February 22, 2009 Update: DollarSavingsDirect cuts its savings account rate to 2.65% APY. See how this compares to other top savings and money market rates.
In a rather strange move, Emigrant Bank, the parent company of Emigrant Direct has launched another online direct brand, DollarSavingsDirect. DollarSavings differs slightly from Emigrant Direct and currently has a higher savings rate of 3.75% APY, which is competitive with some of the best savings rates offered by other banks. The minimum balance to open the account is $1,000. Emigrant Direct's American Dream Savings Account offers a 3% APY with a $1 minimum balance. At the moment, the difference in rate and minimum balance seem to be all that seperates the two accounts.
The bank is a seperate division of Emigrant Bank although located at the same location as Emigrant Direct. Its FDIC insurance falls under Emigrant Bank, meaning that an account at Emigrant Direct and DollarSavingsDirect both count towards the FDIC limit.
Accounts can be opened online and funded via an ACH transfer from a personal checking account.
Why has Emigrant Direct started a seperate brand? We called Emigrant with this question but didn't receive a reply. My guess is that Emigrant plans to make significant changes to either Emigrant Direct or DollarSavingsDirect over the next couple of months to differentiate their offer and pursue different markets. It will be interesting to see how this develops.
Comments
Anonymous
March 24, 2009
Strike one!
"Interest will be compounded and credited to your account on a monthly basis".
Strike two!
No guarantee that it will be 2.80% the next day. Chasing accounts without at least a three month guarantee is a waste of time with rates this low.
Strike three!
Stay tuned.
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Spin the Wheel
March 24, 2009
Strike one!
"Interest will be compounded and credited to your account on a monthly basis".
Strike two!
No guarantee that it will be 2.80% the next day. Chasing accounts without at least a three month guarantee is a waste of time with rates this low.
Strike three!
Stay tuned.
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Bailout
April 04, 2009
"America's Highest Rate" is gone!
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Spin
April 08, 2009
Someone keeps deleting selective posts relating to Shore Bank.
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David
April 08, 2009
Watch out: complaint about Dollar Savings Direct. I zeroed out my Dollar Savings Direct account mid-month and they credited me with no interest for that month. However, I called and they said they would credit the account since I asked. I'll watch over the next couple of days.
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OBAMA DIRECT
April 09, 2009
Thats common, you need to wait until interest is credited then empty your account.
We liked Dollar but were sick and tired of the rate dropping every week.
Also, there rating of 1 star probably means that the FDIC will pay a visit one Friday evening.
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Dollar Got Me Down
April 29, 2009
The Dollar is down to 2% !
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Green
July 17, 2009
it is down to 1.7% now!
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Green
August 23, 2009
I guess people don't post that much here any more :(
Well, have you noticed that on their websites they don't offer the 5-year CD anymore but they have instead a link to real estate opportunities? I wonder what's going there with them.
I like their website and the ease of transferring the money to and from the account without any fee. I wonder if there is any other internet bank out there like them in this regard which offers better interest rate. Do you know?
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Johnny Rates
August 25, 2009
ING now offers a 1.65 % rate on their electronic checking acct ($ 50,000 or more required to get that rate). ING is a public company, rated 3 stars. Alhtough I'm locked in at 3 % on my DSD CD til early 2010, I am withdrawing all my cash in their measely 1.7 % MM. They no longer offer a competitive advantage to be willing to stay with them at 1.7 %.
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