ideas for you (conveniently offered by that branch, of course).
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@Volmarias said:
Wachovia's money market accounts (in my area) earn... .03% for <$5k, .13% <$10k.... you can finally get 1.5% at $10-$24k, scaling up to 3.06% if you have half a million dollars are more.If you're concerned about the interest rate, there's a variety of other things you can do that aren't savings accts.
If you don't mind a little risk, and want to keep the liquidity of your savings acct, try a money market acct.
Wachovia does offer CDs with 4% APY. They're for a 60-month term and $100,000 or more. For 12-month entry-level tiers, you're looking at 3%. ING Direct offers me 4% interest on a checking account, and can do 5.10% for a 12-month CD.If you're pretty risk averse, and don't need as much liquidity, look into something like a CD. Those offer rates of ~4% right now.
I did that once. It's not that Wachovia has no options. It's simply that they just all, um, suck. I maintain an account there simply because I get free withdrawals from the ATM on campus and don't usually have enough money to make a difference (it has a tendency of getting funneled into my tuition/housing pretty quickly). This will change when I move to the San Francisco area and start my job at the beginning of June. (I think I'll get a free checking account with Wells Fargo, stash the major funds online with ING- or HSBC- or Citi-Direct, and start looking at my long-term investment options.)Speak to a bank employee about your options.
