How I chose my new bank: for siobhra, <user site="livejournal.c

[sabrinamari]

1. First, I searched for possible money market accounts by '100 Highest Yields' instead of by state. This is tricky, because it requires you to click on a small, hard-to find link that says only 'MMA'. The link brought me to this list:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/mmmf_highratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=33

Scanning the options, I looked at Zions Bank first, because although they require a $2500 deposit to start, they do offer check writing.

2. Then I checked their ratings using the "Safe and Sound' system, which revealed a middle-of-the-road rating of 3 stars accompanied by a CAEL rating of 3---just OK, not great.

3. So I went back to the original list and decided to look at OnBank, which offered the highest rate and most of the features I want. I plugged it into 'Safe and Sound' but did not find it on their list.

Puzzled, I went back to OnBank's home page via the link in the original list of money market accounts and looked around carefully.

(You can find their home page here: https://www.onbank.com/prod_mm.asp?q=BRMM01)

Sure enough, acroos the top bar I saw an "About OnBank" link. Clicking it, I found a paragraph stating that "OnBank is a division of M&T Bank, N.A., headquartered in Western N.Y.".

(You can see this sentence and a little more context here: https://www.onbank.com/about.asp)

Going back to the "Safe and Sound" system, I looked up 'M&T Bank'. Sure enough, I found an M&T Bank of New York.

Bingo! It had a 4 star rating and a CAEL Rating of 2.

After talking to Michael, I've decided to open an account there.



Now, I know nothing about this bank's customer service. I can't give it any recommendation other than explaining how I found it and made the decision. Please apply your own due diligence and research this bank yourself if you're interested, looking at exactly what it offers, and carefully consider what's best for you.

I may decide this was a hasty move, or I might discover something I don't like about OnBank. But for the moment, it looks like a better option than the accounts it is replacing.

Applying for a new account there took me about 15 minutes, and I needed information from my driver's license, my social security number and the routing and checking account numbers across the bottom of a blank check from each of the accounts I'm using to fund my new MMA.

Feel free to keep looking, make another decision, or do nothing. I'll post here if I encounter a problem in using this new bank.

Comments

[castalusoria.livejournal.com]

I'm sending/referring my friend aries_walker your way, as he's shopping for a new bank, too!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Cool!

[diekonigin.livejournal.com]

I've just looked into USAA that most military members have access to. They're a 4 star/ CAEL 2. I can get an account there if my military-retired father has an account there, so we may open a savings account there for him then open an account for me. They also have competitive rates for auto insurance.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Ooooo, this move could pay off in two different ways---excellent!

[flamespirit.livejournal.com]

Thank you Sabrina!
x

[sidhne.livejournal.com]

I chose Venture Bank Direct: highest rate while requiring the lowest deposit. Everything else similar to Flagstar.

Did you leave Flagstar? If so, why?

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Flagstar is Michael's money market account bank, and when I checked it through 'Safe and Sound", I was unimpressed with the results. We need a joint money market account now, and we had a choice of calling Flagstar and doing paperwork associated with the change or simply opening a new account.

Given that I didn't love the Safe and Sound results, I thought it better to open an OnBank joint money market account for our emergency fund.

Michael likes Flagstar: he's experienced good service and he likes their interface, so he wasn't as excited about switching. We compromised: I opened the OnBank account and began my switch away from Emigrant Direct and he thought about it. Now, he thinks he'll just put his portion of the MM account in there too and eventually close it.

But I do understand his position, and i think it's a reasonable one.