Best CD, MM Rates & Bank Special Deals Thread 2022 - Please post updates here

[audreyh1]

Ally Bank savings yield is 2.0% as of today!

 

[Golden sunsets]

Ally Bank savings yield is 2.0% as of today!

Actually the rate was announced last week, effective as of 9/3, I believe.

 

[audreyh1]

Actually the rate was announced last week, effective as of 9/3, I believe.

OK, thanks, they just sent me another email about it today for some reason. I guess it was a promotional email and they had the 9/8 date.

Can’t keep track of this stuff!!

 

[wrigley]

I just really don’t open new accounts anymore, and FCUs are a little more trouble compared to banks. But I don’t open new bank accounts either.

"and FCUs are a little more trouble compared to banks"?

Curious as to why you feel this way?

Mike

 

[audreyh1]

"and FCUs are a little more trouble compared to banks"?

Curious as to why you feel this way?

Mike

There are usually some membership criteria hoops to jump through to open the initial account.

Sometimes just opening the initial account can be very slow and involve phone calls, waiting.

Their software for interacting via the internet tends to be more awkward, less user friendly.

They tend to have much stricter limits on transfer sizes etc., although this can usually be overridden by initiating transfers from another institution.

So overall internet banks are more streamlined and much easier to deal with.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

There are usually some membership criteria hoops to jump through to open the initial account.

Sometimes just opening the initial account can be very slow and involve phone calls, waiting.

Their software for interacting via the internet tends to be more awkward, less user friendly.

They tend to have much stricter limits on transfer sizes etc., although this can usually be overridden by initiating transfers from another institution.

So overall internet banks are more streamlined and much easier to deal with.

Nah! Been with CUs for over 40 years, the money I saved vs any bank has been worth it.

 

[audreyh1]

I explained my reasons to someone who asked for them. This has nothing to do with your personal preferences or experience.

 

[jazz4cash]

So overall internet banks are more streamlined and much easier to deal with.

I love my credit unions (5 of them right now) but I agree totally.

 

[Montecfo]

There are usually some membership criteria hoops to jump through to open the initial account.

Sometimes just opening the initial account can be very slow and involve phone calls, waiting.

Their software for interacting via the internet tends to be more awkward, less user friendly.

They tend to have much stricter limits on transfer sizes etc., although this can usually be overridden by initiating transfers from another institution.

So overall internet banks are more streamlined and much easier to deal with.

I would say it is more tied to institution size. Brick & mortar banks have invested less in the online experience. Both smaller banks and CU's can be clunky, whereas online banks have only a virtual storefront-so they need the better user experience.

But I do not find it a big deal to invest with the little guys. I am not doing daily transactions or anything. And easy to get around daily limits by using my brokerage account.

 

[freedomatlast]

So overall internet banks are more streamlined and much easier to deal with.

That hasn't been my experience. Ally Bank has become so bad, I recently had to get the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) involved to get them to do what they were supposed to do.

 

[audreyh1]

Even more controversial, since people may enjoy another tangent, I’m not adding any other banks or financial institutions either.

I already have too many. I’m looking to pare down instead - streamline, simplify as I get older.

 

[Car-Guy]

Even more controversial, since people may enjoy another tangent, I’m not adding any other banks or financial institutions either.

I already have too many. I’m looking to pare down instead - streamline, simplify as I get older.

I started that process 4 or 5 years ago. I'm down to three now. (not counting credit card companies) One local brick and mortar bank and two brokerage houses. And I really only "routinely" use the local bank and one of brokerage houses. The other (my biggest account) is pretty static. Works for me...

 

[Dash man]

Even more controversial, since people may enjoy another tangent, I’m not adding any other banks or financial institutions either.

I already have too many. I’m looking to pare down instead - streamline, simplify as I get older.

I’m considering closing my PenFed accounts. I haven’t seen any value of keeping those for a while. I just keep minimum balances there to avoid fees.

 

[audreyh1]

I started that process 4 or 5 years ago. I'm down to three now. (not counting credit card companies) One local brick and mortar bank and two brokerage houses. And I really only "routinely" use the local bank and one of brokerage houses. The other (my biggest account) is pretty static. Works for me...

Yes, our credit cards need serious paring. I have several and associated accounts and also ATM cards that are for travel, particularly international travel. At some point we will not be traveling much, and that will eliminate a lot of accounts.

 

[audreyh1]

I’m considering closing my PenFed accounts. I haven’t seen any value of keeping those for a while. I just keep minimum balances there to avoid fees.

I did that a year ago. I hadn’t bought a CD through them for many years. I also didn’t like their new early withdrawal penalty. So I was just using their credit card 5% cash back on gas and keeping a minimal amount there.

The writing was on the wall when we ordered our electric car. Got rid of the accounts plus the credit card.

 

[wrigley]

Nah! Been with CUs for over 40 years, the money I saved vs any bank has been worth it.

I was just curious because I also bank with CUs. Actually, other than having a high yield savings account with Ally, I have never banked with a bank in my life. My primary banking has been done with NFCU since 1989 which includes excellent "bill pay" service and I have a few other accounts with local CUs as well. I have never had an issue with CUs. To each his own!

Mike

 

[Chuckanut]

So I was just using their credit card 5% cash back on gas and keeping a minimal amount there.

The writing was on the wall when we ordered our electric car. Got rid of the accounts plus the credit card.

No 5% cash back for paying your electricity bill? PenFed must be carbon loving troglodytes.

IIRC, there are a few cards that offer an enhanced cash back percentage when paying utility bills. Another area where EVs are catching up.

 

[Car-Guy]

Schwab just bumped their brokered 5yr CD's to 3.650% today... Up just a little more... Seems all maturities keep going up slowly a couple of times a week. I think I'll still wait a week or so after Powell speaks again later this month before jumping in as deep as I have been planning.

 

[aja8888]

Yes, our credit cards need serious paring. I have several and associated accounts and also ATM cards that are for travel, particularly international travel. At some point we will not be traveling much, and that will eliminate a lot of accounts.

I've been slimming things down since we are getting older and won't travel internationally anymore (medical issues complicate that kind of travel). Even extended U.S. travel is requiring a lot more planning.

I have three CC's, PenFed with gives me 2% back in cash, Capital One which is where "all things auto charged" go to (and it's gives me 1.5% back), and the Amazon 5% card for Amazon purchases only.

We are down to one brick and mortar bank (JPM) where SS checks get auto deposited and I pay bills out of, one online bank (Ally) that I have had CDs at, and our IRAs and brokerage accounts, all at Schwab (38 years now).

I may dump Ally as I can transfer the remaining funds to Schwab for more choices and consolidation.

I think I am at a place with accounts that can't easily consolidated further. Every transaction is done online except for the "Cleaning Team" which we write a paper check top twice a month!

 

[Car-Guy]

Every transaction is done online except for the "cleaning Team" which we write a paper check top twice a month!

A book of paper checks last me at least 6mos these days, probably longer. Some months I don't write any paper checks... Things have really changed and "in this case" for the better.

 

[aja8888]

A book of paper checks last me at least 6mos or these days, probably more. Some month I don't write any paper checks... Things have really changed and "in this case" for the better.

We opened that bank account in 1992 with Bank One which was acquired by JPM sometime along the way. Starting checks were probably #001. We are at 9,XXX now! I recall ordering a 100 checks a couple of years ago and that book will last about two years now!

I do have an "ATM only" card and get cash occasionally (tip and golf course money).

 

[audreyh1]

A book of paper checks last me at least 6mos these days, probably longer. Some months I don't write any paper checks... Things have really changed and "in this case" for the better.

I write maybe 2 paper checks a year on our bank account. So I don’t expect to run out anymore.

 

[Car-Guy]

I recall ordering a 100 checks a couple of years ago and that book will last about two years now!

I suspect companies that make personalized checks for folks have either had to downsize significantly or add other products to sell to stay in business.

 

[REWahoo]

I suspect companies that make personalized checks for folks have either had to downsize significantly or add other products to sell to stay in business.

You darn betcha they did! Many also merged, downsized or went out of business...

I retired in 2005 after spending 27 years in that industry. It reached its peak in the early 1990s in the US when around 90 billion checks were written annually, an estimated half of those (45 billion) by consumers. It has declined dramatically since then.

The 2019 Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRS 2019) found
that the number of check payments in the United States declined at an annual rate of 7.2 percent a year from 2015 to
2018. In 2000, there were 42.6 billion check payments; in 2018, there were 14.5 billion, or about one-third as many.

Most paper checks are written by businesses and government—60 percent of checks by volume in 2015, according to
the 2018 Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRS 2018). In 2015, 7.1 billion of the 17.9 billion checks written (40 percent)
were consumer checks. The share of checks written by consumers has declined since 2000, when 45 percent of checks
were written by consumers. From 2000 to 2015, the number of checks written by consumers declined from 19.3 billion
to 7.1 billion, a drop of 63 percent.

Over the last decade, the Survey of Consumer Payment Choice also has reported a decline in the number and
percentage shares of consumer payments using paper checks. In 2009, U.S. consumers age 18 and older made 13
percent of their payments with checks; in 2018, 5 percent. In addition, more consumers do not use checks at all. In 2009,
87 percent of consumers reported using a paper check at least once during the year. In 2018, 61 percent of consumers
reported using a paper check at least once.

https://www.atlantafed.org/-/media/...ecks-evidence-from-a-diary-survey/rdr2001.pdf

I got out just in time.

 

[calmloki]

....
I already have too many. I’m looking to pare down instead - streamline, simplify as I get older.

That's what we do - every late November-December I go through Quicken and close accounts that I opened for a bonus or which have lost favor or are done, like a paid off loan. Put them in the hidden area so they don't show up in our too long left side Quicken Home panel but do show in inquiries or reports. That way we have a clean end of year break and don't have to look at them or worry about reporting interest in the next year. I do keep some accounts open for sentimental reasons - PenFed is an example, as they were so good for so long.