Category: Savings

Alternative For Your eFund

April 28, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

3 Comments

Earlier in the year, I finally took the plunge and moved my emergency fund from ING over to a new account at HSBCdirect. The motivating factor for that switch was the 6.00% APY promotion that HSBC is running until the end of April. As the end of April is quickly approaching, I’ve been kicking around… continue reading

Short Term CD vs. Online Savings Account

April 13, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

No Comments

In the discussion on my post about the PayPal money market fund, Pakdamek posted a question about short-term CD options and asked for assistance. My recommendation was to review the current high yield rates for 6-month CDs at Bank Rate, but that Pakdamek might also want to consider an online savings account. 6-Month CD Looking… continue reading

101 Ways To Save One Dollar Per Week

April 13, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

7 Comments

I’m the type of person that is always looking for different ways to save money, which is why I had to share with you the 101 Ways to Save One Dollar a Week article over at CareOne Credit Counseling. At the beginning of the year, I put a challenge out to all of you to… continue reading

Save Money By Verifying Your Medical Bills

April 9, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

No Comments

A couple of months ago, our son spent some time in the hospial and underwent numerous tests as the doctors attempted to diagnose the problems he was having. Fast forward to now and we are starting to get the bills from the hospital, laboratories, doctors and specialists. The pile of papers can become quite daunting,… continue reading

PayPal Money Market Fund

February 28, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

11 Comments

In a recent comment, Tech mentioned that PayPal was paying over 5% on their money market fund. In a nutshell, my response was to stay away from the PayPal account for a couple of reasons. Money Market Fund. The PayPal Money Market Fund is often discussed together with online savings accounts such as HSBCdirect, ING… continue reading

HSBC Transfer Time

February 9, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

7 Comments

Earlier this week, I initiated the process to move my eFund to my new HSBCdirect account. In addition, I had my first recurring deposit in my new account this week. Transfers A Little Slow. My recurring deposit is scheduled for every Monday, with this week being the first week of activity. The notice of the… continue reading

Moving The eFund

February 6, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

1 Comment

When discussing my first impressions of HSBC, I had commented on the ability to link my ING Direct Orange Savings Account to my new HSBCdirect account. Link Established. This evening I logged into my ING account and noticed that the two trial deposits had been made from HSBC. Once I logged into my HSBC account,… continue reading

HSBC First Impressions

February 3, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

1 Comment

It has been a few days since I posted about my HSBCdirect account update and I am now happy to report that I have received my temporary username and password. First Impressions. After taking a few minutes to go through the account registration process, which requires you to create your username, password, security key and… continue reading

HSBCDirect Account Update

January 29, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

1 Comment

Last night I started the process of opening an HSBCDirect Online Savings Account and things are progressing nicely. Trial Deposits. After completing the application last night, I had to wait for HSBCDirect to make two trial deposits to my primary checking account. When I arrived home from work tonight, I logged into my checking account… continue reading

HSBCDirect 6.00% APY New Money Offer

January 28, 2007

Posted by derek under Savings

3 Comments

As I previously discussed, I have had my emergency fund and savings at ING Direct even though I knew that I was losing money by not switching to HSBCDirect or EmigrantDirect. 6.00% APY Well, this afternoon I was balancing my checkbook and reviewing my various online accounts. Part of that process is that I check… continue reading

6.00% APY
Well, this afternoon I was balancing my checkbook and reviewing my various online accounts. Part of that process is that I check the current offers for competing banks and I noticed that HSBCDirect is running a new promotion for a 6.00% APY on all new money until April 30th.

6.00% is a promotional Annual Percentage Yield (APY) available on New Money only between January 29, 2007 and April 30, 2007. Minimum balance to open an account is $1.00.

New Money Period is January 29, 2007 through April 30, 2007. Starting Balance means the available balance in your account as of the close of business on January 26, 2007. New Money means funds not previously held by any member of the HSBC Group deposited during the New Money Period less any withdrawals, and it excludes your Starting Balance as calculated below. New Money must be in available funds for the promotional rate to apply.

Opening New Account.
This offer has finally convinced me to go ahead and take the plunge, I just completed the online account application and need to wait for the trial deposits to my checking account. The application process was very straightforward and only took a few minutes to complete.

Once I receive the trial deposits in my checking account, I will return to the application process and verify the amount of each deposit and then my account will be active and ready to receive funds. As of right now, I have set my initial deposit to be $25.00 but the account only requires a minimum deposit of $1.00. While I wait for the trial deposits to be verified, I will initiate the process of transferring the funds at ING Direct into my checking account so I can then deposit those funds to HSBCDirect.

Challenge Myself.
As I mentioned in my post about setting up an automatic savings plan, I am going to challenge myself to increase my savings. With my ING Direct account, I have had a modest amount being automatically deposited once per week into my account.

Rather than simply cancel that automatic deposit and set one up at HSBCDirect, I am going to maintain my automatic savings plan with ING Direct and duplicate that at HSBCDirect. You may be asking why I would leave the current plan with ING Direct when they are paying a lower APY on savings.

The reason that I will leave the automatic deposit active with ING Direct is because they ran a very similar promotion last year at this time where all new deposits received an increased APY. So I will continue with this small deposit to ING Direct every week and hopefully they will come through with a similar offer this year. These offers seem to coincide with tax season as I am sure that they are hoping more and more people will deposit their tax refunds into their accounts.

Earning More Money.
It will be interesting to see how the HSBCDirect Online Savings Account compares to the Orange Savings Account with ING Direct. I’ll be paying close attention to details such as the ease of initiating a transfer, the time it takes to complete an incoming transfer and an outgoing transfer, as well as overall ease of use with the interface. I’ve been quite pleased with my ING Direct account with regard to those criteria so I will be using that as a comparison.

But in the end, I am excited to be a new customer with HSBCDirect and earning more interest on my money. The difference of 1.50% APY was just too large to ignore any further and this will provide me an opportunity to review HSBCDirect while also making a little more money.

My New Choice

Category: Savings

Alternative For Your eFund

Short Term CD vs. Online Savings Account

101 Ways To Save One Dollar Per Week

Save Money By Verifying Your Medical Bills

PayPal Money Market Fund

HSBC Transfer Time

Moving The eFund

HSBC First Impressions

HSBCDirect Account Update

HSBCDirect 6.00% APY New Money Offer

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