Entries Tagged 'Banking' ↓

Guess who has just joined the online high yield savings account market? The Provident Bank of Massachusetts has with Bank Provident Online, their new internet division offering 3.30% APY guaranteed until 2009 (which is only the next 5 months).

3.30% isn’t the highest rate, HSBC Direct offers 3.50% APY interest rate until August (with no mention of the rate afterwards), but they are covered by FDIC and DIF. DIF stands for Depositors Insurance Fund and it’s a private insurance fund that insures all deposits above the $100k FDIC limits.

Hat tip to Bank Deals for the find.

FDIC Insurance has been on a lot of people’s minds given the recent conservatorship of IndyMac. Many people that had more than the FDIC insurance limit, which is essentially $100,000 per person per institution, lost their money but if you structure your accounts correctly, one person could easily have many times more coverage. At worst, you could open multiple accounts at different institutions and get coverage that way, there’s almost no reason to have more than the $100,000 limit.

Today’s Seniors has a great explanation and example scenarios of how you can extend the insurance. If you are married with children, there are several ways you can extend your insurance limits. First, each person in the marriage can open an individual account that gives them $100,000 of cover. Then, they can open a joint account that has $200,000 of total coverage. If you’re keeping score, that’s three accounts with $400,000 of coverage ($100k, $100k, $200k). Then, each can open a testamentary (revocable trust) account naming each other as beneficiaries for another $100k each - total of $600k. That’s over half a million dollars in coverage.

Always consult a financial professional before making any decisions, I’m not a financial professional.

The FDIC insurance limit on bank accounts is $100,000 per account per type. It’s a little confusing sometimes but you’re safe knowing that $100,000 is the maximum you should ever keep in any bank account. In the event the bank should fail, which means that it’s gone into FDIC conservatorship, your deposits are insured up to $100,000. Your first $100,000 in that account is safe from loss.

In the latest bank collapse, IndyMac Bank, people withdrew $1.3bn in 11 days and caused a liquidity crisis that forced the Office of Thrift Supervision to step in and take over. If you had more than $100,000 in an account there, you would normally expect to get absolutely nothing back but as this plays out you might get something back.

The bank went from OK to done in eleven days. There were signs of this happening, of course, as 1.3 billion was withdrawn, but it shows that if you weren’t paying attention and had over $100k in there; you were out of luck.

I’m all for simplification of accounts and assets, the less you have the less you can screw up, but with so many online banks offering great savings rate APYs you should be able to find places to store your money if you have more than the FDIC limit.

With the Fed standing pat on rates, the only high yield savings account interest rate jockying will be for new deposits. Last month there were only two rate changes, FNBO Direct upped the rate to match HSBC’s 3.50% APY and WT Direct ticked up their rates by a tenth of a percent.

The only word of caution I’d throw in there is that benchmark rate, 3.50% at HSBC (but also available at lesser known FNBO Direct) is available through August 15th, 2008. There’s no saying where it will go after that.

WT Direct increased their interest rate for balances over $10,000 to 3.26% APY effective 6/19/2008.

You can buy the new John Quincy Adams dollar coins at face value, up to $500 worth, with a credit card, deposit the coins and then pocket the cashback if you’re so inclined.

To encourage robust national circulation of $1 Coins (non-numismatic, circulation-grade coins), the United States Mint has introduced the Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Program. This program makes it easy for retailers, financial institutions, and other interested parties to obtain smaller quantities of $1 coins than can otherwise be obtained from the Federal Reserve.

The $1 coins, wrapped in rolls of 25, are available in quantities of $250 (1 box) or $500 (2 boxes).

For this special program:

* The United States Mint pays for standard shipping and handling of domestic orders. Any special handling will be paid by the customer.
* Orders are limited to two boxes ($500) per President.
* Specific coins are available only while supplies last.
* Please allow approximately 1-2 weeks for shipping.
* All sales are final.

Select standard shipping to get free shipping.

Step one of getting rid of all that junk mail, that dangerous identity theft risk junk mail, is to opt out of it at OptOutPrescreen.com. That gets rid of unsolicited mailings from companies you don’t already do business with. However, if you have a pre-existing business relationship with a company, they can still send you mailings. That makes sense to me and seems perfectly fair.

However, one of the biggest identity theft risks (or theft risks in general) are those cash advance checks your credit card company sends you. Another risk is that credit card offer your bank sent you. In order to opt out of those, you need to call each company and request that you be removed from their marketing list!

Optoutprescreen is great, but it’s only step one. Don’t forget step two.

Want to earn a $100 bonus for opening a checking account at PNC Bank? Check out the latest PNC Bank checking account promotion. If you open a Free Checking account and get a direct deposit of at least $500, you qualify to receive the bonus money.

One word of advice, the direct deposit has to come from a paycheck, pension, Social Security, or some other regularly monthly income deposit. You can’t just ACH transfer something in from another account. You also have to make sure the DD is for at least $500.

Get that money!

Hat tip to Bank Deals for finding this deal.

Bank Deals has posted the fourth bank failure of 2008, a little bank in Minnesota, along with a comprehensive guide about what to expect if your bank goes belly up.

Rule #1: Don’t have more than $100,000 in an account at any one bank.
Rule #2: (if you must break Rule #1) Understand the FDIC protections you are afforded.

A lot of people expect a lot of banks to go under because of CDO’s so keep a watchful eye out.

HSBC Direct just increased their interest rate to 3.5%, valid until August 15th, 2008.