(Oops, gotta read that fine print. Their regular 3.25% APY is only good for balances over $100k. Bummer, I might have kept it open after the bonus period, but 0.3% stinks.)
Just got this offer in the mail. Go here for the offer details. You get 4.10% APY for the first three months, after which you’ll go back down to their standard money market rate, currently at 3.25% APY 0.30% for balances under $5,000. I went for it, and the $50 bonus showed up in my account a couple days after I opened the account. No waiting is nice. With $1,000 cooped up for 120 days (4 months, you get about $68 $51, which is a 15% annualized return! Offer ends soon on 11/15.
The fine print makes getting the bonus a bit confusing. There is only a $100 opening minimum, but you need a monthly average of $1,000 (or combined balances of $5,000) to avoid a $10 monthly fee. Also, you’ll need to keep the account open for 120 days to avoid a $10 early closure fee. Overall, not bad if you just put in $1,000 and take it out and close the account after 6 months. They only let you fund electronically with a max of $100, so either open with a check or send in a 2nd deposit after the confirm your account great enough to make your monthly average at least $1,000.
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The link didn’t work for me, might want to check that out. Otherwise sounds like a great deal. 13% return isn’t too shabby.
Thanks for letting me know, I just changed it to another link to the same offer.
Doh, made some more edits. Annualized return is more like 11.5%. This is what happens when you post in a hurry.
etrade
etrade also have some cool CD rates..just increased..
i am still on deciding on what to do with 10K that i have..I-bonds at the end of nov or put in 1 yr CD..
5 Year 5.02% 4.90%
3 Year 4.75% 4.64%
2.5 Year 4.73% 4.62%
2 Year 4.70% 4.59%
1.5 Year 4.65% 4.55%
15 Month 4.60% 4.50%
1 Year 4.57% 4.47%
6 Month 4.33% 4.24%
3 Month 4.02% 3.94%
I’d rather put the $1000 into the stock market and make a little more..if you pick the right stuff 6 months can make you a lot more than $57.
Or you could pick the wrong stuff and lose a lot more than $57 =)
How come I never see any mention of the PayPal money market. 3.89% and it seems really easy to set up and use. Any opinions?
I have the PayPal account setup and agree it is nice especially if you have people sending you money via the PayPal services.
Ty
People use the term “money market” very loosely these days. PayPal’s money market account is NOT FDIC Insured.
From their site:
“Unlike checking accounts, money market funds are neither insured nor guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency. Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 USD per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.”
Also, I don’t trust PayPal. One problem seller or buyer and they can freeze your funds at any time (and HAVE).
Quick correction and question.
I believe the rate of return is even higher unless I’m missing something in the fine print. You should earn 50 bonus and the 3 months of interest on 1k at 4.10% on top. That is more than 51 total, right? You can also withdraw everything above 1k for that last month and put it in something with a higher yield, but that’s of small consequence.
Question: does responding to every account opening bonus impact your credit at all? I know most FI’s only do light credit pulls, but I’m wondering if your credit is impacted at all by the number of accounts you maintain. Anyone know?
You’re right, it should read $60 or so. For some reason I can’t get this post right for the life of me.
Short answer to your questions: Not really. Out of all the banks I have applied to, only a few did ‘hard’ credit checks, the kind that hurts your credit. Most of the time it’s only for 1 out of 3 credit bureaus Otherwise it doesn’t do anything, whenever you get credit card application in the mail they also do a ‘soft’ credit check. They include:
Presidential Bank
Pentagon Federal Credit Union (they assume you want overdraft protection)
Charter One Bank (a while ago, it was for a $100 bonus so it was worth it 🙂
Otherwise banks have their own system called ChexSystems to manage people who abuse banks. So in theory they would know I have a ton of accounts, but I’ve never been officially denied. HSBC Bank did forget about me completely once though.