ING, HSBC, Emigrant, or VirtualBank?

Question

I currently have ING, and I am mroe than pleased with it. But the other three are currently offering higher rates. I hear some bad things about Emigrant, what I hear about HSBC is neutral, and I don't know much about VB.

Has any one tried the others? What is your experience? ARe they all FDIC insured?

Thanks

Answer 1

I have an ING account as well that pays 4.5% apy. I think you should probably just stick with the one you've got. Depending on how much money you've got, the small variance in the apy offered by these different sites really doesn't add up to much. For example, if you have $5,000 in your ING account all year at 4.5% interest, you will make $225 in interest. I'm not sure what the others are paying, but it can't be much different. Let's say they pay 5% interest. You will make $250 in interest if you had your money in that account all year. I personally don't think that $25 is worth switching money around to different accounts all the time to try to get the highest rate. Also, you have to consider the fact that they can always change these rates whether it be to your advantage or not. I also think that ING is the most reputable of the sites you have listed. If you've got much more than $5,000 in a savings account, you should really look into investing in something else that could earn you nearly twice as much per year such as mutual funds or stocks or put money into a 401k if you're not already.

Answer 2

I would just stick with ING the differences in the apy is not that significant (unless we are talking a whole LOT of money) to make much of a difference. All of them are FDIC insured just look for the fdic tag on their web sites.

Answer 3

I've used VB for about 3 years. No problems, easy transfers. FDIC insured - yes. I've parked rather large sums there just for the interest rates - a quarter point on 100K is $250/year. That matters.