So now that I'm earning a paycheck (whatever a pittance it might be) I'm looking around for somewhere to keep my money. In the past, I've just had a Wamu (Washington Mutual) account however the interest rate for their checking and savings accounts are extremely low-- 0% and 0.08% respectively. I've never had enough money in my accounts combined (usually less than $1000) for the interest rate to really matter-- however the readily available ATMs and free checks from Wamu were definitely beneficial through college.
Now that I'm in Boston however, Wamu doesn't have any branches out here so I have no ATMs (I usually obtain cash by getting cash back at grocery stores or else paying for people meals with my card and having them pay me back in cash). I also anticipate having a significantly greater amount of money that the interest rate begins matter. I've looked into a couple different banks including Citibank, HSBC and IgoBanking. Each bank offers at least 3% interest rate on their online savings accounts-- and sometimes for their checking accounts. Citi would have been ideal for me because they have many ATMs available here in Boston. If I applied with HSBC and IgoBanking though, I would have had to do most of my banking online (although I've basically been doing that presently anyhow).
The challenge I face now however is that as a new graduate with little established credit, working at a new job and the fact that I don't have any loans out, don't pay utilities nor phone bills (our house doesn't even have a land line) I'm having a lot of trouble even just opening an account. I tried applying at Citi, and jumped through all their initial hoops in proving my residence with a paper statement from Wamu (which set me back $5 because I had to request one from wamu since they don't send me paper statements usually and Citi didn't accept a printed copy of the online statement) and all the other basic stuff. However, now they want a letter from my employer, utility and phone bills (which I don't have) and multiple pay stubs from the last 60 days (except I'm paid on a monthly basis-- not biweekly so I only have 2). They also keep asking for my land line number (not cell phone) which we don't have. I've called Citi and waited many minutes to talk to heavily accented phone representatives who don't seem to understand how I can't have a land line and utilities bills. In essence I'm completely fed up with the process and exploring other options.
I may end up opening a checking account at the local Citibank in person and opening a savings account at another institution (does anyone know if it'll be an issue transferring funds from one bank to another?). I'm also now considering just opening an account at the MIT Credit Union since it'd be much simpler since I'm already an employee here-- however the interest rate is not as nice as the online accounts (around 1% rather than 3%).
So my question to you guys-- What banks do you guys have accounts in? Have you had any similar challenges opening an account (like the ones I currently face)? Do you have various accounts (perhaps at various banks) for various functions (Emergency stash, short term investments, online accounts, money market account, CDs)? What sort of interest rates do you get? What was the decision process for you to open an account at that bank?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
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3 comments:
Hey Dan,
First of all, when it comes to responding to posts, I don't know what would be easier: Responding with an entirely new post? Or Responding in the comments section? I'll post in both and see which one is more convient. Cause if we all respond with an new post it would end up pushing your original post out of sight. Anyways...
I have my checking and savings account with BofA. However, I decided to open JUST a savings a account with Capital One Online Banking. There is no extra fee, it's very easy to sign up, and their interest rate starts at 2.79%, I believe, and goes up with the amount of money saved. I believe at $5k saved it jumps to 3.99%. It's pretty decent and you can automatically transfer funds, free of charge, between your current bank and Capital One. I'd check it out just to see if it's something for you. They will give you the breakdown of the interest rates and such as well before you sign up.
It's been working well for me so far, and whenever I need cash I just transfer it back to my regular checking account. Those are my two cents. Hope it helps. And stay warm in Boston. Cheers.
Hi Dan!
I'm encouraged that you have posted! I will read this after I'm done eating and respond. HAHA
Dan, excellent post, I just read it. Believe me, I usually dont' read that long of a post, (I've only read the first section of Sean's). With a bit of prodding from Sean though I made it through your post with ease. It is definitely a good read and because it gives us a "ground zero" on the current crisis. My friend works at COMERICA bank, and he says it's impossible to get people to take out loans, because the restrictions and the checking have been heightened a lot. I just didn't know it would affect everyday people like us since my friend works with small businesses. I definitely recommend HSBC, because it stands for HongKong Shanghai Bank of China. First of all, you're Chinese, second of all, it's the biggest bank in the world (that information is 1 year old, it might've changed). First reason was for joking purposes. I do recommend that you have your checking account insync with your savings account. As for myself, I don't have a bank. I write checks straight out of Charles Schwab. When you get cash back from your local groceries, that's good because I think for every 100 dollars you pull out they give you 3 bucks back. Anyways, the interests rates are incredibily low because people are just hording cash right now; that's to my understanding.
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