Citibank along with a whole bunch of other banks are offering "online" savings account that earn 5% APY...What exactly does that mean and is it a good idea to switch over to one of those accounts? which banks are the best to do this with and which have the best rates?
2007-01-03 12:41:00 · 6 answers · asked by knufflebunny 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
APY is “annual percentage yield” which basically is the annual interest rate with compounding included.
With most online savings accounts, you don't have to “switch over” to them. Most online savings accounts will “link” to your current checking account so you can transfer funds electronically between them.
The benefit of this is that you can keep your money earning the high yield in the online savings account and when you need to use the money to write a check or to get cash from an ATM, just make a transfer electronically to the checking account.
Some accounts that do this are ING Direct, HSBC Direct, and GMAC.
Citibank is one of the few that require you to open a new checking account and online savings account at the same time. The benefit of this is that the transfer between the checking account and savings account are faster than if the two accounts are at different banks. The downside is that the account isn't convenient if you don't live near a Citibank branch or ATM machine.
If you want to see a list of available high yield online savings accounts and see what rates they are offering, take a look at http://www.emoneycentral.com
2007-01-03 19:46:26 · answer #1 · answered by Coin 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, they are very good (well, some of them). One of the best by far is ING Direct. You can find them at INGDirect.com. It is free to open an account, they have no minimums, and there are never any fees for using their services. Their site is easy, transferring money is easy, and the interest rates are much better than your local bank.
I have many ING savings accounts. It only takes about 15 seconds to open another after you already have an account. Every time I want to save for anything, I just create another account for it and I'm off and running.
2007-01-03 12:44:39 · answer #2 · answered by budget_master 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've opened the account with Citibank and have been satisfied. It's a huge, well known institution and the rate destroys normal banking rates.
2007-01-03 12:48:38 · answer #3 · answered by knicks177 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes they are very good.
i set up an ING account a while ago...customer service was great, setting up account was easy, and the rate is consistently one of the best out there.
2007-01-04 13:24:13 · answer #4 · answered by GFBanker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Halifax Save4It - 5.55% (regular monthly saver = 7.0%) Yorkshire Building Society Internet Saver - 5.55% Alliance & Leicester Direct Saver - 5.65% all rates are gross
2016-05-23 01:00:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i wouldn't know fine out and let me know. ok?
2007-01-03 12:42:45 · answer #6 · answered by Wendy V 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋