Opened a Washington Mutual Savings Account
Washington Mutual is offering a 5.0% APY savings account if you sign up for a free checking account online. (Direct Link to sign up page: here) There’s a $1 minimum to open and no monthly fees. I decided to apply for an account last week to hold my 0% balance transfer money. Even though I already had a Washington Mutual Checking account, I still needed to apply for a new one to get the savings account offer. Unfortunately, this means they’ll be sending me an ATM card for the savings account, a MasterCard Debit Card for the checking, and two books of checks. I’m pretty sure I’ll never use them, but I guess that’s the price you pay for 5% interest rate. The application took about 10 minutes to fill out, and the account was created immediately. I transferred $50 from my old checking account to the new one to take care of the minimum balance.
The next day, after my balance transfer checks cleared, I moved the $16,800 into the new savings account and started earning some interest. I had originally planned to move the money to my ING savings account, but after some thought, opened the wamu account instead. One reason was the interest rate. The extra half percent over ING will work out to about $85 extra throughout the year. Also, after the headache trying to cash the checks, I figured it would be easier and quicker to transfer within Washington Mutual accounts. The transfer from checking to savings was immediate, where if I transferred to ING, it would have taken 2-3 days. Not a huge deal, but it would have cost me another $5-$8 in interest waiting for the transfer to take place. I really enjoy my ING accounts, but it just made more sense to stick with Washington Mutual.
Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 1:20 pm by BudgetFreak
Filed Under: Banking , Credit Cards , Savings
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on 19 Mar 2007 at 3:09 pm 1.Jon said …
I like this combo from Washington Mutual too. A good savings yield (better than most big banks, not as good as some online accounts) quick transfers and convenient ATM access.
Citibank has a similar package that used to earn 5% but now earns 4.75%. I wonder how long WaMu will keep this rate at 5%.
on 20 Mar 2007 at 8:34 am 2.BudgetFreak said …
I’m a little worried, too, about WaMu changing the rate. In their fine print they mention they can change the terms at any time without notice. I’ll be keeping an eye on it.
on 03 Apr 2007 at 1:01 pm 3.Two Month-iversary » Budget Freak said …
[...] Opened a Washington Mutual Savings Account earning 5% interest [...]
on 03 Apr 2007 at 2:36 pm 4.New2TheRatRace said …
I changed from Wells Fargo to Wamu just to get this great deal.
I too was worried about Wamu changing their rates as it shows on the website. However, I went to speak with a personal banker on-site at Wamu and they said that they will not change your savings account APY unless you cancel your checking acccount. I don’t think you need to worry about them changing the rates anytime soon. Speak with a personal banker at Wamu if you still aren’t sure.!
-New2TheRatRace
http://new2theratrace.blogspot.com/
on 04 Apr 2007 at 5:52 am 5.BudgetFreak said …
That’s reassuring! I feel pretty safe for awhile now. If they did make any changes to the rates, the personal finance blogosphere would rip them a new one.
on 02 May 2007 at 10:45 am 6.Melissa said …
Ok so apparently, learn from me.
Wamu only allows 6 transfers per month on savings account. Some other banks or financial institutions allow more or less, but WaMu only does 6. This sucks. I just got charged $25 bucks to transfer money from my savings to my checking. This is BS. The only way to avoid having one transfer count is to actually withdraw the funds and then deposit elsewhere. Such crap.
on 02 May 2007 at 12:33 pm 7.Wil said …
Actually, the six transfer thing is thanks to Congress. For a savings account to be considered such, they can only allow six automatic transfers. The exception is in in-person (or by phone with a real person)transfers. It’s one of those double-edged sword things.
on 02 May 2007 at 2:41 pm 8.Melissa said …
I heard that some other banks offer different numbers (my co-worker has 10 with her credit union). Well, lesson learned for me.
on 03 May 2007 at 6:14 am 9.BudgetFreak said …
Wil’s right on this one. I’ve heard of the 6 transfers per month rule before, and I agree it’s a pretty stupid limit. You could always call up you bank and be real nice and ask to have the charge removed. Couldn’t hurt to try.
on 03 May 2007 at 7:47 am 10.Melissa said …
I did. a few different people. No one wanted to help. The guy at the bank said “Ya, I learned that also the hard way.”
I don’t want sympathy, I want it removed! Both of them!
on 10 May 2007 at 6:48 am 11.Beware of Savings Account Regulations » Budget Freak said …
[...] friend of mine recently complained because she received a $25 service charge from her bank for transferring money from her savings [...]